Review: Exile

The Extinction Trials: Exile
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Betrayal. Sacrifice. Survival. Welcome to The Extinction Trials.

After surviving on Piloria once, Storm and Lincoln are the obvious candidates to return to the dinosaur continent to test the new virus that should clear the way for human settlement. But they have their own priorities – finding a cure for the plague that’s sweeping Earthasia, and keeping themselves alive. 

As you all are probably aware, Jurassic World 2 is going to be hitting the big screens this Summer, unfortunately I didn't get to be involved with the movie to my constant disappointment, BUT I did get to read the sequel to Extinction Trials! If you're a fan of Jurassic Park or eagerly awaiting the next Jurassic World movie...you need to get on this series! 

Huge Jurassic Park fan that I am....I freaking love dinosaurs and honestly...this is the only YA book I know of with dinosaurs in it, which I find ridiculous because how has no-one done dinosaurs before!? But The Extinction Trials kinda makes my life complete and brings dinosaurs to the YA genre perfectly! 

Both of our narrators, Lincoln and Storm, are back and they're still haunted by the island and what they went through there. Storm is now an aide to the Captain Regent...at least on paper. But really she's mapping Piloria and telling him all she knows about the dinosaurs, while mourning the loss of Milo who's disappeared. Meanwhile Lincoln is working in the lab on the T-Rex virus, but the scientist in charge has them start investigating human DNA, in hopes of finding out more about the blistering plague...and a cure, when his daughter is struck with it. 

But that's just the start of everything. We have a new and rather unpleasant character in the form of Silas, who's after Reban's job and thanks to the DNA research he knows exactly how to get it. He's most certainly shady AF, and he's out to get Storm...or at least her father. I really don't like him, nor do I trust him. He decides it's time to crack out the dinosaur viruses and basically grabs and kidnaps all the previous finalists because they're getting a nice little return trip to Plioria to plant the virus and they don't have a lot of say in the matter. 

That does mean we get to see Leif again, and it was interesting to see the relationship between the three of them after the events of the previous book. They had to work at their friendship, but it was heart warming to see them working as a team again! Plus Leif and new character Jesa where totally cute together! Jesa is Blaine's daughter, oh yeah, his family is coming in to play in this book! I wasn't sure I liked her at first but I ended up loving her, she was scared but she persevered and she was actually kinda like Storm! Which is just as well because they buddy up! I'm hoping we get to see more of her in the next book! 

Reban was an interesting addition to the cast, I know he was in the last book but we didn't get to see much of him, and in this book we really get to know him and see what he's like. We also get to see him interacting with Storm, which was an interesting development and we learned a few revelations about Storm's family. I was rooting for him and Storm to establish some kind of relationship bt it was a tough road, I can't say I was surprised by Storm's decision at the end, but it's certainly opened up an interesting avenue for the next book!

I have to say, I do kind of ship Storm and Lincoln after this book. There's no more lies between them, and no-one's hiding anything and they gradually get back to a good place. They hit me in the feels more than once, but don't get me wrong...there's no glaring, in your face romance. The feelings and relationship are very subtle, it's only really with this book that I started to ship them in earnest! 

Exile has a steady pace, the first half has us getting to grips with how things are in the aftermath of the previous book, meeting some shady characters and getting clued in that something is going on...something possibly not quite right, as well as some clues about a potential cure. 

The second half of the book sees us back on Piloria, and the author really comes through for us, hitting us with some new dinosaurs, including my favourite from Jurassic Park, although I doubt I'll cackle quite so much at that scene after reading about them in this book. You know the one....the dude that totally deserves it at the beginning of the movie....

Exile gives us some new characters, some interesting and hopefully coming in to play in the next book and some shady, we're also provided with some new plot openings, and plot threads to carry on in the next book, as well as having some from the last book carried on and expanded upon. There's action, danger and adventure and we're left, once again, wanting more. Things are starting to head in a certain direction, one that might not be so good for the dinosaurs and I'm excited to see how it plays out...not to be mean to the dinosaurs or anything! 

This is one of my favourite new series, I have to say, I mostly love this series because it's like a YA Jurassic Park mixed with the Hunger Games, although this book has none of the Hunger Games vibe of the previous one. This one lets us explore the science and Piloria more, as well as the dinosaurs. Like I said...there aren't enough YA books about dinosaurs, and this has such a brilliant mix of elements to it, it keeps drawing you in, and Piloria is a very vivid place. The mystery, and the foreboding, and the danger and tension...and the whole "what happens next?!" of it all keeps you hooked in to the story!