Review: Defiance (Defiance #1) by C.J. Redwine

Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Published: August 28, 2012
Pages: 416
Source: For Review from HarperCollins/Edelweiss
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.
At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.
As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

In short: Though Defiance by C.J. Redwine was missing certain aspects that kept it from being truly amazing, it was still an exciting and enjoyable read.

As I've already mentioned, I've been loving this recent influx of books in the historical high fantasy genre - all seemingly with kick ass heroines who know how to wield a weapon - and so I was very excited to pick up Defiance. Except Defiance wasn't quite what I had been expecting: it's actually a fantasy-dystopian set in a world where fossil fuels are becoming depleted and while looking for more, humans accidentally stumble upon a dragon-serpent-monster-thing from the depths of the Earth. A totalitarian leader controls the people who live inside his city's walls in exchange for protection from the monster. Though I really wish the world building in Defiance would have been more fleshed out as I was left with a ton of questions, I do think the premise was interesting and exciting.

The strength of Defiance comes from C.J. Redwine's beautiful and gripping writing, especially with respect to scenes of grief. Emotions aren't just glossed over, but fully realized and explored in her characters in these scenes, and I really appreciated that the time was taken to do so. Defiance is written effectively as a dual narrative, with love interests Rachel and Logan getting equal page time. Rachel and Logan were both likeable characters in their own way - Rachel with her stubborn fierceness and Logan with his logical and steadfast demeanour - and I thought they were perfectly compatible and their romance was nice and sweet.

Still, likeable characters and a nice romance doesn't exactly translate to amazing and memorable, and therein lies my biggest fault with Defiance. I was missing that "Wow Factor" that would have really elevated Defiance from being a good read to an absolutely fantastic one. The characters were strong and enjoyable, but were lacking a certain specialness that would have set them apart and made them truly memorable in my mind. The romance was awfully sweet and nice, which I love, but because it developed quite early on and was pretty predictable, it was lacking that romantic tension that makes the chemistry sizzle off the page. The premise was intriguing for sure, but the world building needed to be more developed to be truly impressive.

Overall, I really did like Defiance and I think this first book sets up great potential for the series at large. C.J. Redwine is a talented writer and I look forward to reading more from her. Though parts of Defiance were missing that je ne sais quoi, it was still an exciting story and one that I look forward to continuing in the sequels still to come.

Other Reviews:
Katie's Book Blog
Pure Imagination
Supernatural Snark

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