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
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: 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
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
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
zozo_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
4.5
Great world building did sort of expect the ending though. There was a plot twist in the beginning that I would have never expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse and Child death
librarianheaven's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
This has to be one of my biggest favourite books of all time. This was the first book I read when I started getting into reading and book collecting, I cried a lot and the plot twist was great!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Torture, and Child death
Minor: Chronic 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
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Child death, and Torture
Minor: Chronic illness