Little Red's Reviews: Blog Tour: Now I Rise (The Conqueror's Saga #2) by Kiersten White I Review

Summary: Lada Dracul has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself. After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada 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.

Release Date: June 27th, 2017

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Amazon I B&N I iBooks I Audible I Book Depository

Add it to Goodreads

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Now I Rise is the second installment in Kiersten White's new Young Adult historical fiction trilogy. I absolutely loved the first novel in the trilogy, And I Darken, which you can read my review of here. The trilogy is a gender-bender retelling of Vlad the Impaler. And I Darken follows the Dracul siblings, Lada and Radu, as they navigate the political intrigue of the Ottoman court. And I Darken was one of my favorite books of last year and Now I Rise was one of my most highly anticipated releases of this year.

Now I Rise did not disappoint, it was the perfect sequel to And I Darken. Now I Rise further developed the characters and their relationships while also including countless action sequences. While And I Darken featured some bada** scenes, Now I Rise brought bada** to a new level. This trilogy is perfect for lovers of every YA genre, it is a thrilling, empowering, and captivating trilogy that hooked me from the first page.

I absolutely adore the characters of the trilogy. Radu is a precious cinnamon roll and Lada is the fiercest female warrior. Now I Rise featured the perfect amount of emotional and self-identity challenges. While the trilogy is bada**, it is a coming-of-age journey at it's core. Lada and Radu are both facing different challenges when it comes to their identity; however, their story lines paralleled each other throughout the course of the novel. While they were not struggling with my pressing decisions, college and my senior year of high school, I was still able to identity with their struggles of self-discovery. They are both used to being so dependent on themselves that they struggle with confiding in themselves when they do not completely understand who they are becoming.

The novels are gorgeous on both the inside and the outside. This trilogy is absolutely blessed with gorgeous covers. The color schemes for each of the covers are beautiful and the cover designs themselves are stunning. I cannot wait to see the final cover of the final book in the trilogy. This trilogy will always have a permanent place on my bookshelf as one of my favorite trilogies and as some of my favorite cover designs.

The third and final novel in this trilogy is one of my most highly anticipated novels for next year. Now I Rise left the characters in interesting predicaments that I am curious to see resolved. Although it is saddening to know that I will be saying goodbye to these characters in the next novel, I have loved the journey I have gone on with these characters. Nonetheless, I am sad to see my time with them end so soon. If you have yet to start this trilogy, I highly recommend doing so. The Conqueror's Saga is for history lovers and haters alike. It is truly an epic YA historical fiction coming-of-age trilogy they deeply delves into self-identity while also featuring a fierce female lead that could give any superhero a run for their money.

3 Winners will receive a finished copy of NOW I RISE,

US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kiersten White is the NYT bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy, the Mind Games series, Illusions of Fate, The Chaos of Stars, In the Shadows with artist Jim Di Bartolo, and the upcoming historical reimagining, And I Darken.

She has one tall husband and three small children and lives near the ocean, where her life is perfectly normal.

Visit her at www.kierstenwhite.com.