Reviews with content warning for Rape - Defy the Night

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Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

6 reviews

ernea_navish's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The start of the book was a little bit hard to read and focus. It has dual POV and it switched basically every chapter and with short chapters it made it harder for me to get absorbed in the characters. But when there was more action it got easier and better.

The romance story-line of the book was perfectly written. Considering all the circumstances Tessa had to face, nothing about the romance felt forced, it just felt natural.
Especially since she was betrayed and did not trust so easily right away, I liked that part.

The story had a good balance of romance and politics. It wasn't heavily focused on just one thing, and it never interrupted a flow of one or another.

However, I feel like the plot twists were easy to spot way long before they happened. Sometimes, the foreshadowing was too obvious and it ruined a few scenes to me. Hard to say if it was actually a foreshadowing or if the plot was just too predictable. But even thought, it was still enjoyable read.

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mzmegara's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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takarakei's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Robin Hood inspired
court politics
herbal medicine
angsty romance
revolution rumblings
brotherhood

Protect my poor baby Corrick! I love him so much. I was just getting back into my YA Fantasy era when I first read this a year ago, and coming back to it made me love it even more!

1/5 🌶️

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pauline_ljm_iii's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just— stunning. This is one of those books that makes us writers ache to write something so good. Sophisticated, compelling, strong on all fronts. Corrick’s arc was just beautiful.

My favourite part about this was the emotions, and how believably they are written. Tessa, the fmc, is an emotional person, and I usually struggle to connect with these character types because they can easily turn melodramatic, but I think Tessa’s were done brilliantly. Worth studying to learn how to do.
The romance was very well-done. Tessa starts off as almost an item with her crush, which prevents instalove quite effectively, and their relational dynamic encounters some interesting obstacles and develops through that conflict in a fascinating way. The end result is very believable. It also wasn’t a super physical/pda/touchy-touchy relationship, which I appreciate. (See the content list at the end of the review for more details.)
The politics and twists were also done super well (I called part of the main one, muahaha). It takes a bit of effort at the beginning to get everyone straight, though, and I found the charts at the beginning helpful. I usually don’t like when I have to supplement my reading so to speak, but with DtN I was already hooked and more than willing to put the time in.
On that note — the narrative voice of the writing talks slower than I’m used to reading. I found I had to slow down my own reading by a little to catch the feel and flow of everything, but again I didn’t mind this because I felt it was intentional and added to the story.
The pacing was brilliant. Threads opened and closed seamlessly, and I wouldn’t say it’s breakneck pacing necessarily, but there was always something compelling me not to put it down. Teach meeeee

As for negatives, I have some nitpicks about prose, and I was a little uncomfortable during a to-be-mentioned “detailed embrace,” but other than that no complaints are coming to mind. I fell hard and fast in love with this book. I would like to see more of Tessa growing as a character in the sequel.
It was immediately and extremely similar to the basic premise and character roles in Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne, and remained so for a good hundred pages. Some might be put off by this, but I loved Midnight Thief and was fully on board. It developed into its own thing soon enough, though, and (shh don’t tell) I may have even liked it better than MT.

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nononononononono's review against another edition

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adventurous

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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bhavya_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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“I think that very few people truly deserve what they get, Tessa.” He pauses, and for the briefest moment, sadness flickers through his eyes. “For good or for bad.”

~ Rating- 3.5 stars ~

Note- 22/9/21- After some thinking I am lowering my rating from 5 stars to 3.5 stars. I still really enjoyed the book but I didn't completely consider its flaws, which is why I am lowering it. I think I was a bit too biased while rating it the first time. Sorry.

This review is very long and it is spoiler free.

Content/ Trigger Warnings- Alcohol, Betrayal, Blood, Being chained, Biting lip and drawing blood, Crying, Dying, Death of a mother, Death of a father, Death of parents (recounted), Dead bodies, Death of a friend, Death of children & Murder of children, Possible Depression, Execution, Eyeball trauma, Epidemic, Faking a pregnancy, Fire, Grief, Guilt, Guilt over death of a friend, Locking yourself in a Cupboard, Murder, Nightmares, PTSD, Panic-attacks, Prison, Rebellion, Sickness & Illness, Self-harm (digging fingers into palms), Suicidal Ideation (mild), Suffocation, Several Mental Breakdown Scenes, Threat of Rape & Sexual Assault, Mention of Sexual assault occurring, Torture, Urine, Vomiting, Violence

Note- I have tried to include all the content warnings that I noticed, but there is no guarantee that I haven’t missed something.

