dragon_lion64's review against another edition
5.0
Born of Defiance
Everyone knows that Sherrilyn Kenyon is my FAVORITE author of all time and I read everything she writes. I’m a huge fan but probably not as gung-ho as some of her other fans. Her Facebook page always has people dressing up as her characters (mainly Simi from the Dark Hunter series) and even getting tattoos…Now that is some sincere idol worship. I’m too fat to dress up as Simi and too poor to get a tattoo but I have drawn a few of the characters before. Maybe I’ll share them one day when I find them in my overstuffed garage.
This book is the 7th book in ‘The League’ series. Well, it is the 8th according to Goodreads but the 7th according to Amazon and the 9th according to Sherrilyn Kenyon's website. Since there are two timelines in the League Series which Sherrilyn describes and Gen 1 and Gen 2, the reading order could vary.
There is some complicated things going on in this book. It’s been just under a year since I’ve read the previous book in the series so I had to remember who some of the characters were and try to figure out when this book happened in the timeline of the story. Sherrilyn has built up a complex world here with many planets, humanoid species and governments. To govern it all, The League was formed when a tyrant tried to rule the solar system. The League became full of corruption though and became a tyrant in itself. It has trained assassins who work with various governments across the planets who go out and kill anyone who opposes them. Because of the corruption, a new alliance was formed to fight against the injustices of The League called the Sentella made up of various species and classes of people, most hide their identities and keep up their own lives outside of the Sentella.
The last book in this series was about Dancer Hauk, an Andarian. It went into the culture, society and politics of the Andarian race which is pretty messed up, mostly because of their corrupt royal family and their twisted rules and beliefs.
This book is about Talyn Batur. Talyn was born a bastard whose father is an outcast and like most societies, bastards get treated poorly but his father was from one of the greatest bloodlines of his people and if just one of his paternal family members would have stepped forward and claimed him, he would have high up in society. His mother is of a great bloodline, the Winged Blood Clan Batur, but that doesn’t help him much. Talyn has suffered the ridicule and rules of his people all of his life. He had to attend school with another race of people who hated Andarians. He entered the military but because of his low birth, the only way he could advance was to agree to fight in the public arena. He is the champion of that sport now but it doesn’t do him much good now that he has a new commanding officer who hates him. His C.O., Chrisen Anatole, is the great nephew of the queen and enjoys messing with Talyn and making his life hell.
It is illegal for Talyn to ever marry or have children. Most whore houses won’t even allow Talyn to enter because of his low status. Every relationship in Andaria requires a contract whether it be a couple living together or a marriage so when Talyn sees an ad with a beautiful woman on it for a companion agency, he contacts the agency for a contract with her.
Felicia is also a bastard but her father claimed her and she was born while her mother and father were in a legal contract. Her father is an advisor to the queen and has a high standing in society. He was married but contracted with Felicia’s mother as a legal companion. Felicia wants to be a physician and has decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps to become a companion in order to pay for her schooling and since there isn’t many other options open for a person of her caste.
She jumps at the chance to contract with Talyn because her agency is trying to force her to accept another contract with a male who, when interviewing her, treated her awful and refused most of her requests that she was asking for in her contract. Most males seeking a companion are either older married men or men with cruel steaks who can’t get anyone else. Talyn accepted all of her requests and was super nice, not to mention hot.
Talyn and Felicia have an immediate attraction and start to fall for one another but his C.O. starts making trouble for them. His C.O. already hates him. What Talyn doesn’t know is why. Chrisen knows who Talyn’s father is and knows that by right, if anyone from the great family of the War Hauks had claimed him, Talyn would be higher up on the food chain of society than he is and he is threatened by that. He messes with Talyn’s check-in times which makes Talyn late. Whenever he is late, he gets beaten and it goes on his record. He’s making Talyn look like a disciplinary nightmare. Talyn learns that Chrisen is abusing the females at the base. When Talyn sticks up for them, the females, who up until that moment had always sneered and looked down on him, all salute him and one of them even backs him up on a battle against an enemy but it pisses Chrisen off so bad that he shoots Talyn’s ship out of the air. Talyn ends up in the hospital. Everyone knows what happened but no one can do anything about it.
Now, Chrisen is trying to buy out Felicia’s contract with her agency. If he gets ahold of Felicia he will surely kill her or maim her. Chrisen also has had Talyn arrested and deported him to a planet that is practically uninhabitable. Some of the animals and humanoid species who live there are deformed from all the chemical warfare. Chrisen, his brother and the crown prince had Talyn’s legs broken and dropped him off on the planet to die.
