Guest Review: Now I Rise by Kiersten White

Release Date: June 27th, 2017
Read: October 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Series: The Conqueror's Saga, #2
Format: ARC, 471 pages
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Description from GoodReads:

   She has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself.

   After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada Dracul 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.

Review:

   No one will be more ruthless
   Like the previous book, this one serves up a lot of drama, deep questions, and make-or-break decisions. It leaves you constantly wondering and complaining about choices the characters have made. And that makes it so good. It's not often that a book leaves me questioning and hoping for a character's safety and joy.

  And I do love each and every character, good or bad. They are all well-developed, and always show a little bit of humanity, no matter how evil their actions are. Lada is by far my favourite. She is ruthless but doesn't require forgiveness. Her storyline in this book is, in my opinion, more interesting.

  The whole book reads like a young adult, and less complicated Game of Thrones. I could not wait until the next chapter from either Lada or Radu's perspective, and I cannot wait until the next book.

Rating: