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Defy the Night (Defy the Night, #1)

Brigid Kemmerer

Start date: October 1, 2021

Finish date: October 31, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Jun 05, 2022 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it really liked it

Shelves: zz-2021-9-september-releases, be-still-my-beating-heart, 0-floab-discovery-bookshelf, zz-rrrc-mag-dec-2021-picks, all-the-rage-and-worth-it, fantasy, feeeeels, forced-proximity, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, young-adult-read

I fell so in love with Kemmerer's Cursebreakers series so I knew that I had to pick this one up as well. This was such a promising start to an exciting fantasy series!

I was really taken in by all of the political intrigue of this story. Kemmerer crafted the plot of this book so marvelously. There were plot twists that were so cleverly constructed and kept me guessing. I was enamored with the plotline of the story and kept trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. Kemmerer's grace I fell so in love with Kemmerer's Cursebreakers series so I knew that I had to pick this one up as well. This was such a promising start to an exciting fantasy series!

I was really taken in by all of the political intrigue of this story. Kemmerer crafted the plot of this book so marvelously. There were plot twists that were so cleverly constructed and kept me guessing. I was enamored with the plotline of the story and kept trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. Kemmerer's graceful storytelling was displayed beautifully. I remember feeling so at home in her books while reading the Cursebreakers series and that was very much true while reading this book as well. Her writing style has such welcoming ease to it. I was fully immersed in the world-building of this book. There were glorious details that made the writing feel so atmospheric.

I instantly liked both of the main characters. They were both so relatable and their personalities sparked interest from the beginning. I was very drawn to their voices in the story. All of the secondary characters felt important to the story and had their own character blueprints.

I enjoyed the romance in the story very much. Going into too much detail about it would venture into spoiler territory though so I will leave it kind of vague. What I will say is that I loved the nature of their relationship. I loved the bond that they shared and I loved seeing them both work through all of the truths of their relationship. Their chemistry was evident from the start and the reader could tell the depths of their hearts by their actions.

Overall, this was an intriguing start to a compelling series that I only imagine will keep shining. This is a story chock full of forbidden romance, political intrigue, and brimming rebellion. If you enjoy stories where things aren't always what they seem then you'll want to add this to your TBR ASAP. I can't wait for the next one!

BLOG FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM GOODREADS TIKTOK TWITTER BOOKBUB AMAZON PINTEREST ...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Oct 05, 2021 Jenn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, swoonworthy-boys, books-i-own, all-time-faves, signed-copies, cover-love, royalty, 5-star-reads, read-in-2021

I've been a fan of Kemmerer since her Elementals series (which if you haven't read yet, please go do now!). When she announced that this book would be her first foray into high fantasy, I was all in. I knew it would be good, I just didn't expect to love it as much as I did.

Guys, this book had me hooked 3 chapters in. I just knew it was going to be one of my favorites. The world is so rich with colors and people, and speaking of people, the characters. Be still my heart. I loved so many of them. ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Mar 19, 2022 Elizabeth Aguilar rated it really liked it

It took me almost a few days over the span of a month to read and that had nothing to do with the book. I just booked too many buddy reads and my TBR is long...

Defy the Night is a Robin Hood retelling in the kingdom of Kandala during the time where a pandemic is killing many people. It follows Tessa, a young apothecary and thief, who works alongside a friend, Wes, to steal moonflower petal to create an elixir that they later share among the poor population of the wild to fend off the sickness. I It took me almost a few days over the span of a month to read and that had nothing to do with the book. I just booked too many buddy reads and my TBR is long...

Defy the Night is a Robin Hood retelling in the kingdom of Kandala during the time where a pandemic is killing many people. It follows Tessa, a young apothecary and thief, who works alongside a friend, Wes, to steal moonflower petal to create an elixir that they later share among the poor population of the wild to fend off the sickness. It also follows Corrick, the young brother of King Harrison, who struggle to maintain power after their parents were killed by one of their advisers and amidst a pandemic for which only moonflower petals seem to help.

I really loved the exploration of moral greyness in both Tessa and Corrick. They were people doing awful things due to the situations they are in. Tessa committing treason to give her community a fighting chance against the illness. Corrick killing people to apply justice and keep some order so he and his brother don't succumb to a revolution. Most other characters also act out of desperation. I appreciated that because it made a little hard to truly support one side over the other-- minus the instances were there was another side in the conflict and they were clearly in the wrong.

One of my only issues is that I thought Corrick and Harrison viewed situations through a narrow lens. It would have been interesting if they tried to do something outside the status quo earlier on and faced the consequences, maybe have that double down on why they wanted to take the road most traveled by. I just think they played it safe amidst the pandemic. (view spoiler) I would have been okay with it had they been more upfront with themselves about how much fear played into that decision.

Most of the twists truly shocked me but I enjoyed the journey. If anything, what I didn't expect were certain not-as-major and one major thing that did. This is the first book by Brigid Kemmerer that I've read so I just am not familiar with how far she'll go with certain things. So I did appreciate the emotional punches she does inflict. There was a lot of betrayal; I'm glad there were moments of loyalty and friendship (and some romance) throughout.

Defy the Night explores themes of community support, illegal actions with good intentions , maintaining power and order during instability. There's also a lot of court politics from an outsider and a prince.

I am very excited for the sequel and can't wait to see what happens next! ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Sep 30, 2021 Tbirdplanstoread rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-hard-back, z-2021-read, catalogued, 2024-03-mar

Update: 3/8/24: still loved every bit of this book! Easy 5 stars from me!! Immediately going into book 2 now that I can binge the whole series!!

I knew I would love this book and it did not let me down! Loved every minute!!

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 22, 2021 Kayleigh {K-Books} rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, own-physical, fairyloot

Defy the Night Review on K-Books

“I do what I can. And every day, I regret that it’s never enough.”

There are no words to explain just how excited I was to get my hands on this book. I have been such a huge Brigid Kemmerer fan since she released her debut novel around 8-9 years ago. When I first heard about this book, I was so excited just at the premise as it sounded like the kind of book I would absolutely adore… and I was completely right. This book was utterly phenomenal! I loved every sin ...more

1 like · Like · see review