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Review: Defy

by Sara B. Larson

17981400

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“Have you ever heard of the theory that it is better for one man to die than an entire nation to suffer? Do you believe that to be true? Is it ever okay to take a life in hopes of saving others?” – page 154

Title: Defy
Author: Sara B. Larson
Book: 1 of Defy
Genre: Fantasy
Found: amazon/goodreads
Rating: 1 Voodoo – Did not finish

To avoid the breeding house, the fate for any orphaned female, Alexa Holden cuts her hair and joins her twin brother in being sent to join the kings army. Both trained by their father in the art of swordplay, Alexa’s skills far out strip her brothers but it isn’t long before they’re both in the princes’ elite guard. But not even Alex’s skills can protect the prince – or herself- from being captured along with fellow guard Rylan by a powerful sorcerer.
As they travel further away from safety Alex discovers that her false persona has been discovered. And the spoilt lazy prince she has come to dispise might just have be nothing more than a fake persona too. As Rylan and Damian both vie for her heart, they will travel further and further into the danger that comes with belonging to a country locked in a brutal war. Will Alex be strong enough to save herself and her kingdom?

Yeah, I would recommend you don’t pick this up if you’re a fan on the Song of the Lioness quartet or even the Disney film Mulan, (or any form of Mulan actually. Which I now want to watch…). Unfortunately, this book started well, but with Song of the Lioness as one of my favourite series, this little guy didn’t really measure up.

I didn’t hit the romance before I stopped reading so I can’t say for sure, but the feel of where it was headed (Not to mention the details about the ‘breeding house’) were more for an older, a YA book, I would have said, where as the rest seemed better suited for a younger audience. I Just couldn’t deal with how obsessed the main character seemed to be  with being a girl and not a boy.
In fact this seemed to be all she worried about. And various other points that I felt she wouldn’t have thought of at all, trying to appear to be a boy. More likely things for her to worry about, such as the fact she didn’t shave, or how she walked, weren’t concerns for her. I’m not sure how her charade held up, considering she spent more time worrying about being in character than actually BEING in character but I suspect her twin probably had a lot to do with it. Though, the amount of people who guessed, I’m not sure it actually did.

It seemed to be the centre of her world, her gender identity, it eclipsed everything else so I’m not sure how she managed to be an amazingly skilled fighter because that would require focus, (she didn’t seem to practice much other than swordplay either, which is a shame because this is something I would have enjoyed reading more of.)

I was SO disappointed with this book. It sounded so good that I picked it up despite the obvious love triangle indicators and we all know how I feel about love triangles (if you’re new around here, Hello! I hate love triangles) and unfortunately, this seemed to be one of the worst kind.

pamspaein

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