Now I Rise is the second book in The Conqueror's Saga by Kiersten White.

I appreciate that this series is inspired by Eastern European history as I feel like that's something that isn't very common in a lot of YA books. Unfortunately this story was just a little bit slow for me. Some of the relationships and character dynamics were interesting but I wasn't as into the plot as I wanted to be.

Now I Rise is a retelling of Vlad the Impaler. I love Kiersten White's writing. She doesn't disappoint. This series really kept my interest.

My library purchase this entire series and I absolutely loved it. I’ve been pairing it with a Vlad, the Impaler biography, and I’ve had a lot of boys really embrace the story. The romantic twisting this book really shook me.

Amazing retelling of Vlad the Impaler and took my high school book clubbers on an unforgettable journey. It was not for all the members but the ones who love dark fantasy with a female anti hero were all in and for one in particular it is still a favourite.

An interesting take on an infamous historical figure. Can Lada hold her own and take back her homeland? She will do anything in her power to save her people, even if it means going against the ones she loves, or killing thousands.

I was a fan of the first of this series, but for some reason I just could never get into this book. Lada and this world this time just weren’t the same. Maybe it was me, but not nearly as much of a fan of this second in the series.

Such an amazing sequel by one of my favourite authors! I already need to pick up the next book immediately in this series because all the characters and the plot were great as well. If you haven't picked it up be sure to get it today!

Now I Rise was an absolutely amazing ending to this trilogy. Thrilling and unputdownable, I flew through the (so many) pages and whilst a satisfying read, I'm sad the story is over. Kiersten White doesn't disappoint.

Now I Rise is the explosive, tense, and highly affecting second installment to Kiersten White's masterful And I Darken, both part of The Conqueror's Saga. From the first moment I started reading this series, and diving into the second book, I knew this would be a long-lived, well-loved modern classic.

The characters in this series are rooted in history, but are taken from history books and fully developed into unique, real, raw, and flawed characters that are easy to fall in love with, hate, cry with, and want to see triumph or fail. I particularly love the gender-swapped exploration of the character of Vlad Dracul in the character of Lada. Watching how a woman might have handled difficult political decisions in such a male-dominated culture is enlightening and engaging. It really reveals how women still have to work and struggle in positions of power. But Lada is a completely powerful, smart, and unwavering pillar of strength and drive. She's definitely one of my favorite characters in YA fiction and historical fantasy.

White's writing is always strong, fluid, and lyrical. She's a master of emotion, description, and builds the worlds, cities, and the time period she's writing about which such clarity and life. Watching her transform Constantinople/Istanbul, Wallachia, etc into living worlds off the page, I really felt like I was there, at the time, fighting with Lada and Mehmed or scheming in the halls of the Sultan's palace with Radu. I could see the gilded halls, the ancient cities, hear the people in the markets. I could hear the sounds of war.

What's more is White makes history and ideas accessible to readers, while exploring the lingering "what ifs" left by the vagaries of history. I couldn't put Now I Rise down. Watching Lada take what's hers, watching her sacrifice, and watching White continue to develop her characters and worlds was a pleasure I was thirsty for.

Now I Rise, and The Conqueror's Saga is a series not to be missed. I'll buy and read anything White publishes after this. She's a master of English fantasy/historical speculative fiction.

Now I Rise is such a great sequel. I remember reading the first book and being so impacted by the story. This one is no different!

This series is definitely not for me. I found the first book kind of boring and I had a hard time connecting with the characters. This sequel didn't help at all. It put me into reading slump because it is so dense and unfortunately, I was completely uninterested in how the story developed. I was much more intrigued by the war angle of the plot but the whole book was much more focused on the love triangle and it dragged it down for me. I did not care about the romance at all, I wanted to know more about the political intrigue and how that developed but that wasn't developed as much as I hoped. After finishing this book, I decided not to continue with the series.

Having read And I Darken so soon after it's initial publication date, I was a bit lost trying to remember everything that had happened when I started to read Now i Rise - and I ended up having to put it down because I almost felt I needed to go back to reread the first. I would like to give it a chance again in the future though, as the writing was good and the story seemed like it was going to be just as amazing as the first!

Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the gifted book and opportunity to read and review it prior to its publication date! This in no way affected my review, all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed AND I DARKEN so I was excited for the sequel. However, I had trouble getting into this world again due to the slow pacing so this will be a DNF for now.

