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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
(actual rating: 3.5
i just didn't want to give it a 4)
warning: the following text is basically a badly structured essay on this book so
proceed with caution
(also there are spoilers)
hmm this book was a difficult one for me to rate. normally i try to rate with an overall impression based on the plot, setting, and characters, but i had really different opinions about each of those three things so i'm just going to break it down in this review and hope it kinda sorta makes sense.
setting:
very nice! 5/5 i would say. i enjoy retellings, alternate history, and elaborate historical fiction. there wasn't much to criticize here, and i think that the balance between setting and background detail to character and dialogue was very well achieved. i was particularly pleased that the book managed to avoid going into long-winded detail about how everything looks and the cities and all the stuff which i end up skimming over when i'm reading historical fiction.
plot:
well. here's the thing. i thought that for the most of the book, the plot was a very......... messy and uninteresting thing. i abandoned this book halfway a few months ago and essentially restarted a few days ago because i could not care less about what was going on. i think the main part of it which i found problematic was everything between when mehmed became the sultan the first time and the second time. i see pretty much......no reason for that bit to exist, it felt so random and threw off the pacing of the book. its only purpose was character development and hey this seems like a pretty good transition into the next bit.
characters:
ugh. characters like Lada are some of my least favourite in YA. i know everyone loves her because she's a strong independent woman who's ruthless and blah blah blah but here's the thing: she literally accomplishes nothing until like the last 10 pages of the book. yup. everything else that happens to/for her, is because mehmed for some reason is so in love with her that he makes concessions to the entire ottoman culture and tradition (btw: highly unrealistic. annoyed me very much. she could never have been such an integral part of military in the ottaman empire). but she's basically all like "oooo i'll stab a bitch" without any actual power because she just blindly does whatever mehmed wants her to do.
now Radu on the other hand, to me, was a much more interesting character. yes, he struggled with the same icky toxic love triangle thing but i like how much political intrigue and complex narrative was present in his parts of the story. his ability to take his charm and wield it so efficiently in court, especially when he saves Lada from execution, is probably when i started liking him. i would say he's probably my favourite throughout the series.
Mehmed: does anyone actually remember any character traits about him? i'm sorry but i can't think of a single thing which made him interesting or special other than "is the sultan". i don't know why lada and radu are so obsessed with him tbh and that contributed a lot to making this story kinda boring for me. there's a reason we don't get much narrative perspective from mehmed: he has absolutely 0 personality.
anyway TLDR it was an okay book i guess, i read all of it so i can't really say it was bad but i don't have any motivation to read the sequels, mostly because i can't stand radu and lada bitching about how their crush won't love them back. thanks for coming to my ted talk
i just didn't want to give it a 4)
warning: the following text is basically a badly structured essay on this book so
proceed with caution
(also there are spoilers)
hmm this book was a difficult one for me to rate. normally i try to rate with an overall impression based on the plot, setting, and characters, but i had really different opinions about each of those three things so i'm just going to break it down in this review and hope it kinda sorta makes sense.
setting:
very nice! 5/5 i would say. i enjoy retellings, alternate history, and elaborate historical fiction. there wasn't much to criticize here, and i think that the balance between setting and background detail to character and dialogue was very well achieved. i was particularly pleased that the book managed to avoid going into long-winded detail about how everything looks and the cities and all the stuff which i end up skimming over when i'm reading historical fiction.
plot:
well. here's the thing. i thought that for the most of the book, the plot was a very......... messy and uninteresting thing. i abandoned this book halfway a few months ago and essentially restarted a few days ago because i could not care less about what was going on. i think the main part of it which i found problematic was everything between when mehmed became the sultan the first time and the second time. i see pretty much......no reason for that bit to exist, it felt so random and threw off the pacing of the book. its only purpose was character development and hey this seems like a pretty good transition into the next bit.
characters:
ugh. characters like Lada are some of my least favourite in YA. i know everyone loves her because she's a strong independent woman who's ruthless and blah blah blah but here's the thing: she literally accomplishes nothing until like the last 10 pages of the book. yup. everything else that happens to/for her, is because mehmed for some reason is so in love with her that he makes concessions to the entire ottoman culture and tradition (btw: highly unrealistic. annoyed me very much. she could never have been such an integral part of military in the ottaman empire). but she's basically all like "oooo i'll stab a bitch" without any actual power because she just blindly does whatever mehmed wants her to do.
now Radu on the other hand, to me, was a much more interesting character. yes, he struggled with the same icky toxic love triangle thing but i like how much political intrigue and complex narrative was present in his parts of the story. his ability to take his charm and wield it so efficiently in court, especially when he saves Lada from execution, is probably when i started liking him. i would say he's probably my favourite throughout the series.
Mehmed: does anyone actually remember any character traits about him? i'm sorry but i can't think of a single thing which made him interesting or special other than "is the sultan". i don't know why lada and radu are so obsessed with him tbh and that contributed a lot to making this story kinda boring for me. there's a reason we don't get much narrative perspective from mehmed: he has absolutely 0 personality.
anyway TLDR it was an okay book i guess, i read all of it so i can't really say it was bad but i don't have any motivation to read the sequels, mostly because i can't stand radu and lada bitching about how their crush won't love them back. thanks for coming to my ted talk
This was one of the best books I've read this year and one of the best historical books I have ever read!
I loved how strong Lada was. She was a unique YA heroine that didn't fall prey to love in the end.
I also loved Mehmed and Radu. I felt bad for both of them though having Lada as a loved one. lol.
