There are no words to explain just how excited I was to get my hands on this book. I have been such a huge Brigid Kemmerer fan since she released her debut novel around 8-9 years ago. When I first heard about this book, I was so excited just at the premise as it sounded like the kind of book I would absolutely adore… and I was completely right. This book was utterly phenomenal! I loved every single moment of it and couldn’t read it fast enough. This one is a must-read that everyone needs to put on their to-buy list.

Defy the Night is set in a fantastic world that is currently being ravaged by a horrific sickness. The only cure is an elixir made by the illustrious Moonflower plant. But the king and his brother have strict control over this elixir and only those who can afford it can get it. So Tessa steals Moonflower to make elixir for the poor. But can she continue to do so when everything changes around her?

Defy the Night was utter perfection. I loved every single moment of it. I absolutely loved the Robin Hood vibes I got from this book. Tessa and Weston work together as outlaws to help make and distribute medicine to the poor. It’s such a heartwarming and terrifying premise. Everytime they were out on their ‘runs’ I was terrified they were about to be caught. It’s such a fantastic premise and I loved it. I always love the whole outlaws kind of storyline and this one is one of my all time favourites within that trope.

Brigid is such a phenomenal author. Right from the very first page, I was hooked. I was completely enamoured and obsessed with this world and it’s characters. They are such amazing characters to follow throughout the book. I loved Tessa, her fearlessness and drive to help those who can’t fend for themselves. I fell head over heels in love with Weston. He is just a phenomenal and swoon-worthy character. Everyone is going to just love him. I love them together so much… their journey throughout this book was so wonderful. I love that the romance isn’t the main focus of the book but what is there is so heartwarming and beautiful.

This book was filled to the brim with twists and turns. I guessed one of them pretty early on, so there was one event that I didn’t really feel the emotional punch that I would have if I hadn’t guessed it so early. But that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book whatsoever. There were still so many other twists and turns that I didn’t guess. I was left reeling, dying to know what was going to happen next and I couldn’t read this book fast enough.

Defy the Night is, in my opinion, Brigid’s best work to date. I loved it even more than Cursebreakers. It felt so much more epic fantasy to me, which is my favourite kind of book. I am left with my heart full and dying to get my hands on the next book. This is a definite contender for my favourite book of the year. This is one that you don’t want to miss out on. I adored every single moment.

Defy the Night follows two Robin Hood-type characters in the Kingdom of Kandala, where a mysterious sickness spreads. Medicine is limited and expensive, so Tessa and Weston steal and redistribute the Moonflower, the only known prevention for the illness.

It is full of court intrigue and power struggles. It was hard to pick a side since we can see how both can go too far. It is darker than I anticipated after reading A Curse So Dark and Lonely, but that made this book even better.

The book hooked me from the beginning. It is told in Tessa and Prince Corrick's points of view; both are very interesting perspectives, as they show each side in their own biases and knowledge not known by the other. They are both well-rounded characters, and they feel like they could be real since neither of them is perfect. The King and Quint were interesting characters, but we did not get to know them too well; I hope we learn more about them in the next book.

Defy the Night has an amazingly written hate-to-love relationship, one of my favorite tropes, though the romance is not the main focus. They have a lot of chemistry and their scenes were never boring or seemed forced.

There were some predictable plot twists, but it was still fun to see characters figure things out.

The illness in Defy the Night- and people’s behaviors toward it- mirror our world in many ways, which I found made the book even more enjoyable since I could relate it to our current situation.

This one had a lot of promise and the premise caught my eye. Although once we got into the story, the writing style with its overuse of ellipsis and filler along with characters I could not get interested in made this one a flop for me. I loved the plague aspect but we never really get to know much about it or how they discovered the Moonflowers were the treatment. I just felt like nothing was happening for the first half of this book I found myself just really bored.

