Item: And I Darken
Rating: 3.00
Author: moonandcoffee

by Kiersten White

The New York Times Bestseller!

“Absolutely riveting.” —Alexandra Bracken, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Darkest Minds

This vividly rendered novel reads like HBO’s Game of Thrones . . . if it were set in the Ottoman Empire. Ambitious in scope and intimate in execution, the story’s atmospheric setting is rife with political intrigue, with a deftly plotted narrative driven by fiercely passionate characters and a fearsome heroine. Fans of Victoria Aveyard’s THE RED QUEEN and Sabaa Tahir’s AN EMBER IN THE ASHES won’t want to miss this visceral, immersive, and mesmerizing novel, the first in the And I Darken series.

NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes the first book in a dark, sweeping new series in which heads will roll, bodies will be impaled . . . and hearts will be broken.

“A dark and twisty fantasy . . . think Game of Thrones, but with teens.”—Seventeen

“Sinister, suspenseful, and unapologetically feminist.”—Buzzfeed

“Will completely spin you into another time and place.”—Bustle

“Takes no prisoners, offering up brutal, emotional historical fiction.”—NPR.org

An ALA Rainbow List Top Ten Selection

B-/C+ | Enjoyable as this novel is with characters that will both annoy you and endear themselves to you and set in an interesting time period, it is hampered down by historical inaccuracies and wasted opportunities all for the sake of drama. Aside from Lada, there are no major other female characters. The other female characters that are present are either presented as nothing more than one-dimensional beings. Mehmed’s characterization is, unfortunately, another thing that pulls this story down as it completely erases the more ruthless side of him. I can’t speak about the Muslim representation here because I am not Muslim myself, so for any thoughts on how Islam was presented here, please seek out #ownvoices bloggers to get more.

Find my complete review on my blog, moon & coffee.

And I Darken (And I Darken, #1)

by Kiersten White

Reviewed by Veronica 🦦 on Jan 4, 2020

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