Pirates, romance, betrayals, and more in the sequel to Defy the Night. Picking up where the last book left off Tessa is now part of the council and Corrick and Harriston are still trying to get more Moonflower to save their kingdom, however when a dashing captain of a ship appears and claims to be an old emmisary sent by the previous king Corrick is suspicious while Tessa seems to be falling for him. This new person is named Rain and he has come to make an offer to trade the moonflowers of the kingdom he has been spying on for them in exchange for steel as he is playing both sides. Tessa spends a vast majority of this book going back and forth ( and mostly believing that Corrick is awful, frightening or a monster) and listening to everyone else’s opinion about him while she wavers between her feelings for him and Rain the new spy pirate who taken an interest in her. This book went where I dreaded ( the annoying love triangle) and Tessa constantly going back and forth about Corrick, and honestly she’s the main reason I didn’t enjoy this book so much. I loved their relationship in the first book, I was looking forward to it growing in this one, but a majority of it is spent thinking Corrick is awful and that Rain is so great ( seriously I was pulling my hair out). If i’m being honest, Tessa was the weakest point of this entire book, her whole arc was just being in the middle of two guys and going back and forth which one she wants.... seriously... why? Corrick and Harriston on the other hand were amazing, we get to delve deeper into their characters and their growth. Corrick is struggling to protect his brother, his kingdom, and Tessa. He’s immediately suspicious of Rain ( AS HE RIGHTFULLY SHOULD BE) and is weary of everyone ( HE’S WITHIN HIS RIGHTS HIS PARENTS WERE LITERALLY KILLED IN FRONT OF HIM and this entire time he’s been trying to keep control of the kingdom) and seriously Tessa? No empathy, no understanding, for this dude’s trust issues? You expect him to be friendly and cordial with the one guy who nearly got him killed and had him beat nearly to death?? ( GIRL WHAT?). Lochlan was barely there and when he was it was to start a fight or pick at Tessa and Corrick. I am excited to see where the next book goes because this one for sure left on a gigantic cliffhanger ( but seriously I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HOW THIS ALL WRAPS UP). Yes Tessa and Corrick spent a majority of this book at odds with one another but in the end of it they finally come to an understanding and finally talk and communicate... it only took them 300+ pages to do so. Also Harriston’s storyline with Quint? GIVE ME MORE. I can’t wait to see how Lochlan and Corrick fair in the next book and where Harriston and Quint’s storylines go, especially with the reveals and ending of this book.

SPOILR BELOW: ( This is just to help me remember when I read the third book haha)!!!!!!!

Spoiler

Corrick has fallen off the ship and has been captured with Lochlan and has to pretend to be Wes again, Rain turned out to be the King the entire time and was going to ransom Corrick off while also holding Oren Crane’s daughter as prisoner in his ship and poisoning her, Harriston has been pretending to be FOX a masked stranger who has been giving money and food to the people but while Corrick and co were away the counsel has ousted him as king and now he is injured and on the run with Quint, Tessa has to now cope with the idea that everyone but her and one guard are alive on the ship and states that she wants to learn to fight at the end of this book, Tessa and Corrick make up and finally admit to loving each other. Rain reveals that someone has been poisoning the people of the kingdom ( Corrick and Harriston’s and he thought they were doing it but if not them someone else is)

*Thanks Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, Bloomsbury YA for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*