Review: And I Darken

Title: And I Darken
Author: Kiersten White
Series: The Conqueror's Saga #1
Publication Date: June 28, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Page Count: 475
Rating: 3/5 starfish
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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.

My Review:

I really wanted to like this book more than I did.  Now, there is no doubt that the writing is outstanding but I just expected more from the story.  I found that it lacked action and battles, which, from a historical fiction based somewhat on Vlad the Impaler, I fully expected.  Instead I got a story that was slow paced, lacked world building, and was heavy on religion.

Let's start with my least favorite part of the book shall we?  The sultan with his harem and multiple wives absolutely disgusted me and here’s why:

1.       I found how women were treated was horrid.

2.       Women in the harem were only used for reproducing, so that the sultan had plenty of heirs lined up.

3.       Women were sold to the harem or fathers traded their daughters.  Apparently it was considered an honor.  Not my definition of honor but hey, I’m just a reader.

4.       The fratricide (killing of sons and brothers in order to keep the throne) that was going on was sickening and that’s all I will say on that subject.

I found that I didn’t connect with the characters at all.  Like, I could care less what happened to them.  Lada or Ladislav was not a good person but she was strong willed, which was good for her because apparently she was ugly as sin.  We finally have a female character who used their brains instead of their looks to further themselves.  Radu, Lada’s brother was the beautiful one.  He is very kind but never stood up for himself.  He was wishy washy and weak.  He couldn’t even tell his sister that he converted to Islam for fear of what she would say.  Only in the last ¾ of the book did he even remotely start to show signs of independence and growth.

Overall I wasn’t impressed with the pacing or the characters but I am curious as to what will happen in the second book after how this one ended so I will probably pick it up at some point.  Although I am really in no hurry to do so.