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Delacorte Press (2016), 496 pages
Description
Romance. Historical Fiction. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: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.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member GennaC
"'On our wedding night,' she said, 'I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our wedding vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and
I was immediately invested in this story after the introduction of the atypical heroine Lada. The vicious, unconventional, ugly, unfeminine, and generally difficult female literary manifestation of Vlad the Impaler. Why don't we have more heroines like this in literature? My attentions flagged slightly through the next chapters as Lada and Radu, her gentle to a fault and submissive younger brother, are abandoned by their father and trundled off to the Ottoman Empire as pawns under the sultan. However, the remainder of this story of politics, religion, and sexuality is tense and original and impossible to put down. Embittered and chained to a world in which her only clear path to power lies between her legs, Lada picks up a sword and learns to be ruthless. Radu himself becomes a fascinating, complex character as he grows into himself and realizes there is danger in where his romantic attentions lie. Brutal and violent, the first installment in Kiersten White's alternate history takes no prisoners. With diverse characters, painfully complex relationships, and a breathtaking historic look at the Ottoman Empire and Islam, And I Darken is an unforgiving and unforgettable story.
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therefore not a widow to be pitied.'"I was immediately invested in this story after the introduction of the atypical heroine Lada. The vicious, unconventional, ugly, unfeminine, and generally difficult female literary manifestation of Vlad the Impaler. Why don't we have more heroines like this in literature? My attentions flagged slightly through the next chapters as Lada and Radu, her gentle to a fault and submissive younger brother, are abandoned by their father and trundled off to the Ottoman Empire as pawns under the sultan. However, the remainder of this story of politics, religion, and sexuality is tense and original and impossible to put down. Embittered and chained to a world in which her only clear path to power lies between her legs, Lada picks up a sword and learns to be ruthless. Radu himself becomes a fascinating, complex character as he grows into himself and realizes there is danger in where his romantic attentions lie. Brutal and violent, the first installment in Kiersten White's alternate history takes no prisoners. With diverse characters, painfully complex relationships, and a breathtaking historic look at the Ottoman Empire and Islam, And I Darken is an unforgiving and unforgettable story.
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LibraryThing member Carolesrandomlife
This was a truly epic story. This story spans a lot of years and tells a sometimes brutal story. I was hooked by the book from almost the first page. I really couldn't get my mind to focus on anything besides this story until I had reached the end. It was a bigger story than I had expected with a
Lada is the daughter of Vlad and she is fierce. The book opens at her birth and even as a very young child, Lada is brutal when needed. Her brother, Radu, does not share the same trait. In every way that Lada is brave and fierce, Radu is sensitive and needs protection. Her father is force to leave both Lada and Radu in the Ottoman courts and they fear that they may never see Wallachia again.
By chance, Lada and Radu cross paths with Mehmed as children and from an unlikely friendship. Mehmed is third in line to the throne of the Ottoman empire, a throne he knows he will most likely never hold. He keeps Lada and Radu by his side largely because Lada will not treat him as anything but her equal.
I enjoyed the characters in this story. Going into the book, I thought I would fall in love with Lada. Who doesn't love a fierce female character that can hold her own? She isn't pretty but she is brave. I did like Lada a lot but I was more taken with her brother's character, Radu. I didn't realize that there would be as much of a focus on Radu in the story as there was. Radu really grew as a character over the course of the book and he was a character that I found I had a lot of respect for. He was really as resourceful as his sister and could be brave when it was necessary. Mehmed is a character that really left me with conflicting feelings since there were things I loved about him and other things I disliked.
The setting of the story was perfectly written. I really could envision this place filled with uncertainty and brutality. The descriptions of everything from the Head Gardeners duties to life in the harem really helped to bring this world to life. I thought that the descriptions of religion in the story was well done and I liked that it was an important part of some of the characters' lives.
I would highly recommend this book to others. The story really has so many great elements from the historical setting, great characters, political intrigue, and even a bit of romance. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in this planned trilogy!
I received an advance reader edition of this book from Random House Children's - Delacorte Press via NetGalley
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lot of intricately woven layers. The characters were amazingly written and I found myself cheering for both Lada and Radu. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this wonderful book.Lada is the daughter of Vlad and she is fierce. The book opens at her birth and even as a very young child, Lada is brutal when needed. Her brother, Radu, does not share the same trait. In every way that Lada is brave and fierce, Radu is sensitive and needs protection. Her father is force to leave both Lada and Radu in the Ottoman courts and they fear that they may never see Wallachia again.
By chance, Lada and Radu cross paths with Mehmed as children and from an unlikely friendship. Mehmed is third in line to the throne of the Ottoman empire, a throne he knows he will most likely never hold. He keeps Lada and Radu by his side largely because Lada will not treat him as anything but her equal.
I enjoyed the characters in this story. Going into the book, I thought I would fall in love with Lada. Who doesn't love a fierce female character that can hold her own? She isn't pretty but she is brave. I did like Lada a lot but I was more taken with her brother's character, Radu. I didn't realize that there would be as much of a focus on Radu in the story as there was. Radu really grew as a character over the course of the book and he was a character that I found I had a lot of respect for. He was really as resourceful as his sister and could be brave when it was necessary. Mehmed is a character that really left me with conflicting feelings since there were things I loved about him and other things I disliked.
The setting of the story was perfectly written. I really could envision this place filled with uncertainty and brutality. The descriptions of everything from the Head Gardeners duties to life in the harem really helped to bring this world to life. I thought that the descriptions of religion in the story was well done and I liked that it was an important part of some of the characters' lives.
I would highly recommend this book to others. The story really has so many great elements from the historical setting, great characters, political intrigue, and even a bit of romance. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in this planned trilogy!
I received an advance reader edition of this book from Random House Children's - Delacorte Press via NetGalley
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LibraryThing member krau0098
I have really enjoyed White’s previous series and was excited to see a new fantasy series by her. This was a good start to a new fantasy trilogy by White. I liked that this is a historical retelling about Vlad the Impaler, but in this case Vlad is actually a woman. Parts of the story lag a bit,
Lada is cruel from a young age but not without her reasons and honor. It was interesting to watch her struggle between being the strong warrior she wanted to be and her love for the enemy's son Mehmed. Lada’s younger brother Radu has always been gentle and engages easily with people despite how cruel his siblings are to him. In the beginning the two are basically polar opposites, but as the story progresses you see that they do have certain similarities to their personalities.
I enjoyed that the story was set during the Ottoman Empire; this was an intriguing setting and an interesting time in history. It provided a wonderful lush backdrop for this story.
This is one of those stories where you just know things are going to get bad, very bad, as things progress. The story has a very ominous tension to it; part of it is because you know how Vlad the Impaler ended up being and you can just see how things are going wrong for Lada and how very precarious her emotional state is.
Overall I really enjoyed this story; I liked the setting and the characters. I did think that the pacing was a bit off at points and that the story lagged in some areas. It ended up being an intriguing read though and I plan on reading future books in this series.