I finished this book in a day because I just couldn’t put it down. It sounds so cliché to say, “I couldn’t put it down.” But it the truth.
The next book is about Fain, Talyn’s father, who we have seen in other books but don’t know a lot about him except that he is an outcast from Andarian society. He has always fought for the good guys and he just didn’t seem like the kind of man who would leave his son but that is what he did according to this book. Sherrilyn Kenyon is a master of making tortured heroes and making someone seem bad from another character’s viewpoint and then when their story is written, they are actually a hero….just look at Acheron and Styxx in the Dark Hunter series.
Anyway, I’m super excited for the next book, Born of Betrayal, which comes out in November.
Everyone knows that Sherrilyn Kenyon is my FAVORITE author of all time and I read everything she writes. I’m a huge fan but probably not as gung-ho as some of her other fans. Her Facebook page always has people dressing up as her characters (mainly Simi from the Dark Hunter series) and even getting tattoos…Now that is some sincere idol worship. I’m too fat to dress up as Simi and too poor to get a tattoo but I have drawn a few of the characters before. Maybe I’ll share them one day when I find them in my overstuffed garage.
This book is the 7th book in ‘The League’ series. Well, it is the 8th according to Goodreads but the 7th according to Amazon and the 9th according to Sherrilyn Kenyon's website. Since there are two timelines in the League Series which Sherrilyn describes and Gen 1 and Gen 2, the reading order could vary.
There is some complicated things going on in this book. It’s been just under a year since I’ve read the previous book in the series so I had to remember who some of the characters were and try to figure out when this book happened in the timeline of the story. Sherrilyn has built up a complex world here with many planets, humanoid species and governments. To govern it all, The League was formed when a tyrant tried to rule the solar system. The League became full of corruption though and became a tyrant in itself. It has trained assassins who work with various governments across the planets who go out and kill anyone who opposes them. Because of the corruption, a new alliance was formed to fight against the injustices of The League called the Sentella made up of various species and classes of people, most hide their identities and keep up their own lives outside of the Sentella.
The last book in this series was about Dancer Hauk, an Andarian. It went into the culture, society and politics of the Andarian race which is pretty messed up, mostly because of their corrupt royal family and their twisted rules and beliefs.
This book is about Talyn Batur. Talyn was born a bastard whose father is an outcast and like most societies, bastards get treated poorly but his father was from one of the greatest bloodlines of his people and if just one of his paternal family members would have stepped forward and claimed him, he would have high up in society. His mother is of a great bloodline, the Winged Blood Clan Batur, but that doesn’t help him much. Talyn has suffered the ridicule and rules of his people all of his life. He had to attend school with another race of people who hated Andarians. He entered the military but because of his low birth, the only way he could advance was to agree to fight in the public arena. He is the champion of that sport now but it doesn’t do him much good now that he has a new commanding officer who hates him. His C.O., Chrisen Anatole, is the great nephew of the queen and enjoys messing with Talyn and making his life hell.
It is illegal for Talyn to ever marry or have children. Most whore houses won’t even allow Talyn to enter because of his low status. Every relationship in Andaria requires a contract whether it be a couple living together or a marriage so when Talyn sees an ad with a beautiful woman on it for a companion agency, he contacts the agency for a contract with her.
Felicia is also a bastard but her father claimed her and she was born while her mother and father were in a legal contract. Her father is an advisor to the queen and has a high standing in society. He was married but contracted with Felicia’s mother as a legal companion. Felicia wants to be a physician and has decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps to become a companion in order to pay for her schooling and since there isn’t many other options open for a person of her caste.
She jumps at the chance to contract with Talyn because her agency is trying to force her to accept another contract with a male who, when interviewing her, treated her awful and refused most of her requests that she was asking for in her contract. Most males seeking a companion are either older married men or men with cruel steaks who can’t get anyone else. Talyn accepted all of her requests and was super nice, not to mention hot.
Talyn and Felicia have an immediate attraction and start to fall for one another but his C.O. starts making trouble for them. His C.O. already hates him. What Talyn doesn’t know is why. Chrisen knows who Talyn’s father is and knows that by right, if anyone from the great family of the War Hauks had claimed him, Talyn would be higher up on the food chain of society than he is and he is threatened by that. He messes with Talyn’s check-in times which makes Talyn late. Whenever he is late, he gets beaten and it goes on his record. He’s making Talyn look like a disciplinary nightmare. Talyn learns that Chrisen is abusing the females at the base. When Talyn sticks up for them, the females, who up until that moment had always sneered and looked down on him, all salute him and one of them even backs him up on a battle against an enemy but it pisses Chrisen off so bad that he shoots Talyn’s ship out of the air. Talyn ends up in the hospital. Everyone knows what happened but no one can do anything about it.
