Defy is the first book in a new young adult fantasy series. It is about a young girl named Alexa that is forced to cut off her hair and act like she is a boy in order to survive. Her and her twin brother, Marcel join the royal family's guard, when a war break out. Alexa becomes Alex and she is a truly gifted fighter. She is pretty much better than all of the other guards. I liked reading the sparring and fight scenes in Defy because her fighting ability was my favorite thing about Alexa. I loved watching her best pretty much any guy she was up against. Defy is a good start to what looks like it will be a good fantasy series. 
 I want to continue the series, because I am invested and interested in the characters but there were a few things about Defy that kept me from going from like to love. The whole setting of the book was a country torn apart in war, and I never really found out why. We learned some of the reasons later on, but I wanted more of a back story on the war and on what was going on in the countries. Some more details about the people added in throughout the story. I am hoping we will learn more about the different heritages and groups of people in the next book. 
 There is a love triangle in Defy. And while this in and of itself is not a negative for me, I came up on the wrong side of the love triangle. I fell in love with one of the guys and I was rooting for him so badly. I haven't given up hope yet. Things can really turn around in the next book. The two guys vying for Alexa's attention were Rylan, a fellow guard, and Prince Damian. Both of the guys were likable, but I had an instant draw to one of them. The other just had too many secrets. I couldn't bring myself to ever fully trust him. All is revealed towards the end, but it was too late for me. I had already fallen for the other guy. So I was a tad disappointed when Alexa didn't seem to feel the same way as me. 
 I really loved the writing in Defy. I thought that the characters were fleshed out and the story flowed along at a great pace. There wasn't as much action as I was initially expecting, but the fighting and excitement really picked up at the end. I admired Alexa for her strength and will at the start for pretending to be a boy and having to hide herself from everyone, but it seemed like so many people knew her secret. And as soon as the cat was out of the bag with a few of the main characters, Alexa because noticeably more emotional and kind of girly. A few times during the story, I found myself liking her more when she was pretending to be Alex. That is not to say that I didn't like Alexa or that I found her to be annoying, because I didn't. She is a tough girl and very brave, and even her more girly side was not annoying. I just wasn't expecting her personality to change quite as much as it did sometimes. Overall though Defy was a good read. Fans of romance and fantasy should check out Defy. I really enjoyed the story and it has the potential to become a great series!