Now I Rise (And I Darken)

Last year I had the opportunity to review And I Darken early. And I loved it. It became one of my absolute favorite reads of 2016! And then the next year was slow, slow torture as I waited for book two. But then, luckily, I got to read it early as well! In February. And the next year will again be torturous.Now I Rise picks up very shortly after And I Darken ends, with Lada on the way back to Wallachia, where she intends to claim the throne, wreaking amazing havoc and attempting to pick up allies on the way. Lada was an incredibly strong character who I almost instantly fell in love with in the first book in this series, and I was not disappointed in her here! She makes no apologies on her way to accomplish her goals or for her means to that end. Is she brutal? Absolutely! And I loved every single sentence I read about her story. I loved watching the relationships between Lada and Bogdan, Mehmed, and Hunyadi evolve. Honestly, I could go on and on about my love for Lada, but now I have to rave about another character.Radu. Oh, Radu's story was every bit as incredible as Lada's! At first, I wasn't too sure about the dual points of view once Lada and Radu went their separate ways, then I found myself completely loving each. My only complaint is that I wish I'd gotten a full book from each of them - a chapter here and there wasn't enough! Radu's story takes an unexpected turn in this book, with him heading to Constantinople on behalf of Mehmed and his ultimate goal of taking the city for his own. New characters and old are present as are new and old romances, all of which were incredible! Radu really came into his own in Now I Rise, accepting himself as he attempted to take control of his circumstances. I have always been able to sympathize with Radu, but this time he broke my heart a time or two.I've mentioned that there were quite a few secondary characters important to the story, both new and old. My opinion of Mehmed definitely changed a lot during this book, although I was already on the fence with him in And I Darken. He really did keep me on an emotional roller coaster. I ended up feeling a lot of feelings I did not expect for Hunyadi! And Radu's companions in Constantinople... I'd need pages to tell you of my love for them. I have such high hopes for that storyline in the next book!As you may have gathered, I absolutely adored this story. Each main character went in a totally different direction, but I adored how their stories played out and intertwined. Everything tied back to the first book and nothing was randomly thrown in as filler, which seems to happen in second books. Speaking of, this book never seemed to suffer from second book syndrome. There was strategic planning and awesome battles on both ends and I was always on the edge of my seat. I loved the intricacies of the battle between the Christians and Muslims and am certainly more interested now to learn more about that history. I can definitely see myself reading this series over and over!This book spanned many vastly different locations, and all of the settings were incredibly well written. Even now I can clearly picture Wallachia, Constantinople, and everything in between. Kiersten White really has a way of writing that makes me feel like I'm actually in the action and can see everything as it happens!I really cannot say enough good things about Now I Rise! I've already said I wasn't sure I'd love it as much as And I Darken with Radu and Lada on different paths, but it exceeded all of my expectations and left me with a serious book hangover. I am crossing all of my fingers and toes for an ARC of the next book and hoping I survive that long! If you love historical fiction and badass characters, this is definitely a series you don't want to miss!

