Now I Rise by Kiersten White
My Rating: 5/5 stars
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Published: June 27th, 2017
Recieved: paperback pre-order giveaway
Purchase: Amazon
Synopsis:
The highly anticipated, mind-blowing New York Times bestselling sequel to Kiersten White’s New York Times bestseller, AND I DARKEN—the series that reads like HBO’s Game of Thrones . . . if it were set in the Ottoman Empire. Fans of Victoria Aveyard’s THE RED QUEEN and Sabaa Tahir’s A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT won’t want to miss this riveting and gorgeously written novel—the second in the And I Darken series.
Lada Dracul has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself. After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada is out to punish anyone who dares to cross her blood-strewn path. Filled with a white-hot rage, she storms the countryside with her men, accompanied by her childhood friend Bogdan, terrorizing the land. But brute force isn’t getting Lada what she wants. And thinking of Mehmed brings little comfort to her thorny heart. There’s no time to wonder whether he still thinks about her, even loves her. She left him before he could leave her.
What Lada needs is her younger brother Radu’s subtlety and skill. But Mehmed has sent him to Constantinople—and it’s no diplomatic mission. Mehmed wants control of the city, and Radu has earned an unwanted place as a double-crossing spy behind enemy lines Radu longs for his sister’s fierce confidence—but for the first time in his life, he rejects her unexpected plea for help. Torn between loyalties to faith, to the Ottomans, and to Mehmed, he knows he owes Lada nothing. If she dies, he could never forgive himself—but if he fails in Constantinople, will Mehmed ever forgive him?
As nations fall around them, the Dracul siblings must decide: what will they sacrifice to fulfill their destinies? Empires will topple, thrones will be won . . . and souls will be lost.
Musings:
This book was complete FIRE. The brutality and intensity of this book blew me away. The characters never once played nice and everyone made their own decisions to benefit themselves first and somehow I find that far more realistic and intriguing then the usual go with the flow style that many other books I read have. (Also I’m a very go with the flow type of person, but this book makes you see things differently)
My favorite character of all is Lada. She became a true Dragon in this novel. The way she rose to say hey look at me! Yes, I am a woman, but I am not just a woman I am a dragon and anyone who gets in my way gets burnt. It all just blew me away. I love how powerful she is and how unapologeticly she stays true to the person that she is and to the place that she loves with all her heart. I loved reading from her point of view.
At one point I thought I wanted Bogdan and Lada together, but now I see how they really wouldn’t work. Lada needs someone different, someone dark and deliciously bad. Someone to fuel her fire to burn brighter, and someone who doesn’t want marriage. I would love to see a love interest make an appearance in the next book. I would also love to see Lada kill Mehmed, but you know I can’t find that out until it’s all written.
The manipulation I sensed in Radu in the first book quadrupled in this one. In so many ways his own brutality rivals and maybe even overcomes Lada’s own. Through it all my heart breaks for him. I am so glad that his relationship with Mehmed changed in dynamic a bit in this book. I was so tired of having Radu look at Mehmed like he was perfect and could do no wrong. For Radu to take a step back and see Mehmed for who he truly was and to also see the possibility of loving a different man made my heart soar. I really don’t like Mehmed at all and I’m so happy for Radu to have a separate love interest… whom I hope makes an appearance in book 3.
Overall, this book is one to make you wish for blood and have that wish answered again and again. I can’t wait to see where this story goes next.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of And I Darken and also what you think of Now I Rise if you have gotten to read it.
-Till next time!
The Book Raven 
Should I read this review if I haven’t read the first book?
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Yes, you could definitely read this review as there are no spoilers what so ever! By the way, you should totally read the first book! It was fantastic and this one was even better!
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Probably not… there may be accidental spoilers, but for the most part I don’t think I say much about plot…although the synopsis does give things away for the first book.
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God, I loved this book so much! I had requested it on NetGalley not knowing anything about the series and without having read the first one and THANK GOD I did! I would have missed out on a truly fantastic series otherwise! I even ended up watching a bunch of videos on Vlad because I was SO curious to learn more about the character Lada is based on!
Great review, Tiana!
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Thank you so much!!! It is such an awesome series! I’m actually really curious about Vlad myself although I have seen some things about him from watching general history shows. I’m so excited for book 3!!!
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Can you believe we have to wait an
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Can you believe we have to wait an entire year for it?? I dont know what to do because I read the first two books back to back!
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I see you dislike Mehmed as well. I don’t think Lada will end up in a relationship. It seems like no one we’ve met would let her truly be their equal. Did your support for her start to falter when she ignored Nicolae near the end?
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I don’t think she will have a relationship either if I’m honest, but she does seem to crave at least a physical relationship. That part near the end when she spoke against Nicolae, didn’t seem like a true falter to me, although I think if someone like Radu had told her to find a better way she would have, but from where she stands right now I think she’s acting out the way she knows best.
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Awesome review, Tiana! I absolutely agree. This book was pure fire. Lada was even more dark and cruel and brutal in this one than she was in the previous book and I loved every single moment of it. The ending especially. I thought Bogdan and Lada might work out at one point, too, but he’s not ambitious enough. She definitely needs someone who is just as dragon-like as she is. And I’m not a bloodthirsty person, but I’d REALLY like to see Lada attack (maybe even kill) Mehmed, too. Now that would be a surprising turn of events haha. And I was also in love with the way Radu developed. His manipulations and schemes were the some of the most engaging parts of the book. And it was such a relief to see his dynamic with Mehmed change. I really want Radu to be with you know who. Fingers crossed for that character’s return in the third book. So excited to read the next book. I’m extremely curious to see how these characters’ stories end!
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