An impressive debut from Northern Irish writer Aimee Walsh. Exile is gritty and raw, written with such profound authenticity. I will admit it took me a little while to get into the story, and I didn’t feel compelled to pick it up until about 25% of the way in but once I hit that mark I couldn’t put it down. The plot made for uncomfortable reading at several points but this only added to how gripping it was. The ending floored me, I didn’t see it coming at all. Highly recommend this one and will definitely pick up more from this author.

Now this was a hard hitting read. This is gritty and very raw. The style of writting is brutally honest in parts and the language itself is saddening with it being so rough around the edges. A joke and a drink may make up a lot of peoples younger years and these girls seems to be enjoying what they can.
We are taken on a whirlwind journey of a young girl and her friends as they are just about to go off to college .We go between their life at home and new adventures to them. The struggles here are heartbreaking to read and the dangers we can feel about to happen. Its all taken in their stride until a terrible night turns out for the worst.
This story takes us down the path of the girls struggle to understand or cope with whats happened. Ending up in disastrous consequences . I did not expect the ending.

Many thanks to the Author and publisher through Netgalley for an ARC. Expected publication date 23/5/24

Review written 22/2/24

Exile revolves around Fiadh, a young woman from Belfast, whose life is turned completely upside down after she is assaulted on a night out in the city. She struggles to cope with the aftermath whilst also struggling with the challenges of university life in Liverpool and the feeling of not fitting in anymore at home or in uni. You just want to scoop her up and protect her from the horrors of the world.
A great debut but a difficult read at times, as a result of the themes it covers.

The story really made her human with how she dealt with what had happened. You can't help but feel for her and want better for her. It also feels like a story about not losing yourself or not feeling like you fit in anywhere, needing to find your place etc

This was dark and funny and sad and relatable. The writing is exquisite and the story is bleak and twisted while also being fun and exciting. Fiadh's progression from lonely but excited to find herself to more lonely, hurt and resigned to a life of pain is captivating and emotional. A fantastic debut.

Exile • Aimée Walsh took some time to win me over.
It was slow building, with an excellent description of Belfast and Liverpool seen through the eyes of a young, female adult.

“The streets are grey, reminiscent of sludge pulled from the drain or skies before a downpour.”

Fiadh; our main character - is the only one in her friendship group moving away for uni. She doesn’t get much support for her choice of taking a leap at something different.
Money is tight and she rents a room in Liverpool with Mrs Cooper - who is cold and stingy - her house offering no comfort.
Fiadh makes some new friends and things are looking quite good; she’s settling in - finding her place.
Returning home to Belfast for Christmas is life-changing. A drunken night and a blackout hides a horrible event - reality slowly floats to the surface as Fiad’s life is spiralling out of control.

“Resting is for the dead. I’m not sure if I mumbled this aloud to myself. My eyes are half-closed as I intimate a seductive gaze at a boy across the room. Words become slippery in my mouth; a delicious greasiness my tongue cannot shake free from.”

The atmosphere in this story is fuelled by heavy drinking, substance abuse, self harm and such sad loneliness.
It was a punch in the stomach to read this short novel - it was so gritty and dark - so beautiful in its sadness.
As a mother all you want is for someone to scoop Fiadh up and save her as she’s loosing her sense of self.

Aimée Walsh wrapped up this novel in a unique and satisfying way, it’s painfully realistic in its depiction. For literary fiction lovers I highly recommend.
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4/5

An honest review given for an advance copy from NetGalley. Thank you

Set in Belfast, the story follows Fiadh as she navigates a traumatic event that nearly destroys everything in her path. It starts with Fiadh and her two best friends in their last year at school before going separate ways to University. I really enjoyed this, pretty much read it in one sitting. The dialogue was excellent, it read visually - something I really like in books, this one especially as I am from Belfast too, and the ending was perfect. Sometimes its hard to get the ending right but this one was a good one. Definitely keeping my eye on this author for future reads.

I am firmly in my coming of age Irish lit era so this debut novel was right up my street.

The story starts with Fiadh in her last few months of school, with hope and dreams for the months and years beyond. You get insight into her relationship with her close friendship group and in particular her friendship with Andy which is strictly platonic but everyone else seems to think there is more to.

The novel follows Fiadh as her plans for her future dont quite go to plan and she chooses to follow a different path. Struggling in a new city, whilst her close friends stay in their tight-knit group at home. Fiadh travels home for Christmas for what should be the perfect reunion.

After a life changing event the second half of the book follows Fiadh as she struggles to cope with what has happened to her, as her behaviour and actions become increasingly erratic.






Potential Spoiler.



