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pussnb00ks 's review for:
And I Darken
by Kiersten White
Rereading this 5 years later and this book is still five stars—but for slightly different reasons. It’s interesting reading my first review, how attached I was to Radu while keeping a log of distance from Lada. While I still love Radu and he made me want to sob numerous times, but kindred spirit this time was Lada. She is so complex and interesting and beautifully complicated, I adore her! She is what drives the book, and what kept me wholly engaged. The baddest baddie that ever baddied.
—
Original review:
Ok. This book hit me in a way I was not expecting. I had to set it aside for a while before even attempting to put my thoughts and feelings into words. And I Darken is a book unlike anything I have read before. Its characters in particular hold a special place in my heart, both in how they step outside the lines of gender stereotypes, and the ways in which they are all flawed and difficult to like sometimes. Set in the Ottoman empire, the world is expertly crafted, and its historical accuracy never ceased to amaze me. I watched an interview with the author where she went into detail about the amount of research that went into creating this story, and I was thoroughly impressed.
“As the baby latched on with surprising fierceness, the nurse offered her own prayer.
Let her be strong.
Let her be sly.
And let her be ugly.”
The book follows siblings Ladislav (Lada) and Radu from their births all the way into their late teens/early adulthood as they grow up and become their disturbingly wonderful selves. Lada and Radu are born in Wallachia, but soon find themselves in Erdine, being used as a bargaining chip by their father. There, the children are educated and taught about religion and the history of the Empire. They also meet Mehmed, the sultan’s bastard son (their words not mine). The story develops as they try to reconcile their feelings towards their motherland, and their new life in the capital.
“She plucked a rose and held it to her face. She hated the way roses smelled, their sweetness too fragile. She wanted a garden of evergreens. A garden of stones. A garden of swords.”
Lada is scary. Seriously, I would not want to serve her cold coffee. She is made of steel, unwilling to bend to and/or for anyone, and she is the epitome of BDE. She can be cruel, and vindictive, even to the people she ‘loves’. And I say ‘loves’ because she would never admit to loving anyone, nuh uh that’s for weaklings. She is our main character, and is hella complex. Most of the time, I could not stand her, especially in those scenes with Radu that shattered my heart. Still, I admired her drive and determination to be successful and independent in a society that only expected her to become a wife. Even with Mehmed in the picture, Lada never loses sight of her goals, and refuses to become a weak, discarded wife, like the many women she knows (especially her own mother).
“On our wedding night,” she said, “I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied.”
Radu is his sister’s polar opposite, always is search of someone who will love him, and hug him, and just be a little nice to him *BIG SOB* he kills me, you guys. He drinks up every tiny little kindness that is offered to him, a reflection of the isolated and cold childhood he is punished with. The contrast between the siblings is stark, and you see it in the way they deal with their changing environment and the many hurdles they face. Lada and Radu’s relationship is complex. On Lada’s part, her struggle is clear as she tries to make sense of her feelings for her brother. As a young girl, she only sees Radu as her possession, repetedly telling him he is hers. On Radu’s part, once again, he just wants to be loved. He craves his sisters approval and affection, and is distraught at the possibility of never being worthy of it. As they grow up in Erdine, Radu learns that he doesn’t have to be like his sister to be successfull and useful, and finds a way to use his likeability and ability to make people trust him to his advantage. Radu was definitely my favourite character to read about. There is something so pure and heartbreaking about him, especially in the way he yearns for love. I constantly wanted to wrap him in a blanket and keep him safe from a world that doesn’t deserve him. I love him.
“..If anyone is going to kill you, it will be me. Understand?”
Radu nodded, snuggling into her shoulder. “Will you protect me?
“Until the day I kill you.” She jabbed a finger into his side, where he was most ticklish, and he squealed with pained laughter.”
Mehmed. Oh, Mehmed. The beauty about this book is that it allows the reader to see the characters grow up. When we are first introduced to Mehmed, he is a little boy, crying after being punished by his tutor. Throughout the novel, we see him grow into a young man with a clear vision for his empire, and mostly good intentions. He is strong, while trying to remain kind. He also plays a key role in the development of the relationship between Lada and Radu. *spoiler alert* both Lada and Radu find themselves loving the young Sultan, which brings on more tension for them to deal with. Radu’s sexuality is important, but in no way is it used to define Radu as a character. He is not a gay character, but a character that is gay. I find that often books use sexuality as the only trait a character has, but White intelligently crafts a character that is more complex than that. Radu’s marriage allows for a lesbian relationship to continue, while resigning to never achieve the same hapiness himself (I’m really hoping to see him in a happy relationship at some point in the series, he deserves all the hapiness in the world)
“The price of living seems to always be death.”
