Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster. Rifts between sectors have only worsened since a sickness began ravaging the land, and within the Royal Palace, the king holds a tenuous peace with a ruthless hand.

King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents' shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King's Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion--it's the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate Moonflower petals, is severely limited.

Out in the Wilds, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her neighbors die, their suffering ignored by the unyielding royals. Every night, she and her best friend Wes risk their lives to steal Moonflower petals and distribute the elixir to those who need it most--but it's still not enough.

As rumors spread that the cure no longer works and sparks of rebellion begin to flare, a particularly cruel act from the King's Justice makes Tessa desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds upon her arrival makes her wonder if it's even possible to fix Kandala without destroying it first.

Set in a richly imaginative world with striking similarities to our own, Brigid Kemmerer's captivating new series is about those with power and those without . . . and what happens when someone is brave enough to imagine a new future.

---

Brigid Kemmerer writes beautiful, plotty, intricate fantasy. This is the first in a new trilogy that delves into social issues, politics - and yes, like a lot of things written in the last couple of years, there's a plague. It's not really part of the story, though, it's just the mechanism to get the rest of the story going.

The characters are well defined and fit in beautifully. Quint is exactly the type of character I love, and there's a scene with Corrick that nearly made me cry. The 'big twist', though, was flagged from almost the very beginning, so there was no surprise there. However, the rest of the story makes up for it - Harrison is a great secondary character, and while the bad guys might as well ahve been wearing 'bad guy' placards, they make sense.

I enjoyed the read very much. I wish my proof had a map, but at least the finished one will. I look forward to reading the others in the series, if I can - hopefully not too long away, or I'll forgot all the intricies of the plot! Can't wait to be able to start selling this one.

Defy the Night publishes on the 14th of September, 2021 in both the UK and US. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.