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

Title: Defiance
Series: Defiance #1
Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher: Atom
Release Date: September 6th 2012
Pages: Paperback, 403 pages

Summary from Goodreads:
Rachel’s world is confined to the protective walls around her city. Beyond them are violent wanderers, extreme terrain, and a danger straight out of legend: a beast called the Cursed One that devastates everything in its path.

When Rachel’s father goes missing, she is desperate to search for him. But her attempts to flee the city bring her to the attention of its overbearing ruler. His efforts to control her make the world within the walls seem as dangerous as that outside.

Her only chance at escape is Logan. Once her father’s apprentice, and now her only protector, he feels that helping her might mean losing her completely. But if he can put his feelings aside, they might be able to save more than Rachel’s father. They might be able to break down the walls, and set their people free.

Rachel’s father is pronounced dead but she is sure he isn’t dead and is determined to find out what happened. A Baalboden female must have either a protector or a husband; with Rachel’s father gone, Rachel is assigned a new protector, Logan. Rachel happened to profess her love to Logan a while back… unfortunately he didn’t return the sentiment. Long story short, it is a bit awkward between them! But they are able to form a plan to figure out why the commander is so interested in her father’s disappearance, what exactly he disappeared with, and where did he go.

What I loved: I have a soft spot for alternating POVs; I especially liked how the narration alternated between Logan and Rachel. It made for great character development, by the end of the story I was invested in their relationship/friendship and their success. The alternating POV also enhanced the slow building romance; we were able to see from each perspective how their feelings for one another evolved.

“Not the way I thought I was two years ago, when I offered him my heart. That love was uncomplicated and innocent, designed for a simple life. The love consuming me now is fierce and absolute—forged in a crucible of loss and united by our shared strength.”

I LOVED the characters in the story! Rachel is beautiful but stubborn and strong with some attitude. Logan is such a good guy; he tries to make the right choices, loves Rachel, and is a smart inventor. The Commander is pure evil, there is not one thing I like about him (so to me... job well done creating that villain!)

Beside the occasional slowness, the plot was full of adventure from the beginning. The fantasy world was well built and I enjoyed learning about their way of life, the rules the village abides by, the role of women, and the controlling/big-brother-like technology. I also applaud some of the choices the author made, she was not afraid of allowing the characters to make mistakes and not afraid of having death in the story. This ultimately made the story more believable; there are new friendships, deaths, new loves, and old loves all blended into this post/apocalyptic dystopian world.

Why it didn't get 5 stars: I had very few issues with this book; one of the main issues was that sometimes the plot slowed down a bit, so the pacing felt a bit off. I also am hoping that in the next book there is more explanation on the cursed creature. While the conclusion did a great job with the relationship aspects of the story (Rachel and her father/ Rachel and Logan), the rest of the ending was left WIDE open for the sequel. The story reminded me a bit of the movie The Village (hooded townspeople, scary beast, and fences to protect the village).

Overall, this was a 4 star book; Redwine blended fantasy with love and adventure with a hint of post-apocalyptic/dystopian life. I can’t wait for the sequel to see what trouble Logan and Rachel get themselves in. I would recommend Defiance if you are looking for a well built fantasy world with two great main characters.