Defy by Sara B. Larson

Defy by Sara B. Larson
Series: Defy #1
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: January 7th 2014
Source: Publisher [Netgalley]

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?

Defy is one of those books that I've been so freaking excited for ever since I heard about it. So when The Reading Nook Reviews let me know that it was available to 'Read Now' on Netgalley, I started jumping up and down and rushed over to grab myself a copy.

Defy definitely lived up to my expectations. There was a kick ass heroine, two hot guys, magic, secrets and a lot of fighting. 

Alexa is one of the most kick ass heroines I've ever read about. She's forced to disguise herself as a boy so that she wouldn't be sent to the Breeding House. She managed to become part of Prince Damian's guard because she was such an awesome fighter! Seriously, I adored seeing Alexa fight because she was fanatstic! She was a much better fighter than all of the other members of the Prince's Guard, which just made her even more amazing. I really admired Alexa. She did what she had to do to protect herself and I respected her for that. She hates that she has to hide who she is, but she has to do it to keep herself safe. Alexa is willing to fight for what she believes is right and she's always willing to make sacrifices even if they hurt her.

So there was a definite love triangle in this book. The two guys were completely different and as usual, I had my favourite.
Prince Damian was my favourite in this one. He acts cocky and stuck up, but really he's just trying to protect himself. Damian has had some pretty horrible things happen to him when he was young and he puts up a front to protect himself. He doesn't know if there's anyone he can trust so he keeps himself to himself and doesn't let anyone in. That is, until Alexa. Damian starts to realise that Alexa is someone he can trust. Damian does kind of deceive Alexa and hide his deepest secret from her, but that's because he's always been told never to let anyone find it out because it could lead to his death. I wasn't too bothered about Damian lying to Alexa because it was what he had to do to protect himself.
Rylan was a member of the Prince's Guard. He's a really sweet and caring character, but I just didn't like him as much as Damian. Rylan has always known about Alexa being a girl because of a slip up that her and her brother made and he's been pining after her for years. He's always cared about her and now that her secret is out, he can finally act upon it. To me, it kind of felt like Rylan was trying to force Alexa into liking him instead of giving her a choice. He was always trying to warn her off of Damian and it started to annoy me. He's a nice enough guy, but definitely not my favourite.

I absolutely adored the storyline of this book. Seeing how far Alexa had to go to hide the fact that she was a girl was interesting. The world in this story was interesting as well, but the way the King ran it was horrific. He had a breeding house where girls/woman were sent to have kids and it made me sick. I completely understood why Alexa did what she did to avoid it. I loved uncovering Damian's secrets and finding out what he was hiding from Alexa. There was a lot of fighting, magic and action and I loved every minute of it.

The ending was really good and also slightly heartbreaking, but I have faith that the next book will be just as amazing as this one.

Overall, this was a really great fantasy novel. It had everything I adore about fantasy novels: an intriguing world, magic and lots of fighting. This is a book that I definitely recommend to everyone!