And I Darken by Kiersten White

And I Darken (And I Darken, #1)

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

Reviewed by Nessa Luna on

3 of 5 stars

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In the summer of 2016, a book called And I Darken was released. A retelling of the story of Vlad the Impaler, but with a girl instead. I had seen many good ratings and reviews about this book, heard the whole book community rave about it the whole year. I had gotten really curious, and I was happy to receive an ARC from a friend in December.

And I Darken tells the story of Ladislav 'Lada' Dracul, a female version of Vlad the Impaler, and her brother Radu. We follow them from the moment they are born all the way through their stay in the Ottoman empire.

I am going to be 100% honest and say I did not love this book. I had expected to love it as much as everyone on Goodreads, but honestly the first couple chapters just didn't manage to convince me at all. In fact, at around page 100 I started to wonder whether it was worth it to continue reading. I did, of course, but it didn't pick up that much at all.

According to Goodreads, this book was a fantasy, but to me it felt more like historical fiction. In my dictionary, fantasy means magic, dragons, an unknown world (okay not necessarily but often enough). This book definitely had none of those elements. Sure, that does not make it a bad book, but I personally don't love historical fiction much (unless it's WWII). There was so much talk about politics and religion throughout this book that I found myself skipping passages every now and then. There was just not enough action going on in my opinion. Sure, there were three assassination attempts and some other small things going on, but other than that it was rather bland.

Character-wise, I thought the book was strong. Both Lada and Radu were good characters, and they both grew to be even greater people later on in the book. I wasn't too much of a fan of seeing them as kids, but when they were in their teens I enjoyed reading about them a bit more. I wasn't sold on the romance, though, I actually didn't enjoy it that much at all. The love-triangle was interesting, though, and I knew that Radu was gay for Mehmed long before he probably knew it himself. So I guess that wasn't really an exciting 'plot-twist' for me.

At some points I found myself annoyed by the writing, and the weird time-jumps. They would be listening in on a conversation in one chapter, and then the next they would be woken up in the middle of the night, apparently a couple of days after that eavesdropping. I don't know, but that just felt annoying at some points, and I really wished that it had been more of a flowing story rather than... well... this. Partly because we follow Lada from the moment she's born until she's sixteen, I think I would have enjoyed the story a bit more had she'd been that age from the beginning (then again, we may have missed some crucial information, so there isn't really a win/win here).

Still, it was an interesting story, though I am not 100% certain I will pick up the second book. I am curious what will happen to Lada next, but I don't think I will be picking up Now I Rise any time soon after it's release.

My opinion in one gif:

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 22 January, 2017: Finished reading
  • 22 January, 2017: Reviewed