Defy book review

Defy by Sara B. Larson

After an attack that left her homeless, Alexa is forced to cut her hair and pretend to be a boy. She joins the King’s army and eventually works her way up the ranks until she is put on the Prince’s personal guard. After another attack that ends with her twin brother’s death, Alexa is kidnapped, along with the Prince, where several secrets are unveiled. A tale of magic, adventure and mystery, Defy is a book that promised a lot.

Promised, but didn’t deliver.

The adventures are subpar, Alexa starts off brilliantly, but quickly loses her shine and I’ve read better romance in obituaries.

What is perhaps most frustrating is that the idea behind the story held a lot of promise. The writing did not deliver.

The main character, Alexa started off great: she was funny, had great morals and a fierce attitude. But as soon as the love interest moved into the pages, she became a weepy, defenseless baby. It was upsetting to see the example she is setting for her readers: if you don’t have the boy, you don’t have anything. Her dramatics grew boring after the first 6 pages of it.

And the romance was perhaps the worst written of any book in Young Adult literature. It’s nowhere for the first few chapters and then all of the sudden they’re dying without each other. There was no friendship before the relationship, and that made it seem very forced.

The main male lead, Damian, was very weird. He felt bipolar personality-wise. He was very enjoyable to read about at the beginning of the book, as it appeared he was the only one with a sense of humor. But after he reveals his secrets, he slips into this intense and awkward character. Not great.

The ending was very quick. The whole book builds up to it, and then there’s just nothing cohesive.

Overall, the book was at best, briefly entertaining. This is the kind of book that people read between other books, simply to fill the time. If readers are interested in a storyline similar to this, but would like better writing, I would highly suggest Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.