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but overall I thought it was an interesting and engaging read.Lada is cruel from a young age but not without her reasons and honor. It was interesting to watch her struggle between being the strong warrior she wanted to be and her love for the enemy's son Mehmed. Lada’s younger brother Radu has always been gentle and engages easily with people despite how cruel his siblings are to him. In the beginning the two are basically polar opposites, but as the story progresses you see that they do have certain similarities to their personalities.
I enjoyed that the story was set during the Ottoman Empire; this was an intriguing setting and an interesting time in history. It provided a wonderful lush backdrop for this story.
This is one of those stories where you just know things are going to get bad, very bad, as things progress. The story has a very ominous tension to it; part of it is because you know how Vlad the Impaler ended up being and you can just see how things are going wrong for Lada and how very precarious her emotional state is.
Overall I really enjoyed this story; I liked the setting and the characters. I did think that the pacing was a bit off at points and that the story lagged in some areas. It ended up being an intriguing read though and I plan on reading future books in this series.
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LibraryThing member jmchshannon
In And I Darken, Kiersten White takes the real-life story of Vlad III Dracul, the infamous Romanian leader also known as Vlad the Impaler, and turns it on its head. For, in her story. Vlad is no longer a boy but becomes Lada, a female with the same penchant for violence and fierce patriotism as the
Thankfully, Ms. White does everything right in her revisionist history. She skillfully imagines what life was like for a female noble trapped by gender and politics. Moreover, she remains faithful to Vlad’s real-life experiences. One can easily switch back and forth between the story and a history book to see that Ms. White omits nothing. This is important in understanding that truth is truly stranger than fiction, for Lada/Vlad had a very strange childhood indeed.
Lada is quite the character, the original tomboy if you will. Her passions rule her actions in all things – she lives freely, loves fiercely, and hates even more fervently. She learns the lessons life places in front of her quickly and thoroughly and meets every challenge with abandon. This proves to be a double-edged sword, and readers will ache for the little girl forced to recognize her beloved father’s disdain and eventual betrayal. Things only get worse as Lada must learn to control her passions once she is a slave within the Ottoman Empire and must weigh her growing love for Mehmed with her ingrained patriotism. Hers is a no-win life.
While portraying Lada and Radu’s experiences in captivity, Ms. White underscores the brutality of the era; she does so while treating that brutality with an eerie nonchalance also seen in the Turks with whom Lada and Radu are bound. Between the daily required observations of torture, the beatings as motivational tools, and the constant preparations for war, there is an undercurrent of violence that runs throughout the story. Not only does this tone help create tension and foreboding, it also plays a role in the molding of each of the Dragwlya children’s personalities. For, Lada embraces the violence, using it to stoke her fury while she bides her time, and Radu uses it as motivation to find a way to belong. For Lada and Radu, they fall into the Nurture camp of the Nature vs. Nurture debate on personality formation.
Given everything Lada experiences, it is easy to wonder just how sane Lada is by the time And I Darken ends. In fact, in light of some of Vlad’s later actions once he leaves captivity, it is a fair question. Being brutally torn from your family and thrust into an unfamiliar world fraught with danger has to be traumatic. The mind can take only so much abuse before it breaks, and one wonders if the torture she witnesses as well as the constant threat of danger was too much for her. Knowing what we know about Vlad, it certainly makes sense. It will be interesting to see how far Ms. White explores this very question.
There is no such thing as an easy life in the 1400s. In Ms. White’s reinvention of history, Lada Dragwlya knows that better than most, for not only is she born into a family warring with other noble families for power, she is a pawn in the ongoing battle against the Ottoman Empire. She is also female in a man’s world. Throughout And I Darken, she proves how capable she is of overcoming that perceived deficiency, but there are always more challenges to face. Fast-paced, exquisitely detailed enough to bring this familiar era to life, and with the added benefit of revisiting one of history’s most infamous warrior-rulers, there is nothing not to love in And I Darken. Waiting to see how the rest of Lada’s story unfolds is going to be excruciating.
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real-life person. A strong female character AND a retelling of the real-life history of someone I view as truly fascinating? You know this was a must-read for me.Thankfully, Ms. White does everything right in her revisionist history. She skillfully imagines what life was like for a female noble trapped by gender and politics. Moreover, she remains faithful to Vlad’s real-life experiences. One can easily switch back and forth between the story and a history book to see that Ms. White omits nothing. This is important in understanding that truth is truly stranger than fiction, for Lada/Vlad had a very strange childhood indeed.
Lada is quite the character, the original tomboy if you will. Her passions rule her actions in all things – she lives freely, loves fiercely, and hates even more fervently. She learns the lessons life places in front of her quickly and thoroughly and meets every challenge with abandon. This proves to be a double-edged sword, and readers will ache for the little girl forced to recognize her beloved father’s disdain and eventual betrayal. Things only get worse as Lada must learn to control her passions once she is a slave within the Ottoman Empire and must weigh her growing love for Mehmed with her ingrained patriotism. Hers is a no-win life.
While portraying Lada and Radu’s experiences in captivity, Ms. White underscores the brutality of the era; she does so while treating that brutality with an eerie nonchalance also seen in the Turks with whom Lada and Radu are bound. Between the daily required observations of torture, the beatings as motivational tools, and the constant preparations for war, there is an undercurrent of violence that runs throughout the story. Not only does this tone help create tension and foreboding, it also plays a role in the molding of each of the Dragwlya children’s personalities. For, Lada embraces the violence, using it to stoke her fury while she bides her time, and Radu uses it as motivation to find a way to belong. For Lada and Radu, they fall into the Nurture camp of the Nature vs. Nurture debate on personality formation.
Given everything Lada experiences, it is easy to wonder just how sane Lada is by the time And I Darken ends. In fact, in light of some of Vlad’s later actions once he leaves captivity, it is a fair question. Being brutally torn from your family and thrust into an unfamiliar world fraught with danger has to be traumatic. The mind can take only so much abuse before it breaks, and one wonders if the torture she witnesses as well as the constant threat of danger was too much for her. Knowing what we know about Vlad, it certainly makes sense. It will be interesting to see how far Ms. White explores this very question.
There is no such thing as an easy life in the 1400s. In Ms. White’s reinvention of history, Lada Dragwlya knows that better than most, for not only is she born into a family warring with other noble families for power, she is a pawn in the ongoing battle against the Ottoman Empire. She is also female in a man’s world. Throughout And I Darken, she proves how capable she is of overcoming that perceived deficiency, but there are always more challenges to face. Fast-paced, exquisitely detailed enough to bring this familiar era to life, and with the added benefit of revisiting one of history’s most infamous warrior-rulers, there is nothing not to love in And I Darken. Waiting to see how the rest of Lada’s story unfolds is going to be excruciating.
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LibraryThing member DarkFaerieTales
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: No one can escape the weakness of love.