Tohin stood, joints popping audibly. “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.”
In summary, I love this book. This is one of my favourite sibling relationships I have ever encountered, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel so I can follow them on their journey. I expect to get hurt over and over again, but hopefully it will be worth it in the end.
—
Original review:
Ok. This book hit me in a way I was not expecting. I had to set it aside for a while before even attempting to put my thoughts and feelings into words. And I Darken is a book unlike anything I have read before. Its characters in particular hold a special place in my heart, both in how they step outside the lines of gender stereotypes, and the ways in which they are all flawed and difficult to like sometimes. Set in the Ottoman empire, the world is expertly crafted, and its historical accuracy never ceased to amaze me. I watched an interview with the author where she went into detail about the amount of research that went into creating this story, and I was thoroughly impressed.
“As the baby latched on with surprising fierceness, the nurse offered her own prayer.
Let her be strong.
Let her be sly.
And let her be ugly.”
The book follows siblings Ladislav (Lada) and Radu from their births all the way into their late teens/early adulthood as they grow up and become their disturbingly wonderful selves. Lada and Radu are born in Wallachia, but soon find themselves in Erdine, being used as a bargaining chip by their father. There, the children are educated and taught about religion and the history of the Empire. They also meet Mehmed, the sultan’s bastard son (their words not mine). The story develops as they try to reconcile their feelings towards their motherland, and their new life in the capital.
“She plucked a rose and held it to her face. She hated the way roses smelled, their sweetness too fragile. She wanted a garden of evergreens. A garden of stones. A garden of swords.”
Lada is scary. Seriously, I would not want to serve her cold coffee. She is made of steel, unwilling to bend to and/or for anyone, and she is the epitome of BDE. She can be cruel, and vindictive, even to the people she ‘loves’. And I say ‘loves’ because she would never admit to loving anyone, nuh uh that’s for weaklings. She is our main character, and is hella complex. Most of the time, I could not stand her, especially in those scenes with Radu that shattered my heart. Still, I admired her drive and determination to be successful and independent in a society that only expected her to become a wife. Even with Mehmed in the picture, Lada never loses sight of her goals, and refuses to become a weak, discarded wife, like the many women she knows (especially her own mother).
“On our wedding night,” she said, “I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied.”
Radu is his sister’s polar opposite, always is search of someone who will love him, and hug him, and just be a little nice to him *BIG SOB* he kills me, you guys. He drinks up every tiny little kindness that is offered to him, a reflection of the isolated and cold childhood he is punished with. The contrast between the siblings is stark, and you see it in the way they deal with their changing environment and the many hurdles they face. Lada and Radu’s relationship is complex. On Lada’s part, her struggle is clear as she tries to make sense of her feelings for her brother. As a young girl, she only sees Radu as her possession, repetedly telling him he is hers. On Radu’s part, once again, he just wants to be loved. He craves his sisters approval and affection, and is distraught at the possibility of never being worthy of it. As they grow up in Erdine, Radu learns that he doesn’t have to be like his sister to be successfull and useful, and finds a way to use his likeability and ability to make people trust him to his advantage. Radu was definitely my favourite character to read about. There is something so pure and heartbreaking about him, especially in the way he yearns for love. I constantly wanted to wrap him in a blanket and keep him safe from a world that doesn’t deserve him. I love him.
“..If anyone is going to kill you, it will be me. Understand?”
Radu nodded, snuggling into her shoulder. “Will you protect me?
“Until the day I kill you.” She jabbed a finger into his side, where he was most ticklish, and he squealed with pained laughter.”
Mehmed. Oh, Mehmed. The beauty about this book is that it allows the reader to see the characters grow up. When we are first introduced to Mehmed, he is a little boy, crying after being punished by his tutor. Throughout the novel, we see him grow into a young man with a clear vision for his empire, and mostly good intentions. He is strong, while trying to remain kind. He also plays a key role in the development of the relationship between Lada and Radu. *spoiler alert* both Lada and Radu find themselves loving the young Sultan, which brings on more tension for them to deal with. Radu’s sexuality is important, but in no way is it used to define Radu as a character. He is not a gay character, but a character that is gay. I find that often books use sexuality as the only trait a character has, but White intelligently crafts a character that is more complex than that. Radu’s marriage allows for a lesbian relationship to continue, while resigning to never achieve the same hapiness himself (I’m really hoping to see him in a happy relationship at some point in the series, he deserves all the hapiness in the world)
“The price of living seems to always be death.”
Tohin stood, joints popping audibly. “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.”
In summary, I love this book. This is one of my favourite sibling relationships I have ever encountered, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel so I can follow them on their journey. I expect to get hurt over and over again, but hopefully it will be worth it in the end.