Rosey: AH, YOU’RE DONE.
Ever since Lada and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival.
Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.
But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.
[Mild spoilers ahead]
Dany: I really enjoyed it and the slow burn character development.
Rosey: Yesssss, and there were so many… choices that the characters made in interesting ways. Plus, I loved Lada. It was refreshing to see a violent girl who doesn’t wallow in pain after hurting people.
Dany: The interesting thing about Lada is that I learned to love her, but that can also be said for Radu. It was… really something.
Rosey: Yes!
Rosey: I really enjoyed the book, but I also am like “but I only really liked Radu and Lada”. I wasn’t into Mehmed. He doesn’t deserve Lada or Radu *mutters*
(I say this mostly jokingly?)
(it’s COMPLICATED)
Dany: I liked Mehmed, not as a likeable character cause I don’t think he really is, but then again I also don’t think Lada really is, which makes it interesting.
Rosey: Trueeeee.
Dany: I also just really came to like the setting, and the Ottoman Empire and reading about Islam and what not. Also the harem bit was fascinating (and of course in way off putting, but not really more off putting than anything else that turned women into objects at that time) but it was refreshing to read about Islam that isn’t you know… news and terror and things.
Rosey: Yes! I found the stuff with Radu and converting very interesting and thoughtful
Dany: Absolutely. Also just the way society works in the Ottoman Empire and politics, etc. I thought the whole Janissaries bit was really well done, and I also really liked them.
Rosey: Yeah, all the infighting and different ways things happened was really intriguing.
Rosey: reading the lower rated reviews I’m so confused by comments about how Lada gets sucked in to only thinking about Mehmed.
Dany: Ah yes. The inevitable moment when people will start disliking a female main character for having lovey dovey feelings because they need her to be “STRONG”. I actually think her developing feelings for Mehmed made things so much more interesting because they added so much internal (and at times external) conflict for her. And not just for her, but for Radu too.
Rosey: If there was ever an example of a love plot line working with the main storyline…
Dany: Yup!
Dany: I was afraid Radu would die, and I’m not sure how I feel about how Lazar was handled, so I’m suspicious when it comes to the lgbtqa part of the series.
Rosey: Yeaaaaaaah. I…felt weird when Radu was described as… I can’t remember exactly, but he was so queer coded as a kid. With the like, mother stuff and his being “soft” and I was like “… is this necessary?!?!”
Dany: Totally. And it looks like he will be continuing to pine after a straight man until he dies.
Rosey: Well, there was that guy from Constantinople? A moment of them looking at each other? Nothing came of it but I’m hoping that he doesn’t pine after a straight guy until he dies x___x But still, it was… very worth a side eye.
Dany: Yeaaaah, also Lazar’s bisexuality is revealed through like what he likes to do sexually with people and then he betrays Radu. And it’s literally right after it gets revealed that he’s bi that he deceives Radu so I was all “ughhhhhhhh”about it and am still licking my wounds.
Rosey: Yeah. It was just… cringe-y and upsetting.
Dany: Yup. On the plus side there’s a happy lesbian couple somewhere? And they’re alive so far? But they don’t really have an impact on the story (so far) so there’s also that.
Dany: It’s always difficult when there’s queer stuff involved because when I’m reading a book where there’s none of it, then I usually don’t have any expectations and am ok with it. But as soon as there’s queer things going on, I get really strict *maybe still burned from Lexa*
Rosey: I think there’s just so little out there that you wanna cling to it but only if it… you know, actually is good. So if it’s not you have to criticize it so other people will do it right.
Dany: Yeah, exactly. That’s actually making me feel better cause I feel a little guilty criticizing it in this book just because it was really good otherwise but at the same time I don’t wanna go easy on it either. Does that make sense?
Rosey: Yes 100% (Mostly cause I felt that way completely about A Heart in Every Doorway)
Dany: Is it safe to say that we’re both rating this four stars because of the side-eye worthy queer representation? Or is there another reason for your four stars?
Rosey: No, just the queer representation. If it had been better I would’ve rated it a 5.
Dany: Same here.
Dany’s rating: 4/5 stars
Rosey’s rating: 4/5 stars
Next Wednesday Rosey will be doing a single review, and the week after that we’ll be back together again with a discussion about:
robots read 