Fast-paced and twisty, I really enjoyed this series starter from Brigid Kemmerer. The worlds she creates are always immersive and there's no shortage of characters to root for. I'm excited to see where everything goes in the sequels!

Brigid kemmerer. That’s all I truly need to say. Her YA books - fantasy or contemporary- are fantastic! Unfortunately with Covid I was delayed reading this book but I guess the one good thing is that now I don’t have to wait as long for the sequel. Action packed, great characters, and of course some romance – everything you want in a YAA fantasy. Need a sequel ASAP in order to find out what’s going on with Tessa. Mind your mettle.

Brigid Kemmerer aces yet another fantastical world with incredible character depth, worldbuilding, and twists. Defy the Night was a book I sped through, and the politics of the kingdom of Kandala were fully fleshed out ensuring every reading grasps the intricacies.

I absolutely adored this book. It had me gripped from the very beginning. The moment that Tessa realized who Prince Corrick was, I felt all the emotions she did.

I have loved every single one of Brigid Kemmerer books. I have been a fan of hers when she was still very unknown. Sadly, Defy the Night turned out to me my first book from her that I did not like. It was honestly just so predictable. Sometimes that is ok, but in a book like this I expected more. I will not be continuing the series.

3.5*

This one just didn't slap like Kemmerer's previous series starters; for me.
I will admit that I wasn't super into the audio narrators. So I will reread the physical book when the sequel releases.
It's compelling, of course. The world is not complicated. The characters are good enough.
But I found I was comparing the plot/story and hero and heroine to ACSDAL a little too much. Because they follow the same line. And I liked ACSDAL much more.
Either way, I'm not going to ever not at least enjoy one of Kemmerer's books. I've been there since the beginning and she's not going to lose me anytime soon.

This book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 and it actually lived up to the hype! This book gave me literally everything I look forward to in a YA novel: fairytale inspo, atmospheric apothecaries, royalty, badass female characters, and romance! I can't wait for the next book in this series. This is my first Brigid Kemmerer book, but I will definitely be reading her other series following this one.

Brigid Kemmerer continues to prove why she is an author to be reckoned with!!

I will say that the first part of the book was a tad slow/boring/I didn't really care what was happening, and this is probably because I'm living in the pandemic. However! Once you reached the first plot twist aka hello Corrick!! I could not put this book down. The royals, the political intrigue, the betrayal!! It was fantastic. Will still be on the BK fan train as long as she continues to write books.

This was another great start to a series by Brigid Kemmerer! I really enjoy her writing style and stories.

This was my first book by Brigid Kemmerer and it did not disappoint. I loved the twist through the book. The main character's development and arc was great. I will be purchasing it for our young adult collection.

I absolutely love Brigid Kemmerer's writing. The way she tackles tough subjects is genius. She makes you question yourself. Why do I believe certain things? What are my motives behind certain actions? Does my belief system truly add up to what I hope it does? Are people truly just good or bad? Do their motives make certain actions tenable? These are all questions that came to mind while reading Defy the Night. That's what makes it a great read!

This is the first book I have read by Brigid Kemmerer. I found the storyline intriguing and it made me pick this book.
I found all the characters very generic and unoriginal. The plot is predictable too, I was able to guess most of the twists. I found the romance between the main characters half-baked and forced.
The only thing I liked was the world building, it was done well and I was able to imagine most of the places.
Overall I found it underwhelming, I think the storyline could have been improved a lot more.
I think I will still give the sequel a try!

Really good! A little too on the nose sometimes re: pandemic, but Kemmerer knows how to keep a reader entranced!

I had a fun time book-talking it to some teens while we were making graham-cracker houses for our holiday event. Their predictions were fun to either hint that they were warm or cold. Lol

A delightful fantasy that--while not written during COVID--echoes strongly with the times in the best way.

Not as entertaining as I expected. Although the beginning was quite interesting, it is quite a fast paced book but still had its lingering scenes that were not as interesting. Tessa is a great main character but she is a bit too much like other characters I’ve read about so I wasn’t as intrigued or amazed by her overall. This book has potential and I can see why others would love it to bits!

