And I Darken

Vlad the Impaler reimagined as an ugly, vicious girl named Lada? Yes, please. This novel is very loosely based on history. The best part is how unlikeable Lada is. She is violent, she is cruel, and she wants to take down the Ottoman empire all by herself.

This book is all about finding political and societal power and learning how to wield it to your advantage. And even though I didn’t like her, I loved watching Lada go up against forces much more powerful than she and fight tooth and nail against them.

Lada is the daughter of Vlad Tepes (the inspiration for Stoker’s Dracula), Vovoide of Wallachia who, along with her brother, Radu, are sent as hostages to the Ottoman court of Sultan Murad II.

I loved the protagonist, Lada, who preferred war and combat to being a traditional ‘lady’ of the court.

Through Lada’s eyes, I got to witness her life as a noble in Wallachia and then, as a fish out of water, in the eastern world of the Muslim Ottomans which was opulent and exotic.

And I Darken appealed to me as I could relate to Lada, having to… show more.

This historical fiction takes you deep into the Ottoman Empire of the 1400s. Lada and Radu are sent to live among the sultan’s court in exchange for their father, Vlad Dracul, retaining his hold on the throne of Wallachia. The story begins in Wallachia then moves to the sultan’s palace. The contrast between these two places, from the descriptions of the food, landscape, and people to the different customs of these oft-opposed cultures (one Muslim, the other Christian) is brought to vivid life through White’s engaging prose.