Defiance by C.J. Redwine

This is another book that I marked to be read early when I first found Goodreads and waited so long to read it but I finally did. It's about a girl named Rachel who's father had to go on a mission and return in a certain amount of time in order to still be considered alive. But he doesn't make it back in time. Also, in this world, every girl needs to have a male guardian, basically, and, traditionally, that would be her father or her husband. Since Rachel's dad has supposedly died, she needs a new guardian and everyone expects it to be her grandfather but it's not. Instead, it is Logan, her father's apprentice and the boy who broke her heart two years before. Now she feels the need to go out of the city they set up and look for her father but that of course is not allowed. She does it anyway. With Logan. Good luck.

I really enjoyed this book. It had many aspects that I love reading about. One of these was an amazing father daughter relationship. Even though we mainly learn about it through flashbacks, it's easy to pick up on how close they were. Rachel was also a kick butt female protagonist who, like me, prefers to fight with the guys than be all dressed up with the girls. And she's a bit rash but I think that adds to her character. The point of view does go back and forth between her and Logan which I thought was interesting because when I read the synopsis on the back, I thought that he was going to be arrogant and a kind of a jerk but as you read through his perspective, you realize that he's not. He's actually the opposite because Logan is shy and slightly dorky. It made for a unique dynamic between him and Rachel.

This book also stood out to me because it was the first book I read with predominantly negative character development. But I think it makes the book all the more realistic because to be honest. if my dad disappears one day, I wouldn't handle it all too well either. That being said, I do think there was literally ONE too many deaths in this book. Very frustrating. I would also just like to point out I don't think it was a really "fantasy" book. I'm not even sure how to categorize it. Maybe like a mix of dystopian and fantasy? Kinda, sorta, maybe? Besides all that, I really liked this book and I think so will a lot of you guys.  4 out of 5 stars.