Title: Defiance (Defiance #1)
Author: C.J. Redwine
Genre/s: Young Adult, Dystopian, Fantasy, Romance
Release Date: August 28, 2013
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Synopsis:
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.
My Thoughts:
Defiance by CJ Redwine, is a fast-paced but confusing novel that sort of blends post-apocalyptic dystopian and medieval era with a bit of fantasy, into one. Saying that it was an epic fail of a mash-up, would be an understatement.
When Rachel's father didn't return, 2 weeks after his courier mission outside Baalboden, he was declared dead and Rachel was assigned a new Protector in the form of Logan McEntire, her father's apprentice and the boy who rejected her love two years ago. But Rachel believed that her father was still alive and she thinks that if there's someone who can track the best courier of Baalboden, it would be her.
I don't like Rachel from the very beginning. She's immature and stubborn in a not-so-good way. You see, there are two kinds of stubbornness in my vocabulary. The first is the stubbornness that is worth admiring(fighting within reasons) and the second is, the stubbornness that is irritating(fighting with no reason/ fighting for the sake of fighting). And Rachel has the latter. Her attitude and demeanor towards Logan was illogical and uncalled for. I get that he dumped her and she was deeply hurt. But MY GOD! That was two freaking years ago. Get over it and move on!
I like Logan, though. I love how his so put together and how he thinks about the worst and best case scenario before he make his decisions. He reminded me of a chess player who calculates and analyze every single component of the game. I love how he recounted everything he knew about Pythagorean Theorems and recite the whole Periodic Table of Elements whenever he wanted to divert his focus. It was geeky and even though it was a bit unrealistic that he memorized those things, I still find it hot. I'm weird like that.
And as I said above, the setting and genre of this book was an epic fail. It was confusing the hell out of me. I thought, Defiance was categorized in the dystopian genre but I feel like it was more medieval fantasy than dystopian. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong but the only vehicle I found here was a horse and wagon and most of the travelling was done on foot. Shouldn't they have a car or a more futuristic transportation vehicle? And their treatments to women here was so Victorian era. Women only study things like cooking, bargaining, sewing, and proper etiquette when out in public with their Protectors and only boys are allowed to learn math, reading, history and other stuff. This world reeks gender inequality and I don't like it one bit. If this was really a futuristic post-apocalptic dystopian, then why is this world so backward?
Overall, I was disappointed with this book. It wasn't for me.
My Rating