Now, Chrisen is trying to buy out Felicia’s contract with her agency. If he gets ahold of Felicia he will surely kill her or maim her. Chrisen also has had Talyn arrested and deported him to a planet that is practically uninhabitable. Some of the animals and humanoid species who live there are deformed from all the chemical warfare. Chrisen, his brother and the crown prince had Talyn’s legs broken and dropped him off on the planet to die.
I finished this book in a day because I just couldn’t put it down. It sounds so cliché to say, “I couldn’t put it down.” But it the truth.
The next book is about Fain, Talyn’s father, who we have seen in other books but don’t know a lot about him except that he is an outcast from Andarian society. He has always fought for the good guys and he just didn’t seem like the kind of man who would leave his son but that is what he did according to this book. Sherrilyn Kenyon is a master of making tortured heroes and making someone seem bad from another character’s viewpoint and then when their story is written, they are actually a hero….just look at Acheron and Styxx in the Dark Hunter series.
Anyway, I’m super excited for the next book, Born of Betrayal, which comes out in November.
whitney0498's review against another edition
5.0
I have been provided with a review copy of Born of Defiance from the publisher St. Martin’s Press for an impartial review. This book just made me want to cry with everything that was going on throughout it. I absolutely fell in love with Talyn Batur and Felicia and getting to see their journey through this tough world was truly amazing. Born of Defiance is the ninth book in The League: Nemesis rising series and it is very interesting that instead of picking up around the same time that the eighth book in The League series Born of Fury ended it goes back in time to where the series started and takes place at the same time as Born of Night. It was really interesting to see because there were certain details that would take you back to Born of Night and things would just become so much clearer. I’m absolutely loving this series and I can’t wait to read the next one.
megg_west's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
somewherelostinbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Just finished Born of Defiance. I need Born of Betrayal. Now. Right now. Can't wait for Fain's book and to see how it interacts with Talyn's story line. Loved it!!!
pixi_reads's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it! I'd be starting this book over if my TBR wasn't so daunting. This book is another great example of what family truly means, and what it means to love someone.
castranosis's review against another edition
3.0
Went into this book fairly blind, outside of the synopsis on the back. It seemed interesting. Even though it mentioned a companion in the synopsis, I couldn't help but groan a little bit internally over the insta-love between Felicia and Talyn. And for him to have not one but TWO recessive genes that were rare? On top of having the record he did fighting. Almost came across as a little stereotypical. But for the most part it was a fairly good read. Fairly good amounts of action and fighting.
Also didn't know that it was far into the series as it is. Almost want to get the previous books that lead up to these events. However, it seemed to work pretty well as a stand alone book.
Also didn't know that it was far into the series as it is. Almost want to get the previous books that lead up to these events. However, it seemed to work pretty well as a stand alone book.
danni_faith's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.0
I don't hate this but I do hate Talyn. This is the last of the series that I read so I love Fain Hauk + WILL NOT TOLERATE SLANDER OF THIS MAN.
Weird that this novel takes place during the events of BORN OF NIGHT + BORN OF FIRE.
Weird that this novel takes place during the events of BORN OF NIGHT + BORN OF FIRE.
amyiw's review against another edition
4.0
Solid very good 4
I really liked this but also realize why I didn't come back to catch up again. Kenyon is very hard on her characters and the injustice is so blatant and out of control, it is hard to except. So when our protagonist overcome and then fight back and are again kicked into the dust, it is hard to take. It is not full of a lot of humor and right now I would go for a light, silly, humorous read easily. This is emotional, heavy, and harsh, yet it is very good, with characters that you feel you know and get to love and want to win. When they do win, it is a relief like a friend has overcome the injustices and final got what he/she deserved.
So here we have Talyn and Felicia, and it follows the pattern of most of these stories with slightly differing situations. Bad people and circumstances hold down our couple and keep them from being together. They usually are tortured in some way and then with stops and starts, overcome the circumstances and horrid people.
