Defy by L.J Shen - (Short) Book Review

Defy by L.J Shen
Publication date: October 18, 2016

My rating: 2 stars

Well, this wasn't horrible... but also not great. 

I actually wanted to read the first book in the series first, but then this prequel novella piqued my interest, and it was also recommended to read it first for some background information about the characters, so I decided to start with this. 

Though now I'm not so sure I really want to continue. 

What bothered me wasn't actually the insta-love insta-lust, considering we were pretty much warned about it from the get-go, but rather how a lot of the dialogue or situations felt unrealistic/disbelievable. It was really weird, and it bugged me throughout the book. 

Like some of the things the characters said or the way they acted made me raise an eyebrow and wonder "do people really say/do that in that situation?" because it didn't seem very plausible to me. 

Considering this is a novella, I usually don't judge insta-love or insta-lust or even lack of character development too much, but combined with all that and unrealistic events - heck, even the sex scenes gave off a weird feeling - and I'm just now engaging with the story. 

I also felt the epilogue was really rushed and could have used some more scenes. 

I might still try out the first book in the series, as I saw it was a lot of people's favorite one, we'll see. 

Lucky Strike - Maroon 5

“Why the anchor?"
"Because sometimes, it's nice to feel like there's someone who can save you.”