Novel Review: And I Darken (The Conqueror's Saga, #1) by Kiersten White

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Historical, Romance

Publisher: Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House)

Release Date: 2016

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday. Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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, 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.

The Cover:

I love these covers. I will admit that it gives me a somewhat different impression of the book than the contents felt--Lada does not feel nearly as fierce as this cover makes me feel; it also wasn't as intense and focused more on the potential romance than the cover makes me think it will. But it's still a gorgeous cover.

Review:

I have loved all of Kiersten White's books, and I've always admired how she can change her style of writing so perfectly. I'm a little disappointed to say that I didn't really enjoy this book, at times.

I will admit that I'm not typically a historical fan. I didn't think it would matter much here, but it's still true. Long stories of history are not of my interest, and stories that combine that with political dealings are apparently especially so.

We meet Lada and Bogdan and her brother Radu as the book starts. They start as children, and slowly grow older until they're teens during this book. Lada is the daughter of Vlad, and at first she tries hard to impress him and prove herself. Radu is her weaker brother. Bogdan is her bodyguard/servant boy who she actually orders around.

This book was very slow going. It took a long time for them to grow older, and at several points in this book I wondered where it was going, and when it was going to get there.

I liked Lada at first, and I thought she was going to be fierce from the beginning. She is fierce, but then I think she loses herself about halfway through the book. Romance shows up, and she seems to lose herself and her ambitions with it. I realized at some point in the book that I didn't particularly care for Lada all that much.

Radu, on the other hand. Radu is at first her weak little brother. But while he doesn't have physical strength or much of a mean streak at all in him, he has smarts instead. He learns how to listen, and how to play nice and make conversation and get a person on his side very easily. It's a struggle when Lada realizes he has this and she does not, and really it's more of a point on his side than hers.

I really liked Radu, quite a lot. I think my least favorite character turned out to be Mehmed. When we first meet him, I thought I liked him. But after a while, I realized that I really didn't like the effect he had on Radu or Lada. He kind of ends up ruining them, I think.

Radu becomes so focused on his love for Mehmed, that I think it brings him down. He could be doing a lot more, and he could be seeing the other people around him better, if Mehmed weren't there. It's the same with Lada. She loses sight of what's most important to herself, because of her affection for Mehmed. And it frustrates me so much because it's not requited to the extent that either of them need. It's helping Mehmed, when he doesn't deserve it, and it's bad for both Radu and Lada.

I really hope that this book was setting up for something bigger. It definitely seems like Lada is off to start something big, and I hope that it gets more intense from here. This book was very long and tedious, and usually I like character development like that, but it didn't hold my interest enough in this context. It was frustrating at times.

But the concept is still so interesting to me, and Kiersten White is one of my favorite authors, so I'll be reading at least one more book.