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christinebeswick's review
3.0
My first thought was to give it 4 stars, but, on second thoughts, I think I would probably give it somewhere between 3 and 4, possibly 3.5.
Although based on an interesting premise and very thought provoking, it’s definitely not for the faint hearted! The story moves from violent, bloody scene to violent, bloody scene with not much time for a breather in between. A stark view of humanity’s cruelty and of the destructive power of the mind
Although based on an interesting premise and very thought provoking, it’s definitely not for the faint hearted! The story moves from violent, bloody scene to violent, bloody scene with not much time for a breather in between. A stark view of humanity’s cruelty and of the destructive power of the mind
steveinadelaide's review
dark
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
DEFENDER, by G X Todd, is beautifully written in terms of language but the plot doesn't do much development in relation to the Voices of the series' title. You could almost take out the dialogue between the Voice when it communicates with the individuals who have it, and the plot would still stand on its own. So, if you're looking for a well-written road journey with a post-apocalyptic survival theme, you may very well enjoy it. But the lack of focus on the overall premise of the series was disappointing.
The characters of Pilgrim and Lacey are developed well, and the constant survival and interpersonal challenges are written in a likeable way including their human flaws and complexities. Most of the story is told in a linear unfolding of events with the occasional switch to other characters' perspectives of some events.
It's a slow read and I eventually got to the point of wishing it were over. I won't be continuing to read the rest of the series. Overall, average.
The characters of Pilgrim and Lacey are developed well, and the constant survival and interpersonal challenges are written in a likeable way including their human flaws and complexities. Most of the story is told in a linear unfolding of events with the occasional switch to other characters' perspectives of some events.
It's a slow read and I eventually got to the point of wishing it were over. I won't be continuing to read the rest of the series. Overall, average.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
yolosaurus's review
4.0
Edit 31/3 - 18: After some thinking, I decided to redact a star because of the ending. While the ending did leave me affected, it felt... unnecessary, and not completely dealt with either. Not in the sense of "it'll be dealt with in the next book", but in "let's ignore it", which was not something that happened ever in the rest of the book.
Ho boy, where to start. Bear with me, this might be a long one.
Okay, so from the beginning I had very little intention to read this book. I had seen the cover in the bookstore, and had become intrigued, but sadly the price scared me away. I just wasn't caught by the synopsis to spend the money. But today I'd buy the hardback at full price in a heartbeat.
I managed to snag one a paperback for a whooping 4$ at a book sale, and boy am I glad I did. What I didn't think would be an all that entertaining read turned out to be a book I could barely put down. I read it in two days, which for me is super fast.
Now, onto what you guys probably care about, instead of my ramblings.
Story
The story is about Lacey and Pilgrim, two souls that meet under a set of circumstances, and learn from one another. It's really the best description I can give, without spoiling the story. It might not sound like a very interesting read, but this book is packed with action from the moment you open it to the last page. I bore incredibly easy with books, and tend to be ready to put down a book after half the pages. But not this one, no sir.
The story is split up so that you follow two main characters. Most of the time the main parts focus on one of the characters, with one of the chapters of that part being from the other character's POV. It made for an interesting read, yet never dragged it down, as the intermixing POV:s only described a short part that was overlapping.
I'd say this one is a post-apocalyptic world, with lots of action but also gore. You cannot escape it, and if you're squeamish this might be a difficult read for you.
A warning for those that are looking for any triggers, hidden under a spoiler mention:
Characters
There were two main characters, and one supporting character, whereas one was male and the other two female. What I loved was that they were all strong, yet different, characters with their own distinct personality.
The male is Pilgrim, a man hardened by the world and very much good at surviving in it.
The female lead is Lacey, a teenager that has been sheltered from the world, but is hellbent on getting to a certain destination.
These characters seem so alive, and they grow on you rapidly.
Conclusion
This book had me in tears at the end, and even before finishing the book, I were looking to buy the next installment in the series. (Thankfully, it's coming out in May 31 2018! I've already pre-ordered it.) It's a definitive recommended read for me for anyone that enjoys post-apocalyptic worlds, not too far off the world of Mad Max, the first movie.
This book gets the seal of approval
Ho boy, where to start. Bear with me, this might be a long one.
Okay, so from the beginning I had very little intention to read this book. I had seen the cover in the bookstore, and had become intrigued, but sadly the price scared me away. I just wasn't caught by the synopsis to spend the money. But today I'd buy the hardback at full price in a heartbeat.
I managed to snag one a paperback for a whooping 4$ at a book sale, and boy am I glad I did. What I didn't think would be an all that entertaining read turned out to be a book I could barely put down. I read it in two days, which for me is super fast.
