Review: Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Defiance by C. J. Redwine is rich postapocalyptic YA fantasy perfect for fans of Graceling and Tamora Pierce.

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.

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. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father's survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself.

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.

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Though I really wanted to like Defiance - especially after falling in love with that gorgeous cover - I was ultimately disappointed by this debut offering from C.J. Redwine.

For me, the lack of world building in Defiance was the leading cause of my negative feelings. There are plenty of fantasy books that have gotten away with successfully with avoiding much world building (Poison by Bridget Zinn comes to mind), but I felt there were too many events and motivations in Defiance that didn't make sense due to the lack of world building. Things simply happened with no explanation... things that didn't seem to fit the other information I'd already been given or the world I thought was taking shape and I had no explanation as to why these things were possible. The setting in Defiance seems pretty old-fashioned, perhaps bordering medieval, yet Rachel and James have access to some rather advanced technology... technology that no body else seemed to have access to. 

Additionally, the characters seemed to get quite worked up things - everything was very dramatic - but I couldn't help but think they were overacting or feel that the solutions were a bit too simple for how dire things were supposed to be.

I'm not against violence in YA by any means because I find that it usually has a point, but the violence in Defiance sometimes bordered on gratuitous. I really didn't understand Rachel's willingness to kill anything and anyone that stood in her way. She seemed to have so much anger all the time and truly could not see any other solution to her problems other than aggression. This was very odd to me, especially when I felt that there were definitely other options to explore. Instead of coming across as headstrong and determined, she came across as rather daft. I wanted her to think with her head, not with her fists!

Though I didn't particularly like Rachel's violent tendencies, I did appreciate that Redwine wasn't afraid to kill off characters when it benefited the plot. There are a couple characters that I really liked and was sad to see go, but I could see the necessity of their deaths. 

Defiance didn't work for me, but I've read multiple positive reviews, so, if you're intrigued by the premise and can overlook the gaps in the world building, I think it could be worth a read. Readers who are concerned with world building and a prefer more complex fantasy worlds, however, would be better off reading something by Juliet Marillier, Kristin Cashore, Alexandra Bracken, or Tamora Pierce.

Balzer & Bray, August 2012, Hardcover, ISBN:9780062117182, 403 pgs.

Review: Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill--a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk--Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec. 
During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death--but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban's release from Keldec's rule. Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

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Juliet Marillier has been one of my go-to favorites for epic fantasy for years, but this is my first experience with her YA marketed writing. Unsurprisingly, Shadowfell is just as strong as her adult fantasy titles; setting a high bar for other YA fantasy titles. There are only a small number of YA fantasy titles that I've been truly impressed by, often causing me to wonder if perhaps the YA genre isn't built to sustain the type of world building and epic scope that I've come to prefer after years of reading adult fantasy. Shadowfell completely proves this hypothesis false, while simultaneously making it very likely that I'll be even pickier and judgmental about future YA fantasy I choose to read. I haven't decided yet if this consequence is positive or negative...

Shadowfell centers around Neryn, who has lost her entire family and her home under the reign of the dark, violent King Keldec. Like her grandmother before her, Neryn is gifted with a canny skill, or magical ability, which is outlawed any where but in King Keldec's court, where he uses  individuals with magical ability to carry out his nefarious plots and evil deeds. Constantly fearing for her life and unable to trust anyone, not even the Good Folk who are, themselves, magical and persecuted by Keldec, Neryn sets out on a journey to find Shadowfell and the secret rebel group that resides there, though she can't be sure it even exists. The journey pushes Neryn to her limits and brings unexpected people - and creatures - into her life; individuals that teach her about trust, love, friendship, and, most importantly of all, who she truly is.

Like all good epic fantasy, Shadowfell's premise centers around the universal, recurring struggle of good versus evil. Though the reader never truly meets Keldec in Shadowfell, it's clear from Neryn's scrapes with his minions that he epitomizes evil. I'm really hoping to learn more about Keldec and his past in the next Shadowfell novel. As the reader learns in this first book, Neryn is a complex, layered character and I feel it's only fitting that the reader have clear understanding of her nemesis as well.

I've always had a soft spot for the romance in epic fantasy. These romantic plot lines are usually slow building and filled with tension and complications. I honestly feel that if the romantic relationship between characters in epic fantasy develops easily, the author is doing something wrong. Marillier's romance in particular has always been a favorite of mine, so I wasn't surprised by the hurdles and difficulties placed between Neryn and Flint, who is an obviously perfect match for Neryn. 

As the first novel in the Shadowfell trilogy, readers can expect quite a bit of world building and character development. For me, epic fantasy requires trust from the reader and a willingness to embark on a multiple book journey. There are slower sections of Shadowfell, but they are not, at least in my opinion, boring. These sections that are slow in action feature heavy character development, which is just as important as a high-paced action sequence.

I cannot recommend Shadowfell highly enough. Marillier is an extremely gifted storyteller and I'm always impressed by the depth and beauty of her writing. I have a strong suspicion Neryn and her journey will become one of my lasting favorites.

