She did it again! Brigid produced an amazing sequel that has left me with more heartache and questions than the first! Defend the dawn blew me away, the slow burn the adventure, THE TENSION. honestly if i could lock corrick and tessa in a room on that boat and tell them to just talk i would... but then that wouldn't make a good series then would it? i really did enjoy the exploration of their relationship throughout defend the dawn

and that ending... my heart! I highly recommend this series to anyone and everyone

Thank you so much to bloomsbury and netgalley for this early copy (so sorry for the delayed review)

Once again Brigid smashes it out of the park with the sequel to defy the night! . Brigid is one author who never disappoints and i cannot wait to continue the series

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised when this popped back up in my dashboard as I'd been meaning to look it up so I could complete this series. I think this book does suffer slightly from 'middle book-itis' - there's a lot of set up and not much payoff - but I did enjoy the ride. It developed Tessa and Corrick's relationship nicely and I always enjoy a sea jaunt! There were also some big revelations that threw the events of the previous book back under the microscope, which is some good plotting by Kemmerer.

Absolutely loved "Defy the Night", so when I saw the sequel being published, I could not wait to get my hands on it!

Defend the Dawn is the second book in the Defy the Night trilogy, and is a fantasy series following two main characters, Tessa and Corrick. Their kingdom is played with a sickness and we follow the two MCs through the difficulties and threats haunting this kingdom.

I tend to struggle with sequels as I adore the world-building element of fantasy reads, alongside getting to know the main characters, however I am happy to say that the character development did not disappoint in this follow-up. Their complexity from the first book was built upon as well as their relationship, but also with the addition of new character dynamics that helped cement what was going on in the story.

The plot had a lot of action and was enjoyable, without being overly intense. However, I do feel like this could have been wrapped up within the first book and we wouldn't have been left wanting much more. The second and third book are/will be added bonuses to an interesting, political, fantasy world.

Overall, I very much enjoyed reading this sequel, and despite my prejudice against books in a series, I look forward to getting my hands on the third and final installment!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury US Children’s Books, Bloomsbury YA for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

I was so so happy to have received an arc of this and I LOVED it!! The storyline was great and I’d 100% recommend it!!

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS!!

Honestly I am crying daily waiting for book 3.

This is such an underrated series, I love the characters, the plot, the slow burnnnnnn! (So slow)

The writing style.. I love everything! And constantly recommend this series to everyone!!

I cannot explain how much I loved this book. I raced to start it straight after I finished Defy the Night and now I’m kicking myself because I probably should have paced myself so I wouldn’t have to wait so long until the next book in the series is out. It ended on such cliffhangers for all three characters and I need to know what happens next! It was well paced and thrilling throughout. Thank you for the review copy!

A follow up to defy the night, the polt pace is excellent and the story told from multiple points of view. An outstanding fantasy series

Defend the Dawn follows the story that Defy the Night started. The kingdom of Kandala is divided into fractions due to the power of the Moonflower. The faction that controls the Moonflower, is the one that can sustain the illness and those left without it, succumb to the disease.
As the moonflower supply dwindles, King Harristan, Corrick and Tessa must find a new solution when suddenly one lands in their lap. A ship arrives at the Kandalan borders and talks of trading arrangements to do with the moonflower. This might be in Kandala’s favour but alas, this seems all too suspicious right? That’s exactly what Wes thinks but he is persuaded by Tessa to give this guy a go. The guy in question is a former spy of King Lucas, Harristan’s and Corricks’ father, he died but his son continued his mission, his name is Captain Rian Blakemore. He claims that his father and him were sent to the neighbouring kingdom of Ostriary in order to spy on them for the King. Captain Rian Blackmore arrives on his ship claiming that Ostriary wants to do a deal with Kandala, their steel for moonflowers and invites our young protagonists on an adventure to meet the Ostrian King. So Tessa and Corrick board the ship of Captain Rian Blackmore and head to Ostriary. But nothing is as it seems and both Tessa and Corrick know something is up with Captain Rian, but they are not sure what exactly. So now, they must question everything in pursuit of the truth of who Captain Rian is.
This book is a fabulous sequel to Defy the night. Though I do love this series and cannot wait to read what happens next, I feel like this series is lacking the mystical wonder that I have come to know and love from Brigid Kemmerer and as such falls short of expectations that Brigid created for herself when writing A Curse so Dark and Lonely. But nevertheless this book is a great addition to this series and sets the narrative for the upcoming sequels.