It took me a while to figure out that Radu loved Mehmed in a way that Mehmed would never be able to love him but in the end I think they have both tried their best to love each other as much as they can. I really like that Radu married his friend's sister for her own happiness. He is the most selfless and most selfish of the three.
Mehmed is the typical Sultan. He is both the most powerful and the least powerful man in the country. I am sad for him that Lada chose Wallachia instead of him.
I envy the authors ability to make me care for all three almost equally. I couldn't figure who I was cheering on more throughout the book.
I'm eager to see what the next book was in store!
Edit:
I didn't love this book as much the second time sadly. I might have just not been in the right mood. I found it too be too emotional at times. I had to take frequent breaks.
I love Lada as a character. Maybe not as much as a person but I love how strong she is. She is the epitome of a strong female character.
Radu annoys me a bit. I think it's because he is too emotional. I hate to see him hurt for his love of Mehmed. It's like Lada with Wallachia. It's a love that can never be and they are tearing themselves apart to achieve it. No matter how remote the possibility.
Mehmed is hard for me to understand. As a man of his time I think he is amazing. But I have some issues from being a 21st century woman. I don't like how he continues to sleep with other woman when he claims to love Lada. Of course Lada isn't sleeping with him but that shouldn't matter.
I also think that on some level Mehmed knows how Radu feels and manipulates him. I'm not 100% sure of this but I have an inkling.
I don't like how obsessed Mehmed is with Constantinople. But then again. I have very little issue with Lada's need for Wallachia.
Overall I'm very conflicted but I love this book.
I loved how strong Lada was. She was a unique YA heroine that didn't fall prey to love in the end.
I also loved Mehmed and Radu. I felt bad for both of them though having Lada as a loved one. lol.
It took me a while to figure out that Radu loved Mehmed in a way that Mehmed would never be able to love him but in the end I think they have both tried their best to love each other as much as they can. I really like that Radu married his friend's sister for her own happiness. He is the most selfless and most selfish of the three.
Mehmed is the typical Sultan. He is both the most powerful and the least powerful man in the country. I am sad for him that Lada chose Wallachia instead of him.
I envy the authors ability to make me care for all three almost equally. I couldn't figure who I was cheering on more throughout the book.
I'm eager to see what the next book was in store!
Edit:
I didn't love this book as much the second time sadly. I might have just not been in the right mood. I found it too be too emotional at times. I had to take frequent breaks.
I love Lada as a character. Maybe not as much as a person but I love how strong she is. She is the epitome of a strong female character.
Radu annoys me a bit. I think it's because he is too emotional. I hate to see him hurt for his love of Mehmed. It's like Lada with Wallachia. It's a love that can never be and they are tearing themselves apart to achieve it. No matter how remote the possibility.
Mehmed is hard for me to understand. As a man of his time I think he is amazing. But I have some issues from being a 21st century woman. I don't like how he continues to sleep with other woman when he claims to love Lada. Of course Lada isn't sleeping with him but that shouldn't matter.
I also think that on some level Mehmed knows how Radu feels and manipulates him. I'm not 100% sure of this but I have an inkling.
I don't like how obsessed Mehmed is with Constantinople. But then again. I have very little issue with Lada's need for Wallachia.
Overall I'm very conflicted but I love this book.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5
ughh there so many things that i don't really like ..
mostly about mehmed .. maybe because his 'harem' and wife but still want lada? , his 'weakness' being sultan ? .
radu you chose to protect mehmed :" i hope he's gonna find someone who love him back ..
poor lada ... i'm always seeing her 'loneliness'
okay here my selfisness ..
why that place must have harem there? i don't like it .. because i just want lada someday will have husband who want her only , just her not harem, wife 2 or 3 :"""
do I need to read the second book ? i don't know .
ughh there so many things that i don't really like ..
mostly about mehmed .. maybe because his 'harem' and wife but still want lada? , his 'weakness' being sultan ? .
radu you chose to protect mehmed :" i hope he's gonna find someone who love him back ..
poor lada ... i'm always seeing her 'loneliness'
okay here my selfisness ..
why that place must have harem there? i don't like it .. because i just want lada someday will have husband who want her only , just her not harem, wife 2 or 3 :"""
do I need to read the second book ? i don't know .
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Alright. The story is better than average but it’s not exceptional as many claimed it to be. I read the book with the audiobook and I believe I would have gotten stuck several times in the story if I didn’t have the audiobook to make it easier for me. That being said, I enjoyed the story to an extent. Lada is an extremely flawed character, meaning it was really interesting to read from her POV. And one highlight of the book was the character Nioclae, too bad he was only a side character. The “climax” of the book isn’t bad but it felt like another rising action instead of an “end all” feeling. I don’t mind it because it could give a sense of openness for the sequel. I must say, I read this book with low expectations which is how it got 4 stars from me. I was angry at the story for most of the book (not hatred, no I did not hate the story) but that heat of anger kept me reading. The story is a tale of life, it is told in that sense too. Long, with many ups and downs.
Yo, this was cool! Def for fans of Tamora Pierce (especially Alanna)-- Lada is badass and brutal as hell.
The setting was the most intriguing part: the Ottoman Empire circa 1450. And in young adult! Holler.
Also excellent LGBT representation. Def gonna pick up the sequel when that comes out.
The setting was the most intriguing part: the Ottoman Empire circa 1450. And in young adult! Holler.
Also excellent LGBT representation. Def gonna pick up the sequel when that comes out.
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For full review visit: http://acliffhangercrisis.blogspot.in/2017/07/review-and-i-darken-conquerors-saga-1.html