I'm wavering between 3.5 stars and 4 with this one, but I've decided to settle on 3.5. Part of the reason for this may be the fact that, since I've been looking forward to this book for a long time, I had very high expectations. And when I pick up something I've anticipated for a while, and it doesn't blow my mind to bits, I'm immediately disappointed and underwhelemed no matter how good I might have thought it was had I just seen it at the library and started reading it impulsively. 
 This was written very well. The details of the government and the personalities of the people were well thought out and complex. One particular point I remember liking is that, since Defiance switches frequently back and forth between two narrators, Rachel and Logan, I didn't feel the need to constantly go back to the beginning of the chapter to remember who was talking. I felt like their voices didn't blend together at all, the way others tend to sometimes do (*coughCrossedcough*). 
 The world building itself . . . gets a B. The whole Cursed One thing sounded a little iffy to me at first as a reason why all these people had been destroyed and were now forced to live under a merciless dictator in exchange for protection. But, since the author writes well, I ended up not minding so much. 
 One thing, however, that really irritated me, was the Commander. There's nothing I love more than a good villian in a story (well, there are actually several things I like more, but whatever). I could appreciate his genuine evilness for most of the story, but I found it a little hard to believe at times that the leader of this town/city would be so obviously bad. My favorite kind of villians tent to be a bit less obvious than that, hiding their intentions or doing other crafty things. This guy was just typical. It didn't feel like there was much depth to his character at all. Okay. So he's mean/evil/cruel. Why? 
 So even though Defiance wasn't everything I hoped it would be, I really enjoyed it and will pick up the sequel when it comes out.