Book Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

Title: And I Darken
Author: Kiersten White
Series/Standalone: The Conqueror's Saga (Book #1)
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 475
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year Published: 2016
Format: Audiobook

"No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwly 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 the 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 for a place where he feels safe and when they meet Mechmed, the defiant and lonely song 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 Mechmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against- and that Radu now considers home. Together Lada, Radu and Mechmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point."

My Rating: 2.5/5

I had such high fucking hopes for this in the beginning. I loved seeing Lada as a child and how feisty and fiery she was. Didn't love that she was super mean to her brother but could understand why she was annoyed by his weakness when she was stronger as a girl and less appreciated. That being said the more the story went on the more we strayed from the path of badass. First off al by 4 hours in I thought that there was probably nowhere else for this story to go. And by the end, I just kinda didn't understand the choices for where to wrap things up. Also, there were just too many side characters I didn't care about. Yes, they all played some kind of role but there were just too many things going on. Things I didn't care about. 
Now, will I continue the series, no I don't think that I will? I'm going to look at reviews and see if people thought that the series got better by a landslide, but even then, I just don't think I care enough.
On a positive note, I really liked Lada's badass moments when she had them and her unwillingness to bend to her "role as a woman" for the time period.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny