Review--Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

 

A desperate prince.
A daring outlaw.
A dangerous flirtation.

In the Wilds of Kandala, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade has been watching people suffer for too long. A mysterious sickness is ravaging the land and the cure, Moonflower Elixir, is only available for the wealthy. So every night, she defies the royal edicts and sneaks out, stealing Moonflower petals and leaving the elixir for those in need.

In the palace of Kandala, Prince Corrick serves as the King's Justice, meting out vicious punishments and striking fear into the hearts of agitators and outlaws. Corrick knows he must play this role convincingly--with a shortage of elixir and threats of rebellion looming ever closer, the King's grip on power is tenuous at best, and Corrick knows his brother is the kingdom's best hope for survival.

But when an act of unspeakable cruelty brings the royal and the outlaw face to face, the natural enemies are faced with an impossible choice--and a surprising spark. Will they follow their instincts to destroy each other? Or will they save the kingdom together . . . and let that spark ignite?

 

I pretty much devoured Brigid Kemmerer’s Defy the Night on my day off, it was simply unputdownable! I was quickly sucked into this fantastical world and the characters who lived there! It was deeply enticing and shockingly enough, there was no magic in this world and yet I still became fascinated with it all!

The kingdom Kandala has been infected with a disease of some sort. No one really knows what it is, but they know that the Moonflower can help cure some of its ailments. It’s such a commodity that it becomes hard to get unless you have money or power (the political kind). So naturally, many people are without while the rich hoard as much of the cure as they can.

Tessa and her parents were not fond of this, so they did what they could to help the poor who were sick and dying. But then her parents were caught and killed in front of her. If it wasn’t for Wes, Tessa would have died as well. Since then, Tessa and Wes have picked up where her parents left off and do what they can to help the poor. Mainly by stealing Moonflower petals from those who do not need such abundance and doling out the cure to those in need. Tessa and Wes have grown close, but then the unthinkable happens and Wes is caught and Tessa is left alone.

It’s during her time of sadness that she winds up captive of the infamous King’s Justice, Prince Corrick himself. But Corrick has his own story to tell…for he too watched his parents get murdered in front of him. When he and his older brother were young, their mother and father; the queen and king were murdered. Then Harriston became king and Corrick took on the mantle of King’s Justice, doling out the punishments the king decrees but never getting his hands dirty. It’s a heavy burden to bear, but Corrick loves his brother and would do anything for him, especially since Harriston is getting sick.

This book was positively glorious! So many secrets, so many scandals! It was a whirlwind of excitement and danger all the same! I figured out one secret fairly early on based on some cues and when the reveal came (fairly early on, in the first quarter of the book) it still contained a pretty good shock factor!

I positively loved the dynamics between Tessa and Corrick. They have a sort of animosity going on with each other that you just know will eventually develop into something more! But the enemies to lovers trope is one I truly never tire of, because it’s just so enchanting! Lol. I did like the romance didn’t overpower the story either. The tension was always brewing between these two, but it takes a while for anyone to act on it.

The pacing to this one was pretty spot on. It starts out a little slow, but picks up about a quarter of the way through and things only continue to rack up as time goes along! There’s unrest in the kingdom with disease running rampant and access to the cure is getting less and less. The ending was positively explosive! It resolves the greater issues at hand but since we know it’s a trilogy, we know it’s not over but thankfully there’s no monstrous cliffhanger! I’m moving onto book 2 happily as soon as possible!

Brigid Kemmerer brings us another exciting new fantasy series that is already a hit with this reader! This is one not to be missed. While there may no be readily seen magic in this world, the book is pure magic in itself and has all the charm you would expect out of a Kemmerer read! I am looking forward to reading this series straight on through!

 

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars