Series ✦ Penny’s Take
The Defiant
Lesley Livingston · 2018
76/100
👍 Worth It
Livingston writes gladiatorial Rome with real energy and a feminist conviction that never tips into lecture — Fallon is a protagonist worth rooting for, and the Amazon warrior subplot gives the second book something genuinely new to offer. The heart-eating death cult and some bone-level gore push this toward older YA readers rather than middle school. Strong for its audience.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: cannibalism ritual (antagonist cult consumes hearts) · graphic combat violence including gore. We still scored it 76; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety65
substance76
craft78
originality76
accuracy78
hype72
age-fit74
human-eye78
Penny’s verdict76
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