Brigid Kemmerer is the New York Times best-selling author of A Curse So Dark and Loney trilogy. And if you can believe it, I think her writing has even gotten better.
Her new book Defy the Night really kept me completely engaged with this Robin Hood retelling. The whole premise is so interesting.
In a kingdom where an illness is sweeping across all of the sectors, the only thing that stops it is a daily dose of Moonflower elixir.
The moonflower grows in two sectors and only one very well. Making sure all the people have access has been an ongoing issue. This is where our main characters come in. We get to experience all the trials to get the Elixia to the poor from 3 different POV and I think it's delivered perfectly.
Whereas a few of the plot twists were a little easy to foresee, there were a few that took me by surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed them.
The characters are very well developed, very likable, and we even get a lot of back story on our main two, Tessa and Wes. We even have our morally grey character in Prince Corrick.
I loved the fact that we have great amounts of action, romance, and story development without having a major cliffhanger at the end of the book.
I cannot wait to see where Brigid takes this story next, I'm extremely excited for book two.


Troupes include:
friend to lovers
enemies to lovers
mistaken identity
save the kingdom
rags to riches

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury YA for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Reading my first book from an author that’s new to me, especially one who is as popular as Brigid Kemmerer, always makes me nervous but I loved every second of it. Her writing is beautiful and made me feel such strong emotions. I felt like I was going through the turmoil right with these characters and I was on the edge of my seat awaiting their next move.

One of the main elements of this book is political intrigue which I never know if I’ll enjoy but it was so well done in this book. The world-building was fantastic and crafted beautifully. We essentially have this kingdom split into different sectors and the leaders of each sector constantly are trying to get different things out of the King and his brother Corrick. I’ve never been so invested in the political aspect of a book until this one and found myself wanting to learn more and more about what Corrick and the King’s positions entail and what would happen next.

Romance is typically my favorite part of a book and the main reason I rave about said book. I would describe the romance in this novel as friends to enemies to lovers and I really enjoyed all the dynamics of their relationship. The thing I appreciated about this book which is unusual for me, is the fact that the romance sort of took a backseat to the plot and the political intrigue and it was done masterfully.

On top of the political intrigue and the romance, we also get a good amount of action scenes that played out perfectly in my head. I loved the way these scenes and certain plot lines reminded me of the story of Robin Hood. All of these moments kept me on the edge of my seat and made it so I couldn’t put this book down; I read all 500 pages in one sitting, especially because of the heart-wrenching plot twists that I equally loved and hated.

Part of me honestly wishes that I didn’t read Defy the Night so quickly because now I want to read the sequel immediately, which is impossible since this one isn’t even out yet. I am so excited to read more from Brigid Kemmerer.

Notes:

- Strong characters, stronger than the Cursebreakers series I think. I’m already more caught up in and invested in Defy the Night. And that’s not to say that I didn’t feel excitement for Cursebreakers, I did! And I don’t like to compare books but I can already tell (and hope) that Tessa is fantastic and her strength is going to carry through.
- The political machinations and plotting errs toward the juvenile/YA side but I remember that from BK’s previous books. It feels like a distinctive style to the author, so as a fan, it’s comforting.
- From the beginning there is a semi-obvious “thing” (no spoilers), but thankfully it’s not dragged out, because that would have been too much, playing as if the reader is dim. Instead, the plot is progressed steadily with reveals and adventurous trials at intervals giving it a great drive.
- Still, there were a few moments when I thought it lagged. But not for long.
- Great emotions from all the characters but I love that it held to two narrators. Corrick is a fount of suffering and silence even as he speaks. Tessa is a banked fire and righteousness without aim. Together it is compulsively readable.
- I would be remiss to not remark on the pandemic-centered plotline. By all accounts, BK finished the first draft before current world events began. There are, of course, things we will see similarities in but mostly, Defy the Night has enough separation and uniqueness that it doesn’t take over your thoughts every other page.
- Overall, really enjoyed it and I’m already ready for book 2. Ha!

