IGNITE (DEFY, #2)
Sara’s debut YA fantasy novel, DEFY, released in January of 2014 from Scholastic. The sequel will come out in early 2015–stay tuned for announcements about the title, cover, and synopsis! Sara lives in Utah with her husband and three young children. She writes during naptime and the hours when most people are sleeping. Her husband claims she should have a degree in “the art of multitasking.” On occasion you will find her hiding in a bubble bath with a book and some Swedish Fish or some mint chocolate truffles. She is represented by Josh Adams of Adams Literary.
Erin’s Thoughts
Ignite by Sara B. Larson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I have to admit that I have been impatiently waiting for Ignite which is book two of the Defy series by Sara B. Larson. I mean, I can’t even pretend I was even a little bit patient about this one as I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next in this series. Admittedly I won’t be saying too much about everything in this review because I can’t ruin this book for anyone so don’t hate me because I’m not going to put any spoilers out there.
Ignite picks up shortly after Defy ended and I recommend doing a quick review of the final chapters (if you can handle it) to lead you right into this one. Larson does a quick review of what happened to wrap up the last book but it was super helpful (to me) to revisit the end before I got back into where things were going for Alexa.
As we dive in, Alexa is back to being Damien’s personal guard which is definitely a tough situation to be in…for both of them. They both still have strong feelings for each other and while Damien really wants to be with Alexa, Alexa still doesn’t believe that she could ever be his queen which means she continues to do what she can to distance herself from Damien and their feeling s for each other. She also continues to be a close friend to Ryland but knows that she doesn’t love him like she loves Damien and there will never be anything more than friendship between them and Ryland respects this. It was interesting to see her struggle with doing what she thought was right and it was clear she was more than willing to sacrifice her happiness in order to protect Damien and the Kingdom.
Despite what she has been through, Alexa is still the strong fighter she has always been and I loved that even though she is hurting and she hears the things that are said about her, she continues to do the things she feels are important, like being a royal guard.
Damien struggles a bit with being King. Not that he can’t do it, but that he isn’t used to letting others take action and he has to allow it. As King, he can’t dive right into danger and that isn’t something he is necessarily comfortable with and it makes him feel a bit powerless, which is interesting considering he is the King. I do love that he isn’t afraid to try to get Alexa to see they deserve to be happy and together. Where Alexa seems to be thinking more about the bigger picture and her suitability to be queen, he is mostly concerned about being with the person he loves and being happy. I have to admit, the swoony bits with Damien made me happy…don’t judge me.
Outside of the relationship stuff in this book, there is a bigger threat out there to the Kingdom of Antion. Damien is facing something he can’t control and blame is being placed on Blevon, who supposedly has a peace treaty with Antion. As Alexa gets pulled into the middle of what is going on, she learns who is really behind the threat and she also finds out there isn’t a lot she can do to eliminate it.
With everything going on, we are introduced to some new characters in this book. Both Lady Vera and Rafe are catalysts to where the story heads in Ignite and I found their roles interesting. I will be curious to see where the story leads in book three now that things ended the way that they did…OH MY GOD!! I can’t believe I just did that (sorry, not sorry).
Ok – so don’t hate me for that. I really can’t say anything about that plot line because so much happens tied to the new characters and if I were to say anything, I would ruin the story for those that don’t like spoilers…so just trust me when I say, you will read all about it and then be thankful that I didn’t give anything away.
I have to admit, the ending of this book kind of killed me (if you couldn’t tell by my last update). There is so much that is up in the air. Good things and bad things are on the horizon for these characters and this book already has me wondering when I can get my hands on the next book.
So Sara….well done! You have made me love these characters and their stories…so much so that I can’t stand the fact that I now have to wait another year for the next book. For those that worry about it, there isn’t a cliffhanger in this story but I am not lying when I say I would have loved it if Larson had given us a bit more. Mostly because I can’t handle all of the questions running around in my mind. Now, my next mission is to find someone who is open to bribery in exchange for an early copy of book three.
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