Really happy to have Exiles by Daniel Blythe on the blog today. Thanks to Spellbound Books and ZooLoo’s BookTours for my invite and the copy of the book.
In a distant galaxy, Bethany Kane has cheated death.
Now, she has to fight for life.
In an escape pod launched from a great starship, 15-year-old ChapterSister Bethany Aurelia Kane, believer in the Great Power, makes landfall on a windswept world known as The Edge – a planet light years from civilisation.
Battered and shaken, Beth soon finds she is not alone. The Edge is a penal colony where, under the leadership of Zachary Tal, fifty juvenile criminals and reprobates have pulled together a kind of society. They are living and working together in Town, a converted scientific base in the shadow of their crashed spaceship. They have crops, fresh water and electrical power – and are assisted by a contingent of mechanised Drones.
Storms, power failure, illness and death are just a few of the challenges the teenage exiles battle. As Beth accustoms herself to her new life on The Edge, she has to overcome her fears, learn new skills and earn the respect of leader Zach, the arrogant Colm, the resentful Mia and the others. But when a terrible, violent event shatters the colony’s existence, it seems nothing will ever be the same. Who among them is a killer? And just how isolated are they really?…
As the clock ticks towards a final revelation, Beth needs all her new skills and resourcefulness to stop The Edge from plunging into anarchy. And she has her own secret too – one which will prove decisive in the battle for survival…
A young adult dystopian novel always catches my interest. Exiles sounded so intriguing when I read the blurb and the cover looked cool too. I didn’t know what to expect as I sat down to read but what I found was a real captivating and gripping read.
Daniel Blythe’s writing is vivid and detailed enough to immerse the reader immediately. I really enjoyed his world building. I could see everything that well, it transported me there with Bethany Kane, the outsider.
Well-written with strong characters whose development can be seen as the story unfolds. The pacing is just right for the book, the start slowly builds the picture in your mind and speeds up as you get further into the book. By the final chapters you are on the edge of your seat flipping the pages like there’s no tomorrow to see what will happen.
Daniel Blythe has also made sure the danger and tension are palpable throughout. Along with a great storyline and well rounded characters it makes for an addictive read, that I can see plenty of young adults and adults enjoy. I looking forward to seeing what Daniel Blyth brings next! Definitely.
Buy Link https://geni.us/2IsbQS
Author Bio
Daniel Blythe was born in Maidstone and attended Maidstone Grammar School and St John’s College, Oxford, then Christ Church University, Canterbury. As well as being a writer he has worked as a tour guide, a languages tutor, a translator, a Lifelong Learning development worker and a tutor of Creative Writing.
He is the author of several novels for children and adults, as well as a writer of non-fiction on subjects as diverse as popular music, politics, collecting gadgets and games, parenting and the history of robotics. He has written several of the official Doctor Who books licensed by the BBC, including Autonomy. Daniel’s first book with a teenage narrator was The Cut, which was followed by further novels Losing Faith and This is the Day. In 2012 his first supernatural fantasy novel for young readers, Shadow Runners, was published. Emerald Greene and the Witch Stones (for age 9-12) was published in 2015 and a sequel Emerald Greene: Instruments of Darkness in 2017. He has written shorter ‘reluctant reader’ books called New Dawn, I Spy (nominated for the Leicester Reading Rampage Award 2018), Fascination, Kill Order, Hope and Truth and Kiss the Sky.
Daniel has worked as a visiting author in over 400 schools, and has taught on the MA in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. He now mentors, advises and edits writers of all ages through Cornerstones UK and the Faber Academy and is a regular judge on the Novel Slam for the ‘Off The Shelf’ festival. Daniel lives in the Peak District, with his wife and their two student children.
Follow him at:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/danielblythewriter/
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 
Thank you so much for taking part in the tour and for sharing your review x
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