#22 in Adventure
Defiant
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Our view
“Defiant” gives the Skyward series the reunion it needed: characters gathered from earlier books and novellas finally fight in one place. The story at last makes Spensa face her own flaws, and it keeps its hopeful tone even as the war closes in. Some readers rank it well above the previous volume. The finale satisfies, and it draws on the novellas as much as on the three main books.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Spensa made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she's had about her own strange Cytonic gifts. The Superiority didn't stop in it's fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa's team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it's only a matter of time until humanity—and the rest of the galaxy—falls. Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: how far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself—and her friends—in the process. The final book in the Skyward series will free humanity, or see it fall forever.
Reading order · Skyward series
Full order & progress →- SkywardStart here
8.78.7 / 10 - Starsight
8.48.4 / 10 - Cytonic
8.08.0 / 10 - DefiantThis book
8.38.3 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.5 across 401 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 73% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Adventure average of 7.8. That is how 8.3 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.5 | 401 | 100% |
Frequently asked
What age is Defiant for?
Defiant sits on the Young adult shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 13 and up. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Adventure — with scores between 7.6 and 8.7, closest to this book.