Switching gears a little bit, Now I Rise by Kiersten White is the second book in the And I Darken series. It follows Lada Dracul and her brother Radu through alternating titles. This time around I read the physical book instead of listening to the audiobook. I am kind of feeling on the fence about that whole decision.

So, Now I Rise involves Lada heading back to Wallachia with her men, she is hellbent on becoming Prince of Wallachia. Along the way she’ll make allies of enemies and possible enemies of allies. Meanwhile, Radu and his wife go to Constantinople to infiltrate and sabotage. Unfortunately, Radu starts to catch some feelings for Cyprian, their host and relative to Emperor Constantine. Okay, so no lie throughout all the chapters set in Constantinople, I had that song Istanbul Was Once Constantinople in my head.

Aside from all this, I think that what Now I Rise does well is set up. I think it is setting up for something big and intensive in the next book. Now we have all the key players in their places. So, what could be next. As for the execution of the book itself, I will be honest and say I thought it was slow. It does not move along at the fast clip I am accustomed to with White’s other books. I also realize that at this point I’ll likely be returning the third book to the library unread as I do not feel the need to make it a huge priority or anything, mainly because I felt EVERY SINGLE PAGE of this book. It’s long and feels long.

Will no longer be reading or reviewing this book due to lack of interest in the title, and series following a read of book 1, and the fact that the title has been archived.

Perfect anti princess, such a feminist book, amazing historical fantasy, one of my favorite series ever.

I feel like this was a fluff book, no real context or action happening, but still well written. I'm a big fan of White and her writing style, but sometimes the relationships she writes out are not so believable. But still an entertaining read.

First, I apologize for the delay. Health issues for the past several years has really affected my reading, and hence my reviews.

Now I Rise is an amazing story. Female strength with a touch of confidentiality, and a sprinkle of bad-assery. Kiersten White gets better with every book she writes, and this is evident of that talent! Now I Rise is definitely a second book, complete with the angst and frustrations that come along-side it. I couldn't put this title down, and I definitely cannot wait for the last!

Kiersten White continues to blow my mind with the quality of The Conqueror’s Saga. I still cannot truly fathom that these books came from the same author who wrote Paranormalcy and Mind Games. They’re so massively different in absolutely every possible respect. If you loved And I Darken, you won’t be disappointed in Now I Rise.

Lada continues to be a badass murder princess of bossness. She’s such a fascinating character, because she started out almost a psychopath. She was a bully, and she didn’t give a shit about others. The shit that happened to her taught her about empathy, and she learned to care for people: her brother, Mehmed, and her soldiers. She’s been slowly softenening as the series has progressed, but if you think it’s weakness, you’re not paying attention. For all that she’s been learning about emotions, she remains driven by logic and by goals.

Radu continues to be a brilliant foil to his sister. Where she decides to pursue the throne of her home country and leave love behind, Radu chooses to stay with Mehmed. Okay, can we be real for a second? Mehmed is the fucking worst, like oh my god. I wanted to continually shake Radu for his obsessive unrequited crush on Mehmed, who is so obviously using him like gahhhhhh. Also, Radu, fyi there is a cute, nice guy with a massive crush on you, and that could be happening HINT HINT NUDGE NUDGE. View Spoiler » Bless Lada for trying to move on and recognizing how toxic Mehmed is. That sounds like I hate Radu’s arc, and I don’t. I think his arc is really convincing and brilliantly done. It’s just frustrating, and I want to shake him and drop some truth bombs on his head.

What’s perhaps most outstanding here is how much White managed to get me emotionally invested in the fall of Constantinople. Like, I was a history major, and I’m very aware that the battle they’re fighting in this book is the FALL. As in, welcome to the Ottoman Empire, my dear. And yet, I was rooting so hard for Constantinople to withstand the onslaught. White does such a nice job making the cast realistic and sympathetic yet fucked up on each side. Like, the Ottomans are being such shits in the battle, and it’s total crap that they’re trying to take this poor city…but they also may actually be better leaders than the current regime, despite Mehmed being the worst. Such complicated feelings about ancient history!

Thus far, The Conqueror’s Saga is absolutely phenomenal. I’m a bit concerned about how things can possibly end in a manner I deem satisfactory (aka not entirely tragic), but I absolutely cannot wait to see where White takes us next.

Way to break the "second book is slow and sucks" typical mold out of the freaking atmosphere, holy cow.