Author's website: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13455621.Mandy_Fender
Genres: Christian, Fiction, Sci-fi
Mature Content: 1 (very low violence)
Age Range: 13-15
Interest level: 13-16
Background Knowledge: Lennox's parents have just mysteriously died. It is the year 2030, and just when Lennox thinks her world couldn't get any worse, her entire world changes.
Review: When I received this book in the mail, I immediately started reading it, read about 20-30 pages that day, and finished all of it the next. It was such an amazing book! But first, can we just take a minute to acknowledge that amazing cover! Anyway, this book just blew me away! I expected it to be good, but not this amazing! It was a perfect ratio between futuristic (science) fiction and Christianity. It wasn't super preachy, but it definitely didn't hide the fact that it's a christian novel. The main character had many times stood up for her faith, even when it was extremely hard. It sort of reminded me of the Jews during the Holocaust. Though there were many times where Lennox could have just backed out and said, "No, I don't feel like it." or "Naw, that's too hard, I'll just do it the easy way." she stood up for what she knew was the right thing to do. Even though it nearly cost her death more than once, she kept going. Lennox is definitely a role model, as is this book.
Also, this book is actually set in the biblical "end times" (like Swipe by: Evan Angler). Just in this book, instead of the mark of the beast being displayed in society, the Antichrist is.
Things I Loved:
- I really love how this book displays biblical end-time principals in real-life society. It's often hard to visualize or understand how the end times might look like, and Defier does a very good job of showing what life may look like.
- It was very well written. I was never bored, and I was always on the edge of my seat while reading it.
- The characters, or at least the main character, were stellar role models. They displayed great courage, compassion, faith (especially), and many other good qualities.
Things I Didn't Love:
- Well, there wasn't really anything I necessarily didn't love, but one thing I didn't really like was that it didn't end on the intense cliffhanger I expected it would. Instead, it was more of the "and the sort of lived happily ever after in their new, exciting, and dangerous life" kind of ending. Not that there is anything wrong with that, there's many books I have loved that have that sort of ending, but I would have definitely loved an intense cliffhanger ending.
In Conclusion: This novel was absolutely amazing, and you should definitely read it! I loved it so much, and it's now one of my favorites!
Recommended?: ABSOLUTELY!