Sara B. Larson

Truthfully, from the blurb, this book aced every cliched story about YA Fantasy with main female protagonist. It have a first person POV girl character who hid her identity as a boy. A triangle love romance with a prince and a friend-zoned guy friend. A character who have the ability to fight better than the rest of the guys her age and older. And a kingdom that need saving. Basically, the amalgam of Pierce’s Alanna, Cashore’s Graceling, Maas’ Throne of Glass, Lahoux’s Thief, show more Fantaghiro, Hua Mulan and many others stories like it. At least, it was the better likable part of all the amalgams of the first female characters like Alexa since I completely dislike Graceling and Throne of Glass.

What I like most about “Defy” is that the story didn’t afraid to tell things as it is. It was possibly a complete feminist story even with all the horrifics that happened to all the female characters in this book. Alexa isn’t just a girl who disguise herself as a boy to be a knight or to honor her family or because its the only possible way for someone with her ability. No. Alexa became a boy to save herself from being forced into prostitution. That's the honest truth of the story and it didn’t afraid to let in all the gory detail of the girls being raped repetitively in breeding house in less than three chapters. All female characters in this story was victimized and yes, it was a hard topic to venture especially in YA Fantasy with young demographic, but frankly, it made Alexa’s motivation more justified than every girl-to-boy warrior story I’ve read and made everyone else’s motivation superficial next to hers.

Weirdly enough, Alexa probably is the only gender bending character who suck at being a guy. It made sense since she had a twin brother with her in this charade but when she lost him, everything seem to unravel around her and so was her identity. There were some parts that didn’t made sense in the story especially how some characters simply know that she’s a girl. Since its a first POV type story, I guess, its a lot harder to know what others think but I best assume that they’re observant enough.

The relationship between her character and the characters around the story was a bit raw and unembellished as expected coming from a series. I like that the romance element in this book doesn’t keep the character distracted about the underlying storyline. Yes, there are some drama going on but mostly it was Alexa suddenly being in a situation between two guys and she didn’t know how on earth she got into it which is much better than what Alanna had. Since the blurb already spoil the love triangle parts. The story was actually sustained on sexual tension between the Prince and her when she still think that he didn’t know about her gender and think that he’s a spoiled prince which was just a facade in silent defiance against his tyrannic father. The awkward situation began when her friend and brother-in-arms revealed that he knew about her all along and was in love with her far longer than her attraction with the prince and was unable to act on his love because what Alexa felt to him was as a friend instead of a lover. Its complicated as all sort of love does. But what the author did right with this story was to use Alexa to remind the readers gain that although there are romance in the story, its still a very dark and political heavy story of an ongoing war and the rape of a country and its people and a conspiracy that would end everything or save everyone.

For me, the blurb nearly made me turn the book away but the book save itself. The story was fast paced and unpredictable. I tried to think it was predictable since it was in a way like Tamora Pierce’s Alanna but the characters in this book was older than Alanna who began her journey as a child. This story isn’t a coming of age like Alanna. Its about survival and as it title said, of defiance. As much as similarities goes, “Defy” is a unique book on its own. Its emotionally intense and mature and really violent even for a YA Fantasy. It might not be anyone’s cup of tea but its definitely mine. The ending of this book alone set this book apart from every books I mentioned in this review and for that alone, I can't wait for the continuation of Alexa’s story.

The ARC was given by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

I received this galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Sisters of Shadow and Light twists around many traditional fantasy tropes in ways that feel fresh and fun. You have a mysterious castle, isolated by a sentient hedge. A family lives inside, though some may consider them monstrous. A mother, a servant and friend, and two teenage girls. Zuhra and Inara have never been beyond the hedge. They dare not. Inara was born with the glowing eyes of a Paladin, the entities who built their home and show more who were once the celebrated heroes of the realm; public opinion is not as kind now. Inara is so overwhelmed by her power, a roar that consumes her senses, that she can barely interact with the world. Her older sister Zuhra is her fierce advocate and defender--and desperately want to know about the world beyond the hedge.

Then one day, the hedge actually lets a strange man through, and the girls' world begins to change in radical ways.

Larson does a wonderful job of allowing readers to discover the outer world through the sisters' experiences, but the family dynamics are the true heart of the book. There is a great deal here about sisterly love, and also about abuse and forgiveness. Their mother was utterly broken when her Paladin husband vanished the night Inara was born, and she protects her daughters through deprivation and cruelty. There's a grim note of realism about their relationships, and I loved seeing how the family grew and changed. To me, that was much more interesting than the romantic entanglements of the siblings.