Opening Sentence: Vlad Dracul’s heavy brow descended like a storm when the doctor informed him that his wife had given birth to a girl.
The Review:
Seeing this book on numerous blogs heightened the
The story is told from the points of view of a brother and sister: Radu and Lada, respectively. Lada is ruthless to everyone because she has seen how love can be used as a weakness and won’t allow herself to be vulnerable. Even towards her younger brother, she shows him the toughest form of love, so much so that even he believes that Lada isn’t capable of caring.
He had made that critical error of loving his children-or Lada, at least-enough that they could be used against him.
Love and life. Things that could be given or taken away in a heartbeat, all in the pursuit of power. She could not avoid her own spark of life. Love, however…
Lada let go of Radu’s hand.
However, the more I read about Lada, the more I sympathised with her. She is merciless and tries to disprove everyone’s beliefs about a girl being weak. By becoming a cruel, strong and unbreakable fighter, she shows the world that she will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. But no matter how hard she tries or how excellent of a fighter she is, she can never ‘be’ one of the men or classed as an equal. All her life she’s worked towards fighting her way back to her homeland, Wallachia. The closer she gets to achieving this, the more conflicted she becomes because the place of her enemies is now beginning to feel like home…
Lada spoke with a quiet, clear voice, and the room hushed in surprise. No one expected a girl to speak. She was probably not allowed to. Radu knew Lada would not care either way. “On our wedding night,” she said, “I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied.”
Radu, on the other hand is the sweetest, softest boy imaginable, especially given that he hasn’t had much love in his upbringing. Their father sacrificed his children for politics, their mother abandoned them, and in his sister’s eyes he is ‘weak and worthless.’ Perhaps because of this, Radu learns how to be a charmer and surprises everyone in being more useful in a fight without a sword. I adored Radu and my heart broke for his pain.
The relationship between the siblings changed tremendously because at first, Radu is utterly dependent on his sister to look out for him and without her he was lost. As Radu gets older, he begins to make his own decisions, some that Lada wholly disagrees with. Lada overlooks her little brother to such an extent that it’s a shock when she realises that he doesn’t need her any more. In fact, she has no idea who he is. I felt a pang of sympathy for her but then I thought, she brought it upon herself.
“But I won.”
“You-” He jabbed a bruising finger against her arm. “You-” Finally, getting his breathing under control, Radu shook his head and smiled. “You cheated.”
“There is no such thing as cheating. There is only winning or losing. I won.”
“And if we had both died?”
“As long as you died first, I would still have counted it as winning.”
I really enjoyed the introduction of Islam in this book. It’s refreshing to see the religion explained in its true way; a religion of peace and kindness. Radu finds solace in Islam and it helps him when he feels very lost. I loved the detail Kiersten White added, and the factual accuracy of some of the pillars of Islam that were mentioned.
Although I haven’t mentioned much in terms of romance, there are a few tangled love stories but it is probably too spoiler-ish for me to expand on!
Lada reached for Radu’s hand and was surprised when he accepted it. She squeezed, once. “You saved all our lives.”
“You once told me some lives are worth more than others. How many deaths before the scales tip out of our favor?”
She had no answer.
My only concern with And I Darken was that the book was longer than I would have liked. I did get a leeeetle bit bored halfway through but it wasn’t enough for me to put the book down! Another slightly disappointing part was that I expected there to be vampires but clearly that wasn’t the case. Please don’t ask me why; maybe it was the names (Vlad), the reference to Transylvania, or when Lada bites a kid I expected something huge to happen…I think the links to vampires might have all been in my head though…
Notable scene:
“We should tell father about Mircea’s plans.”
Radu went perfectly still, head down. Lada did not have to see his expression to know how he looked. Terrified. “He will be angry. And Mircea will kill me. I am scared to die.”
“Everyone dies sometime. And I will not let Mircea kill you. If anyone is going to kill you, it will be me. Understand?”
Radu nodded, snuggling into her shoulder. “Will you protect me?”
“Until the day I kill you.”
FTC Advisory: Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House provided me with a copy of And I Darken. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: No one can escape the weakness of love.
Opening Sentence: Vlad Dracul’s heavy brow descended like a storm when the doctor informed him that his wife had given birth to a girl.
The Review:
Seeing this book on numerous blogs heightened the
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expectations I had from it. In all honesty, I wasn’t disappointed. Well, not entirely. I found that the book was longer than I expected but to be fair, there was a LOT going on.The story is told from the points of view of a brother and sister: Radu and Lada, respectively. Lada is ruthless to everyone because she has seen how love can be used as a weakness and won’t allow herself to be vulnerable. Even towards her younger brother, she shows him the toughest form of love, so much so that even he believes that Lada isn’t capable of caring.
He had made that critical error of loving his children-or Lada, at least-enough that they could be used against him.
Love and life. Things that could be given or taken away in a heartbeat, all in the pursuit of power. She could not avoid her own spark of life. Love, however…
Lada let go of Radu’s hand.
However, the more I read about Lada, the more I sympathised with her. She is merciless and tries to disprove everyone’s beliefs about a girl being weak. By becoming a cruel, strong and unbreakable fighter, she shows the world that she will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. But no matter how hard she tries or how excellent of a fighter she is, she can never ‘be’ one of the men or classed as an equal. All her life she’s worked towards fighting her way back to her homeland, Wallachia. The closer she gets to achieving this, the more conflicted she becomes because the place of her enemies is now beginning to feel like home…
Lada spoke with a quiet, clear voice, and the room hushed in surprise. No one expected a girl to speak. She was probably not allowed to. Radu knew Lada would not care either way. “On our wedding night,” she said, “I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied.”
Radu, on the other hand is the sweetest, softest boy imaginable, especially given that he hasn’t had much love in his upbringing. Their father sacrificed his children for politics, their mother abandoned them, and in his sister’s eyes he is ‘weak and worthless.’ Perhaps because of this, Radu learns how to be a charmer and surprises everyone in being more useful in a fight without a sword. I adored Radu and my heart broke for his pain.
The relationship between the siblings changed tremendously because at first, Radu is utterly dependent on his sister to look out for him and without her he was lost. As Radu gets older, he begins to make his own decisions, some that Lada wholly disagrees with. Lada overlooks her little brother to such an extent that it’s a shock when she realises that he doesn’t need her any more. In fact, she has no idea who he is. I felt a pang of sympathy for her but then I thought, she brought it upon herself.
“But I won.”
“You-” He jabbed a bruising finger against her arm. “You-” Finally, getting his breathing under control, Radu shook his head and smiled. “You cheated.”
“There is no such thing as cheating. There is only winning or losing. I won.”
“And if we had both died?”
“As long as you died first, I would still have counted it as winning.”
I really enjoyed the introduction of Islam in this book. It’s refreshing to see the religion explained in its true way; a religion of peace and kindness. Radu finds solace in Islam and it helps him when he feels very lost. I loved the detail Kiersten White added, and the factual accuracy of some of the pillars of Islam that were mentioned.