Now, onto what you guys probably care about, instead of my ramblings.
Story
The story is about Lacey and Pilgrim, two souls that meet under a set of circumstances, and learn from one another. It's really the best description I can give, without spoiling the story. It might not sound like a very interesting read, but this book is packed with action from the moment you open it to the last page. I bore incredibly easy with books, and tend to be ready to put down a book after half the pages. But not this one, no sir.
The story is split up so that you follow two main characters. Most of the time the main parts focus on one of the characters, with one of the chapters of that part being from the other character's POV. It made for an interesting read, yet never dragged it down, as the intermixing POV:s only described a short part that was overlapping.
I'd say this one is a post-apocalyptic world, with lots of action but also gore. You cannot escape it, and if you're squeamish this might be a difficult read for you.
A warning for those that are looking for any triggers, hidden under a spoiler mention:
Spoiler
Some things to keep in mind that there is a lot of gore, animal abuse, and are mentions of and attempted rape. The two latter are only mentioned once, but if you're really affected by such things this might be a good thing to keep in mind.Characters
There were two main characters, and one supporting character, whereas one was male and the other two female. What I loved was that they were all strong, yet different, characters with their own distinct personality.
The male is Pilgrim, a man hardened by the world and very much good at surviving in it.
The female lead is Lacey, a teenager that has been sheltered from the world, but is hellbent on getting to a certain destination.
These characters seem so alive, and they grow on you rapidly.
Conclusion
This book had me in tears at the end, and even before finishing the book, I were looking to buy the next installment in the series. (Thankfully, it's coming out in May 31 2018! I've already pre-ordered it.) It's a definitive recommended read for me for anyone that enjoys post-apocalyptic worlds, not too far off the world of Mad Max, the first movie.
This book gets the seal of approval
barnesm31's review
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
G/X Todd's debut Defender is standout in the rich field of post-apocalyptic literature thanks to interesting characters with heart and the high-concept genre conceit of independent inner voice based on the phycological concept of the bicameral mind.
These inner voices are hinted as a possible source of the breakdown of civilization through several years later is a muddled one at best.
Like many post-apocalyptic tales this one has sparse populations most of which involve encounters with the mad, the violent or a combination of both. Down these mean dusty pathways stumbles a taciturn loner called Pilgrim who is not himself mean, as he travels through ruined America, accompanied by his (mostly) non-violent Voice. When they come across a headstrong teenage girl named Lacey who’s determined to travel east to find her sister, Pilgrim agrees to give her a ride. However, it’s a dangerous world out there, especially when you get tangled up with a terrifying gang of Voice-hunting survivors.
A welcome introduction to an interesting series.
hope_lenzen's review
5.0
This book was amazing...
Such an original plot. Not to mention the plot twists and turns and I just didn't see anything coming.
Loved it. Beyond words.
Such an original plot. Not to mention the plot twists and turns and I just didn't see anything coming.
Loved it. Beyond words.
shellshellyshellshell's review
4.0
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.
Society has broken down after a large percentage of the population suddenly started hearing voices, then killing themselves and/or each other. Where the voices came from or what they want is not explained. After all this is only the first in a four book series, so there are a lot of unanswered questions. Pretty brutal, even horrific in places, which just about prevents the book from sliding into the Young Adult genre. A gripping post apocalyptic survival tale that leaves you gagging for the next instalment.
Society has broken down after a large percentage of the population suddenly started hearing voices, then killing themselves and/or each other. Where the voices came from or what they want is not explained. After all this is only the first in a four book series, so there are a lot of unanswered questions. Pretty brutal, even horrific in places, which just about prevents the book from sliding into the Young Adult genre. A gripping post apocalyptic survival tale that leaves you gagging for the next instalment.
ellemo's review
4.0
I received a free eARC edition of this novel courtesy of Headline Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, the premise itself intrigued me but I was unsure of what to expect.
What I received was a poignant story, absorbing and with a definite kick of thrill throughout. I was shocked to find how bloody and gruesome some of the scenes within it got (with violent deaths ), slightly forgetting that I had strayed away from my usual YA genres. But those scenes definitely worked within the idea of the novel. One would not expect the semi-post-apocalyptic (??) world to be full of sunshine and rainbows.
The writing had me turning pages like a madwoman, it was honestly probably the book's greatest asset, especially when things started to fall apart slightly plot wise towards the middle of the book. I have to admit I did skim-read quite a few pages, and yet I didn't feel like I was lost after returning to my normal reading manner. But that issue seemed to be resolved towards the end of the book, and I can definitely say that I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning and the end of the novel.
