Defiance (Defiance #1)
By C.J. Redwine
Genre: YA Dystopian???
Recommended Ages: 16+

While the other girls in the walled city-state of Baalboden learn to sew and dance, Rachel Adams learns to track and hunt. While they bend like reeds to the will of their male Protectors, she uses hers for sparring practice.

When Rachel’s father fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the city’s brutal Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector: her father’s apprentice, Logan—the boy she declared her love to and who turned her down two years before. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

The Gist:

Defiance is a well-paced (on average) adventure story about a young woman and her father’s apprentice trying to outwit the selfish and harsh Commander, all while trying to survive the Creature in the Wastelands. The realistic characters make the book enjoyable and I thought the story itself was pretty interesting and attention grabbing, though not the most gripping story I’ve ever heard.

What I Liked:

I was please to see that the characters felt real.  They had realistic personalities and struggles without becoming over the top or cliche. I actually loved the fire and rage inside Rachel.  It is an imperfection to be sure, but the kind I can get behind. Much better than a whiny, love-struck girl like we usually see in YA novels. I also loved that Logan was an inventor. It’s nice to see brawns and brains combined in a leading man.

The Commander was clearly the main villain and a villain he was. Evil, but with his own rationale behind it, even if it is a screwed up rationale. Those are my favorite villains, the ones you hate, yet kind of understand.

The tension in the beginning between Rachel and Logan was wonderful, exactly what I look for in romantic tension. Also, I appreciated that we were thrown right into the thick of things at the beginning. Right away we see a huge threat in the Commander and the main characters are given goals to achieve. It’s nice to not have to wait until halfway through the book to see things really start to take off.

What I Didn’t Like:

The story lagged for me in the middle. It felt like a wet blanket was thrown on the plot and things slowed down because of it. But that’s the only part of the book I felt slightly bored and anxious to get past.

I’m still confused about whether this is fantasy or dystopian (hence the question marks at the top).  I thought I remember them mentioning Earth at one point, yet there is this beast that doesn’t sound like something from Earth and they fight with swords and knives.  This leads me to believe a little more care could have been given to the world building.

LunasLuckyRating: 4/5 Lunas