Review of Mark of Defiance (Defiance Gray #2) by Adrianne Brooks

3.5 Stars. A Scary Journey. I enjoyed the dark imagery and scary moments of this book. There were also some interesting philosophical questions that the book raised about religion and being open minded, which I liked. And, most of all I enjoyed seeing Defiance’s character grow and watching her start to open her mind and question all the things her “church” had taught her.

However, there were places where the plot dragged a bit, and the pacing felt off. I think if the first book had been combined with this one, and the author had cut a few things that it would have had a better flow.

Like in the first book there were a few contradictions that took me out of the story. For example they’re taught to lie in school, but lying to a high priest is a bad thing. Also Defiance seemed to have never seen windows before, but I thought I remembered her climbing back into her orphanage through a window in the first book. Also there’s a mention of using gas from old cars in the desert, but considering this is supposed to take place hundreds of years after the apocalypse, the gas shouldn’t be good anymore. They were just little annoyances, but they pulled me out of the story.

The biggest problem I had, was that I just didn’t feel drawn in to the budding romance between Defiance and Uriel. I could kind of understand Defiance having a bit of a crush on Uriel, but there’s so little we actually know about him that I had a hard time connecting to him as a love interest for her. As a protector and an Angel, he’s written perfectly, but I think he maybe didn’t seem human enough for me to believe that there could be a relationship between the two of them.

That said, I did love the ending, and how much Defiance was actually involved in saving the day. It felt like her learning about her gift was building up to that moment, and it finished the story off in a great way.

Read my Review for Act of Defiance (Defiance Gray #1)