Although I haven’t mentioned much in terms of romance, there are a few tangled love stories but it is probably too spoiler-ish for me to expand on!
Lada reached for Radu’s hand and was surprised when he accepted it. She squeezed, once. “You saved all our lives.”
“You once told me some lives are worth more than others. How many deaths before the scales tip out of our favor?”
She had no answer.
My only concern with And I Darken was that the book was longer than I would have liked. I did get a leeeetle bit bored halfway through but it wasn’t enough for me to put the book down! Another slightly disappointing part was that I expected there to be vampires but clearly that wasn’t the case. Please don’t ask me why; maybe it was the names (Vlad), the reference to Transylvania, or when Lada bites a kid I expected something huge to happen…I think the links to vampires might have all been in my head though…
Notable scene:
“We should tell father about Mircea’s plans.”
Radu went perfectly still, head down. Lada did not have to see his expression to know how he looked. Terrified. “He will be angry. And Mircea will kill me. I am scared to die.”
“Everyone dies sometime. And I will not let Mircea kill you. If anyone is going to kill you, it will be me. Understand?”
Radu nodded, snuggling into her shoulder. “Will you protect me?”
“Until the day I kill you.”
FTC Advisory: Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House provided me with a copy of And I Darken. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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LibraryThing member nbmars
This is the first book of a trilogy for young adults based on actual historical figures in the 15th Century but with considerable liberties taken. To name the most striking, the author imaged Vlad the Impaler as a female, renaming her Lada the Impaler. The author also conjures interrelationships
In historical accounts, Vlad and Mehmed are each either reviled or adored, depending on the source. The author avers she has tried “to carve out a middle ground” and to contemplate how they got to be the way they were.
While she does show the cruelty of the time and how it could affect children, this also means that you will be spending your reading time with some vicious, brutal characters.
Lada, who is the main protagonist, grew up with a tyrannical father and older brother, and a young, depressed, and withdrawn mother. Moreoever, while her younger brother Radu is known as “the beautiful,” Lada herself is considered to be ugly, not a good thing to be for a woman, especially in an era in which a woman’s body was about the only thing she could use to get power and/or protection.
As the story develops, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed all become very close, as the shifting nature of their relationship evolves and drives the plot. But the main theme is really that of survival, and how to manage it. As the character Tohin explains to Lada:
“If we were not pushing, fighting, claiming what is ours and challenging what is not yet ours, others would be doing it to us. It is the way of the world. You can be the aggressor, you can fight against crusaders on their own land, or you can stay at home and wait for them to come to you. And they would come. They would come with fire, with disease, with swords and blood and death. Weakness is an irresistible lure.”
. . . . Lada: 'The price of living seems to always be death.'
Tohin stood…'And that is why you become a dealer of death. You feed death to as many people as you can to keep it full and content so its eye stays off you.'”
Alas, this book is ultimately all about feeding death.
Evaluation: This book is full of brutality, violence, abuse both physical and psychological, and war. While there will be more books in the series, I plan to eschew the rest of the story. It has gotten some very good reviews, but it’s too dark for me.
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between Lada, her brother Radu, and the future Ottoman sultan, Mehmed. [While, in real life, they grew up together in the Ottoman Courts, the author writes in her Afterword that “Just how much interaction the three would have had growing up in the Ottoman Courts together is unknown.”]In historical accounts, Vlad and Mehmed are each either reviled or adored, depending on the source. The author avers she has tried “to carve out a middle ground” and to contemplate how they got to be the way they were.
While she does show the cruelty of the time and how it could affect children, this also means that you will be spending your reading time with some vicious, brutal characters.
Lada, who is the main protagonist, grew up with a tyrannical father and older brother, and a young, depressed, and withdrawn mother. Moreoever, while her younger brother Radu is known as “the beautiful,” Lada herself is considered to be ugly, not a good thing to be for a woman, especially in an era in which a woman’s body was about the only thing she could use to get power and/or protection.
As the story develops, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed all become very close, as the shifting nature of their relationship evolves and drives the plot. But the main theme is really that of survival, and how to manage it. As the character Tohin explains to Lada:
“If we were not pushing, fighting, claiming what is ours and challenging what is not yet ours, others would be doing it to us. It is the way of the world. You can be the aggressor, you can fight against crusaders on their own land, or you can stay at home and wait for them to come to you. And they would come. They would come with fire, with disease, with swords and blood and death. Weakness is an irresistible lure.”
. . . . Lada: 'The price of living seems to always be death.'
Tohin stood…'And that is why you become a dealer of death. You feed death to as many people as you can to keep it full and content so its eye stays off you.'”
Alas, this book is ultimately all about feeding death.
Evaluation: This book is full of brutality, violence, abuse both physical and psychological, and war. While there will be more books in the series, I plan to eschew the rest of the story. It has gotten some very good reviews, but it’s too dark for me.
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LibraryThing member Baochuan
Great story with the usual power struggle and scheming. Although the ending is a big abrupt, but it is a good leading to the second book of the series.
LibraryThing member Kristymk18
Although this started out slow for me (I almost bailed a few chapters in), switching to the audiobook really helped. The first half of the story is much more about character building than action, but it is this build that allows you to become invested in the characters and their decisions. Although
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this isn't action packed, there are suspenseful moments that keep the plot growing and changing. Show Less
LibraryThing member cathishaw
I could not put this book down. I read it in two days (and that's pretty fast considering how busy I am right now). To say I enjoyed it is an understatement.
So what did I like? First, the plotline and setting are unique. Set in 15th Century Ottoman Empire, Lada, the main character, has few options
Lada is a character who is impossible not to love ... and to hate. But she is not the only complex and fully developed character in the novel. Her younger brother Radu is a gentler, more compassionate character but one the reader can't help empathizing with and loving. And the young sultan, Mehmet, is another character that draws the reader in. He, like the reader, can't resist the draw of Lada.
Beyond setting and character development, this book is fast paced and filled with plot twists. One never knows what will happen next.
The first book in a trilogy, I will be looking for the next instalment as soon as it is released!
So what did I like? First, the plotline and setting are unique. Set in 15th Century Ottoman Empire, Lada, the main character, has few options
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due to the fact that she had the misfortune to be born a female. From the start of the book, when Lada is a very small child, the reader can see she is headstrong and will revolt against societal norms for women. And we are not disappointed. Lada trains with the Janissaries, befriends the boy who will be Sultan (causing him to fall in love with her along the way) and rebels in every way possible.Lada is a character who is impossible not to love ... and to hate. But she is not the only complex and fully developed character in the novel. Her younger brother Radu is a gentler, more compassionate character but one the reader can't help empathizing with and loving. And the young sultan, Mehmet, is another character that draws the reader in. He, like the reader, can't resist the draw of Lada.
Beyond setting and character development, this book is fast paced and filled with plot twists. One never knows what will happen next.
The first book in a trilogy, I will be looking for the next instalment as soon as it is released!