I have loved everything Bridgid writes, and this is no exception! I have tried to write this review so many times, and each time it just comes out a LOT of GUSHING AHHH so I will just say this. It is an awesome story that weirdly fits in with what is going on all around us (plague, anyone?). There was of course some romance in there too, which will keep you swooning! I cannot wait until the next book in the series, I NEED to know what happens! Basically if you loved her other books, you MUST read this one!

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This book was entirely amazing and I cannot wait for the 2nd installment. I actually liked this story and the characters even more than I liked the Cursebreakers characters and that says a lot. I was thinking that Wes was going to be the king, not the prince, but other than that everything was amazing. I will be making a post on Instagram with a review sometime soon so I will update this with a link when I do that.

I LOVED this book and can't wait for the next book in this series. I'm sorry I don't have much more to say here other than there is plenty of action, lots of secrets, and enough swoony bits to keep me turning the pages. If you haven't read this one yet, definitely pick it up!

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4.5/5

TW: death, murder, poison, classism, features a sickness similar to our current pandemic

This was my first Brigid Kemmerer novel and it did not disappoint. The book hooked me from the very beginning and threw in several fun surprises along the way. One of those including the amount of political intrigue present in this novel. I wasn’t expecting it and it really reeled me in, trying to unravel the court politics and sift through underlying motivations and hidden deceptions. I also wasn’t sure how I would feel about a book that deals with a plague, while still in the midst of a pandemic. However, this world and its fantasy elements felt removed from our current reality, so I was able to appreciate this story for what it was without making too many comparisons or feeling dampened to our current situation. In fact, due to my now, firsthand experience with a pandemic I was able to rationalize and conceptualize with the characters in a more detailed manner, which aided my enjoyment of the story. It also didn’t stray away to the often politicized restriction and allotment of resources. Those who have wealth, power and influence have greater access to the elixir to help keep them healthy and safe. Whereas, those who do not are often forgotten and brutalized when they try to fight for the same rights and healthcare that those with a different society standing are not denied.

Another thing that I greatly appreciated was the fact that several of the villains' motives are not justified. Sure, people can have a reason for doing things that are deemed as bad or wrong, however, sometimes people simply do bad things because they can. I found this refreshingly honest and a nice change of pace to the typical declarations that attempt to sympathize one to the villains’ plight. This story had a rich and expansive cast of characters who definitely need to work on their communication skills, but at least they are trying. I cannot wait to see how these relationships develop further, especially between King Harristan and his brother, Prince Corrick. I am usually intrigued by sibling dynamics and the idea behind Corrick, being the muscle behind the throne and how that has affected him and his relationship with his brother is sure to be profound.

My only real hiccup with this story was that it is classified as YA (young adult). Now, before this upsets anyone, hear me out. This book was fantastic, but all of our main characters are at least eighteen-years of age, in fact King Harristan is twenty-three. Keeping in mind the age ranges, court politics, and the thematic elements of the book I believe if this book had been classified differently it would have been able to take an even darker, gritty approach to the serious topics that were brought up. I wouldn’t say this was a detriment to the story or hindered my enjoyment, but it was something I noticed and it did make question a few writing choices.

Brigid Kemmerer always knows how to keep me hooked in her stories. She writes books that are hard to put down and beg you to read one more chapter.
A timely story that I don't think was meant to be timely. Tessa and Wes are outlaws who are delivering necessary medicines to the poor people in their sector that have fallen ill due to a sickness that is plagues the kingdom (sound familiar yet?). But when Wes is captured, Tessa must go farther in her quest to help the people. King Harristan and his brother Prince Corrick don't seem to be helping, only hurting the less wealthy people in their kingdom, and Tessa will do what she can to avenge Wes and help her people. Told in alternating perspectives of Tessa and Prince Corrick, readers will be reading as fast as possible to find out what happens!