I love love love this book and immediately need the sequel. I need to know what happens next with these characters that I love so much! Prince Corrick has a reputation for being ruthless and violent as the King's Justice, and is tasked with keeping the peace as a virus rages through the kingdom and the plant that cures the virus grows exclusively in two areas and everyone has to pay out the nose for the plants. Tessa is a Robin Hood-esque character, stealing the plants to give to those who can't afford to purchase them.

I almost immediately spied the big "twist" of the book and I'm okay with that because it's what I *wanted* to happen! I don't need there to be huge surprises, sometimes I love to pat myself on the back on catching it early and being right. But, I loved this book for the world-building, characters, plot, and pacing. Everything was exactly how I like it. There was a touch of romance without it being overkill & taking over the plot. I wanted to give all of the main characters a hug by the end.

In a world currently devastated with a virus, there is a level where this read hits a bit close to home. It is by no means an exact comparison and I don't believe it was even intentional based on the author's interviews, but if that sounds triggering to you - might be one to skip. Otherwise, I highly recommend picking this one up for young adult fantasy lovers.

**Thank you to Bloomsbury YA and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

Tessa and Wes head out into the night to deliver much needed medicine to the people of Kandala. King Harristan and Prince Corrick are trying to keep a kingdom together that is on the brink of revolution.

For a close to five hundred page book this was a breeze to read. The story, while not wholly original in terms of YA fantasy and pretty predictable, was engrossing. I wanted to keep reading to see how the drama plays out! For that alone it is recommendable. I also enjoyed this more than A Curse so Dark and Lovely.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book.

I’m kind of at a loss as to what to say about this book. I enjoy the author’s writing, I really liked the Cursebreaker books so I was anxiously awaiting this new story. I will say the book was fine, but I guess I was expecting much more. That’s on me, I suppose because I had high expectations. This book is ok, there’s nothing rant-worthy, it just didn’t “wow” me or anything, and the plot “twist” was very easy to figure out from basically the beginning. I liked some of the themes that were explored here, but I just wanted more from the story and characters, which I’m hoping we will get in the next book.

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Defy the Night trilogy. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: This was a well done fantasy that I really enjoyed. It goes back and forth between two characters; Tessa who works as an apothecary and Prince Corrick who is the King's Justice.

The kingdom of Kandala is suffering a terrible sickness and only Moonflowers can cure it. Of course, the rich have better access to the Moonflowers than the poor. Tessa works with a mysterious man named Wes to steal Moonflowers from the rich and distribute them to the poor to prevent illness. Yes, there is a strong Robin Hood vibe here.

However, a series of events ends up with Tessa trying to breach the castle and getting caught. Suddenly she's deeply entrenched in the complicated politics of a kingdom dying from fever.

This was very easy to read and decently written. The characters are very likable and easy to engage with and the world is well built out. My only complaint is that the plot is fairly predictable and the story is fairly simple (despite the politics woven in). The story feels decently tied up so I am curious to see what happens in the next book.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this is a well done YA fantasy; it has characters that are easy to relate to, is set in a well built fantasy world, and has some decent plot twists. It is fairly predictable and by the end of the story I felt the book was a bit long considering how little actually happened. However, it was a quick read and I enjoyed it overall.

i'm in awe of this book and this blurb and this cover. i'm just. so excited about it -- it's absolutely stunning, and i can't wait to have a copy on my physical book shelf to brighten up my room. thank you for the read!

I love every book of Brigid's that I've read so far, but Defy the Night now holds the #1 spot for best Brigid book ever :) I absolutely LOVED the Mc's, their individual personalities as well as their chemistry/ interactions. The world building was great (I do have some questions regarding some baseline things, but I'm hoping they'll be answered in the next book). There were a couple of side characters that totally won me over as well. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read the next installment :)

This fall is packed with some amazing upcoming books and Defy the Night is pretty close to the top of my list of anticipated fall reads. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing, I got a chance to read it a little early and let me tell you, it definitely lives up to the hype!

