Defend the Dawn (Defy the Night, 2) Hardcover – September 20, 2022

I loved it, wondering if claims from a sailor might be true. Who's wearing the mask. It was all so good and made me excited to read more about what Tessa might do now.

4⭐️ 0🌶️I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would to be honest! It was a slower start for me but by the end I was way more excited about the story and was a lot happier with how the author progressed it. While the plot twists were all predictable and none of them caught me off guard, I still enjoyed the journey of reading it.At first, I didn’t feel like enough had progressed in this story to be its own book, but the last 75 pages changed my opinion of that by closing out some of the journey of this book and setting the scene for the next book.There is much more character development and growth in this book than the first. Tessa learns to stand up for herself, Corrick tries to balance Wes with the Kings Justice, and Harristan learns to overcome his fears and become a true leader. This story is more of a coming of age and I liked reading it.Overall I am liking this YA romance story but it doesn’t feel like a fantasy to me - it feels more like a dystopian society that isn’t in a modern setting. I’m not entirely sure what I would classify the genre as (maybe just YA romance to keep it general?) but fantasy typically has elements of magic or other-worldliness that this series does not possess, so to me, this isn’t a fantasy series.It is cute though and I do like it so far, so I would recommend it to people who like YA romance with steam but not spice, and who don’t typically like learning the magical intricacies of fantasy worlds.

read if you love:🏴‍☠️royal brothers🏴‍☠️outlaws & pirates🏴‍☠️high seas adventures🏴‍☠️world building🏴‍☠️sequel is better than the first book🏴‍☠️high stakes🏴‍☠️swoon-worthy romance“𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨, 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”i absolutely loved defy the night and was so excited to get an arc of defend the dawn! although this review will be short (in order to avoid spoiling anything in defy the night), that doesn’t mean i loved it any less. in fact, i didn’t think it was possible, but i love defend the dawn more!! the world building was fantastic! we’re introduced to a whole slew of new characters and a new kingdom to explore — including the tumultuous sea. enter sailors and pirates and you’ve got an action-packed story filled with high stakes adventures and more royal intrigue. the twist and turns kept me on my toes as well as tessa’s romance with a certain brother — so angsty and swoony! and that cliffhanger…i cannot. needless to say i’m already anxiously waiting the third installment of this amazing series!thank you to bloomsbury ya and netgalley for an advanced copy. my thoughts are my own.

It came undamaged and is sooo pretty! Can’t wait to complete my set when the last one comes out later this year 🤩

I loved their trip, it was very much a. Voyage to a new land but I hated how Corrick and Tessa were falling apart because they didn’t really talk. However the ending was unexpected and I’ll definitely read the next book.

Sometimes it’s actually harder to review books I like, which probably says something about me…but I digress. That being said, I really like this series and looked forward to this next book. Even though these characters are fairly young chronologically, they’re written with a level of maturity that makes you forget they’re barely into adulthood. Tessa, Corrick, and Harristan are young people having to make very adult decisions, but you’d never guess that from how the author has written them. There’s a lot of political machinations in play and Harristan and Corrick have to fight to keep their hold on the kingdom but the story continues with all of them trying to find medicine to help save their sick people. Tessa is smart and determined but she’s also kindhearted without being a twit. All of the characters have personality and purpose, without being thrown in for no reason. Quint, Karri, Lochlan, and Rocco have voices and individuality and I appreciate their contributions to the story. The introduction of new characters, Rian and Oren, will definitely take the story in a new direction and to new geography; I look forward to the next chapter of this intriguing tale!

The ending of this book made this book the three stars. I loved, loved, loved the first book, but I struggled with this one. It’s taken me months because of how slow moving it is. I will be reading the final book just because of how good this ending is. I hope I don’t have to buy the audio version to get through it.

I'm a little bit frustrated that this ended this way, with complete chaos again. But determined to find out what happens next. I'm hoping there is some peace to be had somewhere, at some point, for maybe at least one of these characters?!