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LibraryThing member ReadersCandyb
Everyone's definition of dark is different and well I must have a twisted mind because this one was more of a charcoal gray to me. So many claim the story is very dark and while I see how it could be classified as that, to me it was just simply twisted as expected with the theme.
When I dive into a
The guy characters were also very well developed... Instead of getting the typical masculine men we got more of naive gentle boys that grow into honorable men. I really liked seeing vulnerability in a sex that isn't usually classified as weak. It helped to mold the relationships and build the story on bravery, friendship, and loyalty. It showed that growth often times requires sacrifices.
Overall, I would say that I am pleased with how it all played out. My only complaint would be that at times, it was very slow. During the first half I found myself often drifting away from the story... By midway though some lusty stuff pulled me back in and intrigued me enough to make me want to finish... I can't say it's a read that will appeal to all readers, but I think fantasy fans with an open mind will definitely find something they like within the pages.
When I dive into a
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royal fantasy such as And I Darken, I expect the dark politics and twisted web of backstabbers. What I don't expect is a unique love triangle and a fierce heroine. Lada was the reason I finished this book. I loved seeing her strong personality in a mans world. She built herself up and also protected those she loved most. She wasn't always an easy character to like, but her strength was to be desired.The guy characters were also very well developed... Instead of getting the typical masculine men we got more of naive gentle boys that grow into honorable men. I really liked seeing vulnerability in a sex that isn't usually classified as weak. It helped to mold the relationships and build the story on bravery, friendship, and loyalty. It showed that growth often times requires sacrifices.
Overall, I would say that I am pleased with how it all played out. My only complaint would be that at times, it was very slow. During the first half I found myself often drifting away from the story... By midway though some lusty stuff pulled me back in and intrigued me enough to make me want to finish... I can't say it's a read that will appeal to all readers, but I think fantasy fans with an open mind will definitely find something they like within the pages.
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LibraryThing member veeshee
Let me start off by saying that the character of Lada is extremely vicious and extremely cool. She is the warrior woman who represents the strength and ability of every woman. Her character is ruthless to a fault and is just downright scary - but that is what makes her so unique and makes me like
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her so much. The story itself is intricate; there is so much detail given that it feels like you are really living alongside the characters. The emotions and changes of the main characters as they grow up in this cruel world is captured perfectly and really sets the mood throughout this story. I am so glad I was given the chance to read this novel and I strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a novel with historical facts and badass characters and a story line you aren't likely to forget anytime soon! Show Less
LibraryThing member titania86
The year is 1435. In Transylvania, Lada and Radu are the children of fierce Vlad Draculesti. Both are in awe and fear of him as children, struggling to find their place in court as their predispositions make them undesirable for their respective roles. They discover their father is not so fearsome
If someone had told me about a book about 15th century Eastern European and Western Asian war and politics, I would probably not even hear the whole synopsis because I would have fallen asleep in the middle of it. I was never a huge history buff unless there's something specific that intrigues me. Kiersten White has taken a wholly uninteresting subject and made it exciting and addictive to read. I picked it up because I thought it would be about Vlad the Impaler, which it is, but his gender has been changed so instead of Vlad, she is Lada. I wasn't familiar with his historical story, so I'm even more excited about the rest of the story knowing more about how everything turns out. I'm especially interested in see how true Kiersten White will be to history.
Lada and Radu couldn't be more different. Lada is a spitfire, striving to be the strongest and smartest. She's prickly, rude, unladylike, and uninterested in what others think of her. At the time, women were to be obedient and waiting to be sold to whatever husband would be politically convenient at the time. Lada wants the power of men of the time, able to command armies and conquer her home back. Her character development is complex as she goes from an angry, disobedient child to a powerful woman willing to challenge convention to get what she wants. Over time, she learns that brute strength won't always get the desired results and adjusts accordingly. The whole novel is Lada finding herself, finding out what she would be willing to do for power, and what she would be willing to do for love. I especially enjoyed seeing her usually callous actions and then getting insight to the not always callous reasons and thoughts behind them. Love catches her off guard and it's one of the only things that makes her unsure of herself. It makes her act in uncharacteristic ways like accepting less than she wants or deserves, but it's also the most pleasurable and happy part of her life. She has to decide which one she values more: her love or her drive to free and return to her homeland, Wallachia.
Radu is the opposite of Lada in almost every way. While she seems to hate everyone, Radu wears his heart on his sleeve. As a child, he was bullied for not being as a boy should be at his age. He was too soft and emotional, but most people outside of his bullies liked him. As an adult, he uses his social grace to his advantage and shows a different type of political power. The description of the book compares it to Games of Thrones, which usually makes me roll my eyes, but this one shows all the inner workings of politics and how the person with the crown doesn't always hold the majority of the power. Radu's view of Lada is much different than the readers' because he doesn't see her inner workings (nor she want to share them). He finds his faith in Islam and also finds his love in a socially inappropriate person that pits his love against everything he has, including his devout faith. I appreciated the way different faiths were handled in the novel with Lada having nothing but scorn for Radu's religion and Radu endures in peace. Kiersten White even capitalizes "god" only in people's speech and thoughts that believe in that particular religion and not only the Christian god as other others tend to. It was a small touch, but an impressive and unbiased one.
And I Darken is an amazing novel that made a time period that was wholly uninteresting to me action packed and addicting to read. I didn't want to put it down, but things like sleeping and work got in the way. I am so excited for the next book, I'm regretting reading it before it even came out. If you give it a chance, you won't be disappointed if you like political intrigue, power struggles, and drama.
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and more concerned about the illusion of power than his own children when they are sent to the Ottoman courts to keep Vlad under control. Lada barely contains her rage and figures out how to live there without accepting it as her home. Radu, on the other hand, finds his home and his faith with the Ottomans. They befriend Mehmed, the third in line to the throne and enjoy even greater freedom than before. Everything changes when his brothers mysteriously die and leave Mehmed the throne as a child still. What follows is a story filled with love, betrayal, power, and intrigue.If someone had told me about a book about 15th century Eastern European and Western Asian war and politics, I would probably not even hear the whole synopsis because I would have fallen asleep in the middle of it. I was never a huge history buff unless there's something specific that intrigues me. Kiersten White has taken a wholly uninteresting subject and made it exciting and addictive to read. I picked it up because I thought it would be about Vlad the Impaler, which it is, but his gender has been changed so instead of Vlad, she is Lada. I wasn't familiar with his historical story, so I'm even more excited about the rest of the story knowing more about how everything turns out. I'm especially interested in see how true Kiersten White will be to history.