Defy the Night is a new series from Brigid Kemmerer, who is the author of the popular Curse Breakers trilogy. The story switches between two first person POVs, Tessa and Corrick in the country of Kandala, which is ravaged by an illness that can only be prevented by the petals of a moonflower. By day, Tessa works as an apothecary, making slightly phoney health remedies to make end’s meet. By night, she risks her life breaking into the homes of the wealthy elite, stealing precious and hard to come by moonflower petals and distributing it to the poor with her partner-in-crime Wes.

In the upper echelon of society, Prince Corrick- or Cruel Corrick, depending on who is talking- is working desperatly to protect his brother, King Harriston, who was thrown into power at a young age following the violent assassination of their parents. Since their kindness did nothing to save their parents, both brothers rule with an iron fist to try and keep control of their country.

I absolutely devoured this book and spent a couple late nights completely absorbed in the story. I thought of Robin Hood right from the first chapter, but with a lot more at stake. The events of the book take place over the span of a few days and is very fast-paced. For those looking for a complexe plot though, this might not be the book for you. The plot twists were fairly predictable (some I guessed when reading the chapter sampler), but sometimes predictable can be a comfort, and I still found it an enjoyable read.

There is some romance, but I think for the first time I wish there had been less. It can get a little tropey and almost a little blah. It doesn’t feel like anything new in terms of romance in a YA fantasy, but I still am looking forward to seeing what happens next between them.

For those who hate cliffhangers, I would say that there is some resolution at the end of Defy the Night, but it leaves space open for the sequel without any cliffhangers that will leave you freaking out (looking at you, Aurora Burning). I really hope there will be a lot more Harriston and Quint in the next book. And also more leading female characters. A majority of the female characters only make occasional appearances and play small roles aside from Tessa. That said, it does look like at least one will have a bigger role in the sequel!

This book gets all the stars!!! I love Brigid's writing but this blew her other books out of the water. Tessa who was selfless and such a smart, savvy and strong MC and then you have Prince Corrick who has had to become ruthless and strong in different ways as the Kings justice. This book had a lot of twists and turns and some you saw coming and many you didn't. The rotating POV's keep you wanting more. I devoured this book and then wanted to restart it all over again. I would highly recommend this book.

Wow! Okay, I stayed up way past my bedtime of 8:30pm to finish this. If you loved her spin of Beauty and the Beast in the Cursebreaker series, then you will love this one because it gives off major Robin Hood vibes! Kandala, is a kingdom suffering from a mysterious illness, citizens are dying, access to an elixir is strictly rationed and the penalties are brutal and carried out by the Kings Justice aka Prince "Cruel" Cory.

Tessa is an apothecary apprentice by day, and a masked outlaw at night. She's reckless, selfless and a survivor. I have a soft spot for morally grey characters, and Prince Corrick is no exception. Love him and there is nothing you can do about it.

Defy the Night is full of danger, suspense, mystery, packed with twists and of course romance! And writing that had me turning the pages (in my case swiping) and wanting more. I will ride and die for Kandala and I can't wait to see where book 2 goes!

Thank you @bloomsburyya for providing me with an advanced copy! Seriously preorder it, claim your elixir pin, its so good!

Read if you like:
» major Robin Hood Vibes: masked thieves and outlaws
» heroine who's selfless, a survivor and stands up for her people
» a morally grey hero who struggles with his duplicity
» a kingdom on the brink of revolution
» a mystery illness relatable to our current pandemic
» brotherly love and friendships... QUINT!
» danger, suspense, mystery, packed with twists
» bingeable writing
» of course romance!

Defy the Night is an action-packed story full of so many twists that it will have you questioning everything until the very end.

In this book, we follow Tessa Cade as she works with her partner, Wes, to bring much needed medicine to the civilians of Kandala. This medicine, which is made from moonflower, is the only preventative measure that the people have against catching the fever that has been spreading throughout the country for many years. The only problem is that the rich hoard the moonflower supplies, so Tessa and Wes have to resort to thievery in order to make and distribute the elixir to the common people. It is on one of these thieving mission that all goes awry, and Tessa finds herself in a very precarious situation.

