✅ Addictive

✅ Great plot lines and tropes

✅ The beginning of a new series (which I will become addicted too!)

Defy the Night is a brand new novel from Brigid Kemmerer. If you are familiar to my reading tastes and blog, you will already know that I devoured Brigid’s trilogy ‘A Curse so Dark and Lonely’ not that long ago. I am officially a hard-core fan and will be reading any fantasy books she creates. I was lucky enough to read a pre-release of this new book through work.

The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster and life-threatening illness. Tessa and Weston have seen the illness first-hand and have become determined to help those who slip through the cracks and cannot afford medicine. Tessa and Wes live in the Wilds, or supposedly 😉. Tessa is an apothecary and has adapted her late fathers elixir to make it go further and help heal more people. The elixir is made from Moonflower petal and it’s becoming extremely hard to find. Her and her smuggling partner, Weston Lark, make late night ‘runs’ to deliver the elixir but their actions are considered treason in the eyes of Kandala’s royal sector. One night, Tessa is riled with anger and determination to make change. She expresses to Wes that it’s time to lead a rebellion and take action regardless of the life-threatening danger. Wes goes on the run alone that night and he doesn’t return.

Bundled with despair, shock and anger with the loss of Wes, Tessa sneaked into the Royal Palace to seek out the King. She wants a chance to make change and maybe just a piece of revenge. What Tessa finds is not to be expected and from here we are honestly kept on our toes at the end of every chapter. Wes is not who he seems and throws the plot, politics and romantics into a spiral. A good spiral!

As rebellion breaks, Tessa and Wes are caught in a pull and tug of needing to keep up appearances yet doing what they believe is right. We’re introduced to a series of characters that play pivotal parts in keeping Tessa and Wes’ secrets, as well as supporting them through potentially fatal suspicion. We see royal trading politics and struggle for power. We question why the King is struggling to fight the ‘sickness’ and who is behind the planning of rebellious actions.

The romance element was great between Tessa and Wes. Of course it’s cliché but hey, that’s why we read these types of books. They make you warn and fuzzy with imaginary ‘love to hate’ tropes. Give this a try if you want to be absorbed in a book this weekend. It was fun, fast-paced and gripping. Come back and tell me what you think!