Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer (review)

[Corrigendum]

A plague has ravaged the kingdom of Kandala in the last decade and its cure is predictably hoarded by the wealthy, so eighteen-year-old Tessa has spent the last two years stealing the required ingredients from the Royal Sector to make and distribute the elixir among the poor with the help of her partner in crime, Wes. Meanwhile, ever since his parents were assassinated, Prince Corrick has kept order for his brother the king by fear and violence, maintaining a tight control on the production of the medicine and who gets it. When Wes is apparently captured and executed for smuggling, Tessa manages to sneak into the castle with the intent to kill the prince and the king—but instead finds herself tasked by Corrick with convincing the king and the other nobles there’s a better way to keep the people safe. As with her previous titles, Kemmerer employs dual narration with a deft hand, giving a full picture of Corrick’s and Tessa’s perspectives while still leaving room for surprises. Corrick’s complexity is particularly well served by the structure: he is a bad guy who has done bad things, but his inner turmoil and painful reckoning with grief and guilt make him compelling, if not redeemable. The larger political and ethical dilemmas play out more with Tessa, as her idealistic beliefs in equality and altruism meet with the harsh reality of limited resources and the human drive to survive, others be damned. Contemplations on morality couple with a sweet romance, and the added thrill of a kingdom on the brink of revolution makes this stand-alone fantasy a page-turning read.