Lada and Radu couldn't be more different. Lada is a spitfire, striving to be the strongest and smartest. She's prickly, rude, unladylike, and uninterested in what others think of her. At the time, women were to be obedient and waiting to be sold to whatever husband would be politically convenient at the time. Lada wants the power of men of the time, able to command armies and conquer her home back. Her character development is complex as she goes from an angry, disobedient child to a powerful woman willing to challenge convention to get what she wants. Over time, she learns that brute strength won't always get the desired results and adjusts accordingly. The whole novel is Lada finding herself, finding out what she would be willing to do for power, and what she would be willing to do for love. I especially enjoyed seeing her usually callous actions and then getting insight to the not always callous reasons and thoughts behind them. Love catches her off guard and it's one of the only things that makes her unsure of herself. It makes her act in uncharacteristic ways like accepting less than she wants or deserves, but it's also the most pleasurable and happy part of her life. She has to decide which one she values more: her love or her drive to free and return to her homeland, Wallachia.
Radu is the opposite of Lada in almost every way. While she seems to hate everyone, Radu wears his heart on his sleeve. As a child, he was bullied for not being as a boy should be at his age. He was too soft and emotional, but most people outside of his bullies liked him. As an adult, he uses his social grace to his advantage and shows a different type of political power. The description of the book compares it to Games of Thrones, which usually makes me roll my eyes, but this one shows all the inner workings of politics and how the person with the crown doesn't always hold the majority of the power. Radu's view of Lada is much different than the readers' because he doesn't see her inner workings (nor she want to share them). He finds his faith in Islam and also finds his love in a socially inappropriate person that pits his love against everything he has, including his devout faith. I appreciated the way different faiths were handled in the novel with Lada having nothing but scorn for Radu's religion and Radu endures in peace. Kiersten White even capitalizes "god" only in people's speech and thoughts that believe in that particular religion and not only the Christian god as other others tend to. It was a small touch, but an impressive and unbiased one.
And I Darken is an amazing novel that made a time period that was wholly uninteresting to me action packed and addicting to read. I didn't want to put it down, but things like sleeping and work got in the way. I am so excited for the next book, I'm regretting reading it before it even came out. If you give it a chance, you won't be disappointed if you like political intrigue, power struggles, and drama.
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LibraryThing member whatsmacksaid
I would have killed for this book as a teenager. Lada embodies the kind of feminine anger and wrath that I searched for in fiction for literal years, and I do love her for what she could have been to a younger version of myself.
But now, as an adult, I couldn't help but get bogged down in the
It had a terrific ending. The writing in between a few precious revelatory moments was basic and relied heavily on telling. It's not an ineffective storytelling technique, but I wanted as much from the writing as I got from the scope of the story, and it just wasn't there. Mostly, though, I just couldn't get over the incredible amounts of angst. It was a really depressing read.
Still--if I was as angry as I'd been in middle school, high school, and college, I would have loved this. I'd have drunk it down like an elixir.
But now, as an adult, I couldn't help but get bogged down in the
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angst, and the way the characters' anger got in the way of peace between them. So much of this book is utterly heartbreaking, particularly toward the end when they're all on such different wavelengths that they can't understand each other as they used to. It had a terrific ending. The writing in between a few precious revelatory moments was basic and relied heavily on telling. It's not an ineffective storytelling technique, but I wanted as much from the writing as I got from the scope of the story, and it just wasn't there. Mostly, though, I just couldn't get over the incredible amounts of angst. It was a really depressing read.
Still--if I was as angry as I'd been in middle school, high school, and college, I would have loved this. I'd have drunk it down like an elixir.
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LibraryThing member ireneattolia
just all the emotions, love these terrible cruel children, can't wait for all the angst and murder in the next one!!
LibraryThing member Sandeen
Historical fiction! Heavy on the fiction, light on the historical, and a good young adult. Now, this is young adult fiction, the kind that even adults can appreciate. Though, this is not for YOUNG young adults. If you are wary of what your kids read, stay away from this. I enjoyed this story, and
Again, I did not like the voice of the reader for this novel. She was grating, could not do much variation of the voices and I wish she would not have tried, and was the reason I often considered stopping the track. And I have no idea how to spell any of the names without looking them up.
This novel, by Kiersten White, follows Lada and Radu, in the 1400s, in the Ottoman empire as insurances for the Sultan.
I wonder if, like many young adult series, this would have been better as a single book with the next being far in the future or following other characters during the same time frame.
If you enjoy war novels, historically-set novels, or stories of growing up in difficult circumstances will enjoy this.
Alright, SPOILERS BELOW, SPOILERS BELOW, PLEASE SCROLL FOR DISCUSSION there, that is out of the way.
So, this book covers a good lifetime, showing us the development, fully, of characters. Saw the gay man coming as soon as he was born, which is kind of sad. Why, why make the gay man beautiful? Why make it so obvious from the start?
Why have her fall in love with the future Sultan?
I wanted her, based on the description of the book, to be in her homeland more often than they are. The hatred between the siblings isn’t what is odd, but what causes it. How Radu doesn’t understand Lada’s love towards him and what drives her. I do not understand it.
This book is also supposed to be a gender-bend of Dracula the Impaler. Which is interesting, because I did not figure that out from reading it. It is the correct time period, but gender bending DOESN’T WORK historically. I am sorry, it would be far to complicated to do that. It, it just doesn’t work. You can write it and ponder what it would have been if one character was different. But not all. So, is that what this is?
I think I will be reading (or listening?) to the second book of this.
THIS VOICE IS TERRIBLE!
Alright, there. Little bits done.
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loved the twists and turns the author took us on.Again, I did not like the voice of the reader for this novel. She was grating, could not do much variation of the voices and I wish she would not have tried, and was the reason I often considered stopping the track. And I have no idea how to spell any of the names without looking them up.
This novel, by Kiersten White, follows Lada and Radu, in the 1400s, in the Ottoman empire as insurances for the Sultan.
I wonder if, like many young adult series, this would have been better as a single book with the next being far in the future or following other characters during the same time frame.
If you enjoy war novels, historically-set novels, or stories of growing up in difficult circumstances will enjoy this.
Alright, SPOILERS BELOW, SPOILERS BELOW, PLEASE SCROLL FOR DISCUSSION there, that is out of the way.
So, this book covers a good lifetime, showing us the development, fully, of characters. Saw the gay man coming as soon as he was born, which is kind of sad. Why, why make the gay man beautiful? Why make it so obvious from the start?
Why have her fall in love with the future Sultan?
I wanted her, based on the description of the book, to be in her homeland more often than they are. The hatred between the siblings isn’t what is odd, but what causes it. How Radu doesn’t understand Lada’s love towards him and what drives her. I do not understand it.
This book is also supposed to be a gender-bend of Dracula the Impaler. Which is interesting, because I did not figure that out from reading it. It is the correct time period, but gender bending DOESN’T WORK historically. I am sorry, it would be far to complicated to do that. It, it just doesn’t work. You can write it and ponder what it would have been if one character was different. But not all. So, is that what this is?
I think I will be reading (or listening?) to the second book of this.
THIS VOICE IS TERRIBLE!
Alright, there. Little bits done.
