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A review by the_ya_assassin
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer
4.0
Thank you Bloomsbury YA Publishing, Netgalley, and Brigid Kemmerer for sending me an eARC to read and review.
"Mind your mettle."
Content Warnings:
- Death
- Illness
- Panic attacks
- PTSD
- Torture
- Violence
This story was a fun adventure! Think of a Robin Hood retelling, except instead of stealing GOLD from the rich, Tessa and Wes steal flowers from the rich. These flowers reminded me of the Sundrop Flower from Tangled since they had the power to heal/ guard against sickness (it is called the exact opposite- "Moonflower"). I feel like the main component in this book, the sickness, was a bit underdeveloped. I questioned if it was contagious or if just sprang up in people erratically. I feel that Harristan should have noticed the rise of cases and dislike for him in society and used common sense to fix them (limit nobility from overbuying petals, give more petals to poor). I admire Tessa because she was ballsy enough to stand up to the royals and distribute elixir to the poor. I also think Tessa is an interesting heroine since she was impulsive - she didn't even have a plan when she entered the castle and was captured.
I knew who Wes really was before she did though. Besides that obvious plot twist, the plot itself and pacing of the story were both amazing! It was well-written and kept my attention the whole time. I didn't want to put this book down. The worldbuilding kept me fully immersed in Kandala too. There wasn't an info dump at the beginning - it was dispersed evenly throughout Act 1. The second plot twist, who the Benefactors really were, was something I predicted as well. It seemed weird to me that only the guy's supply chains were being attacked and the lady returned to her country early.
On the downside, I felt like Tessa was a bit naive, and that Corrick was not ruthless as the synopsis said. He just showed people what they wanted - a villain. Tessa had a too simple view of life. However, I did like the romance between Tessa and Wes. I think Corrick, Tessa, and Harristan could have bonded more since they all lost their parents from one side (royalty assassinated by citizen of Kandala, parents killed by night squad).
Overall though, I enjoyed Defy the Night! Definitely moving the A Curse so Dark and Lonely trilogy up my TBR!
"Mind your mettle."
Content Warnings:
- Death
- Illness
- Panic attacks
- PTSD
- Torture
- Violence
This story was a fun adventure! Think of a Robin Hood retelling, except instead of stealing GOLD from the rich, Tessa and Wes steal flowers from the rich. These flowers reminded me of the Sundrop Flower from Tangled since they had the power to heal/ guard against sickness (it is called the exact opposite- "Moonflower"). I feel like the main component in this book, the sickness, was a bit underdeveloped. I questioned if it was contagious or if just sprang up in people erratically. I feel that Harristan should have noticed the rise of cases and dislike for him in society and used common sense to fix them (limit nobility from overbuying petals, give more petals to poor). I admire Tessa because she was ballsy enough to stand up to the royals and distribute elixir to the poor. I also think Tessa is an interesting heroine since she was impulsive - she didn't even have a plan when she entered the castle and was captured.
I knew who Wes really was before she did though. Besides that obvious plot twist, the plot itself and pacing of the story were both amazing! It was well-written and kept my attention the whole time. I didn't want to put this book down. The worldbuilding kept me fully immersed in Kandala too. There wasn't an info dump at the beginning - it was dispersed evenly throughout Act 1. The second plot twist, who the Benefactors really were, was something I predicted as well. It seemed weird to me that only the guy's supply chains were being attacked and the lady returned to her country early.
On the downside, I felt like Tessa was a bit naive, and that Corrick was not ruthless as the synopsis said. He just showed people what they wanted - a villain. Tessa had a too simple view of life. However, I did like the romance between Tessa and Wes. I think Corrick, Tessa, and Harristan could have bonded more since they all lost their parents from one side (royalty assassinated by citizen of Kandala, parents killed by night squad).
Overall though, I enjoyed Defy the Night! Definitely moving the A Curse so Dark and Lonely trilogy up my TBR!