DEFY

Disguises, love triangles and magical battles are classic tropes in fantasy for teens, but this debut fails to lift them beyond the tiresome.

Alex, the youngest and deadliest warrior in Prince Damian’s guard, has a secret: “He” is actually Alexa, hiding her sex to avoid the horrific “breeding houses” that supply fodder for Antion’s endless war. Damian also has a secret: He isn’t really a selfish brat, and he enlists Alexa in a dangerous game of intrigue, deception and betrayal. While she bemoans that pretending to be a boy has become second nature, Alexa’s behavior is stereotypically—unpleasantly—“girly”: throwing tantrums, crying, pouting, cowering, obsessing over her romantic prospects and (despite her vaunted fighting prowess) constantly needing rescue by men, all of whom see through her masquerade. The secondary characters are mere plot puppets; the villains are ludicrously evil-for-evil’s-sake, and the heroes exist only to be desperately in love with Alexa, if never articulating any reason for their devotion. The worldbuilding is equally sketchy; while the dank fecundity of tropical Antion is sensuously conveyed, the narrative timeline is confusing, the magical system arbitrary and the political structure nonsensical. Several subplots go nowhere.  

It takes more than good guys and bad guys to create an epic adventure; more than heated smooches to portray a resonant romance; and more than acting badass with a sword to be a strong female protagonist.