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LibraryThing member ainjel
I have been in the mood for some YA fantasy lately, and while this isn't quite fantasy, it's close enough. While I loved the book, I was surprised by how... un-dark Lada was for the most part. I was expecting her to be far more vicious and uncaring, but I think what this book does is set her up to
Lada is definitely a girl to watch out for. And, in an entirely different way, so is her brother. I picked this book up searching for a strong female protagonist to fall in love with, and I ended up loving Radu far more. Both are opposites, yet they are united in their love for both each other and Mehmed. Everyone knows that love triangles can be exhausting, but I found this one to be genuine and captivating.
The writing is simplistic, making it easy to fall into the fictional-historical world. I appreciated the modern dialogue, which made the story easy to follow while still maintaining that old-timey vibe. Overall, it's actually an extremely interesting book, with a focus on both character relationships and plot. I am SUPER excited for the sequel, which I heard is even more brutal. Bring on the tears.
(Also I'm very happy those ~gay vibes~ I got in the first couple hundred pages weren't just baiting....)
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be that way in its sequel and threquel. Lada is definitely a girl to watch out for. And, in an entirely different way, so is her brother. I picked this book up searching for a strong female protagonist to fall in love with, and I ended up loving Radu far more. Both are opposites, yet they are united in their love for both each other and Mehmed. Everyone knows that love triangles can be exhausting, but I found this one to be genuine and captivating.
The writing is simplistic, making it easy to fall into the fictional-historical world. I appreciated the modern dialogue, which made the story easy to follow while still maintaining that old-timey vibe. Overall, it's actually an extremely interesting book, with a focus on both character relationships and plot. I am SUPER excited for the sequel, which I heard is even more brutal. Bring on the tears.
(Also I'm very happy those ~gay vibes~ I got in the first couple hundred pages weren't just baiting....)
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LibraryThing member leahlo89
FOR THIS REVIEW AND MORE, CHECK OUT SOUTHERN BRED, SOUTHERN READ BOOK BLOG.
And I Darken follows Lada and Radu, two children of the Prince of Wallachia, a vassal state to the Ottoman Empire. A good first part of the book follows the two as children and really dives deep into world and character
I think what surprised me the most about this book was the ages of the characters. I fully expected everyone to be mid-teens, and I was shocked that a good portion of the book is spent with the characters being very young (11-13). As years pass and they do grow older, all of the characters grew up so quickly. They were all faced with such hard lives at such a young age. There is one scene in particular that really stuck with me. When Lada gets her period for the first time, her reaction and fear of what to come unnerved me. I can't imagine feeling how she felt and living in those times where your value was determined by when you can have children. It made me love Lada's character so much more that she didn't just let her fear and society's expectations take her. She grabbed all of those expectations by the balls and made sure everyone knew that she would be seen as their equal whether they liked it or not.
Lada spoke with a quiet, clear voice, and the room hushed in surprise. No one expected a girl to speak. She probably was not allowed to. Radu knew Lada would not care either way. 'On our wedding night,' she said, "I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and there not a widow to be pitied."
Another really surprising twist is the love triangle (??). I put question marks with it because you can't even really call it a love triangle. There is a lot of love and lust and hate that goes full circle. It's hard to explain without giving away spoilers, so just allow me to be vague. Lada and Mehmed's relationship is so complicated that it really frustrated me read about. There were times when she almost gave up herself because she was so caught up in her feelings with him. I didn't want her to turn out to be one of those girls who through their lives away because of a guy that can't give her what she wants or needs... But I had to accept that the heart wants what the heart wants and love is not rational. There is also the love that Lada and Radu share. They are brother and sister, but there relationship has always been so strained. Lada has lived her life protecting Radu, but he just misses the sister that he wishes she could be for him. That brings me to the love between Radu and Mehmed. Radu has waited his entire life for a friend like Mehmed, but people grow up and change and things get hard. It's not as easy as being two childhood friends when one of the boys grows up to be a Sultan. Overall, the book deals with a lot of different growing pains that everyday teenagers experience but in a very high stakes environment. It was so interesting to read and so heartbreaking and frustrating and.... JUST SO MANY FEELS.
The ending was not what I expected. I had tears in my eyes as I watched Lada make the hardest decision she ever had to make. I was so proud of her for staying true to herself no matter what she had to give up or what challenges she would face. The last sentence of the book SLAYED. I felt such a strong surge of girl power that I just wanted to go overcome some patriarchy myself.
I can't recommend this book enough. If you are a fan of Sarah J. Maas and Celaena, then you will LOVE Lada. And I Darken comes out June 2016, and trust me, this is not a book you will be able to put down.
5/5 stars
And I Darken follows Lada and Radu, two children of the Prince of Wallachia, a vassal state to the Ottoman Empire. A good first part of the book follows the two as children and really dives deep into world and character
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building. We learn that even from a young age that Lada is fierce and ruthless while Radu is timid and fragile. Learning so much about their childhood becomes an important key for the rest of the book. When Lada and Radu are betrayed by their father and left in the court of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, they have no where to turn but each other. Lada folds even more into herself and lets her rage take over her heart. Radu wants nothing more but for Lada to love and comfort him. It isn't until the two make unlikely friends with Mehmed, the son of the Sultan, that things really start to change in their lives. Radu finds friendship and religion in Mehmed and for the first time in his life, he feels like he has a purpose and a place. Lada and Mehmed's relationship is more complicated, but eventually goes where you think it will. The two have deep feelings for each other but neither know how to deal with those feelings, especially when there are more important things happening around them. Don't worry though- this is NOT a love story. This is a story about family and choices and being true to yourself and finding yourself and making a place for yourself in a world that no one wants you to be apart of.I think what surprised me the most about this book was the ages of the characters. I fully expected everyone to be mid-teens, and I was shocked that a good portion of the book is spent with the characters being very young (11-13). As years pass and they do grow older, all of the characters grew up so quickly. They were all faced with such hard lives at such a young age. There is one scene in particular that really stuck with me. When Lada gets her period for the first time, her reaction and fear of what to come unnerved me. I can't imagine feeling how she felt and living in those times where your value was determined by when you can have children. It made me love Lada's character so much more that she didn't just let her fear and society's expectations take her. She grabbed all of those expectations by the balls and made sure everyone knew that she would be seen as their equal whether they liked it or not.
Lada spoke with a quiet, clear voice, and the room hushed in surprise. No one expected a girl to speak. She probably was not allowed to. Radu knew Lada would not care either way. 'On our wedding night,' she said, "I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and there not a widow to be pitied."
