While the other girls in the walled city-state of Baalboden learn to sew and dance, Rachel Adams learns to track and hunt. While they bend like reeds to the will of their male Protectors, she uses hers for sparring practice. The Defiance series by C. J. Redwine is rich postapocalyptic YA fantasy perfect for fans of Graceling and Tamora Pierce. Includes all three novels and one novella in the series.
Defiance: When Rachel’s father fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the city’s brutal Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector: her father’s apprentice, Logan—the boy she declared her love to and who turned her down two years before. 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.
Deception: Abandoning the ruins of their home to take their chances in the Wasteland, the group soon realizes their problems have only begun: an unknown killer —possibly inside their ranks—has begun picking off the survivors one by one. And Rachel and Logan must question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.
Deliverance: Rachel has been kidnapped by enemy forces and is being taken to Rowansmark while her love, Logan, is imprisoned and awaiting trial, unable to leave Lankenshire. As uneasy alliances are tested and their enemies plot against them, will the two manage to find a way to rid their world of the tyrannical Commander and destroy the tech that controls the deadly Cursed One once and for all?
Fly Girl’s Review:
You all know how I hate cliffhangers so I tend to read series that are complete and review afterward. I’ve wanted to read something by C. J. Redwine for about 2 years and finally found the time between must reads to grab a few off my TBR list. I actually listened to all of these through Audible and purchased all of them, so there was no expectation of a review. I’m glad I finally got to read/listen to her. Her writing did not disappoint. Also, on an audible note, the narrator she used was amazing at the voices and really made it fun to listen to. I downloaded the consecutive books just as soon as the previous one ended, like a kid in a candy store. Thank goodness Amazon is a 24/7 store.
This is a young adult series with only a passing reference to sex. It has a dystopian world that C. J. Redwine creates where an apocalypse by dragons, who live underground but ravage the earth, has occurred. A few leaders have been able to create safe communities based on something they found while hunting the dragons at the beginning of the apocalypse. Each ruler cares for their community’s residents differently so the leaders are not always in sync with one another which creates animosity, deception, and war. So as you can imagine this is the crux of the story. Truths have been withheld between the communities because there is no free travel between the city states. When it begins to become widely known that not all cities are managed the same way, some of the communities try to depose their rulers for a better society where they are not treated with absolute control.
Redwine builds a very good visual of how the people lived in each city state and the landscape between them. I could feel the emotions of the citizens as things happened to them both happy events and tragedies. She quickly moves the story along in all three books. The main topics this series deals with are loss of life, friendship, different types of love (parental, friendship, partner), loyalty, and right and wrong.
The relationship of the 2 main characters is believable and has its funny, sad, and loving moments. It doesn’t take long for them to overcome their animosity of one another and then the story really focuses on them both as leaders and their teamwork. It really is a neat world that she creates and I can’t wait to read more of her work.
BTW, if you read all 3 books, there will be no cliffhanger. Thank goodness.
Fly Girl’s Rating: 5 of 5 Propellers
Connect with the Author:
C.J. Redwine is the New York Times bestselling author of THE SHADOW QUEEN, THE WISH GRANTER, and the DEFIANCE series. She adores Harry Potter, Sherlock, most of the shows on the CW, and Batman.
