Just like with the first book in the series, I will not be rating or reviewing Exile in my typical manner because it has a special meaning to me.
The only "review"-esque feedback I'll give is that I don't know whether or not I prefer it to the first one. Sequels are hard because a part of me will always be nostalgic for the uncomplicated introductory scenes of the first books. While I think the first book in the series is a little more "cringy" than this one, I think parts of it were more interesting, whereas the sequel is more "angsty" than anything.

Anyway, here are the notes I took on Exile (which may include spoilers for this book and the rest of the series):
- we are 5 pages in and Sophie has a wedgie ... I don't know what I expected
- "But talents couldn't be switched off once they'd been triggered" (9) - besides the obvious ability restrictor in book 3, I'm really surprised no one has found any other way to nullify talents because, dang, that would be useful
- (19) Dex literally saw his best friend dying in front of him, and he was paralyzed and helpless to do anything, but oh, no, his trauma isn't relevant at all
- (27) not Grady shipping Sophie and Dex
- (81) I wanna know when/how Brant proposed to Jolie
- (87) there are conveniently 3 extra chairs in Brant's house, which doesn't make sense considering Grady and Edaline are supposed to be the only ones who visit him...
- (91) and also ... who feeds Brant? Or he pretends to, at least, cause it's not like he's gonna garden and get food himself ... and he only gets one visit a year, and they didn't bring him groceries
- (94) okay, so Sophie is really intrigued by Brant saying he knows her from somewhere, and maybe he's trying to, like, imply that she looks like Jolie, but buddy just made himself more suspicious by doing that and hurting Sophie
- (145) someone get Dex some therapy
- (192) did we ever figure out who was around Silveny's enclosure and why? (I know it was the Neverseen ... but why not take her then)
- Why haven't the elves gone to space yet? Why haven't they explored Mars? Surely they could make space travel easy
- (321) it can't be healthy for the elves to do this many drugs ... like, Elwin's and Tiergan's solution to everything is a sedative
- (335) I wish we got to see more of Brant before Jolie's death because it would make it 10x more impactful to actually see this boy writing sappy love poems
- (342) I want to know what Sandor's reaction was to being told he has to go babysit a teenage girl and go to classes with her for the rest of his life
- (365) love that Alvar is like the only one unaffected by Alden's situation (besides the first part when they're in the bedroom and he acts all shaky)
- (368) did Alvar act all nice to Sophie because he wants to gain her trust and maybe convince her to switch sides? Or is he just being nice to be nice?
- (372) Bronte says only negative emotions can be inflicted, which isn't true for Sophie, but it must be true for him ... which is kinda sad to be honest
- I have mixed feelings on the Cadence is Jolie theory because a) different eye colors b) I think Sophie would recognize her facial structure and c) I'm just not sure yet
- (412) Tiergan "I'm Not Part of the Black Swan" perfectly reciting the Black Swan poem over here...
- (420) I've seen theories that descrying isn't real and Terik is Talentless, but what if he just has another ability that he wants to keep secret
- (445) Dex doesn't feel safe and he thinks the Neverseen are watching him but nope only Sophie's safety matters apparently
- (446) one of my biggest pet peeves in this series is that every time Dex tries to open up about what he's feeling, he gets about two sentences out before suddenly we're talking about Sophie and her feelings
- (469) the Black Swan must haven an operative inside the stupid Prattles factory so that they can get all those rare pins
- (566) Bronte asks Sophie to teach him positive inflicting and I like to imagine it's because he's hurt too many people accidentally