While this book is a little too mature for my library I will definitely be recommending to high school and more mature libraries.

Lada, where you been girl?! This book is amazing and draws you right back in where book 1 left off.

I can't even begin to express how much I love this series and this book in particular. I couldn't put it down, and, at times, had to actively fight to keep off Wikipedia so I wouldn't spoil myself. My heart continually breaks for Lada and Radu...I can't believe I have to wait a year to find out what happens next.

Even better than the first book, And I Darken. White continues her development of the characters and themes and makes this an even deeper and more powerful story. I keep thinking about Lada and Radu and their different paths and decisions, about how the same events taught them different things and motivated them in opposite ways. Highly recommend for fans of dark historical fiction and strong female characters.

This book is amazing. So often, the second book in a series is dull and falls flat. The opposite is true here. This book never stops being amazing. Lada is truly a fierce dragon warrior and one of my all time favorite characters. I cannot wait for book three!!!

https://librarianonthelake.wordpress.com/2017/03/18/now-i-rise-by-kiersten-white/

I really wanted to like this series, but it was super slow. The time period and the inspiration are interesting enough to prompt you to pick up the book, but the plot just drags.

The second installment of the Conqueror's Saga follows Lada and Radu along their fateful quests. Lada continues to hate being born a woman, and Radu continues to hate having feelings for someone he can never have. The characters continue to grow and change in various ways, all the while leading the reader through the battle for Conastantinople. The rich history is fascinating and watching the characters get side tracked and then put back in their paths is exciting. Kristin White does not disappoint in book 2.

This book is well written and there is a lot that's interesting about it. Both the actual history and the way that Keirsten White has modified it. However, I don't care. I just don't. I have tried SO hard to love these books, because I see so many people raving about them and because I've been a fan of Keirsten White's for a long while. But honestly, I'm so bored. I wanted a lot more action and a lot less politics and Mehmed obsession. I don't care about the politics, I don't care about a battle over a stupid city that neither side actually really wants or needs. And I do NOT care about Mehmed. Ugh stupid, stupid, shallow, one dimensional Mehmed. I am so sick of seeing that name.

When he first came around I liked him okay. But the more the Dracul kids have obsessed over the dude and the more Mehmed has indifferently LET them obsess over him, the more I've started hating him. These two people have hugely changed their entire lives just to hang out with this dude and be his friends and help him run his kingdom. He knows they love him. And yet he gives them nothing. Crumbs maybe, sometimes. Tiny bits of affection to keep them clinging to him, but not enough to let them really live and have full lives. I don't believe he loves Lada, I don't believe either Lada or Radu love him. There's no chemistry there whatsoever with any of them. Both Lada and Radu are offered so many opportunities to go LIVE a full life of their own. Do things they want with people who actually see them and know them and love them. And yet every thought, every choice, every decision always comes back to Mehmed. Are they hypnotized into abject loyalty? Did I miss that part?

Besides the irritating, all consuming Mehmed obsession, everyone in this book has their eyes set on Constantinople. But it's all for the flimsiest of reasons. There was a prophecy or something? It's just such a weak excuse to go to war over. I'm not saying it hasn't been done. I'm just saying I didn't find grown men, rulers of empires, fighting over a city like preschoolers fighting over a toy compelling.

Incidentally, I also kept waiting for Lada to be a lot more cruel and actually live up to her name. She's had her moments, but she usually doesn't seem that bad to me honestly. Not compared to what I've heard and read of Vlad Dracul. Lada and Radu are basically just really insecure kids trying to navigate politics and wrangle some affection from the sultan.

Ultimately this book (and the first, really) was just too long and drawn out for me. Like I said, I stopped caring. I was really bored. If you love political drama and strategy to dominate your novels, you'll probably like it. I'm still rating this 3 stars even though I know it sounds like I hated it, because it was decently written and the concept is cool. Even though I wasn't a huge fan of the first book, I read this one as well. Something must have intrigued me.

Full Review to be posted at http://kaitgoodwin.com/scintillatingreads in June 2017.

I LOVED this book! I laughed, I cried (a lot), Nazira became my favorite character. It's been over a week and I'm still trying to get over the fictional betrayal of a fictional character. I haven't been able to read another book since.

Basically, it was the BEST BOOK EVER. (and yes, I know I said that last year about And I Darken, but this counts too because it's the same series) Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity!

Well Wishes & Candy Fishes,
Kait :)

Lada is determined to rule Wallachia, Mehmed is determined to conquer Constantinople, and Radu finds himself caught up in his misplaced loyalty for a love that can never be.

Thus continues the story of Lada Dracul and her brother, Radu, sent to be raised at court with Mehmed, the future Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Lada's determination is inspiring and a bit terrifying. This, along with Radu's loneliness and eagerness to please Mehmed are at the heart of this sequel. The supporting characters shine, especially in Radu's tale as he's sent off to Constantinople to spy for Mehmed. Even though they are leagues apart, these three remain entwined in each other's lives, and the conclusion to this saga will be anyone's guess!

Atmospheric and compelling, Now I Rise is a worthy sequel to And I Darken, and readers will find themselves continuing to be invested in the lives of the Dracul siblings.

Y'ALL THIS BOOK.

This was the perfect follow up to the absolutely phenomenal And I Darken. Oh my god. Y'alllllll

To see each character branch and take their own paths and to specifically track Radu's development was amazing.

Not only that but the writing is absolutely gorgeous and reveals these foreign landscapes in such intense details that make you crave a time machine or at the very least a plane ticket.

Lada continues to be the badass of our dreams and I can't wait for what is sure to be an absolutely heartbreaking finale to this series.

This series is so wonderful. I devoured this book in one sitting; I just couldn't put it down!

Thank you, Netgalley for an ARC of this book. My review is entirely my own and unbiased.

Let me just preface this by saying - THIS BOOK IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST.
That's saying something because I absolutely loved the first one. And, much like the first one, this one took me entirely by surprise. When I first stepped into the world of Lada and Radu, it wasn't what I expected and I absolutely delighted in reading something new. The characters, while staying true to themselves from the first book, have grown and developed in so many ways. The story and world grew, the history unfurled, and the stakes were great. There were a lot of times that the story swept you off your feet, throwing you into the world and taking the reader down such relentless twists and turns that I felt like I could hardly catch my breath (exactly why I read this book in a single day. Which is saying something because I DESPISE reading on my kindle).

If you liked the first book, pick this one up! If you didn't like the first book, pick this book up anyway! White's daring take on Vlad the Impaler will leave you breathless and begging for more!

This was a great followup to the first book!!! I liked it a lot more!