Aw crap bro why was there no climax?

Or maybe the fall of Constantinople was climax. And Lada's final encounter with the boyars in the ballroom. But I am scratching at the surface here, and I think neither of these climaxes were flushed out well. They were a bit anticlimactic; Radu's climax was too spread out, while Lada's climax was not spread out enough (too condensed/short).

I am glad that Mehmed is not as important in this book as before though. Also, I am SO INVESTED in Radu and Cyprian and I want to see so much more of them in the future

finally finished this book and oh my it was utterly brilliant.

When I read And I Darken earlier this year, I was pretty underwhelmed and not very enthusiastic about the rest of the series, even though part of me was curious as to what would happen. My experience with Now I Rise ended up being much different: it was such an engrossing novel and has cemented my decision to finish The Conqueror's Saga once the final book's released.

There were several things White improved upon in this book that I had issues with in the one before, from the writing and pacing to the characterization. Whereas And I Darken spanned the course of several years, Now I Rise covered a much briefer period of time and focused on a few singular events revolving around the Draculesti siblings. I was honestly a bit surprised by how enjoyable this was; the story didn't slog along or feel like a chore to read, but rather I found myself reluctant to put the book down. I still wish the author used exclamation points less, and while her action scenes were better crafted this time around, there remained a slight distance between myself and the battles taking place, particularly the skirmishes leading up to the sacking of Constantinople (which I did find well written).

What made this book so compelling wasn't even the Ottoman siege of the Byzantine Empire's capital or Lada's journey to reclaim Wallachia, but the development of the characters involved in these crusades. Lada struggled throughout the book to be seen as the equal of any man, and her fight for the Wallachian throne forced her to reevaluate her strengths and weaknesses. She became decidedly more ruthless in this book, and what I continue to enjoy about Lada is that even when making these cutthroat decisions, she had the betterment of the future in mind. She also has some of the best lines in the trilogy.

"Rumors are everywhere...You are the chosen servant of the devil."
"Why must I always be a man's servant?" Lada demanded. "If anything, I should be partners with the devil, not his servant."

I find it interesting that while And I Darken focused evenly on Lada and Radu, Now I Rise felt more like Radu's story, with his chapters receiving the most attention. I'm not sure what to make of this, but I do wonder if that means the third book will center mostly on Lada's narrative. I found Radu's growth to be extremely well done, with his internal conflict over the Ottomans and Byzantines being one of the novel's propelling forces. He was perpetually torn between doing what was right for his religion verses what was right morally, which changed his perspective of Mehmed and himself drastically.

One of the most intriguing things White has done with this series is create such a tangled, fascinating relationship between Lada and Radu. The siblings were constantly aware of the other's absence in their lives; they never interact in the book but thought of each other often, whether in good or bad ways. They also have very different connections to Mehmed, who can go choke as far as I'm concerned. I hated him before, and I hate him now, and I'm 90% sure I'm going to continue hating him in the third book. It's not his single mindedness or anything like that that I dislike—it's the way he manipulates Lada and Radu, the two people he supposedly loves above all others, and doesn't give a damn about how it's hurting them or what they might want out of life. Maybe if we'd gotten a chapter from Mehmed's point of view I might look at him differently, but I absolutely cannot stand him in any capacity.

I also found the romance between him and Lada to be even weaker in this book, and the more I consider it, the more toxic it seems. Lada talked about how being apart from Mehmed was so difficult and how she missed him even though she tried not to, but what did she miss about him? What does she love about Mehmed other than what he can do for her? There were all these mentions of love but nothing tangible showing either cared for the other beyond their own benefit and satisfaction. I get Radu's devotion to Mehmed, and that's even gotten a good degree of depth, but I don't buy Lada loving Mehmed romantically or him her. Honestly, I would prefer it if Lada's story ended with her not needing validation from him, if she could stand on her own without any man at all.

Spoiler

And I just have to say this: Lada was furious when she learned Mehmed knew of Radu's feelings and was using them to ensure loyalty...but she did the same with Bogdan. She was aware that Bogdan's love for her differed than what she felt for him, but she encouraged it by sleeping with him, knowing it would only make him more devoted. She's constantly compared to Mehmed in how they both do whatever necessary to get what they want, and this really proved it.

