Book Review - The Defiant

Title: The Defiant

Author: Lisa M Stasse

Series: The Forsaken (Book 3)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Release Date: 7 July 2015

ISBN-13: 978-1442432727

Synopsis

In this gripping conclusion to The Forsaken Trilogy, Alenna's loyalties are put to a test of life and death.

Alenna Shawcross and the others who escaped the wheel are working toward an all-out assault on the United Northern Alliance. The plan is to dismantle it from the inside--and Alenna is one of the few people who can access the organization's inner sanctum. But when she returns to the home she has nearly forgotten, she encounters old friends and is swept into a secret plan that puts everything she loves in danger.

Knowing what is at stake for her and her friends, Alenna ventures into the heart of the treacherous UNA. She's determined to bring them down, because freedom is the only choice. Or is it?

My Review

After reading book 1 I was left wanting to know more. After reading book 2 I was fully engulfed in the series and invested in the characters, for me book 2 was much better than the first and I hoped that the author would continue to get better as we headed into book 3.

The Wheel is now history, that battle has been fought, but a much bigger one stands ahead. It is now time for Alenna to face the UNA head on, right in the middle of it’s own territory – by returning to where she grew up. After undergoing extreme training, Alenna and Liam are ready for the next battle, but it isn’t long before they are separated and once again fighting desperately for both their own survival and victory over the UNA. We have other characters make a return appearance such as Gadya and Cass, they are a refreshing addition and probably my favourite characters.

I expected this book to be ram packed with action and be really fast paced but I actually felt like it was a lot slower again and I found myself getting bored in places, I just wanted them to get on with it.  For example Alenna in the Farm house labour camp – this was a necessary addition to the story, her captivity and submission but for me it just dragged on that bit too long, constantly waiting for her to break out and yet not daring to.

For me the story was a bit too political, I knew it was a fight against a government but instead of a clear battle, there were so many debates about what was right and what was wrong and why things were being done, and whether that was the right thing to do for all civilisation – it just got a bit tedious. There were also so many bad guys – or even possible bad guys that is started to get a bit confusing as to who was really in the wrong and who was just misguided. You never know who to truly trust – and to a certain extent that can make for good reading –keeps the tension, but again it was just too multi-layered and I just got a bit fed up and assumed everyone was evil.

There were some exciting moments and some quite sad moments and there were times when I really did start to race through the book again, but overall I found this book disappointing. It had so much potential from book 2 to make an epic conclusion, it just felt like things got a bit lost on the way.

I’m glad I finished the trilogy and it was worth a read but I don’t think I’d want to read it again. It just didn’t wow me.

My Rating