Exiles A Novel

Honest take: didn't love it.
According to my book club, it's an unpopular opinion.
I got to hear the author talk about this book and how she based all of the characters on either real people or realistic experiences that the characters would have faced historically. And while I respect that aspect of the writing, some of her choices fell flat for me.
I don't like reading books that make me distrust the author. When they kill off the main character and write characters that can be interchangeable, it doesn't make me want to continue reading. Evangeline and Hazel ended up with the same personality as soon as the author killed Evangeline off. She wrote in a Tasmanian historical figure that was an indigenous little girl stolen from her people and forced to learn English ways, but was abruptly abandoned. I thought she handled the writing of this character delicately, even if the whole character felt like an oddly placed name drop to bring more intrigue to her main story.
There were parts that I genuinely liked while reading, like the poisoning, Olive and Ruby, and I liked the constant descriptions of the smells and scenery that made the conditions of the convicts palpable.
It was interesting to read this one in a book club where every other person loved the book.