I absolutely loved this book, and I devoured it in only a couple days. I just could not put it down! The storyline was also very relatable to current events (even though it was written prior to COVID), and the descriptions really immerse the reader into the world. The banter between Tessa and Wes was extremely entertaining, and brought some lightness to some difficult scenes.

Overall, I have nothing bad to say about this book, and I'm very excited to see what comes next in this world!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bloomsbury publishing for providing me with an ARC to review.

Bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer brings us a thrilling new series inspired by the tale of Robin Hood. Set in the kingdom of Kandala who’s populace is being plagued by a mysterious fever than can only be cured by the moonflower petals that grow in each sector of the kingdom. Tessa is an apothecary by day and vigilante by night, stealing the elusive moonflower petals from the royal sector and distributing them to the less fortunate. Prince Corrick is the kings right hand man and in charge of handing out brutal punishments as the “kings justice” to anyone who breaks the law. But what happens when Corrick’s heart is no longer in his role and he takes justice into his own hands? The cities peace is tenuous at best with whispers of a plot to overthrow the king. Can Tessa and Corrick band together to stop a rebellion or will they be the cause of a revolution?

I absolutely loved this! I ate this book up and read it in one day. Defy the Night is super compelling from the very first page Brigid Kemmerer just sucks you right in. The world building is interesting and the plot keeps the book moving so the pacing never seems to lag but where this book truly shines is it’s characters. Tessa was a compelling character, her feelings and motives are always plain. You, as a reader, never have to question why she is doing anything because it’s clear from the start that she just wants to help her people. She was fierce and didn’t back down even when she quite literally thought she would die. Corrick, on the other hand, is kind of morally grey, he has clearly done terrible things but in service to a greater good and Kemmerer does a great job of showcasing his inner struggle. The romance between the two was very sweet and one of the books highlights for me. I thought for a moment that the author was going to go the love triangle route but that notion was quickly done away with at about the thirty percent mark in a shocking twist I did not see coming. I, also loved the relationship between Corrick and his brother King Harristan and his friendship with Quint who seemed so earnest it was sickening (in a cute way).

Overall, this was a throughly enjoying read and I am apprehensively awaiting the sequel. I am nervous because my track record with Brigid Kemmerer’s books isn’t that good. While, I loved ACSDAL I didn’t really enjoys it’s sequels. However, I do hold out hope for this new series. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t choose just one word to describe Defy the Night if I tried. It is exquisite, astonishing, and heartbreaking.

Defy the Night takes place in the Kingdom of Kandala where a deadly plague spreads rapidly. The only one known cure is rare and costly, moonflower petals. These petals have the healing powers to bring people back from the brink of death. To remain healthy everyone in the kingdom needs at least one elixir from the petals daily. King Harristan and his younger brother Prince Corrick rule harshly, allowing anyone with funds to buy and consume much more moonflower every day than needed to be healthy. Along with punishing anyone who dares to steal petals with death. For these reasons and many more, there are not enough petals to go around and keep everyone alive. Anyone who cannot afford moonflower petals daily is likely to get ill and die very quickly. Wes and Tessa refuse to let the people of their sector die simply because they cannot pay the costly price of petals. They wear masks to hide their true identities from each other in case of capture and they work together stealing as many moonflower petals as they possibly can to make rounds daily and give treatment to those in need. Risking their lives is a small price to pay for the vast number of lives they save. However, nothing lasts forever.

I read Defy the Night so quickly and honestly can’t believe that it is almost 500 pages long. If you’re looking for a quick read then this is it! I am happy to say that not once did I find it was dragging on, I was interested from start to finish, never wanting to put it down. I thought the A Curse so Dark and Lonely trilogy was amazing but Defy the Night did the impossible and got itself a spot above A Curse so Dark and Lonely!

5/5 I 100% recommend Defy the Night. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Bloomsbury, and of course Brigid Kemmerer for this treasure!

I received an ARC of this book from BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review.'