I liked the concept of the voice and grew rather fond of it as the story progressed and it turned out that it wasn't a totally awful thing. However, I feel like this book had very little explanation as to how these voices came to be and even less on how the human race had lost the ability to think in the first place. But I guess there will be future books, and I hope that these questions will be addressed within those.
Lacey was a pleasant protagonist, albeit slightly naive at times - but that could be explained by the fact that she was so isolated from all the problems that she later encountered and so took a while to adjust to everything. The addition of Pilgrim to the story definitely helped to develop her character, and I loved the wit and jokes that they shared throughout.
The lack of romance didn't stop me from shipping Pilgrim and Lacey (and Lacey with Alex), although simultaneously I was really glad that there were no canon relationships because it meant that the plot had no reason to stray away into realms of silly romantic drama in the midst of the whole world wanting them dead.
There were definitely a few things I didn't expect throughout. The cat is an incident that Todd will NOT be forgiven for, not until my last dying breath. There was also a plot twist that I really didn't see coming, which was commendable; it left my mind reeling a little.
I will definitely be looking to read the subsequent books when they release, and would definitely recommend this novel to fans of dystopian fiction which doesn't even try to sugarcoat the morbid reality.
My Rating: 3.75 / 5 Stars
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, the premise itself intrigued me but I was unsure of what to expect.
What I received was a poignant story, absorbing and with a definite kick of thrill throughout. I was shocked to find how bloody and gruesome some of the scenes within it got (with violent deaths ), slightly forgetting that I had strayed away from my usual YA genres. But those scenes definitely worked within the idea of the novel. One would not expect the semi-post-apocalyptic (??) world to be full of sunshine and rainbows.
The writing had me turning pages like a madwoman, it was honestly probably the book's greatest asset, especially when things started to fall apart slightly plot wise towards the middle of the book. I have to admit I did skim-read quite a few pages, and yet I didn't feel like I was lost after returning to my normal reading manner. But that issue seemed to be resolved towards the end of the book, and I can definitely say that I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning and the end of the novel.
I liked the concept of the voice and grew rather fond of it as the story progressed and it turned out that it wasn't a totally awful thing. However, I feel like this book had very little explanation as to how these voices came to be and even less on how the human race had lost the ability to think in the first place. But I guess there will be future books, and I hope that these questions will be addressed within those.
Lacey was a pleasant protagonist, albeit slightly naive at times - but that could be explained by the fact that she was so isolated from all the problems that she later encountered and so took a while to adjust to everything. The addition of Pilgrim to the story definitely helped to develop her character, and I loved the wit and jokes that they shared throughout.
The lack of romance didn't stop me from shipping Pilgrim and Lacey (and Lacey with Alex), although simultaneously I was really glad that there were no canon relationships because it meant that the plot had no reason to stray away into realms of silly romantic drama in the midst of the whole world wanting them dead.
There were definitely a few things I didn't expect throughout. The cat is an incident that Todd will NOT be forgiven for, not until my last dying breath. There was also a plot twist that I really didn't see coming, which was commendable; it left my mind reeling a little.
I will definitely be looking to read the subsequent books when they release, and would definitely recommend this novel to fans of dystopian fiction which doesn't even try to sugarcoat the morbid reality.
My Rating: 3.75 / 5 Stars
keeperofpages's review
4.0
“What if the voice in your head didn’t belong to you?
‘On the cusp of sleep, have we not all heard a voice call out our name?’”
Defender is an action-packed, adventure novel; Pilgrim and Lacey travel through the wastelands, everyone they meet is a potential threat – who hears a voice that isn’t their own and who can be trusted?
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and was caught up in the adventure of it all. This novel had shades of Bird Box, in the sense that the majority of civilisation had been wiped out due to hearing voices that made them kill others and themselves. But Defender is not a horror novel, it’s very much a post-apocalyptic thriller with some fantastic action scenes.
The main protagonists are extremely likeable and you root for them from the very beginning. Lacey is a wonderful character, still a teenager but her bravery and strength is second to none. All she wants is a ride to another town to find her sister; she hasn’t left her house in years and is about to get the shock of her life when she sees how the world is now. Pilgrim is very much the protector of the group, although he doesn’t share much about himself, you can see his kind and caring nature under his ‘loner’ persona and you warm to him very quickly. He and Lacey had a very endearing relationship, a chance meeting in a dangerous world where a glass of lemonade is shared, quickly becomes a heart-warming friendship, where one never leaves the other behind. Voice, as in a voice that lives inside your head, is very much its own character – even declaring that its happy to be called Voice – a great character who injected some much appreciated dark humour into this novel.
“His eyes were unflinching. The guy would make a good poker player.
