Alexa and Damian are the perfect match: he’s a kind, humble king trying to fight for good, and she is stubborn and determined to fight at his side at all costs. They also surround themselves with amazing, selfless people who will do anything to protect them. As the finale of the Defy trilogy, Sara Larson completes the series with plenty of action and suspense to keep the reader on edge. Obviously with it being a war story, it can get a bit dark and violent at times, but Larson manages to maintain a nice balance that keeps it from being over the top. A love story also softens things up a bit and with so many people fighting for good, it helps deter your focus from the evil that is trying so desperately to smother them. Along with great characters and an excellent plot, Larson uses vivid imagery and personification that really brings the story to life. I found myself a bit confused from time to time with a few details but that was only due to having not read the previous two books in the Defy series. This is definitely a series to start from the beginning but Larson is a great writer so now you have three books to look forward to reading. Anyone who loves a story with a strong female protagonist such as Kristi Helvig’s Strange Skies or Kristen Britain’s Green Rider series will enjoy Endure.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  2 mild obscenities.

Violence/Gore: Many (57) brief incidents including character’s head feels like splitting in two; characters thinking about hurting another; potential massacre; character willing to die to protect others; verbal threats; character was supposed to kill another; several secondhand reports of death and murder; reference to character being injured and captured by enemies; references to war; references to characters receiving non-life threatening injuries; characters can smell flesh burning; character saw torture devices after having been used; secondhand report of torture; secondhand report of character getting poisoned; dead body left to be eaten by animals; secondhand report of building nearly getting destroyed by fire; secondhand report of explosions resulting in death; character slapped and lip split; character had blood drawn after which another character cuts self and combines blood; character hits another’s head into a pole; character sees dead people while hallucinating; character has nightmares about getting hurt and killed; character stabbed; characters cut self and small animals to extract blood; character knocked out; character getting strangled; city wall and homes destroyed; several incidents of a character having blood drawn; character drinks blood of another.

Sex/Nudity:  Many (26) brief incidents including hugging; kissing; touching shoulder and face; holding hands; cuddling; passionate kissing; innuendo; references to human breeding; arm around.

Mature Subject Matter:

War, death, references to human breeding, murder, experiments require human blood.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None