queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
3 ⭐ CW: violence, torture, blood, death, murder, death of a child, death of a parent, illness
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer is book one in the Defy the Night series. This one was disappointing after reading and loving the Cursebreakers series. This one just felt boring and a bit long and slow.
We follow the povs of Tessa, a common girl who has apothecary skills and outlaw by night; and Corrick, the cruel King's Justice. Tessa has been working with a masked man to steal precious Moonflower petals, the only thing that can help cure the sickness ravaging Kandala, and make them into medicine for those too poor to supply their own. One night, when Tessa's partner Wes is captured as a smuggler, it throws her into a world she never meant to have a part in. We find out that Prince Corrick isn't all that he seems.
We get an enemies to lovers thing between Tessa and Corrick. That is mostly what the book focuses on, between all the political intrigue. I thought this book was too long for just having these two main characters. We don't really get to know anyone else. I really liked Quint, but we don't get much of him, though the little we do tells me he's definitely a sass master. I thought Tessa was a little too earnest and perfect? She really had no flaws, and it was all on her to emotionally fix Corrick, and get the kingdom back in order. It all just seemed too easy to me. Corrick and his brother King Harriston were secret softies.
The one thing I did like about this story was the morally gray theme. Tessa discovers that things are not all black and white. The king isn't a monster who wants all his peasants dead, and the rebels aren't perfect saints and can go too far. Other than that, it felt like something was missing. I just don't care enough about the characters or the plot to continue to the next book.
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer is book one in the Defy the Night series. This one was disappointing after reading and loving the Cursebreakers series. This one just felt boring and a bit long and slow.
We follow the povs of Tessa, a common girl who has apothecary skills and outlaw by night; and Corrick, the cruel King's Justice. Tessa has been working with a masked man to steal precious Moonflower petals, the only thing that can help cure the sickness ravaging Kandala, and make them into medicine for those too poor to supply their own. One night, when Tessa's partner Wes is captured as a smuggler, it throws her into a world she never meant to have a part in. We find out that Prince Corrick isn't all that he seems.
We get an enemies to lovers thing between Tessa and Corrick. That is mostly what the book focuses on, between all the political intrigue. I thought this book was too long for just having these two main characters. We don't really get to know anyone else. I really liked Quint, but we don't get much of him, though the little we do tells me he's definitely a sass master. I thought Tessa was a little too earnest and perfect? She really had no flaws, and it was all on her to emotionally fix Corrick, and get the kingdom back in order. It all just seemed too easy to me. Corrick and his brother King Harriston were secret softies.
The one thing I did like about this story was the morally gray theme. Tessa discovers that things are not all black and white. The king isn't a monster who wants all his peasants dead, and the rebels aren't perfect saints and can go too far. Other than that, it felt like something was missing. I just don't care enough about the characters or the plot to continue to the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, and Death
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
lalalauren20's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
You know a book is a good book when you’ve got a map followed by the names of political leaders. This whole story I feel like is not so YA, I think the story line is very intense and takes some connecting dots. I loved the dual perspective of the characters and allowed us so much depth into their stories and emotions. I really loved how these characters thought about things and communicated with each other.
I feel like every time Corrick and Allisander had any interaction it always ended in fighting or anger and I never knew why they couldn’t just have a diplomatic conversation. I wish their could have been more Interactions with other consuls because this man was always casually always having beef in every venue.
The amount of times a cup of alcohol was “drained” in this book was far too many I mean…please we get it they are drinking away their stress…I don’t know if maybe the alcohol is less effective like the moon flower drink in the royal sector. 👀
Spoiler
I think the twist was a nice twisty twist! I didn’t see it coming and it made really good sense.I feel like every time Corrick and Allisander had any interaction it always ended in fighting or anger and I never knew why they couldn’t just have a diplomatic conversation. I wish their could have been more Interactions with other consuls because this man was always casually always having beef in every venue.
The amount of times a cup of alcohol was “drained” in this book was far too many I mean…please we get it they are drinking away their stress…I don’t know if maybe the alcohol is less effective like the moon flower drink in the royal sector. 👀
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
blondofondo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Devoured this book in a weekend. The storytelling is so good. Had some twists I didn’t see coming. Love the main characters. They are well developed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
blueberrypi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
Objectively the book wasn’t the best, it was predictable and cliché but it was a fun read that i ended up enjoying. One thing i don’t like is how quickly things happened in the book. The events in the book unfolded in around four days when i felt like it should’ve been more like weeks. I also feel like the mc was a bit too quick to forgive and change her opinions.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Torture
martine3's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail
lisashelves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Physical abuse, and Death
Moderate: Torture, Death of parent, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Physical abuse and Fire/Fire injury
raineedayreader's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Body horror, Classism, and Torture
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Excrement
takarakei's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
5.0
- Robin Hood inspired
- court politics
- herbal medicine
- angsty romance
- revolution rumblings
- brotherhood
Protect my poor baby Corrick! I love him so much. I was just getting back into my YA Fantasy era when I first read this a year ago, and coming back to it made me love it even more!
1/5 🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Minor: Rape
Very brief mention of rape (off page no details)praaliine's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
i turned to this book because i was in a reading slump and i needed something quick and fun to read, and this book was both. i’m unsure if i’ll continue with the series but i think it helped with the slump. i will say it’s best to go into the story blind, it’ll be much more fun to read that way (i didn’t, so it may have influenced my experience with the book, i would have enjoyed it a lot more if i had).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Child death
legalplanner's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
If you liked the Prison Healer you will love this one. I was really surprised to fall in love with Tessa's journey as she tried to use her education in healing (learned from her parents) to help her community with the sickness that has overtaken them.
I found that at first I was ready to DNF this because it just felt like a lot to set it up for the "good stuff" and it felt like we were getting absolutely no where. As we started to move closer to Tessa I began to get entranced with what she was doing and the problems in the City.
There were a ton of characters introduced and I was very thankful for the character list and the map. I will say that even though a lot of this is setting up the world for the remainder of the series this was a very well paced book and made me want to keep reading even after it was over.
I found that at first I was ready to DNF this because it just felt like a lot to set it up for the "good stuff" and it felt like we were getting absolutely no where. As we started to move closer to Tessa I began to get entranced with what she was doing and the problems in the City.
There were a ton of characters introduced and I was very thankful for the character list and the map. I will say that even though a lot of this is setting up the world for the remainder of the series this was a very well paced book and made me want to keep reading even after it was over.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Child death