He lives at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

NOW I RISE by Kiersten White is the sequel to AND I DARKEN, a gender-swapped Vlad the Impaler retelling. If you haven’t read AND I DARKEN, I urge you to buy a copy from your favorite bookstore! Now, onto the sequel review. This will have spoilers for the first book, so head’s up!Lada Dracul has failed to secure the Wallachian throne, and now she’s determined to punish everyone who crosses her path. Radu is by the side of Mehmed, preparing to take on Constantinople. Radu is then sent to Constantinople as a double-crossing spy, and oh my god, y’all, this story was amazing. Just as amazing as the first one!I love Lada, and I especially love how determined she is to become the Wallachian prince – since there is no word for “princess.” She’s vicious and brutal and will not stop until she gets what she wants. Mehmed, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is the same way. He wants Constantinople. He wants to be the Emperor of the Roman Empire. The gold city is in his sights, and he wants it – even if it kills him and Radu.I was glued to the story. I read it quickly, even though I did try to slow down and enjoy the words because I didn’t want it to end. I hate having to wait until a year for the third, as-of-yet-untitled book!I love that Lada and Radu are separated in this story. I felt like we got to learn more about other characters in the story, such as Radu’s wife, Nazira, who I fell in love with. She’s so gentle and caring, and has Radu’s interests in mind even though their marriage a coverup for their sexualities. The story glimpses at Nazira and her secret wife’s, Fatima, relationship, and Nazira is as equally as loving with Fatima as she is with Radu. Nazira is probably the sweetest character in this story, and I longed for her scenes.Mehmed, of course, is a complicated character. I hate that Radu is pining over him; I want Radu to be happy and to find someone who loves him as much as Radu will love the person. (Nazira also wants this for Radu.) And I think he finds that person in Cyprian, to which the entire time those two had a scene together I was screaming “JUST KISS ALREADY.”Mehmed is still longing for Lada, who he does have an encounter with in this story – and it gets steamy. It’s quite clear that Mehmed and Lada are cut from the same cloth; they both desire places and will do anything it takes to get what they want. In a sense, they are made for each other, and it hurts that it seems like they won’t be able to be together.There are some uncomfortable bits in this story, such as Radu questioning his sexuality, and Christians calling Muslims “infidels.” It is in the text that the Muslims call the Christians infidels as well, but it’s still hard to read. It’s especially hard to read Radu questioning his sexuality as a queer person. There is also an extreme amount of squickyness involved – this is a story about a person called Vlad the impaler. Blood is shed in this story. Sexual harassment and assault is on the page.However, it’s still one of my favorite reads of 2017, and I am dying to get my hands on the last book in the trilogy. I recommend NOW I RISE to fans of the first book, AND I DARKEN, and I suggest the series to fans of darker young adult reads!

This is the sequel of And I darken and I loved it so much. It is historical accurate and the characters are shown as multifaced, not bidimensional as often in historical fictions. Can't wait to read the third book.

Simplemente lo amé tanto como amé el primer libro And I Darken. Es una historia diferente y muy atrapante.

Un buen final

Radu has chosen to follow Mehmed and his dream to take Constantinople. Lada has chosen their homeland of Wallachia. Both have impossible tasks in front of them.I really enjoyed the first book, and I finally treated myself to paperbacks of the whole trilogy. So, please excuse me if there is any crossover of content that is in the other books, because I've been tearing through all three in one go, and it's a bit of a blur!We jump in about 6 months after the end of the first book.Lada has tried to reclaim her throne, but she is being blocked by short-sighted boyars and other men in power, who can't see past her being a girl. They cannot see beyond their traditions and dismiss her.She can no longer rely on her brother, and Mehmed's promises are empty.Lada finally finds an ally in Hunyadi, the Hungarian general she has admired for years.I was completely hooked, following her frustrations with the men (and women) that constantly demand that she conform, that she should adopt dresses and a meek attitude to placate the men around her.Naturally, Lada is strongly opposed to this. I loved watching her pull apart the old world to forge a new, fairer one. She is utterly brutal.Meanwhile, Radu begins to feel like his friendship with Mehmed is getting strained. Mehmed is playing his part as Sultan, remaining professional and distant at most times, and let's not forget that Radu is still hopelessly in love with him.Radu gets to prove his usefulness when Mehmed sends him to Constantinople as a spy, to break the city from within, just as his army will lay siege to the walls.Radu goes willingly, but the theory of spying for the good of the empire does not match up to having to live with the people he is betraying.The distance helps Radu come to terms with his unrequited love for Mehmed - not to mention, a little help from a certain Cyprian.At the end, because of Lada and Mehmed's complete inability to compromise, it's clear that the three of them will be brought together again.Time for the final part!

Where to start? This sequel just made the whole series so much better. This is definitely a contender for my favorite series I read this year.I wish all my history lessons would have been written like this. This book reads like a fun fantasy story but it is a total historic fiction, it seems very well researched and I learn so much about the era and the Ottoman empire. Thank you Kiersten for teaching me a thin or two about that time and place.It is incredible how a gay/lesbian story arc is woven into that time period, makes total sense and doesnt feel preachery or pushed/fake. Well done!I enjoyed how the characters develoed so much. Especially Radu, who only felt like the whiney sidekick in the first book became one of my favorite story arcs. I could read about him and Nazira for hours, following them has turned into my favorite part.