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To Defy Angels
N. Sonia Nkera
To Defy Angels is a YA dark acadamia novel that steps out of its genre and into a complex world of curses, colonization, and religious wars.
Echo can’t remember her life before the curse hit, marking girls across the island with pale white spots on their skin or hair. She is one of the marked, and her very survival depends on hiding this fact.
The Doubler is a young man who remembers a time before the curse — and he remembers Echo. Convinced she has something to do with it, he makes Echo his next target. Cursed, in a way, with violent blackouts, he is intent on getting more information from Echo about the root of the curse, and his role in it.
When these characters’ paths cross, both have questions they want answered — and both want the other dead. What follows is a desperate search for answers and a chaotic story of survival, religious control, and the extents people will go to for power.
While the setting is an academy, this story doesn’t feel like acadamia necessarily — there is no focus on the classes or many of the other students; it is fully a fantasy story about two desperate characters who happen to be at the same school. The time period also, is not important to the story but the vibes are. There are cars, electric lights, but a permeating sense that most people don’t have access to this technology. The school’s ancient buildings add to the timeless setting of the story.
Featuring a colorful cast of characters, the book’s worldbuilding and hierarchies sometimes got confusing but I was fascinated to learn about the different households and religions.
There is a lot left unanswered, and this book is definitely setting up for book 2. I fully expect that book 2 will dive further into the lore and the past, as well as the connections between our characters and what that means for the future.
I recommend this book if you like apocalyptic stories, religious symbolism, and political fantasy.
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Thank you N. Sonia Nkera for the eARC.
To Defy Angels is OUT NOW, April 11th 2026! Go snag your ebook or paperback here.
The Midnight Review 