Another really surprising twist is the love triangle (??). I put question marks with it because you can't even really call it a love triangle. There is a lot of love and lust and hate that goes full circle. It's hard to explain without giving away spoilers, so just allow me to be vague. Lada and Mehmed's relationship is so complicated that it really frustrated me read about. There were times when she almost gave up herself because she was so caught up in her feelings with him. I didn't want her to turn out to be one of those girls who through their lives away because of a guy that can't give her what she wants or needs... But I had to accept that the heart wants what the heart wants and love is not rational. There is also the love that Lada and Radu share. They are brother and sister, but there relationship has always been so strained. Lada has lived her life protecting Radu, but he just misses the sister that he wishes she could be for him. That brings me to the love between Radu and Mehmed. Radu has waited his entire life for a friend like Mehmed, but people grow up and change and things get hard. It's not as easy as being two childhood friends when one of the boys grows up to be a Sultan. Overall, the book deals with a lot of different growing pains that everyday teenagers experience but in a very high stakes environment. It was so interesting to read and so heartbreaking and frustrating and.... JUST SO MANY FEELS.
The ending was not what I expected. I had tears in my eyes as I watched Lada make the hardest decision she ever had to make. I was so proud of her for staying true to herself no matter what she had to give up or what challenges she would face. The last sentence of the book SLAYED. I felt such a strong surge of girl power that I just wanted to go overcome some patriarchy myself.
I can't recommend this book enough. If you are a fan of Sarah J. Maas and Celaena, then you will LOVE Lada. And I Darken comes out June 2016, and trust me, this is not a book you will be able to put down.
5/5 stars
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LibraryThing member MrNattania72
At first I was not into this book, but as I dove deeper into the World of Turks and Ottomans; many things became interesting. This tale is another YA book, but it seems more adult and fished than most. A hint of romance that is forbidden, laws in countries that kill children, admiration and loyalty
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to family, and depiction to get to the top of the food chain and rule it all. By the time I got into the 2/3 of the book, I couldn't put it down untl the big reveal at the end, oh wait: its a YA book, I bet there will be a sequel - because a great many things were left in the air! Show Less
LibraryThing member hexenlibrarian
I'm finding this really slow and it's not holding my attention. Maybe I'll come back to it another time.
LibraryThing member bookbrig
I like White's writing, but this book just took too long to get going for me.
LibraryThing member Pascale1812
From the description, I thought this book would be a massive ball of angst. Welp, I was wrong, and most pleasantly surprised.
LibraryThing member reader1009
teen fiction romantic series with action and political intrigue (fictionalized version of historical setting--Transylvania/Wallachia and Ottoman empire; warrior sister and beautiful brother both fall in love with Ottoman's young sultan). This was a different genre from what I've read of Kiersten
Parental note: the boy-girl couple in question do some kissing but she has decided not to go any further (for that matter, the boy-boy couples also kiss but don't go any further)--at least for book 1 of this trilogy; there is one near-rape scene where the protagonist kills her attacker; the young sultan does create babies with his concubines (though the act of procreation is more implied than described).
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White, and I liked it a lot. It did take a little bit of time to get into it, but seems like a worthwhile trilogy if you are looking for a new story. Parental note: the boy-girl couple in question do some kissing but she has decided not to go any further (for that matter, the boy-boy couples also kiss but don't go any further)--at least for book 1 of this trilogy; there is one near-rape scene where the protagonist kills her attacker; the young sultan does create babies with his concubines (though the act of procreation is more implied than described).
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LibraryThing member The_Hibernator
Summary: This is the story of a female Dracul of Wallachia. (In other words, I think she’ll develop into Dracula by the end of the trilogy?) In this first book of the trilogy, Lada and her brother Radu are taken hostage by the Ottoman Empire as insurance against their father’s uprising. Lada
My Thoughts: This book had a slow beginning but picked up about a quarter of the way through. I wasn’t invested in any of the characters until then. But at that time, the characters became very interesting. The concept of a female Dracul is also creative and fun. It’s nice to see a strong female anti-hero. I am very interested in reading the rest of the series to see how Radu and Lada develop.
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and Radu grow up friends with the Sultan’s son, growing in power.My Thoughts: This book had a slow beginning but picked up about a quarter of the way through. I wasn’t invested in any of the characters until then. But at that time, the characters became very interesting. The concept of a female Dracul is also creative and fun. It’s nice to see a strong female anti-hero. I am very interested in reading the rest of the series to see how Radu and Lada develop.
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LibraryThing member BranC
There is nothing I didn't love about this book. The characters, the settings, the language. It was a darker piece than Kiersten White has ever written before and one of her best. It felt even richer than I anticipated.
LibraryThing member xaverie
Where do I start with this book? I loved it. It was rich, vibrant and beautiful in so many ways.
The story is told in alternating chapters by brother and sister, Radu and Lada. Due to weak rule of their father, Radu and Lada are traded to the Ottoman Empire in exchange the safety of their home
Radu and Lada accidentally meet the Sultan's third son, a young boy their age, and befriend him. From there the book truly starts. There is so much between the three of them that it's hard to label it a 'love triangle' as the relationships between Radu, Lada and Mehmed change and grow as the novel progresses. It is never boring or tedious because the love shared by the three of them is complex, complicated and sometimes very dark.
Lada is a brilliant protagonist. She's vicious, clever and passionate; her personality is almost too much to be contained. It is made clear to the reader early on that she is not like the 'ordinary' people who wish to live and love - Lada belongs to Wallachia. Her country is her first and only true love. She's fascinating to read. Radu, on the other hand, is sensitive and intelligent. He's a great counterpoint to Lada's calculated brutality.
I just absolutely devoured the entire book. The language is rich and beautiful, the characters full and complex, and the story was delicious. It follows history a lot closer than other YA historical fiction but plays around just enough.
The story is told in alternating chapters by brother and sister, Radu and Lada. Due to weak rule of their father, Radu and Lada are traded to the Ottoman Empire in exchange the safety of their home
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country of Wallachia. This worked particularly well as Lada and Radu were both full-bodied characters, their voices crisp and distinct. Radu and Lada accidentally meet the Sultan's third son, a young boy their age, and befriend him. From there the book truly starts. There is so much between the three of them that it's hard to label it a 'love triangle' as the relationships between Radu, Lada and Mehmed change and grow as the novel progresses. It is never boring or tedious because the love shared by the three of them is complex, complicated and sometimes very dark.
Lada is a brilliant protagonist. She's vicious, clever and passionate; her personality is almost too much to be contained. It is made clear to the reader early on that she is not like the 'ordinary' people who wish to live and love - Lada belongs to Wallachia. Her country is her first and only true love. She's fascinating to read. Radu, on the other hand, is sensitive and intelligent. He's a great counterpoint to Lada's calculated brutality.
I just absolutely devoured the entire book. The language is rich and beautiful, the characters full and complex, and the story was delicious. It follows history a lot closer than other YA historical fiction but plays around just enough.
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Awards
Association for Mormon Letters Award (Finalist — Young Adult Novel — 2016)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — High School — 2019)
Milwaukee County Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2017)
ALA Rainbow Book List (Selection — Young Adult Fiction — 2017)
NPR: Books We Love (2016)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Teen — 2016)
Language
Original publication date
2016-06-28
Local notes
Ever since she and her brother were abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultan’s courts, Princess Lada has known that ruthlessness is the key to survival. For the lineage that makes her and her brother special also makes them targets.