lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
5.0
This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Now I Rise took me on a fantastic trip through history and various countries, following Lada in her quest for power - on her own.
Now I Rise is one of my favorite 2017 releases! There, now that's out of the way, you have been warned that this review might not be as coherent as it could be, because I'm so happy about this book I just want to say : "Run and buy it! Then shut yourself in somewhere to read it!" That's how good it is! Lada has grown up quite a bit, but now, she's without Radu and Mehmed, and while she definitely wanted to have allies, they were not the best choice for her to win back Wallachia. And she soon realizes that while her men believe in her and her abilities, other people only see her as a woman, who should not necessarily lead an army to take back what she believes is hers. The beginning of the story shows the continuation from the first book, but Lada ends up leaving with her own fighters, rather than staying with Mehmed and Radu.
There is a strong sense of right and wrong in Now I Rise, and while Lada sometimes skirts the line between them, she is one who fights for women. She is absolutely horrified when she sees how some women are treated on her lands, and she has a strong need to make their lives better, safer, and give them some power back as well. This is definitely not something that would be common in the 15th century, but it sure does mesh with Lada and how she acted from I first met her in And I Darken. Lada is ruthless, just like the men who surround her - but because she is a woman, most of them completely underestimate her, and that is one of her strengths. Because she understands that their underestimating her can be used to her advantage. And she continues to see the threads of power and kinship that string people together. She also has the ability to see where such strings might be weaker, and thus knows exactly where to strike and when.
The historical aspects in Now I Rise are amazing, even if White doesn't follow them in every way. I love how the wars based on religions are explained - and those same reasons are used today in the real world. Infidels on both sides, where the Christians and the Muslims believe that theirs is the one true religion. Using armies to get the point across, to become more powerful and bring turmoil and hunger to the enemy. There is also a sense of Lada growing here, not only physically, but emotionally, she has become more mature. And she definitely sometimes has to fight against her own body in order to move forward with her plans for the future.
Written in third person, past tense, the narration follows Lada more than Radu or Mehmed in Now I Rise. We do get more than simple glimpses of them, though, especially Radu has an important role. With a wide cast of characters, and several battles to fight, there is a lot of action as well as a complex plot where political alliances are made and broken rather quickly.
She knew now that nothing she could do would ever be enough. Unless she could grow a penis, which did not seem likely. Nor particularly desirable.
Mehmed had tried to read her poetry before, and she always stopped him. It was a waste of words and breath. Who had ever looked with lust upon a gazelle?
He sat on the edge of the roof, his feet dangling in the void beneath him. It echoed the one that had opened up inside of him. He felt close to falling - or to flying. He did not know which it would be, but had no doubt time would tell.
Now I Rise took me on a fantastic trip through history and various countries, following Lada in her quest for power - on her own.
Now I Rise is one of my favorite 2017 releases! There, now that's out of the way, you have been warned that this review might not be as coherent as it could be, because I'm so happy about this book I just want to say : "Run and buy it! Then shut yourself in somewhere to read it!" That's how good it is! Lada has grown up quite a bit, but now, she's without Radu and Mehmed, and while she definitely wanted to have allies, they were not the best choice for her to win back Wallachia. And she soon realizes that while her men believe in her and her abilities, other people only see her as a woman, who should not necessarily lead an army to take back what she believes is hers. The beginning of the story shows the continuation from the first book, but Lada ends up leaving with her own fighters, rather than staying with Mehmed and Radu.
There is a strong sense of right and wrong in Now I Rise, and while Lada sometimes skirts the line between them, she is one who fights for women. She is absolutely horrified when she sees how some women are treated on her lands, and she has a strong need to make their lives better, safer, and give them some power back as well. This is definitely not something that would be common in the 15th century, but it sure does mesh with Lada and how she acted from I first met her in And I Darken. Lada is ruthless, just like the men who surround her - but because she is a woman, most of them completely underestimate her, and that is one of her strengths. Because she understands that their underestimating her can be used to her advantage. And she continues to see the threads of power and kinship that string people together. She also has the ability to see where such strings might be weaker, and thus knows exactly where to strike and when.
The historical aspects in Now I Rise are amazing, even if White doesn't follow them in every way. I love how the wars based on religions are explained - and those same reasons are used today in the real world. Infidels on both sides, where the Christians and the Muslims believe that theirs is the one true religion. Using armies to get the point across, to become more powerful and bring turmoil and hunger to the enemy. There is also a sense of Lada growing here, not only physically, but emotionally, she has become more mature. And she definitely sometimes has to fight against her own body in order to move forward with her plans for the future.
Written in third person, past tense, the narration follows Lada more than Radu or Mehmed in Now I Rise. We do get more than simple glimpses of them, though, especially Radu has an important role. With a wide cast of characters, and several battles to fight, there is a lot of action as well as a complex plot where political alliances are made and broken rather quickly.
She knew now that nothing she could do would ever be enough. Unless she could grow a penis, which did not seem likely. Nor particularly desirable.
