Aurelia is crown princess of Tyralt. Or was, before she was exiled...by choice. In the first novel Aurelia, her younger sister tried to have her assassinated, and the reigning King (their father) turned a blind eye. Instead, he tried to marry her off to the king of a neighboring country, who happened to be several decades older than Aurelia, and incredibly creepy. Add all that to a untrustworthy queen (not Aurelia's mother, but the King's former mistress who replaced her, and who may in fact have murdered her previous husband), the cousin of an old friend who's loyalties didn't lie where she thought they did, and the fact that her sister is all to ready to try to kill her again, all added up to Aurelia's self-imposed Exile.
Exile, the sequel to Aurelia starts a few weeks after Aurelia's expedition to explore the country after leaving the capital began. With her is the man who saved her life, Robert, who may just be the only person she was truly trust. He's a childhood friend of hers, a confidant, and love-interest. Together, they travel across Tyralt in this novel, and meet up with a host of complicated situations, in just as many interesting settings.
Plot Unlike the plot of the first novel, Exile has many different, segmented plots that revolve around the places Robert and Aurelia are at the time these plots are going on. The all-incumpassing plot is far more hidden, but nonetheless is there. It just has more to do with Robert and Aurelia's emotions and states of mind, and how they change, throughout the book. I loved this emotional plot, and I also loved all the little literal ones. From the argument in the begging, to the fire, to the community in the woods, to the discovery of the mother who left Aurelia behind years ago, to the frontier, to meeting and gaining approval from Robert's family, and all the other steps along the way (I won't even mention any more of them, as to not spoil too much, in case you're reading this review even if you haven't read the book, despite the spoiler warning). And the climax? Well, we knew from Aurelia that Anne Osterlund is brilliant and writing a climax.
Characters: Aurelia is as strong-willed, smart, and impulsive as ever, and it's serving her well when it comes to learning as much as she can in as little time possible. When the author refered to Aurelia (in the first novel) as Cinderella backwards, in the fact that she was a princess who shouldn't have been a princess, I found an interesting, if odd, description. Then, when I read the book, it absolutely rang true. But it rang truer still in Exile, when we find that Aurelia is more comfortable with herself out traveling the frontier than she ever was at an awkward dinner party with a figurative chain around her ankle. She's also more selfless than I ever realized.
Aurelia's emotions were very real in this book, in every situation. Meeting the mother who left her behind was empty, when Aurelia had so wished it to be life-changing. Her disapointment in her mother's weakness turned into my disapointment, just from reading her thoughts. Her devestation at her father's death also seemed real, and I felt for her. Although I wasn't there when my father died either, at least I knew we were on the best of terms. How awful would it be for your father to die when you had fled after his betrayal. Just becuase he did nothing when Melony tried to kill Aurelia didn't mean he wasn't her father, and Aurelia's emotions reflected that. Even Aurelia's attempts for Robert's parents' approval felt real, and seemed like her reality was seeping into mine.
Robert is another character I love. He's as strong-willed and smart as Aurelia, but much quieter about it. He's admirable, and undoubtably the "good-guy". Have I mentioned how much I'm a sucker for a good guy? It's the honest heroes that always pique my interest. While the first book is pretty evenly split when it comes to who's head the reader is in, this one is not. We're in Robert's head maybe 25-30% of the time, and although I liked having more insight into Aurelia, I missed having more access to Robert's thoughts. However, whenever I was in his mind it was fantastic. His guilt, his fear, his protectiveness of Aurelia, and everything else were so real.
There were a lot of minor characters, too, and plenty of them to both love and hate. Robert's parents top the list of those I loved, along with Drew, Daria and Thomas, and the people in the desert. I'm also very intrigued by the new Heir of Vashone and what his presence could mean for Robert and Aurelia if (and hopefully when) she gets back the throne.
Melony topped the list of characters I hated, and I wanted to strangle her. While her betrayal was a surprise in Aurelia, it wasn't here. Frankly, I'm still waiting for karma to come and beat her over the back of the head. If that doesn't happen in a future book, I am going to be very, very angry. I also hated the King (despite his ultimate fate), because he didn't do anything to stop her before she went too far. And of course I hated Elise, because I think she's secretly been coaxing Melony along (I don't think Melony is bright enough to have done all that by herself). But I missed seeing the characters I hated, in this book, because although they were there, they never really showed up. Just sent messangers and things. And it was the palace intrigue where no one could be trusted, even though they claimed to be your friends, that I missed.
Anyway, I loved the characters (and the ones I didn't love, I loved to hate).
Romance: More than ever. Aurelia was subtly romantic, but Exile took the concept full-swing. Robert and Aurelia are by themselves for most of the book, and as you can imagine this leads to several very, very romantic situations. You'll just have to read it to find out.
Writing: I'm a huge fan of Anne Osterlund. I think she's brilliant. Aurelia is one of my favorite books of all time, and Exile is also very good (although doesn't top the first one, but I don't think anything could've done that). Then there's Academy 7, which I also loved with a passion. And have you read Anne Osterlund's blog? Because it's brilliant, too.
Cover: Love it. And the key? Oh, is that awesome. Especially because it doesn't come into play until the end of the novel.
Overall: Great book. If you read Aurelia and liked it, then you should definitely read it. While I don't think it is quite as good as the first book (it just has a very different tone), it is absolutely fantastic. Definitely worth the read. If you haven't read Aurelia yet, then you should read that one first. At least you'll have the advantage of not having to wait for this sequel! I hope there is at least one more Aurelia book, too tie up all the loose ends and put Aurelia back on the throne, but I don't know for sure if there will be one. Even if there isn't, this book ended well.