I can now say that Nazira is an absolute gem: her and Radu share such a sweet, platonic love, and they had some of the best interaction in the book. She's just such a supportive friend, and Radu desperately needed that. I also enjoyed Lada's companionship with the Janissaries, specifically Nicolae and Stefan, and seeing the ways these men changed over the course of the book. Cyprian was decent—there was nothing bad about him, but there also wasn't anything that made him stand out. I'm hoping he'll get more development in the third book,

Spoiler

as will his and Radu's budding relationship; like with Lada and Mehmed, what does Radu like about Cyprian? His kindness for sure, but what else is there to him?

Those last two chapters were so savage and perfect, and I can't wait to see how the finale unfolds. Now I Rise definitely did not fall into the category of second book slump: it only made me more invested in a series I wasn't initially sure about finishing. I'll definitely be picking up Bright We Burn this summer!

I liked it but this one took forever to read. There was so much repetition (did the first book follow this formula? I can't remember) and a lot of inner turmoil for both Lada and Radu. But I didn't hate Mehmed like so many people seem to.

I am loyal to the prince.

Much like the first book, this took me a while to get into. However, once I did, I was thoroughly sucked into the world and characters. Kiersten White paints a vivid picture of a world unlike any I have ever known. Her characters are strong, not always likable and flawed. I found myself rooting for each of them in turn and wanting to shake them from time to time as well. The ending felt a bit abrupt on Lada's end, but I'm looking forward to the third book in this series.

3.5, on the 4 side

--

He much preferred the Hagia Sophia dark, with the sound of birds fluttering near the roof. That had felt closer to prayer than this.

Tragically, given that I hit a massive reading slump during BOTH the first and the second book of The Conqueror's Saga, I must concede that there's something about the writing that slooooooooowwwws me down. I don't know what, exactly, it is. I do generally enjoy my time in the world, and when I actually sit down to read, the chapters go fast. The thing is, I'll get through one or two and then put the book down because I just have no drive to keep moving forward.

Otherwise, I think that this was a great second installment in the series. White certainly isn't pulling any punches where tragic character arcs are concerned:

How much more of herself would she have to lose to get where she belonged?

Both Lada and Radu experience profound growth and change during this volume, though much of it isn't what most people would consider "positive." Radu's damned assignment in Constantinople helped to remove him from Mehmed's influence and placed him in the heart of enemy territory. Meanwhile, Lada burned a destructive path straight to the Wallachian throne (literally). Lada's chapters were somewhat slower and less action-packed than Radu's, but there was a sort of childishness (?) to Radu's chapters that lessened my enjoyment of them. Ultimately, I found myself enjoying both POVs roughly the same because of their balancing strengths and weaknesses. Kinda like the characters themselves.

I love that Lada was unscrupulously ruthless while still retaining her womanhood. Her struggle with feminity is extremely compelling, and I appreciate that White demonstrates that Lada's sexuality is an intrinsic part of her, not a weakness to be conquered:

"I have no wish to be a man." Then she cringed, the memory of Mehmed's hands and tongue and lips on her body. She had never been happier to be a woman than she had been in that falsely precious space. Her body had not felt like a stranger to her then. She wanted to reclaim that feeling.

I much prefer seeing female sexuality become a vehicle for self-expression instead of having it become an endless detente between "give in and sacrifice selfhood or abstain and retain selfhood." That just isn't satisfying for me as a female reader, sorry. I'm glad White moved away from this theme in volume two.

Radu's journey was less satisfying to me, despite his chapters containing most of the plot-driving action. The narrative spent way too much time fixated on Radu's doomed, codependent love for Mehmed. His relationship with Cyprian was meant to be the absolute foil to Radu's one-sided affection for Mehmed, but their interactions - and particularly their dialogue - came off forced and infantile. It was like White was trying too hard to make Cyprian the uncontested "better man," and as a result, I found myself uninvested in both potential romantic partners. Do I want him to end up with Cyprian in the end? Yes, because Mehmed is selfish and manipulative and Radu deserves better. But I just wasn't all that moved by the relationship, despite being thrilled with Cyprian's appearance at first. Hopefully, given the events of this novel, we can get a bit more authentic tension between Radu and Cyprian in the third book.

And a lot more Nazira, of course, because I love that woman so. much.

The world will destroy her in the end. Too much spark leads to explosions. But your sister will destroy as much as she can before she goes out.