Mehmed had tried to read her poetry before, and she always stopped him. It was a waste of words and breath. Who had ever looked with lust upon a gazelle?
He sat on the edge of the roof, his feet dangling in the void beneath him. It echoed the one that had opened up inside of him. He felt close to falling - or to flying. He did not know which it would be, but had no doubt time would tell.
roseybot's review against another edition
4.0
I will say this: this series is not light hearted, it is not gentle, it's a tragedy.
But man, Lada is cool.
Also I love Radu and want him to be happy -- HOW HARD WOULD IT BE?
But man, Lada is cool.
Also I love Radu and want him to be happy -- HOW HARD WOULD IT BE?
heco1206's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
sarahjolioli's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
manu71005's review against another edition
5.0
SO GOOD!!!!!!!!
OMG, this was such a great book, which was actually a surprise considering that some of my BFF's rated it 1 star. And I was like... WHAT? Because they were mainly saying how boring it was. And I was like man... I kinda understand the reason behind what they are saying, but from my point of view, the whole thing was amazing. Now the bad points (very tiny points), for real why the hell did you do that?
Now for the good things was the development of the characters. I know many people hated Radu (i actually didn't but...) his development was amazing, in the beginning, I was so annoyed with Radu, I just wanted to jump in the book and scream to Radu to WAKE UP. But by the end, I was asking for more chapters with him. He understood that he wasn't controlled by what he loves and that he deserves better (my little baby).
And Lada... Lada is a whole new level of YA female main character. Forget about other Ya female heroes. Lada is ten times (or a hundred) more savage than any girl I ever read about. She knows what she wants and she is so unapologetic about it. (YASSS GIRL). Another important character is Mehmed, and I have a difficult relationship with him because I hate him and I'm also I'm proud of him. And finally Cyprian... baby forgive me... Cyprian was the most beautiful character in this book. Meanwhile, all the other characters wanted to conquer something Cyprian was falling in love... I love you Cyprian you deserve better and I hope you are doing better. (I'll protect you, baby)
Finally, just read this is incredible
OMG, this was such a great book, which was actually a surprise considering that some of my BFF's rated it 1 star. And I was like... WHAT? Because they were mainly saying how boring it was. And I was like man... I kinda understand the reason behind what they are saying, but from my point of view, the whole thing was amazing. Now the bad points (very tiny points), for real why the hell did you do that?
Now for the good things was the development of the characters. I know many people hated Radu (i actually didn't but...) his development was amazing, in the beginning, I was so annoyed with Radu, I just wanted to jump in the book and scream to Radu to WAKE UP. But by the end, I was asking for more chapters with him. He understood that he wasn't controlled by what he loves and that he deserves better (my little baby).
And Lada... Lada is a whole new level of YA female main character. Forget about other Ya female heroes. Lada is ten times (or a hundred) more savage than any girl I ever read about. She knows what she wants and she is so unapologetic about it. (YASSS GIRL). Another important character is Mehmed, and I have a difficult relationship with him because I hate him and I'm also I'm proud of him. And finally Cyprian... baby forgive me... Cyprian was the most beautiful character in this book. Meanwhile, all the other characters wanted to conquer something Cyprian was falling in love... I love you Cyprian you deserve better and I hope you are doing better. (I'll protect you, baby)
Finally, just read this is incredible
xoiaey's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
lukecalderauthor's review against another edition
4.0
Solid story but it does drag on a bit. The book focuses a great deal more on Radu than on Lada. Very good ending. It did have a very interesting take on warfare, by showing the devastation on both sides.
erinarkin20's review against another edition
4.0
Now I Rise is the second book in The Conqueror’s Saga and if you haven’t started this series you should definitely consider picking them up. Don’t let the size/length of them scare you off either – yes they are lengthy but the story is so good. If you haven’t read book one yet, you might want to hold off on reading my review. While I won’t spoil Now I Rise, I can’t promise the same for book one.
Book two picks up shortly after And I Darken wraps up and Lada is still driven to get the Wallachian throne back no matter what. She and her men are attacking anyone they cross paths with so they can survive and she quickly realizes what she is doing isn’t getting her what she wants. What she really needs is her brother, Radu, and his ability to be more diplomatic and connect with others around him. Unfortunately for her, she left him behind with Mehmed and he isn’t in any position to join her…even if he wanted to.
As I mentioned, Radu is with Mehmed but things aren’t the same for them. Radu still loves and Mehmed and Mehmed still loves Lada and I couldn’t help feeling bad for Radu. He kept letting Mehmed take advantage of him and I just wanted Radu to stand up for himself. Unfortunately for Radu, his feelings put him in a position where he ends up in Constantinople as a spy and it is expected that he do whatever he needs to in order to help Mehmed take control of the city. The struggle he has with this is that Radu has built friendships with the very people he has to betray.
