And I Darken

by Kiersten White

496 pages

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2016 by Penguin Random House.

ISBN:: 978-0-552-57374-0

(6 reviews)

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.

3 editions

Molly Foust reviewed And I darken by Kiersten White

Review of 'And I darken' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Such an amazing hard-core protagonist in a brutal medieval world! Instead of regular ol England and France instead takes place in Wallachia and addresses the Ottomans and the Byzantines- and while one wonders how a young girl could be so fierce in such a sexist time, one does not have time to think too much on it as the plot unfolds with exciting brutality. I loved the utter lack of sweetness in this book, and am looking forward to the next one.

Tsundoku reviewed And I Darken by Kiersten White (And I Darken, #1)

This is dark, as expected

5 stars

Content warning CW: Gore, torture, violence

This is a "what if Vlad the Impaler was born female". It's of course dark and gory. This book, while good, is mostly set-up, Lada's childhood. I don't think you are supposed to agree with Lada, just understand why she is the way she is. I don't have a great understanding of history in this time period, so I have no idea how historically accurate it is. The author's note gives me the impression a few liberties are taken.

I'm steeling myself for the later entries, which I also want to read.