Defiance by Lili St. Crow Review

Hmmm, how do I start? The beginning of Defiance was great. Dru is totally bad ass, and finally makes her first kill on a sucker. Whoop, go Dru. But as the story went on, I found myself cheering her on and then wanting to throw a bucket of ice over her head, slap her, and then scream, "Get your head on straight!" Well, actually, one part because I want her to save Graves already, not snivel about him! So I guess they balanced each other out, and this book was rated three stars. 

ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS: 
So, after the cliffhanger in Jealousy, I was absolutely positive Dru was gonna step up, and save Graves. Instead, I got her pining for Graves, not doing a thing about it. The fact that Dru sat around in bed crying completely destroyed my portrayal of her, I mean really. She just depended on her set of movie star lookalike Order and Christophe. Oh Christophe, I actually liked you until you started acting like a controlling creep. Then, you got really annoying, overprotective, and super creepy. I won't even go into your personality disorder. *shivers*  I didn't even get an action scene outta you. You just stood there and screamed at Dru for half of your appearances. I can't comprehend why Dru can even stand you... It depresses me because I liked you before!

Dru has major trust problems. She either trusts the wrong person, and ends up regretting it big time. Or she doesn't trust the one she should trust. (e.g. the whole Christophe and Leon situation) 

Anyways, when Dru does make her first kill, Chris gets pretty upset because she didn't follow the plan, and she got a few scrapes in the process. Nothing sinister, just scrapes. And Chris's reaction is as follows... 

"Are you damaged? Are you hurt" Christophe held me at arm's length, his fingers gentle but iron-hard. He checked me from top to toe, and his eyes narrowed when he saw the dried blood crusting on my arm and the scrape on my leg. 

*facepalm* Yes, Chris is now a middle aged mother. Maybe I'm overreacting to that whole scene because I just don't like Chris anymore, but whatever, it's my review. Moving on... 


I loved Nat! I think her and Dru got along together very well. The fun moments between these too had me laughing out loud, and I like that Dru is broadening her friendship horizon. 

Now we're gonna fast forward through the training sessions Dru has with Chris. Then the confusion on whether or not Dru should make a move on Chris because she might still "like like" Graves. Yeah, Dru, remember him? He could be DYING! And you're having a dandy time with Chris the middle age mother. Sure, you're training, but I know you could be asking to try and find Graves! Then Dru gets attacked by a larval form... thingy. It was never really explained what the hell it was. That was disgusting. I did like that we got to see more of Dru's abilities when this happened. Her powers are revealed more and more in every book, which is great because I love to see her strengthen. 

Okay, here it comes, Leon found "information" on Chris. The stuff that Leon showed Dru pretty much said that Chris was lying about everything, and had handed Graves to Sergej the evil vampire but also Chris's father. Of course, Dru believes everything Leon says, and goes to the address that Chris is supposedly is holding him. (Trust issues, Dru!) Once there, she's greeted by Sergej which translates into her getting knocked out and waking up in a bed. Turns out it's the room Anna (the very misguided svetocha that tried to kill Dru in the last book) and Graves are being held. Meanwhile, as if that wasn't enough Dru is almost done blooming, and is having difficulties with the process. I feel like I've been waiting for this moment forever!!! 

Then Dru does battle with a gazillion vamps and Sergej. Sergej is dead? Not sure about that one, but I'm pretty sure he's not. Anna is dead? Not sure about her either... Then, somehow, the book ended with Dru, Graves, and Ash (Ash is the Broken wulfen that finally managed to change back to human form again, hoo-rah!) going out on their own wild adventure, abandoning the Schola. Dru got her independence back, and now she's feeling like it's her against the world. I really don't want to see her pining after Chris in the next book. But I don't think her and Graves are couple material. More best friends. Who knows how Lili is going to end this series? There's so many directions it can take from here! 


3/5 Stars