Defy by Sara B. Larson (review)

When a sorcerer attacks Alexa’s small village and kills her family, Alexa cuts her hair and poses as a boy to gain admittance into the army and thereby avoid the king’s breeding houses, the inevitable fate for any parentless girl in the jungle kingdom of Antion. Three years later, she is one of the army’s most prized fighters and part of Prince Damian’s elite guard, but even she can’t stop the sorcerer that essentially explodes his way into the castle, kidnaps Damian, Alexa, and Rylan, another guard, and takes them deep into rebel territory. As she grows closer to the prince during their captivity, Alexa finds it increasingly difficult to keep her act as “Alex” up, but it soon becomes clear she’s not the only one keeping secrets and that Damian’s involvement with the rebels will either topple a tyrant or get Alexa killed. The first half of this heroine-centered fantasy suffers from too much introspection on Alexa’s part as she goes through the inevitable push-and-pull romance with Damian and rebuffs advances from Rylan, who seems to exist only to cause romantic tension between the two lovers. Damian’s appeal, however, is undeniable, both as a romantic lead and a genuine character: his is actually the much more interesting story, as he has had to pose as a spoiled and petted prince while planning the overthrow of his cruel father and as a result, he’s unable to really trust anyone. The unspooling of his secrets—and there are many—drives the book’s second half, and the climactic scene in which Alexa and Damian confront and kill the men who took so much from them is both powerful and narratively satisfying. While lacking the polish of Cashore’s Graceling (BCCB 1/09), this will likely still satisfy teens looking for a blend of swordplay and romance.