Defy

This dystopian novel about love and defiance is thoroughly compelling, sinisterly realistic and devastatingly original and imaginative. It is for older teens only; it holds back little on sex and violence.

In the city of Zalmon, everyone and everything is controlled, and 17-year-old Darius knows it’s wrong and dangerous to be impulsive and rebellious, but he can’t help it. Especially when he learns his beloved younger sister, Mahlah, faces a grim fate.

He defies what he sees as an evil system, even though he makes halting progress on discovering exactly how the system works and who is in control.

As the back-cover summary articulates, “Defying an unjust system, an unwanted Life Match and an uncontrollable enemy, Darius fights to save Mahlah, leading him to expose a conspiracy at the heart of the city – and a potential life of autonomy, dignity and love beyond what the Book of Zalmon dictates.”

Although the first two chapters make for a somewhat confusing start, once readers meet Darius in the third chapter, things pick up. And rarely let up.

Unusually for a young adult book, the third-person point of view is not strictly Darius’; several adult characters, including the antagonist, are given this voice, sometimes within sentences of each other, potentially confusing. Only a skilled author could pull that off, and de Waard doesn’t disappoint. Even so, sometimes it feels like an adult novel.

There are a lot of characters to keep straight, from Darius’s grandfather, mother and sister to his love interest and assigned match, never mind the bad guys. There’s also a doctor who works in the Underground, and a chauffeur who suffers racism and, therefore, has sympathy for rebels.

It’s slightly confusing how those in the Underground differ from those who have supposedly escaped the city (“Leavers,” whose families are shamed and punished), and why Undergrounders are tolerated since a climactic fight between guards and Undergrounders indicate Zalmon authorities have always known where they are.

Similarly, it’s unclear why the antagonist takes a while to suspect Darius’s love interest of colluding with him, given that screen ads establish early on that authorities know who he’d prefer as a Love Match. But these are very minor question marks.

The writing is crisp and tugs at the heartstrings. Darius’s personality is realistically teen, and his character arc is both satisfying and authentic-feeling. The plot is as thought-provoking as can be. The action keeps readers’ eyes glued to the page. And the reluctant heroism on Darius’s part – also on the part of his mother – and the way Darius is manipulated by his love for his family, is powerful.

The guard holds both her smile and a stare.

Darius stares back. “I don’t have to listen to you,” he snorts. He gets no reaction. “Nothing can stop me from busting through those gates,” he declares.

The guard tilts her head. She blinks once and holds that smile.

Darius steps right up into her face. “In fact, I could pummel you to the ground and break your neck… dear.”

Just then, the screen’s last advertisement cuts in like a slice to Darius’s jugular. It’s real-time footage of Mahlah, at home, crying in the dark on their front porch, looking anxiously from side to side for her big brother.

For those who like dystopian reads, Deny will be a real treat. For those who don’t (yet), get ready to be hooked on a new genre by a relatively new Canadian author.