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whymermaids's review
4.0
3.5 stars
I picked up this series because it was nominated for Best Historical Fiction in the Young Adult Booktube Awards 2017, a category for which I am a judge, and I was pleasantly surprised. Historical Fiction NOT set in WWII, the Middle Ages, the Elizabethan times, or the Roaring 20s? Historical Fiction with LGBTQ characters and gender swapping? Historical Fiction with characters of color? Yes, yes, and yes.
The Conqueror’s Saga, of which Now I Rise is book 2, is about Lada and Radu, the Draculesti heirs, who were sent to the Ottoman Empire as hostages as children. Lada is the gender-swapped historical figure of Vlad the Impaler - the real life Dracula. With the Ottomans, they become the playthings of Mehmed, a young boy who would grow up to become Mehmed the Conqueror.
Whereas the first book is about the friendship and love that develops between the three, the second tears them apart. It deals with each of their growing ambitions: Lada to become Prince of Wallachia, no matter the cost; Mehmed to finally, finally conquer Constantinople, no matter the cost; and Radu to finally be of use to Mehmed and come into his own.
Despite the action-heavy premise of conquering and betrayal and seizing thrones, I found Now I Rise to lack the enjoyment I got from And I Darken. I loved Radu and his growth, but Lada bored me, and her selfishness and cruelty took away much of the empathy the first book wrought from me.
Having gotten past the dreary setup of the first installment, I relatively flew through this one, but I didn’t much care for what happened. That could have partly been because I was more familiar with this portion of history and knew what would eventually happen, or because I wasn’t able to connect with the characters as easily (though I do love Radu).
My favorite thing was the setting and history itself. I love that it’s so different from all the other historical fiction I’ve read and that White doesn’t shy away from taking risks with her characters. I love reading about prominent Muslims and learning more about an Empire I hadn’t thought of since ninth grade history.
I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it, though my love of Radu will perhaps see me continuing the series.
I picked up this series because it was nominated for Best Historical Fiction in the Young Adult Booktube Awards 2017, a category for which I am a judge, and I was pleasantly surprised. Historical Fiction NOT set in WWII, the Middle Ages, the Elizabethan times, or the Roaring 20s? Historical Fiction with LGBTQ characters and gender swapping? Historical Fiction with characters of color? Yes, yes, and yes.
The Conqueror’s Saga, of which Now I Rise is book 2, is about Lada and Radu, the Draculesti heirs, who were sent to the Ottoman Empire as hostages as children. Lada is the gender-swapped historical figure of Vlad the Impaler - the real life Dracula. With the Ottomans, they become the playthings of Mehmed, a young boy who would grow up to become Mehmed the Conqueror.
Whereas the first book is about the friendship and love that develops between the three, the second tears them apart. It deals with each of their growing ambitions: Lada to become Prince of Wallachia, no matter the cost; Mehmed to finally, finally conquer Constantinople, no matter the cost; and Radu to finally be of use to Mehmed and come into his own.
Despite the action-heavy premise of conquering and betrayal and seizing thrones, I found Now I Rise to lack the enjoyment I got from And I Darken. I loved Radu and his growth, but Lada bored me, and her selfishness and cruelty took away much of the empathy the first book wrought from me.
Having gotten past the dreary setup of the first installment, I relatively flew through this one, but I didn’t much care for what happened. That could have partly been because I was more familiar with this portion of history and knew what would eventually happen, or because I wasn’t able to connect with the characters as easily (though I do love Radu).
My favorite thing was the setting and history itself. I love that it’s so different from all the other historical fiction I’ve read and that White doesn’t shy away from taking risks with her characters. I love reading about prominent Muslims and learning more about an Empire I hadn’t thought of since ninth grade history.
I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it, though my love of Radu will perhaps see me continuing the series.
bbunn's review against another edition
5.0
While this book made me more upset, though anger, strife, and discomfort at the characters situations and decisions, it was still phenomenal and evoked all those emotions because of how much I care about the characters. I can’t wait to see where book three leads.
scurvycur's review against another edition
4.0
fuck mehmed entirely. i wish our awesome siblings could see that (well at least one of them does).
brokenrecord's review
4.0
3.5 stars. I liked this, but I'm not sure if I liked it more or less than the first one. Because in the first one, I enjoyed both Radu's and Lada's POVs, even though I was more interested in Radu's overall. But in this book, all I cared about was Radu's chapters. It just didn't feel like much was happening most of the time in Lada's part, and I don't care about battles or fighting (and yeah, that was part of Radu's chapters too, but his perspective was always more scheming and calculating and political, which is always going to be more interesting to me), and I just wanted to get back to Radu (and Cyprian). And in the first book, there were sections I was less into, but here I was super into all of Radu's chapters and bored by Lada's. I mean, I still liked this a lot, don't get me wrong! I think I just don't care about Mehmed/Lada or Lada as a character that much. I get why Lada is the way she is, but at the same time, she seems less nuanced to me than Radu, I guess.
But anyways, enough of the negatives. Like I said, the Radu stuff was all great. I loved seeing him become disillusioned towards Mehmed and his guilt over not being sure who he was really helping or betraying half the time, and his love for Nazira and protection of her (and I love her as well so much). And Cyprian!!! He was so sweet and so into Radu, and Everything about the two of them was so great and now I'm dying for the 3rd book just for them (plus Nazira).
But anyways, enough of the negatives. Like I said, the Radu stuff was all great. I loved seeing him become disillusioned towards Mehmed and his guilt over not being sure who he was really helping or betraying half the time, and his love for Nazira and protection of her (and I love her as well so much). And Cyprian!!! He was so sweet and so into Radu, and
Spoiler
he went back just to see Radu again, even though they didn't exchange words in the first book! But he noticed him and just wanted to see him again!!!absbia777's review against another edition
4.0
Lada SLAYS (literally). I love the idea of anti-heroes: the people of questionable morals and intent that we root for regardless. Lada is on a mission to take over Wallachia as its true ruler. Meanwhile, Radu and Mehmed are attempting to conquer Constantinople. And there's a lot of blood involved along the way. One of my favorite things is that Lada refuses to conform to gender roles. She wants to be treated equally to a man, and rightfully so!
bedee's review against another edition
4.0
This one was even better than the first and I have the third one on hold! These are really enjoyable and fascinating books.
suziegon's review against another edition
4.0
A worthy sequel to "And I Darken"! It continues with sibling protagonists Lada (a soldier continually challenging societal gender norms fighting to become prince of her homeland) and Radu (best friend to the sultan sent away to spy while fearing his homosexuality will be discovered) who are now living separate lives.
Though its a bit of a slower start, I love the way Lada breaks through conventions and makes her own path. I love her brutality and how she shows the world that women aren't just easy prey. Radu, I have less patience with but I enjoy his friendship with his lesbian wife.
Though its a bit of a slower start, I love the way Lada breaks through conventions and makes her own path. I love her brutality and how she shows the world that women aren't just easy prey. Radu, I have less patience with but I enjoy his friendship with his lesbian wife.