Defy
Firstborn, Book #1
By Raine Thomas
Review brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz
Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Tate is about to make her parents’ dreams come true. Unfortunately for her, their dreams foretell her death.
Eager to explore more of the Estilorian plane and prove her abilities, Tate goes against her parents’ wishes and leaves the area of protection surrounding her home. Her choice puts her on a deadly path…one that leaves her alone, severely injured and battling for her life.
Her possible savior arrives in the form of Zachariah, a male who has removed himself from Estilorian society for more than fifty years. Fighting an unexpected connection to Tate, he must decide whether saving her life is worth destroying his.
As Tate struggles to find a way home, she ends up drawn into a dark Mercesti plot involving multiple murders and a powerful ancient artifact. With the unpredictable Zachariah as her only source for aid, she’ll soon find out if her abilities are strong enough to help her defy her Fate.
Review:
I first became a BIG fan of Author Raine Thomas with her Daughter of Saraqael Trilogy, where I was introduced to the wondrous world of the Estilorians. My favorite book being Foretold, go Team Caleb and Team Skye! Upon getting news that Thomas was creating a follow up trilogy which would include the same characters I had come to love, I squealed with excitement and demanded the book as soon as I could! Defy is the first book in Thomas’s new Firstborn Trilogy and let me tell you, the book ROCKED MY SOCKS!
Tate is so much like both her parents, Caleb and Skye, which made me love her instantly. She is impulsive, far too trusting, and defiant much like Skye. She is also fiercely strong, good under pressure, and determined much like Caleb. Tate goes through a pretty tough journey through the book while attempting to find her way back home and I was impressed with how controlled she managed to remain of her emotions and temperament.
I was happy to see my favorites returning from the original trilogy: Amber and Gabriel, James and Olivia, and of course, Caleb and Skye. The Elders In-herit, Jabari, Uriel, Sebastion, and Knorbis are also back. My favorite is In-herit, I enjoyed his relationship with Clara Kate, who is the first born to Amber and Gabriel. It was fun to see how much In-herit was confused through Clara’s emotions and actions and how much he listened to Clara Kate and I liked how strong willed Clara is. I also enjoyed the slew of various new characters. I really liked Tiege, Tate’s twin brother. He’s so cute and loving and much calmer than his twin sister. I also was happy to read more of Quincy and loved his relationship with Sophia, first born to Olivia and James.
Zachariah was my favorite character of the entire book. He is extremely guarded, hot tempered, prideful and downright rude. He is also deadly agile, incredibly strong, and undeniably hawt! I couldn’t get to the scenes with him fast enough when I was reading. He had me cracking up and in the next sentence wanting to slap him. I so LOVED that he had a tomahawk as a weapon! I also really liked his connection with Nyx, a kragon (dragon-like creature on the Estilorian plane). I liked that they could communicate without words, just with emotions and expressions. They had such an intimate bond which was sweet and trusted each other without question. Nyx helped to show Zachariah’s more vulnerable side. Zachariah is such the anti-hero but it worked great against Tate’s optimistic and impulsivity.
I’m still Team Caleb *swoon* but Zachariah comes in at a close second 
The action was well done and one of my favorite scenes was when Tiege swopped in to fight against the Mercsti and took down Zachariah showing just how much like Caleb’s son he really is. The pacing doesn’t drag too much and the suspense, although at times too predictable, was built gradually as the scenes intensified. The characterization was developed with depth where readers can connect with them and relate to what they go through.
There were a few things that could use tweaking in upcoming books. Some of the dialogue sometimes sounded unlike the character who was speaking which made some of the dialogue come off choppy. There were times the pacing was a bit dragged because the story felt like it was being told too much over being shown to the reader. There was also a feeling of repetition when the same scenes where told from different characters and sometimes the details were a bit much. But for the most part, the book was well executed.
With loveable characters returning and new fun characters introduced, with action packed scenes and new budding romances, Defy is a great beginning to what seems to be a promising new trilogy!
