Reviews with content warning for War - Defy the Night

Reviews tagging 'War'

Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

24 reviews

lululobbesreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Amazing Start !

In this world where sickness rules the land, 2 outlaws do what they can to keep the people safe however in their attempt to keep the people from death secrets, betrayal, politics, love and so much more is also at play.

This story definitely delivered on the world building and the need to know more.

Spice: 1: Passionate kissing, desires thoughts (vague).

Language: 0 ( I can't remember any cussing)

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akswhy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The first YA romantacy I’ve actually enjoyed in YEARS! Pleasantly complex plot, fun twists and turns, and an interesting world. I’m excited to start book 2! Mind the content warnings.

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bookishmagpie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Really good! Love the political intrigue, but would love some more intensive, atmospheric world-building. All of the characters were surprisingly lovable, endearing at the least, despite all of the atrocities and violence. In addition to that, it does a great job of staying Young Adult with the content while also maintaining stakes and including the appropriate amount of graphic detail that the circumstances/themes demand.

Not a fan of the love triangle I feel creeping up on me (or maybe im just stupid and paranoid because I HATE love triangles) so hopefully it's just the beginnings of a really tight-knit found family which I love. Also wish there were more female characters, especially in the (main) supporting cast, but there are still two books to go so who know. Excited to read the rest; I blazed through this!

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melaniepearce's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Was a solid 4-4.5 star read but it did get a bit waffly toward the second half. I liked the book but I'm not sure I'll pick up the other two in the series.
The plot twists were a little predictable but they were done well and one part did make me cry and that is rare. I would have loved more bits on the whole Apothecary side of this book, it definitely dabbled in it and that peaked my interest the most.

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lkristin2018's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

In a land where citizens are dying of fever, there is only one treatment, and there isn’t enough for everyone. Tessa and Wes steal from the rich and distribute it to the poor until things go badly. The world building is excellent, and feels relevant in the world of Covid. The characters are complex and engaging and the political intrigue keeps the reader guessing.

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ajpotz's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Pretty fun book, definitely not literary art but easy to read

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mcstressy's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

There's something missing from this book for me. I don't know what it is, exactly, but it just feels like there's a layer that just never made it in.
I also think that the pacing is just off. I never really felt the stakes of anything as I moved through the book because I just kept looking at how much was left and going...okay surely they're going to get to *something* and they didn't until the last like 2 chapters.
I'm also just really not of fan of such a textbook ingenue. She has nothing that makes her interesting and yet the MMC is supposed to be so enamored with her. I was really excited in the beginning to have her alchemy be a major part of who she is but it's really not, which is a bummer.
There were parts of the character interactions that I enjoyed, just not the characters themselves. There's some good banter, but it's just intermingled with a whole lot of NOTHING happening.

Also OBVIOUSLY Corrick was Wes. We did not need to wait that long for a mediocre reveal. Or if we WERE going to wait that long, there needed to be more stakes of it. She needed to hate Corrick himself and not just government. Ugh. Missed opportunity.

Something about the writing also just didn't gel with me. Maybe it's from just finishing a few books where the prose felt very mature and well written (also YA) and then moving into this just felt a bit patronizing to teens and their reading capabilities at times. Juvenile writing is not a bad thing in moments, but having the actual writing structure of the book feel juvenile was a miss for me.

CW: S Assault - Also, the scene where they're in his room after she's caught is CREEPY. It's creepily written and Corrick is creepy, he basically assaults her. And why did her breast need to pop out of her shirt in the struggle? It was gratuitous and made me uncomfortable and I don't think in the way that the writer was hoping for. I didn't feel her vulnerability, it just felt like an edition thrown in with no consideration to how it would affect the character. Also, like a line before it happened she made a joke (WHILST BEING ATTACKED) about his knife maybe being his boner (ala "is that a __ in your pocket or are you just happy to see me"). Took me out of the book, that whole interaction and really put a bad taste in my mouth for Corrick as a character.

However, all that said, I'm interested enough in the story and characters (not Tessa) to read the next one just to see if the exposition of the first book was just set up. If it isn't, then I'll probably drop this rating lower.

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