Defy the Night, by Brigid Kemmerer

Defy the Night is a fun, fast-paced fantasy that adds a bit of nuance to the tropes of good-hearted outlaws and cruel-by-necessity monarchs. The plot device of an illness that only a rare ingredient can cure is perhaps more topical than you might want to read about, but it did make the book resonate a little more than it might have otherwise. 

The strength of the book is in the character relationships, and Tessa, Wes, King Harristan and Prince Corrick are all compelling characters with believable, complex tensions between them. I wanted them all just to trust each other and be able to work together, and there are so many reasons why they can't.

The world-building is fairly scant, just a background for the plot to happen in, and the politics were pretty simplified, but really, it was all just an excuse for Tessa and Corrick to face off against each other in various settings, and I was all there for that! I did appreciate that the ending looked for different solutions than the all-or-nothing battles typical of fantasy.