Title: And I Darken (The Conquerors Saga, #1)
Author: Kiersten White
Pages: 498
Publisher: RHCP Digital
Release date: 7th July 2016
Blurb from Goodreads:
No one
expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwyla likes it that way.
Ever since she and her brother were abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultan’s courts, Lada has known that ruthlessness is the key to survival. For the lineage that makes her and her brother special also makes them targets.
Lada hones her skills as a warrior as she nurtures plans to wreak revenge on the empire that holds her captive. Then she and Radu meet the sultan’s son, Mehmed, and everything changes. Now Mehmed unwittingly stands between Lada and Radu as they transform from siblings to rivals, and the ties of love and loyalty that bind them together are stretched to breaking point.
The first of an epic new trilogy starring the ultimate anti-princess who does not have a gentle heart. Lada knows how to wield a sword, and she'll stop at nothing to keep herself and her brother alive.
My Review:
*I
received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to
Penguin Random House UK Children's and NetGalley*
Lada
Dragwyla worships her father, a cruel man who sees Lada as a disappointment
because of her sex. She does everything she can to make him notice her - she
acts like a boy, is cunning and ruthless.
Then
Lada's father leaves Lada and her brother, Radu, at the courts of the Ottoman
sultan - both of them pawns in a political game.
Intent on
not betraying her homeland and vowing to protect herself and Radu, Lada trains
as a warrior.
Lada and
Radu's lives become more complicated when they meet Mehmed, the sultan's son
and heir.
Will Lada
and Radu ever return home?
Will love
tear them apart?
I was
really intrigued by the premise for And I Darken - a YA book with a female
version of Vlad the Impaler as the main character? Yes please!
However.
While I
did like Lada and Radu, I didn't feel like I really connected with them and
there were times that I found them annoying. Lada is meant to be 'brutal' and
at times yes she was but I'm not sure I'd call her an 'anti-princess'. I felt
sorry for Radu but at times I just wanted to shake him and shout at him to pull
himself together.
The pacing
was too slow for me and it didn't feel like much happened. The book definitely
didn't need to be as long as it was and it dragged a lot.
I wasn't a
fan of the romance - it felt a bit forced to me.
Overall this
was a disappointing, okay read.
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