Random House, September 2012, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780375869549, 410 pgs.

Review: The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her. 

And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.

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I'll start by saying that I love this novel's cover... Right off the bat, it was clear this novel would deal with both assassins and pirates, which for me, means a definite read. For me, this is one of those situations where it is more than okay to judge a book by its cover!

I really, really enjoyed the premise of The Assassin's Curse. Ananna, a young pirate, is on the run, avoiding an arranged marriage that would, more or less, make her her husband's property and effectively dash all her hopes and dreams of captaining her own ship and exploring the world on her own terms. Her husband-to-be's family doesn't take kindly to her escape and sends an assassin after her. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when Ananna saves Naji, the assassin, waking an impossible curse that ties the two together, making them unlikely, and unhappy, allies.

The novel follows the two characters as they traverse deserts, oceans, and islands in search of people that might be able to help them break the impossible curse. Along the way, the characters discover that neither is quite what they appear at first glance.

One of the most unique aspects of The Assassin's Curse was Ananna's speech. At first, her use of ain't and other obviously improper grammar and words stuck out like a sore thumb, but eventually my mind no longer stumbled and her speech patterns simply became a part of her character. I don't feel like I've seen this tactic used very often in YA fantasy lately and I appreciated the smaller details, like Ananna's language differences, that Cassandra Rose Clarke incorporated into the novel. 

I also loved the epic feel to this rather short novel. Ananna and Naji travel great distances (across a desert and an ocean) in search of experts who can shed some light on breaking an impossible curse, which, as the name implies, is no small feat. I liked both characters had time to shine throughout the novel - Ananna knows the sea and Naji is of the desert, so both showed both strength and weakness during the journey. This definitely allowed me to appreciate both characters for their own strengths as well as illustrated their individual weaknesses.

The one aspect of the novel that I didn't completely enjoy was the romance. I really liked the idea of Ananna and Naji growing to respect and, eventually, develop feelings for one another, but I never felt that Naji was very deserving of Ananna's feelings. He seemed very shallow at times and I couldn't help but feel that Ananna deserved someone who respected and appreciated her more. After all, all this began because she was trying to escape an unfair marriage, why would she settle now?

I can't wait to read the second book in this trilogy, The Pirate's Wish. I'm really hoping Naji matures in this second book and am excited to see where their quest takes these two characters next!

Strange Chemistry, October 2012, Paperback, ISBN: 9781908844019, 320 pgs.

Review: Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield

Lucy’s Chantress magic will make her the most powerful—and most hunted—girl in England. 

“Sing, and the darkness will find you.” This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness. 

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England. 

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion... 

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic.

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I'm always searching for engaging YA fantasy novels to love, so I was absolutely thrilled to find Amy Butler Greenfield's Chantress. Set in 1660s England, the novel follows Lucy, a girl that had been, until recently, marooned on a lonely island, alone except for her guardian Norrie. When Lucy disobeys Norrie's strict rule of no singing, her entire world changes as she discovers who she truly is and the responsibilities that sit squarely on her shoulders... and her shoulders alone.

The magic in Chantress is accessed through song and singing. At one time, there were many chantresses, but, we soon discover Lucy is the only one left after the rest were hunted and killed, scapegoats for crimes they did not commit. Lucy, who has lived on the island for as long as she can remember, knows nothing of Chantresses, so this first novel focuses heavily on Lucy's training and education, as she's the only person that has the power to overthrow the Lord Protector who terrorizes England with his evil Shadowgrims.

Though the plot of Chantress was relatively slow, I didn't find myself bored by the pacing. As a fan of adult epic fantasy, I appreciate world building, which I think Greenfield accomplished artfully. Additionally, I found this first installment to be primarily character driven and I adored the characters. Lucy may be the main character, but I enjoyed the prominence of the secondary characters. Seeing as Lucy has so much to learn and, therefore, cannot be the source of very much of the reader's information, the secondary characters are very important to the reader's understanding of the novel's setting and practices.

I have to admit, the Shadowgrims and the villain weren't very scary, but this wasn't an issue for me. Lucy spends much of the novel training and interacting with various characters, but she's yet to make any big moves against the Lord Protector. I fully expect the next book to deal much more closely with the dangers and villainous actions of the Lord Protector.

One of my favorite relationships in Chantress was Lucy's friendship, and budding romance, with Nat. Nat is a scientist and very bookish and is, at first, quite distrustful of Lucy and her magic. This relationship is not easy for either of the characters, but, as a reader, I loved the tension between Lucy and Nat. I definitely am excited to see what happens between these two characters in future installments. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this first book in the Chantress trilogy. It didn't feature very much action, but, since I was invested in the characters, I wasn't bothered. I'll be reading the next two books in the trilogy and am excited to see what Greenfield offers next.

Margaret K. McElderry Books, May 2013, Hardcover, ISBN: 9781442457034, 336 pgs.