4 out of 5 stars.

This was such an interesting and incredible read, there was such depth and intrigue. I found myself completely entranced by the story.

great story line and plot. great writing from this author again, loved the story. love a great fantasy

I adored the first book and this one didn’t disappoint, Brigid kemmerer is a fantastic author and her books always have me on the edge of my seat, unable to put it down. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loved the first book in the series.

Why do second books always leave you with more questions? To make you buy the next book of course and I can’t wait to have more from this world and this author. BK is a fantastic writer and I love everything she’s produced

I loved this book and need more, it ended on yet another cliff hanger leaving us waiting for more. The story sees Tessa on a boat for most of the book, as she tries to work out yet again who she can and can’t trust.
As the second in this series this didn’t disappoint.

The second book in the Defy the Night series continues the story from where the first left off, but with characters who have developed and matured over the course of the series' first volume.

Tessa and Corrick, the novel's protagonists, set out on an adventure to broker peace between the royals and the rebels. Tension and suspense abound in this novel as each protagonist struggles with their own demons and the external threats they face as they try to bring peace back to the islands.

One of the novel's greatest strengths is its cast of engaging characters. Kemmerer has a knack for creating lovable yet tragically flawed protagonists. Despite political instability and personal secrets that threaten to rip them apart, Tessa and Corrick fight to make their love work. We also get an insight into King Harristan's point of view which didn't work so well for me as I don't really care about him as a character but it was interesting enough I suppose.

Kemmerer's prose allows the reader to easily picture the novel's settings and characters in their minds. To judge by the first two books, Kemmerer has packed in a lot of action and suspense, and I look forward to seeing how she wraps things up in the final instalment.

Defend the Dawn is an enjoyable continuation of the plot that expands upon the first novel's environment and cast of characters. If you liked the first book in the series, you should pick up this one.

A Chatsonic Original

I am such a big fan of this series!
I wasn't sure where the second instalment was going to go because it felt like Defy the Night almost finished up wrapped in a nice bow, but there was a few breadcrumbs that opened the door to Defend the Dawn.
Tessa and Corrick are brilliant characters that I loved in book #1, and they were given a bit more depth and personality in this book. Their dynamic is infectious and makes for easy reading.
Overall this was a solid second instalment in what is lining up to be another hit for Kemmerer.

This review is a little overdue but OMG did this book blow my mind! I always go into sequels with low expectations (we all know that the second book in a trilogy can be just a filler) but ‘Defend the Dawn’ certainly sunk that ship!

This book has; the adventure, the slow burn, a love triangle, an unexpected twist and of course the mother of all cliffhangers. An absolutely ride from beginning to end and I loved seeing the original characters learn and develop on their relationships and themselves.

I cannot wait for the final book!

This book gave me deja vu from the first one. Loved to see the personal growth of the characters but at times the plot seemed stale. The plot twists were immaculate though and the fine 100 pages or so were very engaging.

I can find no fault to this book except that I have to wait for the next one to know what will happend.
Great storytelling, excellent world building and character development.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I absolutely loved the first book in this series and was so exited for this one, I did however find that it felt a lot like a filler book before the last one in the trilogy, as not much happened and all of the drama was at the end then left on a cliffhanger. I adore this authors writing style and am a huge fan of Tessa and Corrick. Overall I did really enjoy this but think I will enjoy the last one better when it is released!