The New York Times bestselling historical fantasy novel by Kiersten White that takes us back in time and deep into the world of hostile empires, power plays and conflicts of religion. And I Darken is the opening of a trilogy rich of cultural and historical research, and holds in its core a toxic triangle romance that will test your heart.
The stars were static, still and cold in the night, all the fire gone from the sky. “It is not enough.”
- Kiersten White, And I Darken, p. 135
Title: And I Darken
Series: The Conqueror’s Saga (#1)
Genre: YA Historical Fiction/ Fantasy
Author: Kiersten White
Publish Date: 28th June 2016
Pages: 475
Personal Rating: 6/10
This was quite something.
The ups and downs I had with And I Darken are simply stressing. The usual frenzy when I spot snaps on Amazon in the section of YA fantasy books which have sweeping titles and even more gorgeous covers. The ups when the delivery guy finally pulls up in front of my house and drops the parcel with the gorgeous pieces in it and… the immediate downs when I turned the first pages of And I Darken.
Plainly spoken, I’ve never had such a big existential crisis before as when I realized I wasted my money on a complete book series. Three whole books! Wasted money! My sorry ass who was supposed to be a brilliant great-books detector completely quit its service, that piece of shit. Words like dark, toxic triangle, survival, breaking point, brutal, and heart will be broken suddenly were a complete lie…
Like a real fighter I punched and elbowed my way through the first half of And I Darken and I thought “no way, as in No. Way. Am I going to finish this… this – this! I panicked and, basically, chided myself for my naivity which I often mistake for superior genius.
But then second half of the book came, I was busted, ragged, wanted to cry and have my money back – and boooom. (Ok, at this rate this review reads like the work of a complete lunatic, anyways…) I was hooked. I love the book now. I’m a freaking sucker for it.
Please take this in the kindest way possible. But I would sooner try to romance my horse. And I suspect my horse would enjoy it more than you.
- Kiersten White, And I Darken, p. 348
The Conqueror’s Saga is the shit! I swear on my sorry ass who falls for heart-aching romance (and is not said dumbass who is blinded by words and covers and naive as hell), read it, you won’t rue the money.
Summary
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.
3 Reasons Why
Lest you’re not as short-sighted as I am (such as being blinded by book covers and great synopsis which frankly, are written for economical/ manipulative reasons and by professionals who know how to charm the pants of potential readers) there are substantial reasons to read And I Darken. Here they come (I’m leaving out the book cover, synopsis and titles on purpose).
A beautifully done and extraordinary crossing of history and fiction
Sumptuous characters
Unique (heart-aching) romance/ relationships
Content
One thing right at the very beginning: And I Darken has the most yawning, unsatisfying and tedious opening I’ve read in a long time. I had to make an effort to go on, and I even took a two-weeks long break from the book before making another attempt. Two questions were constantly nagging me: Firstly, why should I care? Secondly, what is the purpose of this book?
The book begins with a set-back in the early years of the main characters, and while I was thinking those were mere flashbacks (and the real story would soon come to a bloody start) – they were no mere flashbacks. A “Oh, nice, flashbacks” became a grumbled “For crying out loud, why does this bloody childhood take up such a big, central part?”
And with that a long, tedious journey to the middle of the book proceeded, passing the ages of the main character Lada. 11-years old, 12-years old, 13-years old… Oh, for heaven’s sake, let her be the glorious 17 and be done with it, for the love of Christ! Those long chapters lacked of anything I would care about, no humour, no action – it simply fulfilled its purpose of building a background, however, in the lamest way possible.
Action? – Where.
Plot? – Loading…
Purpose? – Not in sight yet.
In the second half of the book my prayers were answered at last (thank you, really, from the bottom of my heart). Lada finally reaches the holy age of sixteen and with it came everything I expected from And I Darken.
Carve out a life for yourself however you can. No one will do it for you.
- Kiersten White, And I Darken, p. 238
The historical background started to take on a more central and intriguing part in the novel, fighting scenes and action gave the sumptuous prose a higher-set pace and lastly, I got my toxic relationships and fell for them like someone would if they stepped over the edge, plummeting down, down, down.
Kiersten White managed to set her lush characters into a brutal, rich and vibrant world that existed during the time of the Ottomans rule. With awe-inspiring research she breaks down different cultures and religions to her readers, puts feminism in bold, and puts to full display what greed, dreams and never-saturated fervour can do to people.