Or serial killer, Voice said faintly”
Along the way, Alex, joins the trio on their journey and very quickly becomes a staple part of the group. For some reason, I never really took to her character the way I suspect I was meant to. I just didn’t trust her; it turned out to be a good thing because it added an extra level of tension to the read because I was always second-guessing her, wondering if she would betray the group.
I really liked the descriptive detail in this novel, Todd created a wasteland you can visualise, with some great enemies for the quartet to encounter. There were a few shocking moments along the way that left me never knowing where this plot was going, thus making it a wild ride indeed.
Defender is the first novel in a four-part series, so while the book clearly ends, the story is not over but Todd chose a good point to end the novel, wrapping up one adventure and starting another – enough to leave me eagerly awaiting book 2: Hunted. As this is the first book in a series, there are more questions than answers, which I’m sure will be addressed in future books. However, I would have liked a little bit more information about the enemy the quartet are facing, I wasn’t entirely sure of the enemy’s end goal. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this novel and will for sure be reading book two!
*My thanks to the publisher (Headline) for providing me with a copy of this book via Book Bridgr*
‘On the cusp of sleep, have we not all heard a voice call out our name?’”
Defender is an action-packed, adventure novel; Pilgrim and Lacey travel through the wastelands, everyone they meet is a potential threat – who hears a voice that isn’t their own and who can be trusted?
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and was caught up in the adventure of it all. This novel had shades of Bird Box, in the sense that the majority of civilisation had been wiped out due to hearing voices that made them kill others and themselves. But Defender is not a horror novel, it’s very much a post-apocalyptic thriller with some fantastic action scenes.
The main protagonists are extremely likeable and you root for them from the very beginning. Lacey is a wonderful character, still a teenager but her bravery and strength is second to none. All she wants is a ride to another town to find her sister; she hasn’t left her house in years and is about to get the shock of her life when she sees how the world is now. Pilgrim is very much the protector of the group, although he doesn’t share much about himself, you can see his kind and caring nature under his ‘loner’ persona and you warm to him very quickly. He and Lacey had a very endearing relationship, a chance meeting in a dangerous world where a glass of lemonade is shared, quickly becomes a heart-warming friendship, where one never leaves the other behind. Voice, as in a voice that lives inside your head, is very much its own character – even declaring that its happy to be called Voice – a great character who injected some much appreciated dark humour into this novel.
“His eyes were unflinching. The guy would make a good poker player.
Or serial killer, Voice said faintly”
Along the way, Alex, joins the trio on their journey and very quickly becomes a staple part of the group. For some reason, I never really took to her character the way I suspect I was meant to. I just didn’t trust her; it turned out to be a good thing because it added an extra level of tension to the read because I was always second-guessing her, wondering if she would betray the group.
I really liked the descriptive detail in this novel, Todd created a wasteland you can visualise, with some great enemies for the quartet to encounter. There were a few shocking moments along the way that left me never knowing where this plot was going, thus making it a wild ride indeed.
Defender is the first novel in a four-part series, so while the book clearly ends, the story is not over but Todd chose a good point to end the novel, wrapping up one adventure and starting another – enough to leave me eagerly awaiting book 2: Hunted. As this is the first book in a series, there are more questions than answers, which I’m sure will be addressed in future books. However, I would have liked a little bit more information about the enemy the quartet are facing, I wasn’t entirely sure of the enemy’s end goal. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this novel and will for sure be reading book two!
*My thanks to the publisher (Headline) for providing me with a copy of this book via Book Bridgr*
ianjsimpson's review
4.0
Writing any kind of post-apocalyptic story must be quite daunting. What could possibly be said that hasn’t already been said before concerning the human condition once society collapses? One way around this is to invent a new way of bringing about the end of the world. In G X Todd’s debut novel Defender it appears to be the voices in people’s heads that drives them to murder and suicide, until only a few un-afflicted remain.
Continued here: https://theforgottengeek.wordpress.com/2016/10/08/defender-by-g-x-todd/
Continued here: https://theforgottengeek.wordpress.com/2016/10/08/defender-by-g-x-todd/
listeningtolit's review
4.0
Wow! What a novel!
With slight reminders of Enders Game and The Dark Tower this book had me hooked right from the beginning.
This book is fast-paced with excellent character development and a logical plot line. I loved the imagination shown by Todd and development of the vast post-apocalyptic world.
This is a rollicking good read and I am impatiently waiting for the second installment.
With slight reminders of Enders Game and The Dark Tower this book had me hooked right from the beginning.
This book is fast-paced with excellent character development and a logical plot line. I loved the imagination shown by Todd and development of the vast post-apocalyptic world.
This is a rollicking good read and I am impatiently waiting for the second installment.