3.5 stars (rounded down)

Defy the Night is a Robin Hood-inspired YA fantasy that flips between two points of view: the cruel King's Justice, Prince Corrick, and Tessa Cade, an apothecary. The kingdom of Kandala struggles with a deadly fever and a lack of availability of the cure (aka the rich have the money to buy it and the poor do not). Tessa and her best friend, Wes, sneak out at night to steal the flower the cures the fever and distribute it to the poor but it's not enough. A rebellion begins to form.

The plot itself is solid enough and I absolutely adored the Robin Hood elements of it. However, the reason I gave this book 3 stars is due to the combination of its predictability and impossibility of some of the major plot points. I could smell the "big twist" about a third of the way in a mile away (and if you are well-versed in YA tropes, I'm sure you could as well). Other things, such as Tessa sneaking into the palace without detection (despite being a bad liar and never having been in there before, let alone the royal sector) just seemed hard to believe. The dominoes lined up all too perfectly. I can't say much without spoiling it but throughout the novel, I was like "of course that would happen" because it was just too convenient. Even when things went "wrong," they didn't really go wrong.

As for Tessa and Corrick, I was ambivalent about them. Neither endeared themselves to me in a particular way –– throughout the story, I didn't really care either way what happened to them and was generally neutral. Just your standard, YA protagonists, certainly nothing we haven't seen before. While I'm not sure if I would pick up the sequel to this, I would be interested in seeing how they develop over the course of the series. As for right now, they're pretty generic and could use a little development.

I know when I started this book I was expecting an average fantasy that would revolve around the outlaw aspect than anything remotely political. Most fantasy books' main character who happens to be royal usually hates their family/hates being royal. But, in Defy the Night, we get Corrick, the king's justice and also the king's brother; and they don't hate each other. They're actually pretty adorable (sibling relationship in books supremacy).

Defy the Night follows our female MC, Tessa Cade, a would-be apothecary, as she (along with her friend, Wes) distribute stolen Moonflower petals among the poor in order to help ward off a deadly sickness that has been ravaging the populace of the Kingdom of Kandala. From the second, Corrick's (the king's justice), point-of-view, we read through the political drama that is occurring regarding the sickness and the cure. However, after a brutal act committed by the king's justice, Tessa sneaks into the palace (to do what? she doesn't know), but uncovers things she definitely wasn't ready to find.

Okay, review time. The "big" plot twist. I mean, let's be real…Once people start reading this, they're gonna see it immediately. I actually thought for a moment we'd be tricked twice, double-fake-out type beat, but no. That's YA for you, I suppose. Kingdom of the Generic and Overused Tropes™.

The characters. All I have to say about them is: meh. We have Corrick, the morally gray prince and Tessa, the sympathetic commoner. We've met them before in about eight thousand other books, but I'm not totally faulting the author because I guess character traits run out at one point or other. I honestly might've liked this book about thirty times more if the gender roles were swapped, like I would love a girl to be the executioner of sorts and the guy to be the nice one. There are books like that, I'm not denying, but there also would have been a lot more problems that could've have been placed if Corrick had been a girl (misogyny basically). Anyway, I'm not here to rewrite the book, moving on.

The romance. Also, meh. Probably because it was so in-your-face the whole time and I kind of don't love romance that much. Also, because I kept comparing this to A Curse So Dark and Lonely which is honestly such an amazing book, that this just didn't live up in many different aspects.

What I loved about the book, however, was the politics. There's never enough political intrigue in fantasy (I think), it's always so one-note, and this really was like "lemme take that to the next level." That was probably the big reason why I didn't rate this a 2 instead of 3 stars. Also, this book was weirdly socially-relevant, and I know this wasn't written during COVID or based on it, but it totally crazy how we can actually relate to these fantasy worlds in one way or other. Imagine if the cure for COVID was a literal flower, like please.

In short, Defy the Night is a pretty intriguing fantasy novel that is much better when you think about the politics that are incorporated over the heaps of romance.