A Kingdom of Exiles

By: S.B. Nova

Narrated by: Cathy Conneff

Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

The brightest of stars are always born on the darkest of nights. 

Serena Smith is unusual. Growing up in a backwoods village, her life is lonely and dull. Then, on her 18th birthday, she's gifted a magical heirloom only to be snatched by fae and condemned to a lifetime in chains.  

Dragged to Aldar, a fae kingdom ruled by a tyrant witch, Serena discovers a forbidden love and meets fellow outcasts, each with their own dark secrets.  

As the lives of warriors, rebels, and witches clash, they find a shared destiny. For only together, and with Serena's unique gifts, can they survive long enough to build the flames of a revolution. Only together can they go to war....  

From the author of Draken comes this explosive new fantasy series with lots of heart and a sting in its tail.  

What are you waiting for? Scroll up and buy now to find out why people all over the world have fallen in love with A Kingdom of Exiles! 

Suitable for mature YA and up.

©2017 S.B. Nova (P)2018 S.B. Nova

I wanted to like this.

I don’t normally leave negative reviews...because I believe we all have our own tastes. However I felt compelled by how much this book really didn’t sit will with me.

I’ll try to be as non spoiler as possible.

Serena starts out her tale put in a rough spot that gets rougher throughout the first hour of the book. She shows promise and quiet strength and a backbone during a plot hatched by two evil villagers. I was rooting for her.

As soon as the Fae enter the story Serena loses everything that strengthened her character. It happens slowly, but by the time she gets to the place where she meets the other main characters the book got so much worse.

Here are the parts that irritate most:

-Serenas interaction with every male protagonist are all based on them wanting her on some level and protecting her. Fae culture or not ..it’s distracting and unrealistic.

- Serena let’s others make her decisions and choices. The author tries to counter act this by saying phrases like “he was giving me a choice..” but it’s apparent that there is only one option they are giving her.

-The writing is very “Tell not show” , so rather Serena narrating her observations or using action to relay information... nearly all information in the book is delivered through dialogue.

-Serena has no agency, just instructions. Need to know something? Someone magically knows so all you have to do is go talk to them Serena!

-Serena doesn’t grow, she degrades or at best gets stagnant by the end of the story.

There were other things but I can chalk them up to personal preferences.

This would be a book I would show to my future daughter and say “this is how you act if you want the world to swallow you up and make all your choices”

The one thing I did like? Hawk. He was in the story for five minutes and I’d already read a novel about him.

If your looking for a Feyre or Aelin or Nahri or Yrene in this book...you will not find them.

If you’re looking for fantasy, adventure. romance and resourceful women ... save your credit and go read Sara J Maas or SA Chakraborty

35 of 41 people found this review helpful

Aheart pounding ride through a beautifully rendered fantasy world. Sarah J Maas fans: this book is for you.

A Kingdom of Exiles is a wonderfully written fantasy novel that immersed you into its world from the first page. The main character, Serena Smith, is incredibly relatable but still has enough “special chosen one” vibes to keep you intrigued. This novel has so much heart, displaying heartwarming family bonds, a steamy romance, and the importance of friendship in such a vicious world. I highly recommend this book to fantasy lovers all around (15+). You’re in for quite a ride. There was, however, one problem I had with this audiobook. I loved the story and the narrator, but there were times when I had no idea what the narrator was saying (only a few cases, but major cases). I couldn’t even figure out what was being said by playing the audio slower or multiple times; I had to find the sentence in my physical copy of the book. It sounded like gibberish. However, this was an amazing overall listen.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Confused

I am confused as to how this book got such good reviews. I felt like I was listening to a knock off version of something Sarah J Maas would write. I felt zero connection to any of the characters and felt myself daydreaming while listening. Pass..

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

i liked the story but not the narrator

I liked the story but the narrator was harder to understand, made mistakes such as saying a sentence twice and did not do a good job with accents because you couldn't tell which character was supposed to be speaking

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I love it

I really like this book. it makes me happy to read!! keep up the good work. cant wait for the next book!!!

Promising start, disappointing everything else

This book started off interesting and Serena showed promise of being a fun character, however it very quickly became clear that whatever personality and fiery spirit she promised would not be delivered upon. Once she goes into the fae realm the entire story flatlines, including her. Her relationships are stilted and boring, and there is no reason why all the fae men she meets are so obsessed with her. They just all seem to love her for no particular reason and it turns her into a tedious Mary Sue. Her heirloom necklace seems to only exist for exposition, and so we can have deus ex machina moments where Serena can suddenly save the day despite being useless only moments before.

It’s rare that I don’t like a narrator but this one just bugged me. The characters didn’t stay consistent and I sometimes found her difficult to understand. Maybe she’d bother me less if she was reading a better book.

WORTH IT

I am a fan of Sarah. J. Maas’s Fae and Deborah Harkness’s witches. And this book was for me! I loved every minute of it.

The story is intense and enthralling while the narrator does a tremendous job capturing the voice of the main character and her pack.

I can’t wait for the next book.

Why oh why.

The way this is written is perfection. The story was long, and the characters somewhat well developed.

However, this story was about a shy girl woth no talent being helped through everything and always taking guidance from others to complete her desires and tasks. That part was really dissapointing.

kudos for the good pros though. It was beautifully written.

I love love love this book.

Thele writing was vivid and enthralling and the narrator was phenomenal. Thank you for taking me to another world. I can't wait for the release of A kingdom of nomads!!

slow start for me, but gets really good

once I got into the story I was hooked! and, I wasnt quite sure about the narrator at first, but she grew on me too.

Great read

Love this book.. easy to get lost in by narrater who brought characters to life. can’t wait for next book in series to see where our heroes will lead us!!...

I wasn’t sure at first

But I absolutely LOVED this book. Perfect example of the genre but also defied the usual narratives and plot lines. Can not wait for a sequel!!!

loved it..!

A tale of magic, fae and witches from start to finish.
Looking forward to book 2

I like it, but...

I like the story line, but I wished serena is stronger and not always rely on her friends, I will continue on as the other characters is strong and I hope serena will develop to become the lead she is meant to be

full of adventure twists and Turns

this book keeps you captured the whole way you're always wondering what's going to happen next it was a fantastic listen and I think the narrator is very much suited to this story you really feel like you're living this adventure with the characters once you pick it up you won't put it down can't wait for the next one

Amazing book

What a book. Brilliant narration from start to finish. Well worth a listen, maybe clear the rest of your day though!