I found this YA fantasy to be a fast, breezy read--I blazed through it in a day! It will be released on November 5th, 2019. show less

It’s not a secret I was eagerly waiting for Defy. Even when reviews with low ratings started to pile up, they could not dampen my enthusiasm. I mean: ya fantasy about kick-ass heroine who is masquerading as a boy? Bring it on!

When I started to read, it looked like my optimism will pay off. Alexa seemed like just the kind of strong and kick-ass heroine I hoped. After they were orphaned in war Alexa (disguised as a boy) and her twin brother Marcel joined the army. Thanks to their show more extraordinary fighting skills, after three years they are members of Prince Damian’s personal guard. The war games are becoming more brutal every day, the attacks on Damian’s life are happening more and more often and it turns out that some people suspect that Alex, the best swordsman in the guard, might not be what it seems…

This is a great premise on which a good ya fantasy novel full of intrigue and battles could have been written. Sadly, Sara B. Larson decided to take a different route and focus the story of Defy mostly on romance and love triangle between Alexa, Prince Damian and her best friend & guard member Rylan.

The biggest disappointment in Defy was definitely Alexa. I can blame my expectations and traits I imagined she will have for this. If we ignore Alexa’s exceptional skill with the sword, Alexa mostly reminded me of Bella Swan from Twilight and Anastasia Steele from Fifty Shades of Grey (two of the most annoying characters in literature I have ever encountered). When Alexa is confronted with a guy she likes, she transforms from experienced soldier into this blushing, clumsy mess. She keeps talking about their beautiful eyes… Shimmers slide down her spine…. Their words send jolts through her body… She can’t stop staring at their lean muscular bodies and somehow they keep getting half naked, for Alexa’s ogling pleasure. Someone would argue that they are walking without their shirts because it’s tropical setting and a lot of action happens in a jungle. But if that is the case, shouldn't have Alexa after three years gotten immune by now?

And don’t even get me started on:
* Breeding houses where orphaned girls are taken and repeatedly raped to make new soldiers for king’s army. Those soldiers will be ready for battle in 15 years. Honestly, I think hiring mercenaries would have been cheaper and given immediate results.
* Alexa, Rylan and Damien are captured and dragged across the country for weeks. Experienced soldiers would have found opportunity to escape since a lot of times they were not even tied. But kissing is all they think about.
* Everything is so f**king obvious. And then you need to wait until Alexa figures it out (a lot of chapters later). She confesses that she’s not the quickest bunny in the forest, but still… This made the plot drag on too much and I was more and more bored as the book progressed.

Defy left me feeling deeply disappointed and irritated by: Alexa, lack of world building and a lot of holes in the plot. If I want a novel with so much focus on love story, I will read something from contemporary romance genre. As for a novel from fantasy genre I do not mind if romance is present, but I also require good development of world and characters to enjoy it.

IN THE END…
Defy is debut novel by Sara B. Larson light on fantasy and heavily focused on love triangle romance. While I think that younger female readers might enjoy it, more demanding fantasy fans will probably find it lacking in world building and character development.

Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. show less

May this book serve as early 2014's warning against faux-feminist YA literature. It terrifies me to consider the deeper implications of how a book with such an unbelievably wrong heroine is being marketed as "strong female lit." Because DEFY is no feminist work at all--it's chock-full of well-meaning but insidious interpretations of such terms of empowerment. I love a rollicking girl-disguises-herself-as-a-boy read as much as the next person, but when it's done incorrectly (to be explained show more in a moment's time), it becomes not a fun and freeing read, but rather a disturbing revelation into the bonds of patriarchy that still bind so many of us, both male and female.

When is a gender switcheroo story done in the wrong mould? When it becomes little more than a superficial opportunity for the protagonist to mouth off or for love interests to fall for her. Such is the case with what's-her-name in this book. (Okay, fine, her name's is Alexa/Alex. I would go through the entire review using just what's-her-name and what's-his-face, but there are two what's-his-faces that I have a problem with, so this is going to get too confusing too soon.) When it comes to Alexa hiding her true sex, there is disappointingly little urgency to the matter: we readers are told that's it's practically a matter of life and death for her to not reveal that she's a girl, and yet she does such a poor job of it that I'm left feeling incredulous about the fact that she actually survived years in her role. More times than I care to count, Alexa’s narration veers into an ogling description of a nearby man’s face or body. Not only do I not want to read about chiseled jaws and flashing dark eyes and twitching biceps, but Alexa’s objectification of the bodies of the men around her pretty much eradicates any possibility of my believing that she’s actually a competent guard on the most elite guard crew. There is little said about Alexa’s natural talent for swordsmanship, nor the discipline of her guard duties, nor the hierarchies of an army-like job—descriptive elements I would expect to give me a rounded sense of world-building…because Alexa’s too busy thinking about men’s bodies.

