Series: Defy
Release Date: January 7th, 2014
Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king’s army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince’s guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can’t prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.
The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she’s sworn to protect?
• Death of family
• Grief
• PTSD
• Violence (Blood, gore and use of fire)
• No OW
• Does have OM
– The Heroine’s best friend is in love with her
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.75/5 stars
I’ve been wanting to read a fabulous adventure and action story for a while now, and the fact that the female main character is the best fighter in the novel is freaking awesome.
Defy is about a girl forced to pretend to be a boy (now being twin brother instead of twin sister to her brother) to protect herself from sexual servitude. Having been in the king’s army since they were brought from their war-ravaged home, Alexa–now known as Alex–and her brother has been on the Prince’s guard for the past year, kicking ass.
The best part of Defy, I think, is that Alexa was so believable in her act of being a boy. There honestly were times that I even imagined Alexa–I mean Alex–as he rather than she. The writing drew me into the story and was almost lyrical with how fluid it was from scene to scene. A shock was discovering that this was the author, Sara B. Larson’s debut novel. Larson was able to create a completely realistic world where Alex had no idea who she could trust as it quickly becomes evident that there’s more going on than she knows.
And of course, there’s a romance … which would typically be hard to create because Alex is supposed to be a boy to everyone, and her love interests are straight. So having a romance, let alone a love triangle was tricky to create, but it isn’t until the prince gets captured, along with her and her fellow guard and close friend Rylan, that she realizes that there’s maybe more potential than just friendship.
Another aspect that I adored about Defy was that the plot was so well written that I couldn’t guess what was going to happen. Sure there are some places where foreshadowing hints at the future events, but the writing kept me present, so much so that I didn’t really pause to think about what the plot twists would be. Basically, everything that was a surprise for Alexa was a surprise for me, and I felt Alexa’s frustration, betrayal and fear continuously throughout the story.
I have to say that I’m SO happy that Defy is the start of a series, because although the ending was realistic … it was too realistic. I’m literally saying to the book: “You can’t end that way.” So phew on that part. And we get more of Alexa! Awesomesauce is what I say to that.
Overall I was amazingly pleased with this book and can’t wait until the second book in the Defy series, Ignite which btw is set to be released January 5th, 2015.
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