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addisonrutherford09's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? No
4.0
I thought this book was pretty good. The plot twist in the beginnig.. okay, sooooo goood!!! I was happy with that! I enjoyed how each chapter altrinated between the perspectives of Tessa and Corrick and that made the story more interesting. One thing I didn't enjoy about the book was how much castle politics there were incorporated into the story. It made it a bit confusing at times. The characters were well written and the writing was good quality. There was romance, but it was one of the two stoylines. I thought the romance was farely well written, but a bit dramatic.
Overall, I enjoyed this book amd would recommend it to anyone who likes a good romantacy!
Overall, I enjoyed this book amd would recommend it to anyone who likes a good romantacy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
In this book, there is a fair amount of violence with moderate discription of blood, dead bodies and death. The swearing is kept to a minimum and I remember there possibly being a few uses of damn, hell, shut, or ass. Characters drink alcohol. The romance does not go beyond kissing, but one kissing scene got a might bit "steamy". A female character stares at a male character when he removes his shirt. Sexual violence is discussed, but in no great detail.anavidreader_18's review against another edition
Honestly this book was quite dark and depressing from the start. The politics side was a bit confusing and not something I'm massively invested in. I might pick it up later when I can handle a bit more death and sadness because I think I needed to read something a bit more light-hearted. Nothing legitimately wrong with this book just not for me 🤷♀️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
middle_name_joy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.75
Though the main themes are beaten to a pulp by the end, this is a decent adventure story with characters you come to be invested in. There are slow sections, but there is also action and shifting loyalties and castle intrigue. Lots of gore, too. I'm going to need a romance cleanser before reading the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
thumbeleia's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
annelihghh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
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: Death, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
raineedayreader's review against another edition
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: Body horror, Death, Torture, Violence, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury
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, Violence, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Torture, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
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: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury
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: Child death, Death, and Death of parent