Defy by Sara B. Larson

Defy by Sara B. Larson
Published by Scholastic
Available Now
Reviewed by YA Sisterhood's Mom
The Sisters (and Mom) say:  Fantastic, A Must Read!

A lush and gorgeously written debut, packed with action, intrigue, and a thrilling love triangle.

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?

I DEFY you to read the first ten pages of Sara B. Larson’s DEFY and not be totally hooked! I definitely am! This is Larson’s debut novel and WOW does she know how to enter the literary world with style!

First, she has created a plot that literally magnetizes readers of YA. Alexa and her twin brother Marcel are children when they are taken captive by the King. Knowing that the fate of male captives in this kingdom is to be forced into the army and female captives to serve as breeders to increase the size of the King’s army, Marcel chops off Alexa’s hair and she becomes “Alex.” Now it is four years later and both seventeen-year-old Marcel and Alex, through extensive training, are members of the Prince’s Royal Guard. In fact, Alex has proven to be the best fighter in the guard and after an assassination attempt on  Damian, the Prince, Alex must guard him night and day. Alex begins to notice that the twenty-three-year- old Prince puts on the appearance of an apathetic, spoiled son of the King, but she alone finds that it is simply that—an appearance. But in a kingdom where to defy the king is a mortal mistake, can she trust Damian? Should she keep his secrets? And even more frightening, will he keep hers?

Larson’s characterization of the protagonist is AMAZING! Creating a character who must believably blend a male role as Alex and female as Alexa is quite challenging. Larson builds suspense not only through the life and death conflicts she faces but also in the situations in which Alexa is placed, where the reader just knows she can never pull off the charade of being Alex. However, Larson’s twisting of the plot creatively does so successfully.

I do have to admit that the breeding houses were disturbing, but I applaud Larson for handling it tastefully. You have to admit that just to mention young girls imprisoned for this is horrific, but the lesson it teaches to teens far outweighs the uncomfortable subject. Does it need to be in the book? Definitely, yes! We have to understand from what atrocity Alexa’s masquerade is saving her. And, finally, Alexa shows us that no matter the reach of evil into a country, everyone has a responsibility to fight that corruption.

The ending was so powerful! Even though it is set up for a series, it actually has a conclusion and doesn’t leave you with a heart rending cliffhanger for which you have to wait for months, yet you are still ready to read more about amazing Alexa. So I am hopping on the Larson Locomotive, definitely a fan, and I DEFY you to resist coming aboard, too!

Mini Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Published by:  Scholastic

Release Date:  On Shelves Now

Reviewed by:  YA Sisterhood's Mom!!!!

 

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

"Don't walk in front of a bus!" Bam! Bam! Bam! Despite the repeated warnings, the reader as well as the protagonist is hit time after time by a bus of revelations that makes this book a grip-the-edges-and-hold-on-until-your-through masterpiece!

 

Maggie Stiefvater ironically epitomizes her own three definitions of creativity in the book.  First being creative is "taking old things and cutting them up and making better things." Who doesn't love the art of fortune-telling?  Haven't we all read our horoscope? Yet Stiefvater takes these old world things and brings them into the contemporary setting among mismatched friends--Gansey, rich boy in a preparatory school on a quest; Adam, poor boy on scholarship to rich school and victim of abuse; Ronan, private school tough guy with a chip on his shoulder; Noah, the quiet one who is either bullied or ignored, and Blue, public school poor girl from a family of psychics.  Again, typical type characters, or so you think until page after page reveals secrets of the secrets and you are so shocked as each is bared that "better" doesn't even begin to describe it. (Although I will admit that Stiefvater inundates the book with characters and these are just a few. I struggled to keep everyone straight through the first part of the book and I will admit to having to backtrack through the pages at the beginning to remember who was who, but her characterization is so in depth that the reader can finally solidify them.)

 

Secondly, creativity could be "taking things that already existed and transforming them into something else." The kids stumble onto a cold case--a murder from the past of a student from the school.  I can't reveal the "transformation" of this event for fear of a major spoiler event, but let's just say, "I see dead people!"

 

And finally Stiefvater says creativity can "make a thing where before there was none."  For those of you who are tired of the same old paranormal YA novels, get ready for the literal magic and the literary magic that can only be created by Maggie Stiefvater!