#BookevinReads And I Darken by Kiersten White

And I Darken by Kiersten White
Publisher: Delacorte Press (June 28, 2016)
Series: The Conqueror’s Saga #1

Blurb:
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. 

Rating: 4/5

When I first saw And I Darken around Twitter and other bloggers’ blogs, I was really captivated by its cover. I admit, I do adore beautiful covers and the cover of And I Darken is no exception.

Note: I chose and read And I Darken for #TheReadingQuest under the “First Book in a Series” quest for Mages.

I was told that And I Darken is fantasy but it isn’t. If anything, it is historical fiction, through and through. There are no magical elements in the story at all.

Though the book may lack in the magical department, it does make up for its unforgettable characters and unique plot—though it is loosely based on the story of Vlad the Impaler.

Simply put, And I Darken is the story of Vlad the Impaler, but it’s gender-swapped. Instead of Vlad, the main character of the first book in White’s new series is Lada—short for Ladislav—is the often-misunderstood daughter of the prince of Wallachia. She and her brother, Radu, were left to fend for themselves when their father traded them for political gain with the sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

As I’ve mentioned, And I Darken is not fantasy. It’s a historical fiction novel that is filled with political intrigue, dark secrets, conniving twists, nuanced characters with their individual ulterior motives. Going into And I Darken, I admit, I didn’t really have high hopes because there are mixed reviews, especially when I checked my Goodreads friends’ reviews.

“Some victories are merely defeat wearing the wrong clothing.”

Therefore, I could say that I did enjoy And I Darken more than I had thought. Blurbed as “Game of Thrones for teens”, the story of Lada and Radu’s rise to power as they navigate through the web of lies and deception that court life offers, was quite an engrossing one.

Not a fan of slow-paced books myself, And I Darken did hit some snags along the way, in terms of its pacing but that aside, the book is actually very enjoyable as White takes time to develop her characters and build the world—which really pleased me. I was quite disappointed when I found out that there were no fantasy elements in And I Darken but I quickly got over it because there was something that made reading the book worthwhile: character development.

“The last time she was up here, she had been... staring up at the sky and dreaming of stars. Now, she looked down and plotted flames.”

Lada is not your average damsel in distress. Oh, no. You’ll be surprised with what you discover about her. She wasn’t easy to like, but that’s a part of her charm. She’s vicious, relentless and so driven, so determined to prove herself to her father and fight for her right as the heir of Wallachia.

“Her spine was steel. Her heart was armor. Her eyes were fire.”

On the other hand, I loved Radu. If there’s a more low-key Slytherin, it’s him. He’s smart, quiet and so precious. He is a cinnamon roll who needs to be protected at all costs. He could come across as weak, but there’s a certain strength from being weak.

Though I must comment that there were quite a number of secondary characters in the story. I wouldn’t say that it was an issue for me, but it was quite a challenge when I had to recall who’s who.

"The price of living seems to always be death."
"And that is why you become a dealer of death. You feed death as many people as you can to keep it full and content so its eye stays off you."

Aside from the political intrigue in And I Darken, the book also discusses religion and faith, familial ties, friendship and ambition. Equally intriguing and compelling, the first book in The Conqueror’s Saga is a richly textured tale of one of history’s most notable figures, Vlad the Impaler, but with a twist. The characters—especially the central ones—are multifaceted with their own flaws and imperfections, which make them so relatable, that drove their ambitions. The writing is rich and riveting, which bodes well with the overall tone of the story.