Mehmed is super manipulative of both Radu and Lada and I didn’t like a lot of the choices he made. He was so determined to get what he wanted that he didn’t care who he hurt along the way. I’m still not sure how I feel about him knowing everything about what he knew and what he asked of everyone.
As characters, I don’t think any of them changed very much from book one to book two. If anything Lada showed the most growth and I would attribute that to the fact that if she hadn’t changed the way she was attempting to get the throne back, she may not have had any success. By recognizing the need to partner with someone who had a bit more diplomacy she wasn’t stuck in the same place she was when she left her brother and Mehmed behind..
This book gives you two different stories that eventually intersect. With Lada on her own mission, her story is very separate from that of Radu’s/Mehmed’s and I think her story interested me more. The rotating chapters from Lada’s story to Radu’s story slowed everything way down and I found myself struggling not to skim over some parts. What helped move things along were the secondary characters that White developed. They not only added to the story, but also helped me connect more to the main characters and learn more about them.
Overall I enjoyed this book but wish the pace had been a bit faster. The details were necessary but it was a struggle to stay fully interested in some of the slower parts. If you are looking for a story about a strong female warrior, definitely check out the entire series and if you have already read And I Darken, you will want to read Now I Rise so you can see what happens amongst the characters and whether they achieve the goals they have set for themselves.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.
Book two picks up shortly after And I Darken wraps up and Lada is still driven to get the Wallachian throne back no matter what. She and her men are attacking anyone they cross paths with so they can survive and she quickly realizes what she is doing isn’t getting her what she wants. What she really needs is her brother, Radu, and his ability to be more diplomatic and connect with others around him. Unfortunately for her, she left him behind with Mehmed and he isn’t in any position to join her…even if he wanted to.
As I mentioned, Radu is with Mehmed but things aren’t the same for them. Radu still loves and Mehmed and Mehmed still loves Lada and I couldn’t help feeling bad for Radu. He kept letting Mehmed take advantage of him and I just wanted Radu to stand up for himself. Unfortunately for Radu, his feelings put him in a position where he ends up in Constantinople as a spy and it is expected that he do whatever he needs to in order to help Mehmed take control of the city. The struggle he has with this is that Radu has built friendships with the very people he has to betray.
Mehmed is super manipulative of both Radu and Lada and I didn’t like a lot of the choices he made. He was so determined to get what he wanted that he didn’t care who he hurt along the way. I’m still not sure how I feel about him knowing everything about what he knew and what he asked of everyone.
As characters, I don’t think any of them changed very much from book one to book two. If anything Lada showed the most growth and I would attribute that to the fact that if she hadn’t changed the way she was attempting to get the throne back, she may not have had any success. By recognizing the need to partner with someone who had a bit more diplomacy she wasn’t stuck in the same place she was when she left her brother and Mehmed behind..
This book gives you two different stories that eventually intersect. With Lada on her own mission, her story is very separate from that of Radu’s/Mehmed’s and I think her story interested me more. The rotating chapters from Lada’s story to Radu’s story slowed everything way down and I found myself struggling not to skim over some parts. What helped move things along were the secondary characters that White developed. They not only added to the story, but also helped me connect more to the main characters and learn more about them.
Overall I enjoyed this book but wish the pace had been a bit faster. The details were necessary but it was a struggle to stay fully interested in some of the slower parts. If you are looking for a story about a strong female warrior, definitely check out the entire series and if you have already read And I Darken, you will want to read Now I Rise so you can see what happens amongst the characters and whether they achieve the goals they have set for themselves.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.
lilstarchar's review against another edition
5.0
There have been no two characters that I have loved more than Radu and Lada. Kiersten White has created a dramatic, dark, real world that I cannot stop reading about. From And I Darken to this sequel, these two books have everything and I have recommended them both to all book lovers. It’s a story of war, betrayal, love, desires...I honestly have so much I want to say about this book but don’t want to give anything away. All I can say is you won’t regret picking this up and I can’t wait for the third book.
rachels1127's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
OK but Radu's growth in this??? That's my king fr 😤 It only took the brutal devastating horrendous fall of Constantinople to free him from his downbadness but I guess Mehmed's rizz is just that strong aha
Me after the LadaMehmed reunion: I hope your freaking apple pie was worth it girl 🙄
Lada girlbossing straight outta this universe let's go! slayyyy!
the moral/ethical discussion regarding war and conflict, what is acceptable to achieve a goal under those circumstances, how far would you go for what you want...i'm SAT
The full course meal of Radu/Nazira and Lada/Nicolae platonic soulmate content i was served...yeah i'll take seconds 👀
Me after the LadaMehmed reunion: I hope your freaking apple pie was worth it girl 🙄
Lada girlbossing straight outta this universe let's go! slayyyy!
the moral/ethical discussion regarding war and conflict, what is acceptable to achieve a goal under those circumstances, how far would you go for what you want...i'm SAT
The full course meal of Radu/Nazira and Lada/Nicolae platonic soulmate content i was served...yeah i'll take seconds 👀