This is set in a timeline that book 1, [b:Born of Night|2992061|Born of Night (The League Nemesis Rising #1)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549166388l/2992061._SY75_.jpg|1329454], Nykyrian's story is so we go back a step. Talyn is Fain Hawk's son but we aren't really sure, don't think that, Fain has any idea of Talyn.
So my main issues with the book is the same for most of these books, too many captures, tortures, healings, etc..., it starts to get to be "again?" in my mind or "not again, eye roll" as you see it coming. And the coming back from the brink of death? How many times in this one? Yep, it is going to happen just like in all the rest of the books. So going in we know these are very possible as they are go to plot points in this unfair universe. I still like the story and read them all the same.
This particular book has a HFN (happy for now) feel rather than a HEA due to the way it ends. I think I would find somewhere else to live because the Andarians suck. And hence my 4 stars. I'm not happy like I should be for them. This is a romance at the heart, yet it is an epic scifi too. Luckily no cliffhangers though we really want to know what happens to all the characters still.
I will definitely read on and catch up again in the series as I'm already putting the next to the top of my TBR.
I really liked this but also realize why I didn't come back to catch up again. Kenyon is very hard on her characters and the injustice is so blatant and out of control, it is hard to except. So when our protagonist overcome and then fight back and are again kicked into the dust, it is hard to take. It is not full of a lot of humor and right now I would go for a light, silly, humorous read easily. This is emotional, heavy, and harsh, yet it is very good, with characters that you feel you know and get to love and want to win. When they do win, it is a relief like a friend has overcome the injustices and final got what he/she deserved.
So here we have Talyn and Felicia, and it follows the pattern of most of these stories with slightly differing situations. Bad people and circumstances hold down our couple and keep them from being together. They usually are tortured in some way and then with stops and starts, overcome the circumstances and horrid people.
This is set in a timeline that book 1, [b:Born of Night|2992061|Born of Night (The League Nemesis Rising #1)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549166388l/2992061._SY75_.jpg|1329454], Nykyrian's story is so we go back a step. Talyn is Fain Hawk's son but we aren't really sure, don't think that, Fain has any idea of Talyn.
So my main issues with the book is the same for most of these books, too many captures, tortures, healings, etc..., it starts to get to be "again?" in my mind or "not again, eye roll" as you see it coming. And the coming back from the brink of death? How many times in this one? Yep, it is going to happen just like in all the rest of the books. So going in we know these are very possible as they are go to plot points in this unfair universe. I still like the story and read them all the same.
This particular book has a HFN (happy for now) feel rather than a HEA due to the way it ends.
Spoiler
They are not even allowed to live together more or less marry. And to have children, is against the law and he would be thrown into prison.I will definitely read on and catch up again in the series as I'm already putting the next to the top of my TBR.
xakyr's review against another edition
4.0
I started this before bed, and I couldn't put it down for the rest of the next day! I thought that it's really good overall, but a bit confusing, as I couldn't figure out who Talyn was supposed to be in relation to the larger canvas of characters for this series. We're eventually told who he is, but it kept nagging at me that we'd never heard of this character in previous books, as we had with others in the series. It also does a little reset of the universe as it goes back in time to prior to the events of [b:Born of Night|2992061|Born of Night (The League, #1)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440196941s/2992061.jpg|1329454]. Even then, those events are only mentioned in passing.
Talyn was a wonderful hero! Everyone expected him to be affected by the cruelties that had been heaped upon him, and were shocked when he was still a kind and decent being! I loved that side of him, and it really made him stand out among the heroes of this series.
We learn a lot about Andarion culture in this story, and not all of it good. It really hampered the relationship between Talyn and Felicia, and felt a bit like it was contrived conflict. I respected Felicia for wanting to stand with Talyn though, despite the laws against them!
This was a very interesting and engaging story to me! It really is not a stand alone story, so I definitely recommend reading the proceeding books. If it wasn't for all the confusion regarding Talyn himself, I'd give it 5 stars easily!
Talyn was a wonderful hero! Everyone expected him to be affected by the cruelties that had been heaped upon him, and were shocked when he was still a kind and decent being! I loved that side of him, and it really made him stand out among the heroes of this series.
We learn a lot about Andarion culture in this story, and not all of it good. It really hampered the relationship between Talyn and Felicia, and felt a bit like it was contrived conflict. I respected Felicia for wanting to stand with Talyn though, despite the laws against them!
This was a very interesting and engaging story to me! It really is not a stand alone story, so I definitely recommend reading the proceeding books. If it wasn't for all the confusion regarding Talyn himself, I'd give it 5 stars easily!