Ignite by Sara B. Larson

Ignite by Sara B. Larson
Series: Defy #2
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: December 30th 2014
Source: Bought

Murder, kidnapping, and forbidden romance abound in this thrilling sequel to Sara B. Larson's acclaimed YA debut, DEFY.

Alexa continues to harbor a secret love for the newly crowned King Damian, yet she remains by his side as his guard and ever committed to helping him rebuild Antion and reclaim the hope of Antion's people. However, when a new threat to Damian and his kingdom emerges, and blame is cast on the once friendly nation of Blevon, Alexa knows things are not what they seem. Once again the fate of her country hangs in the balance. Will Alexa be able to protect her king and uncover the true enemy -- before it's too late?

The wait for this book has been awful! I read Defy back in 2013, and I've been dying to get my hands on the sequel ever since. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happened after that ending, and I was dying to know whether my ship would work out or not.

Ignite picks up not too long after the end of Defy. Alexa is sticking to her guns and refusing to be with Damian; Damien is giving Alexa the cold shoulder because he thinks her reasons are stupid and Rylan is still following Alexa around like a lovesick puppy and hoping she'll magically fall in love with him. A Delegation from Denaii kingdom shows up. Lady Vera (from Denaii) attempts to woo Damian. As soon as they have left to clean up, an attempt is made on Damian's life by what appears to be Blevon soliders. Alexa knows something it going on, but she can't quite put her finger on it. It's up to her to try and uncover what's going on before it's too late.

Alexa is still as awesome and badass as she was in Defy. She's more concerned about her appearance now because of the scar on face that she acquired from her battle with Iker. The only thing that bugged me about her was her struggle between Damian and Rylan - when she clearly cares about one of them more. But she still has her moments when she considers going for the other guy which left me shouting "MAKE UP YOUR MIND". She's beaten and battered after the battle and has lost a bit of confidence in herself.

Damian is his usual sweet, caring self when he wasn't freezing Alexa out for her decision. But he only did it to stop himself from being torn apart every time he looked at her. Damian is questioning his position as King as he doesn't think he's cut out for it. He's trying so hard to make everything right, but things just seem to be getting worse.

Rylan basically just follows Alexa around and tries constantly to make her love him which got extremely boring. I don't think he'll ever get that Alexa will never love him like he loves her. He's a nice enough guy, but he has an insane jealous streak.

From the moment the Denaii delegation arrives, everything basically goes to shit. There's something odd about Lady Vera and everything that's happening to her is way too coincidental with their arrival for it to have been anyone else but the Denaii's. Honestly, I was wondering what took everyone so long to figure out what was going on - it was pretty obvious. Lady Vera set her sights on Damian, and she tries to distract him. Jax (Damian's half-brother) is kidnapped and all signs are pointing to Blevon again, but neither Alexa nor Damian believe it was them. The ransom note for Jax offered a swap for Alexa. Alexa and Rylan head off in search of Jax to find out what's really going on, and hopefully save Jax.

The last quarter of the book was probably my favourite. The action at the end was brilliant - I love seeing Alexa fight - and I was extremely interested to find out why everyone wanted Alexa. But, the main reason I loved the last quarter was a certain moment on pg 209 which had me squealing and jumping for joy! Happy tears may also have been shed. There were quite a few revelations at the end of the book and Alexa is keeping them a secret for now. I honestly can't wait to see how everything is going to play out now (please don't break my heart, Sara!).

Overall, Ignite was a superb follow up to Defy. It was full of action, twists and some fantastic revelations that set up the next book perfectly. I can't wait to get my hands on it!