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
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
jednakniekinga's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Police brutality
Moderate: Torture and Grief
forgettingtofly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
This was a good time. It kept my attention and definitely had an engaging storyline. I was drawn in by the characters and their relationships. The moral dilemmas were well done. The story was somewhat predictable in some moments. I’m interested to see where it goes in future books. I thought the audiobook performances were also pretty good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
ka_ke's review against another edition
Meh. I think I’ve just moved beyond the Y/A reading level, that or some Y/A authors are just not giving their readers enough credit. As much as a robin hood retelling is interesting and certainly not over done, I think the whole “we hate the king & his brother thing” has become a cliché. Don’t be a cliché my dear.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, and Terminal illness
kirstenf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, War, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Torture
Minor: Confinement, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Sexual content
bookishgoob's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
My goodness! This book had me so entranced with every page. I loved every moment of it from the robin hood-esque premise to the friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-partners-to-friends-to-lovers dynamic between the main characters. I loved that there’s wasn’t many true good guys or bad guys; just people fighting for what they thought was right thinking they were the good guys. The dilemmas the king and the prince faced when it came to the rebels made me so intrigued. seeing things from multiple perspectives was a great choice! I love political intrigue, and this book scratched all of those itches. I highly recommend and I absolutely can not wait for the second book to come out!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, and Classism
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I am writing this review after rereading Defy the Night for a second time (date finished: 11/05/2023), in preparation for the sequel, Defend the Dawn.
I first read this book in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its height. Now, with the pandemic seemingly winding down - but by no means over - this novel remains as relevant now as it was then.
The premise for Night is a terrible fever that has swept through the fictional kingdom of Kandala, an illness for which there is only one known cure - the dried petals of a plant called Moonflower.
Kandala is a kingdom ruled essentially by two people: twenty-three-year-old King Harristan, and his brother, the King's Justice, Prince Corrick, four years his junior. The kingdom is composed of eight sectors, each of which is ruled over by consuls. Moonflower only grows in two of these sectors, hence, supply of its petals is strictly rationed among each sector, with only limited amounts available. Unless you have the means to purchase your own supply - which most of Kandala's citizens do not.
Unable to bear the suffering of those who cannot afford to buy more than is rationed, outlaw Tessa Cade and her friend Weston "Wes" Lark help as best they know how - they steal supplies of petals from the Royal Sector to distribute among the local people. Their mission is fraught with danger - the kingdom is cracking down on those who distribute the medicine illegally, particularly smugglers.
But as the illness spreads, and discontent grows among the population, how long will it be until a single spark will ignite into revolution?
The fictional situation that Kandala finds itself in has some powerful parallels with the real-life pandemic, particularly in terms of vaccine distribution - wealthier, first-world countries had the means to purchase enough supply for their citizens, whilst the poorer, third-world countries were left with very little or none at all.
Brigid Kemmerer's writing is strong and assured, deeply exploring the politics of Kandala, while giving its main characters space to learn and grow as people. I did find on the second reading that there was rather a lot of introspection from our POV characters, which slowed the pace considerably - and which went on for a bit too long. I believe that a better balance between these scenes and the more action-packed scenes was needed.
But overall, Defy the Night was a thought-provoking book with interesting parallels to our own recent history. Bring on Defend the Dawn!
I first read this book in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its height. Now, with the pandemic seemingly winding down - but by no means over - this novel remains as relevant now as it was then.
The premise for Night is a terrible fever that has swept through the fictional kingdom of Kandala, an illness for which there is only one known cure - the dried petals of a plant called Moonflower.
Kandala is a kingdom ruled essentially by two people: twenty-three-year-old King Harristan, and his brother, the King's Justice, Prince Corrick, four years his junior. The kingdom is composed of eight sectors, each of which is ruled over by consuls. Moonflower only grows in two of these sectors, hence, supply of its petals is strictly rationed among each sector, with only limited amounts available. Unless you have the means to purchase your own supply - which most of Kandala's citizens do not.
Unable to bear the suffering of those who cannot afford to buy more than is rationed, outlaw Tessa Cade and her friend Weston "Wes" Lark help as best they know how - they steal supplies of petals from the Royal Sector to distribute among the local people. Their mission is fraught with danger - the kingdom is cracking down on those who distribute the medicine illegally, particularly smugglers.
But as the illness spreads, and discontent grows among the population, how long will it be until a single spark will ignite into revolution?
The fictional situation that Kandala finds itself in has some powerful parallels with the real-life pandemic, particularly in terms of vaccine distribution - wealthier, first-world countries had the means to purchase enough supply for their citizens, whilst the poorer, third-world countries were left with very little or none at all.
Brigid Kemmerer's writing is strong and assured, deeply exploring the politics of Kandala, while giving its main characters space to learn and grow as people. I did find on the second reading that there was rather a lot of introspection from our POV characters, which slowed the pace considerably - and which went on for a bit too long. I believe that a better balance between these scenes and the more action-packed scenes was needed.
But overall, Defy the Night was a thought-provoking book with interesting parallels to our own recent history. Bring on Defend the Dawn!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Gore
Minor: Pregnancy
Spoiler
The plot of this novel revolves around a mysterious, highly infectious illness, which does draw comparisons with the current COVID-19 pandemic. There are also themes of inequality, as the only cure for the illness - the petals from a fictional species of flower - are highly expensive to procure.kayladaila's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
3.0
I received an ARC of Defy the Night from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Defy the Night is a dual perspective fantasy story. A deadly fever has broken out in Kandala. Tessa and a masked man named Wes smuggle medicine from the upper class citizens to the poor working class who can’t afford it on their own. Meanwhile, the king’s younger brother Corrick is viciously protect the kingdom by any means necessary.
This story was very slow until a quarter of the way through. I enjoyed all the characters, but the story of a fever and class war hit way too close to home. This book was intense!
Defy the Night is a dual perspective fantasy story. A deadly fever has broken out in Kandala. Tessa and a masked man named Wes smuggle medicine from the upper class citizens to the poor working class who can’t afford it on their own. Meanwhile, the king’s younger brother Corrick is viciously protect the kingdom by any means necessary.
This story was very slow until a quarter of the way through. I enjoyed all the characters, but the story of a fever and class war hit way too close to home. This book was intense!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: War
Minor: Alcoholism
chaptersofmads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Terminal illness, Vomit, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death
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