This book is gritty and dark and won't be for everyone. The author handles the aftermath of sexual assault with realism and honesty. It has been well researched by Aimee Walsh. She also captures the feeling of being 18 and lost extremely well, the nostalgic time where you are leaving the safe environment of your childhood and teen friendship group to go out into the world.


I would recommend this book for readers who have enjoyed Sally Rooney but want something with more grit and realism. Fans of Closer To Home by Michael McGee may also enjoy it.

Many Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

This was such an emotive read, very triggering I parts as it touched on some difficult subjects but was so well done. Lovely writing and loved the regional dialect weaved through the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review!

3.5 stars!

I loved how this was written, despite the lack of speech marks which I wasn't a fan of, how Fiadh was written was fantastic. The story really made her human with how she dealt with what had happened. You can't help but feel for her and want better for her. It also feels like a story about not losing yourself or not feeling like you fit in anywhere, needing to find your place etc.

Really great debut book which I'm glad I took a chance on and excited to see what else Aimée Walsh will write.

A good book, a little bit different from what I usually read, but I did enjoy it. Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

Told in the first POV by Fiadh a young woman age 18 who is has just began her journey into adulthood starting at university. The plot/story begins with setting her as character this done expertly you really feel like you get to know her. As the novel progresses into a harrowing account of the aftermath of assault we are taken on the journey she goes through. This both hard and upsetting to read but enacting I felt you were really getting a deep insight into the character I couldn't put it down. We see her slowly self sabotaging herself it is harrowing and frustrating to read but is sadly very real to life. This without doubt a character lead novel it is deep , intelligent and touching. Fiadh for me a fleshed out, true to life and engaging characters beautifully flawed.

The writer shows real flair in her writing style with complex sentences, seamless flashback paragraphs and fantastic inner and outer dialogue with in the characters.

I loved the time it was set in I was the same age as Fiadh at the time the book is set so I could really empathise with her thoughts and feelings about starting uni, leaving home and the culture of the time. I remember the culture then all too well it startling to read it with today's eyes, however there were some happy throw backs among this.

Whist this quite a dark novel there was snippets of humour, that reminded me of the wonderful Michelle Gallen'a work. With nods to the troubles and Irish craic interwoven within the quite heartbreaking novel. I have seen people compare this to Sally Rooney's work and I have to say how insulting Sally Rooney's works are one long boring look at overgrown spoilt babies complaining about nothing with any meaning, completely set away from any reality most young adults know and actually on the whole sexist with heavy dose of misogyny. This is very much not that at all.

The story itself is very much not plot lead but rather the story of Fiadh's journey. For me the ending was perfect although I wish she had made peace with her parents but given the way the novel plays out this wouldn't worked and in the ending in terms of both her friends and parents reaction made the story true to life and justified how Fiadh deals with what her happens to her. At the time the book is set in there was real sense of blame culture towards young woman who had been drinking, a denial of university lad culture . a lack of proper understanding and support services of this is highlighted all to well in the book. I only hope that times have truly changed.

A solid four stars that stayed with me long after reading. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publishers for allowing me to read this truly brilliant debut.

‘Exile’ is a strong debut from Aimee Walsh. I really love the title and how it relates to Fiadh’s experiences. Walsh is spot on about relocating for further education and how incredibly difficult it can be to find your place. The novel is packed with nostalgia and angst which really tugged on my heartstrings. It's relatable, on many levels, too, especially as regards female friendships. Walsh employs some beautiful turns of phrase and her writing, and characterisation, is up there with the likes of Sally Rooney. Something about the atmosphere of the novel reminds me of Alan Warner’s ‘Morvern Callar’. I ripped through it and very much look forward to whatever Aimee Walsh does next.

I was interested in the premise of this book and it was a bonus that it was partly set in Liverpool where I’d studied (and, like the protagonist, struggled to settle in.) This book was well written, although a lack of speech marks irks me. Once it got going it was impossible to put down but the beginning was slow and, for me, laboured the point a little too much (it was about 50% of the way into the book before I felt that we were past the scene setting). I also wanted the place to be more vivid and a different ending. However, relatable and interesting.

Aimée Walsh's debut novel, Exile, introduces to Fiadh, a Belfast girl on the cusp of adulthood - school exams are done, the summer ahead is long, and then it will be off to university. She and her friends enjoy city life, the sense that they could rule the world. And then Fiadh's life is overturned and nothing will be the same again.

I found this a very enjoyable debut, I read it in one sitting, swept up in its narrative. Walsh does a very good job in creating a rounded character with Fiadh. You can feel her breathing on the page. By keeping the narrative locked in on her, you get less sense of the other characters here, though this not to the detriment of the novel.

Walsh has some very good lines here, a great way with words, and this feels like it could launch a great career. For fans of writers like Sally Rooney or Gwendoline Riley, this is a must.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.