Name: Defy the Night
Series: Defy the Night #1
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Kindle
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Noted Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Hidden Identities, Double Lives
Steam or Spice: Steamy
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster. Rifts between sectors have only worsened since a sickness began ravaging the land, and within the Royal Palace, the king holds a tenuous peace with a ruthless hand.
King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents’ shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King’s Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion–it’s the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate Moonflower petals, is severely limited.
Out in the Wilds, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her neighbors die, their suffering ignored by the unyielding royals. Every night, she and her best friend Wes risk their lives to steal Moonflower petals and distribute the elixir to those who need it most–but it’s still not enough.
As rumors spread that the cure no longer works and sparks of rebellion begin to flare, a particularly cruel act from the King’s Justice makes Tessa desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds upon her arrival makes her wonder if it’s even possible to fix Kandala without destroying it first.
Review:
Defy the Night was my answer on what to do one Saturday night when I couldn’t sleep. Before I knew it, I’d been reading for a couple of hours and was finally ready to sleep. I didn’t expect to wake up thinking of this book and craving more.
Naturally, I did the only sane thing and cancelled all my Sunday plans and curled up on the sofa with Defy the Night and a cup of tea. It was the best decision because 4 hours later I was done. I love it when my mood reading and the book absolutely connect beautifully as it does mean I typically finish reading within the day (sometimes longer depending on the size of the book / weekend vs work day).
Our FMC Tessa is an apothecary who is extremely frustrated by the fact that she can’t help more people fight the sickness that is plaguing their land. And so to combat this she embraces her inner Robin Hood (which the author noted was an inpsiration, so that tracks!) and steals the medcine from the rich and gives it to the poor along with her companion, Wes. Who, as a side note, introduces us to my new favourite flirty but not flirty quote:
“Mind your mettle, Tessa” – Wes
Things were running smoothly, though dangerous, until they weren’t. Obviously – it’s a YA book, nothing ever runs smoothly for long! And Tessa later finds herself captured in the castle after an attempt on the King’s life is made, and she’s blamed for it. She makes herself useful and so that is to say, she isn’t killed – then we follow her on the wonderful mystery Brigid Kemmerer crafted. There were politics, morally grey characters, romance (and steam!) and it just doesn’t stop.
I loved that the book was in two POVs: Tessa and Corrick – I prefer this to having to read a .5 novella / novel later that is essentially chapters from Book 1 just in the other POV. Tessa’s POV was this village girl having to navigate court life in a way that kept her safe and helped her figure out what was really going on.
Corrick’s POV gave us the insight into court life as he was the King’s Justice (which means he all had the nasty jobs) which had earned him the nickname Cruel Corrick. And so we saw the moral dilemma that Corrick faced every day and this was rather refreshing, I enjoyed the way the author wrote Corrick’s chapters, a lot.
As well as our two main characters, Brigid had a cast of side characters crafted. Quint, Corrick’s friend, provided banter and quips which were largely enjoyable as well as being a genuine friend – he wasn’t just comic relief and then tossed the side. I found myself wanting more of Quint. Quint along with our two MCs really had me growing attached to them! They were so well written and fleshed out that I grerw attached!
On the other hand, there were certainly some characters that I did not grow attached to. I have a particular hatred for one specific Consul and I hope nasty things happen to him, as he would deserve it. There were a couple of Consul’s that were mentioned and developed a bit, but they still mostly remain a mystery.
Click me for a spoiler on the hidden identity
From the moment we heard “Wes” while Tessa was captured in the castle, I knew immediately this book was going to be for me. Prince Corrick was revealed to be the character we had already grown to love, Wes – otherwise known as Tessa’s ‘Robin Hood’ companion. And I was absolutely on board with the idea of Cruel Corrick being sweet and caring Wes. That being said, once we were introduced to Corrick I didn’t find myself craving Wes chapters – I really liked Corrick as a character…
All in all, I loved Defy the Night – I thought the world was well fleshed out for a first book without just lore dumping on us at every opportunity. I feel like the characters were developing nicely with further room for more development in the sequel. The writing is easy-going, simple, and that is part of its power. It is much easier to grip your reader if they aren’t having to google for definitions of words, or re-read sections that are too damn wordy or descriptive. I found nothing to not love about Defy the Night.
“True strength is not determined by how brutal you can be… True leadership is not determined by killing those who oppose you.” – Tessa
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