A review by sarahbousq
And I Darken, by Kiersten White
5.0
Wow. This book. Wow.
I was stunned. When I started it, I had no idea what it was about. I thought it was fantasy or something. ITS NOT FANTASY. It is historical fiction. Mostly. I think people are getting confused because it doesn't read like historical fiction. It's a retelling of Vlad the Impaler's history, but as a girl. This book is so good as soon as I finished I messaged all my friends and told them to read it so I could talk about it with someone.
This story is about history. And its actually pretty accurate too, besides the gender swap of Vlad to Lada. In one of the podcasts I listened to did Vlad the Impaler, and I kept comparing the story to that, as well as wikipedia because I had to know how accurate it was.
I'm not going to lie. Some of this story was pretty slow. There were some points that I was just waiting for something to happen. It was very plot driven, but in a good way. There was war, deception, trickery, stabbing, some impaling (not very vividly described, so if you don't know what it is, please don't look it up. The podcast I mentioned before did vividly describe it and I definitely did not want to know what impaling really meant).
This is the story of how Lada and her brother, Radu, are sent to the ottoman empire as insurance that their father won't do something stupid like betray the ottoman empire. They become friends with Mehmed, who is the Sultans son, but not really in line for the throne unless something happens to his older brothers.
This book was clearly building up for the rest of the series. It was giving us this world, and the players in it. It was a lot of information packed in, but it was necessary in order for us to understand what was happening and this hugely complicated war that was going on at the time.
The characters in this story were absolutely amazing.
Lets start with Lada, shall we? Ugh. She is so vicious, its incredible. She is a badass, warrior princess with no sympathy. She is cruel, and when she was younger she was described as 'feral'. She almost reminds me of Katsa from Graceling, except without Katsa's empathy or sense of justice. Lada is completely wild, and all she wants is to go home and rule her land. She and her brother, Radu, have this crazy relationship. They love each other more than anything else, but have different ways of showing it.
Lada believes that she must stay distant from her brother, protect him by not protecting him. She thinks if others knew she loved him, they would beat him to get to her. She doesn't tell her brother any of this though, so he just thinks she is letting him get beat up because she doesn't care. It made me want to shake Radu.
Now Radu. Another character I absolutely loved. He was so precious. He was always seen as weak, especially compared to Lada. But what he lacked in strength, he made up for in looks and charm. He was described as Radu the Handsome, which was legit what he was called in real history. Amazing.
Radu kept surprising me. He was a lot stronger than Lada gave him credit for, and it shows, especially in the second half of the book. He was clever, more clever than his sister at times. Their relationship was so heartbreaking.
They are both in love with the Mehmed, Lada reluctantly and Radu fully. Mehmed loves Lada, but its a bit of a possessive kind of love that she hates. She is not a thing to be owned, as she makes clear.
There are so many more things I want to say, but I will refrain because of spoilers. Just know there were a few scenes that I almost shouted because I was so excited or mad.
I highly recommend this book, to anyone and everyone, because it is amazingly written, has strong, interesting characters, and has some plot twists even though it is historical fiction.
I was stunned. When I started it, I had no idea what it was about. I thought it was fantasy or something. ITS NOT FANTASY. It is historical fiction. Mostly. I think people are getting confused because it doesn't read like historical fiction. It's a retelling of Vlad the Impaler's history, but as a girl. This book is so good as soon as I finished I messaged all my friends and told them to read it so I could talk about it with someone.
This story is about history. And its actually pretty accurate too, besides the gender swap of Vlad to Lada. In one of the podcasts I listened to did Vlad the Impaler, and I kept comparing the story to that, as well as wikipedia because I had to know how accurate it was.
I'm not going to lie. Some of this story was pretty slow. There were some points that I was just waiting for something to happen. It was very plot driven, but in a good way. There was war, deception, trickery, stabbing, some impaling (not very vividly described, so if you don't know what it is, please don't look it up. The podcast I mentioned before did vividly describe it and I definitely did not want to know what impaling really meant).
This is the story of how Lada and her brother, Radu, are sent to the ottoman empire as insurance that their father won't do something stupid like betray the ottoman empire.
Spoiler
their father is the worst person ever and of course does lots of stupid thingsSpoiler
obviously something happens to his older brothers and he becomes sultanThis book was clearly building up for the rest of the series. It was giving us this world, and the players in it. It was a lot of information packed in, but it was necessary in order for us to understand what was happening and this hugely complicated war that was going on at the time.
The characters in this story were absolutely amazing.
Lets start with Lada, shall we? Ugh. She is so vicious, its incredible. She is a badass, warrior princess with no sympathy. She is cruel, and when she was younger she was described as 'feral'. She almost reminds me of Katsa from Graceling, except without Katsa's empathy or sense of justice. Lada is completely wild, and all she wants is to go home and rule her land. She and her brother, Radu, have this crazy relationship. They love each other more than anything else, but have different ways of showing it.
Lada believes that she must stay distant from her brother, protect him by not protecting him. She thinks if others knew she loved him, they would beat him to get to her. She doesn't tell her brother any of this though, so he just thinks she is letting him get beat up because she doesn't care. It made me want to shake Radu.
Now Radu. Another character I absolutely loved. He was so precious. He was always seen as weak, especially compared to Lada. But what he lacked in strength, he made up for in looks and charm. He was described as Radu the Handsome, which was legit what he was called in real history. Amazing.
Radu kept surprising me. He was a lot stronger than Lada gave him credit for, and it shows, especially in the second half of the book. He was clever, more clever than his sister at times. Their relationship was so heartbreaking.
They are both in love with the Mehmed, Lada reluctantly and Radu fully. Mehmed loves Lada, but its a bit of a possessive kind of love that she hates. She is not a thing to be owned, as she makes clear.
There are so many more things I want to say, but I will refrain because of spoilers. Just know there were a few scenes that I almost shouted because I was so excited or mad.
I highly recommend this book, to anyone and everyone, because it is amazingly written, has strong, interesting characters, and has some plot twists even though it is historical fiction.