I was undeniably intrigued by foreign cultures and how thoroughly she developed her characters and what paths they would choose in the future.
I am not one of you. – I’m better.
- Kiersten White, And I Darken, p. 283
Honest Words
And I Darken and I have that kind of relationship that went from visceral hatred to upsetting love. Although it took me long enough to find elements in this book to acquire a taste for the setting, the characters, the plot and the culture, I’m immensely glad that I took that tediousness upon me and carried on reading the book. To everyone who’s struggling the same as I did – it will get (much, much, much) better, believe me.
Pages of endless “oh, Radu, that baby, is wailing – uh-huh, don’t care”, “Mehmed new sultan – great, don’t care” and “Lada, chilling with enslaved soldiers now – cool, next?” were worth it in the end.
An aspect that bugged me at the beginning very much, was the lack of magic in the conventional way. The picture people (and also me) usually have of YA fantasy books is a dude who can summon darkness and shit, the heroine who flings lightning bolts at her opponents or a powerful witch casting spells – anything, but not… not magic.
So is there magic in the Conqueror’s Saga, yes or no? – Easy one. No, there is not.
And while I fret it wouldn’t sit well with me, I grew on this series even without powerful villains fighting against heroines who have all the freaking abilities you could think of.
This brings me to the strength of And I Darken by Kiersten White: It’s unique, compelling, deep, sumptuous and brutally realistic.
You don’t want to miss it.
Among the Pages (Spoiler Alert)
The Ending
And here’s to another heartbreak due to literary reasons. It’s fascinating how much heart ache one can get from fictional stuff such as a simple teenage romance that goes to nothing because both are focused on power rather than on love and cuddles.
While I resent that Mehmed and Lada don’t seem to be an canon otp (which is like really really a shame and also one I hope to succeed in the second book), I totally understand what drives Lada to leave Mehmed and Radu behind.
Seriously, so much heartbreak because of power, pride, frevour, self-realization and need to stay independent and without bounds so one can finally show everyone what potential one has – it gingerly tears my heart apart in the most slow and agonizing way because it’s so relatable, but then again, tragic.
We cannot always have what we want, no matter how much we want it.
- Kiersten White, And I Darken, p. 371
My Playlist
This is becoming a standard, however, for all the newbies here – I compile upsettingly fitting and intense song playlists for novels and book series. (Some self-praise is essential for the day, guys.) The Conqueror’s Saga is no exception. You can listen here to my The Conqueror’s Saga playlist on Spotify. Feel free to give it a like or follow, and if you feel like extra generous check out my other book song playlists I have in my library.
“I am no longer the daughter of the dragon.” She lifted her chin, sights set on the horizon. “I am the dragon.”
- Kiersten White, And I Darken, p. 475
Bryde – Help Yourself
Lana Del Rey – Money Power Glory
FKA twigs – In Time
Kimbra – Top of the World
Zella Day – East of Eden
LYRA – Never Let Go
Stephen – Crossfire
Chloe x Halle – Wolf at Your Door
Amanda Fondell – Crown
Dana and the Wolf – Attitude
Dream on Dreamer – Tell Me Why
BANKS – Gimme
Grace Mitchell – Cali God
Willa – Swan
Raphaella – Read My Mind
Mirändä – LMK
YAS – Poison
Feki, Woodes – Thoughts of You
Dua Lipa – Want To
Elijah Kelly, Jone – Girls Like You
FKA twigs – Papi Pacify
BANKS – Lovesick
Bo Rocha – Angel Eyes
SYLM – The War
Final Words
Don’t have time for that bullshit. I’m just gonna move on to book two, Now I Rise, immediately and you should do the same. Read the book, then you know what I mean. Click here, to switch to my review of the other two installments of the Conqueror’s Saga, Now I Rise (#2) and Bright We Burn (#3).
Her spine was steel. Her heart was armor. Her eyes were fire.
- Kiersten White, And I Darken, p. 465
Read my 3-star review of And I Darken by Kiersten White on Goodreads and follow me there to check out the books I've read and which are on my to-do list. You can also find me @rhysknees on tumblr (it's a disaster of a blog but still a blog though).
Instagram: acheronianbooks
Snapchat: blgb.2
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