-Mention of some of these in the review-

Defy the Night, by Brigid Kemmerer is a dark, atmospheric YA fantasy with morally grey characters. I was hoping this would be a 5 star read, and was very happy that my prediction came true and was happy with the book (even though I lowered my rating), though I am a little bit biased considering Brigid Kemmerer is one of my favourite authors.

“It’s easy to love your king when everyone is well fed and healthy. A bit harder when everyone is not.”

In the kingdom of Kandala, sickness stalks the streets. The cure is Moonflower, a rare and expensive flower only the richest can afford. King Harristan and his brother Prince Corrick are forced to rule with an iron fist, show no mercy and rule with cruelty.

“When there are calls for revolution,” I say to him, “we should be riding at the front, not hiding in the shadows.”

Tessa Cade is a masked outlaw, who robs from the rich to help the poor by distributing food and medicine to those who need it most, along with her friend Weston. When it becomes clear that the only way to save her people is to assassinate the King, Tessa must face a deadly mission that will take her to the dark heart of the kingdom to work with the very people she intended to destroy.

“I hate the king,” I whisper. “I hate the prince. I hate what they’ve done. I hate what Kandala has become.”

The plot of the book was entertaining. It is fast-paced, despite being so long. There isn’t a dull moment, it hooks you from the start. It does take some time for some important things to start happening though and the plot takes a while to progress. There were a few plot twists which were good and foreshadowed well, but I had predicted them quite early on.

The main flaw in the plot is the amount of clichés and tropes it has. Having read a lot of YA, I knew the exact direction in which this book would go in when I was about 50 pages in. It wasn’t exactly a bad thing considering I was still invested regardless of this, but there isn’t much in this book that makes it very different from the other YA books that exist.

We have several overused tropes like ‘the morally-grey prince who doesn’t really want to be cruel’, ‘a king who isn’t really ruling’, ‘an orphan girl looking to rebel and get vengeance’ and clichés like ‘the male character getting flustered when the female character enters in a gown’ and ‘the female character getting flushed when the male character takes his shirt off as he is injured’ etc. These don’t bother me as much, but if they bother you I think you will be annoyed by this book.

Apart from all of this, I liked the plot a lot and the other elements of the story do make up for these stereotypes in YA.

“There are too many layers here. I thought it was as simple as right or wrong . . . but it’s not.”

The world building of Defy the Night was excellently done. It isn’t info-dumped (thankfully!) and the map was a great addition to the book. We don’t really explore much apart from Kandala, but I am expecting to see more of the world in the sequels.

“All this time I’ve thought that the people within the gates were the most powerful, but maybe I was wrong. We all have power.”

The writing was my favourite part of the book. Brigid Kemmerer’s writing and her ability to tell a great story has never failed to amaze me, and Defy the Night was no exception. The pacing in Brigid Kemmerer’s books are always wonderfully done and the 500 pages didn’t feel like a drag at all. The writing isn't over the top or filled with purple prose, but its not dry either. It's subdued, which is perfect for this book and the tone it is going for.

“We buy what we can from the taxes we collect, and we distribute it among the people. But there is never enough: not enough silver, not enough Moonflower.”

The characters were properly-written, and I would say they are three-dimensional. The side-characters didn’t really play any big role though, which was quite disappointing.

➼Tessa

“I’m not a killer. I heal people; I don’t harm them.”

Tessa is an apothecary, and also the one who steals Moonflower for the sick and poor of the village, along with her friend Wes. They are the Robin Hood’s of Kandala, and rob from the rich to give them to the poor.

“I keep notes in my father’s notebooks of what cures the fevers—the Moonflower—and what doesn’t: everything else.”

I liked Tessa as a character. She is strong, rellistant and kind. I liked the role she played in the book, but despite all of this I felt something was lacking about her character arc. There is a lot of character development, but my main problem was the lack of relationships she has with other people. I know not all people are that social, but when the only relationship Tessa has is a romance, it isn’t a good look.

“We don’t discuss what could happen, because I’m right. The king wouldn’t care that we’re stealing to help people. If we’re caught, we’ll be executed right next to the smugglers.”

Tessa doesn’t interact with many people apart from her love interest, and she only has one friend who she says she doesn’t trust. She essentially doesn’t communicate with that many people on page, and I wish that wasn’t the case. I understand why it must have been hard for her to make friends, but Tessa has the kind of personality that is very open and loving, so this is quite contradictory to how she is portrayed.