Nor do the other characters’ interactions with Alexa befit those of people who believe they’re actually speaking to a guy. Witness a random interaction that I highlighted on my Kindle:

Rylan laughed. “So you do have a weakness after all! I have to admit, I’d never have guessed it would be snakes.”
I shoved him hard enough that he had to check his balance so he didn’t topple into the river. “If you tell anyone, I will shoot you in the mouth without hesitation.”
“Whoa.” He held up his hands in mock surrender. “You have my word. I’ll never mention your mortal fear of snakes to anyone.”

To my eyes, Rylan speaks to Alexa as if he were speaking to a tomboy, not a boy. He’s flirting, not making small talk. Big difference. Big mistake in a book where the protagonist is supposed to be disguising herself as a guy. And Alexa’s retort is so over the top in its viciousness that it again doesn’t ring true to me. If her comrades actually thought she was a guy, they probably would’ve steered clear of the aggressive psycho a long time ago, not poke at the dragon’s eye. This doesn’t feel like two guys talking to each other at all.

In another encounter with another man, Alexa snaps,

“I’m perfectly capable of moving on my own.”

Even a quick dash of a line like this causes me to shake my head in disbelief. There’s something about the…cadence of the dialogue that conjures up images of Austenian characters wearing corsets and twirling parasols in my head, rather than, uh, what I’m supposed to think of. She sounds to me like a girl trying to sound tough, and her male peers respond to her as if to exactly that, humoring this girl who’s desperately trying to earn her leather jacket of toughness.

It comes as no surprise, then, what with the number of times Alexa’s caught looking at her fellow guards or at the prince, and the joking, inconsequential way with which they respond to her psychopathic behavior, that about a third of the way through the book there is the revelation that Rylan, her loyal best buddy in the guard, knew that she was a girl all along. Oh em gee! This would bother me more had I not been so unsurprised, due to how poorly Alexa disguises her sex herself, but it also pisses me off because—Antifeminist Lesson #2 (number one was somewhere back there)—this means that Alexa never even had the opportunity to be anything more than her sex to her loyal best buddy. Because Rylan’s clearly one of the points on the Love Triangle That Will Down This Ship (it says so right there on the jacket synopsis, no spoiler alert), and this revelation just seems to indicate that he never stopped seeing her as a girl this whole time. In other words, Alexa never had to try to charm the guy with actual friendliness, because he was CLEARLY in love with her all along. Wish fulfillment at its most dangerous: be rude, lash out at your male buddy, but he will still love you after all that because You Are Woman.

So I’m left with at least two messages on heterosexual flirtations:

1. The “one of the guys” girl is just the cleverest, most manipulative bitch this side of Medusa, because she’s not actually being “one of the guys,” but rather taking liberties in voyeurism among their company. Hate this woman, women, because she’s just out to get all available men.

2. Guys like it when you’re rude and abusive to them. When you’re rude and abusive to guys, they know it’s actually because you’re in love with them.

Let us not speak more than a little of the utter trope-iness of the romance(s) in DEFY: Damian, the verbally abusive elite whose assholery is absolved because he’s secretly “sensitive,” only he can never show it for fear of puncturing his manly reputation; and Rylan, kind-eyed plebe who’s the not-so-silly Ducky to Alexa’s Molly Ringwald, who’s loved her since before she knew him and who will stand by her forever while she wails in agony about the truth of her feelings for Damian.

And yet, despite all of this, I already know that DEFY’s going to be a bestseller. How do I know this? Because the love triangle is the point of the story. The rest is just fanciful decoration pretending to be necessary. As goes so many of the tales of YA bestsellers nowadays.

The “strong female” potential of DEFY fails at its onset: its premise is not to display the main character’s fortitude of character, but rather to “ingeniously” put her in an environment full of guys and have them fall in love with her. Again, wish fulfillment at its most dangerous: attempts to satisfy the heteronormative patriarchy masquerading as feminism.

I mean, by all means, fans of Tammara Webber, Aimee Carter, and Leigh Bardugo, knock yourselves out with this one, it’s perfect for you. I got 40% of the way through and decided to stop wasting my time blowing my brains out. show less