And I darken - BookWyrm

No cover — Kiersten White: And I darken (2016, Random House Children's Books)

486 pages

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2016 by Random House Children's Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-553-52231-0
OCLC Number:: 1001933738

(5 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

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.