“I wonder if this is why it’s so easy for the royal elites to ignore the people outside the walls of this sector. Are we all invisible to them?”

In fact, everyone says they trust her a lot (rightfully so, as she is one of the main reasons they are not dead yet) but we don’t get to see much of that on page, though we do get some moments. I guess it would have been difficult to portray all of that on page, but it would have been a lot more interesting if Tessa had friends and relations apart from the romance as well. Apart from this, I enjoyed reading about Tessa's character.

“Kindness leaves you vulnerable, Tessa. I learned that lesson years ago.”

➼Corrick

“I have heard every manner of scream without flinching. I have listened to promises and threats and curses and lies—and occasionally, the truth.
I have never hesitated in doing what needs to be done.”

Prince Corrick is the King’s Justice, the one responsible for bringing justice to the kingdom and enforcing order in Kandala.

“to my face, I’m Your Highness, or Prince Corrick, or sometimes, when they’re being especially formal, the King’s Justice.”

He is also the morally-grey character that dreads all the violence he has to do, yet he has no choice but to do everything and ~follow orders~. I know, you are thinking 'Bhavya, this trope has been done so many times before!' Yes it has, but this is one of my favourite tropes in books and I always have a soft spot for this kind of character, but I only like it if it is well done.

“Because despite all outward appearances, I’m not cruel. I don’t delight in pain. I don’t delight in any of this.”

Corrick’s character arc was so well written and was so subtly done. The whole “i am pretending to be cruel and heartless when in reality i am a sweet cinnamon roll who means no harm, but i will hurt you if you mess with me or my loved ones’ wasn’t rubbed in our face. Corrick’s mental dilemma isn’t filled with petty angst. It didn’t bore me at all. Instead we get a beautiful blend of court politics, betrayal and a desperate man doing what he needs to do for everyone to survive. He was definitely my favourite character and I loved him.

“I’ll never be free of this. Of who I am. This will be my life as King’s Justice: Cruel Corrick, the most feared man in the kingdom, and somehow also the most alone.”

Character Dynamics

➼Wes & Tessa

Wes and Tessa had such a sweet bond, and I was smiling every time they were on page.

“I wish Weston were here. I’m better with the medicines, with the dosages and the treatments and our patients, but he’s better in the face of violence and danger. He’s cool and reserved when I’m hot and rattled.”

I don’t have much to say about them without spoiling something, so I will just say that they were a moment of light in a much darker book.

➼Corrick & Harristan

I loved the brotherly bond between Corrick and Harristan.

“They respect my brother—as they should.
They fear me.
I don’t mind. It spares me some tedious conversations.”

It was so well written. Corrick and Harristan love each other very much, and it was wonderful to read about how they supported and trusted each other.

There is another great character dynamic in this book, but I won’t be talking about it here to avoid spoilers!

“But we’re still taking action. We’re not backing down from that horrible king and his awful, cruel brother. We’re saving the people who need saving.
Fight back. We are.”

In short, Defy the Night is an action-packed YA fantasy novel- with a twinge of romance and court politics. While it has its flaw- like the tropes and clichés, it also has its strengths- like the incredible writing and good characters. I binged this book in a day and I can say I loved the experience. I’m hoping the sequel comes out soon! Until then, we all have to wait and ‘mind our mettle’. :)

“Mind your mettle, Tessa.”

Buddy read with Nashita. Thank you so much for reading it with me!

Review written and uploaded on 15th September, 2021.

https://linktr.ee/bhavyasbookreads- Linktree

P.S.- I tried something different for this review. Feel free to me know your thoughts on which format you prefer!

DISCLAIMER-All opinions on books I’ve read and reviewed are my own, and are with no intention to offend anyone. If you feel offended by my reviews, let me know how I can fix it.

How I Rate-
1 star- Hardly liked anything/ was disappointed
2 star- Had potential but did not deliver/ was disappointed
3 stars- Was ok but could have been better/ was average / Enjoyed a lot but something was missing
4 stars- Loved a lot but something was missing
5 stars- Loved it/ new favourite

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And another 5 star read from Brigid Kemmerer. Review to come.

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Going to start this today!

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I AM WAITING. 11 MORE DAYS.
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OMG WE GOT A COVER AAAAAHHHHHH

It looks nice, but I liked ACSDAL covers more...

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