It’s always sad when a series ends and this one was no different. Bright We Burn by Kiersten White is one of the most in depth YA Historical fictions I have ever read. If you’re looking for political intrigue, betrayal, and love on the battlefields of the middle east than you will enjoy this intensely dark series.
Check out my review and giveaway details below!
About Bright We Burn
Title: BRIGHT WE BURN
Author: Kiersten White
Pub. Date: July 10, 2018
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 416
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD
Haunted by the sacrifices he made in Constantinople, Radu is called back to the new capital. Mehmed is building an empire, becoming the sultan his people need. But Mehmed has a secret: as emperor, he is more powerful than ever . . . and desperately lonely. Does this mean Radu can finally have more with Mehmed . . . and would he even want it?
Lada’s rule of absolute justice has created a Wallachia free of crime. But Lada won’t rest until everyone knows that her country’s borders are inviolable. Determined to send a message of defiance, she has the bodies of Mehmed’s peace envoy delivered to him, leaving Radu and Mehmed with no choice. If Lada is allowed to continue, only death will prosper. They must go to war against the girl prince.
But Mehmed knows that he loves her. He understands her. She must lose to him so he can keep her safe. Radu alone fears that they are underestimating his sister’s indomitable will. Only by destroying everything that came before–including her relationships–can Lada truly build the country she wants.
Claim the throne. Demand the crown. Rule the world.
About Now I Rise (Book 2)
Title: NOW I RISE
Author: Kiersten White
Pub. Date: Jume 27, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 496
Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Audible, Goodreads
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.
Thank you to RockStar Book Tours for hosting this tour and giveaway!
About And I Darken (Book 1)
Title: AND I DARKEN
Author: Kiersten White
Pub. Date: June 28, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook
Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Audible, TBD, Goodreads
NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL.
And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she 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. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.
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 defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, 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.
My Review
“After all, fire and blood and death were nothing to a country led by a dragon.”
Bright We Burn is the conclusion to one of the darkest series I’ve ever read. I picked this particular quote because it describes exactly what this book, this series, is all about.
Lada is not of the faint of heart. She is of the darkest of minds, cunning in battle, and swift of blade. She is not afraid to kill anyone who gets in her way because all she does, she does for Wallachia. Her country is her life and in this third installment you will see Lada at her deadliest. She is a true sociopath. A ruler without empathy for her enemies, but one who will reward those who do not challenge her. She is a great leader and although her tactics are ghastly, she makes sure to take care of her people. She does not falter and you will see her brutality in all the gory details. Kiersten does not hold back on the details and as an author I truly respect her for that. You know after reading this series the amount of research Kiersten put into writing these is undeniable. Lada’s character is so well developed that you truly find yourself loathing her and as you continue reading Bright We Burn you will find yourself wondering if she’ll ever be redeemed.
Poor Radu has been stuck in the middle between the two people he loves the most. All he wants is to live a peaceful life where the world around him isn’t in constant turmoil. You will find him a bit broken in the beginning of Bright We Burn as he is unable to find out what happened to his wife after the siege of Constantinople. He is put in positions that he wishes he could run away from but the choices he’s made has only contributed to the circumstances he’s found himself in. He has turned his back on Lada because of her brutality, and he is unsure Mehmed will ever love him in the way he has wanted for as long as he can remember. Over the course of this book in particular you will see a huge character arc for Radu. He finally finds his place and comes to terms with what he needs to do in order to bring his sister to her senses. He will have to make a difficult choice to kill Lada or save her in the end because it may be the only way to bring peace to the empire.
This was quite the journey. There is death and destruction, self-discovery, and in the end you won’t know who to trust, or who will betray who next. There are twists you won’t see coming and everything is high stakes (both literally and figuratively).
About Kiersten
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 http://www.kierstenwhite.com.
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Giveaway Details:
3 Winners will receive a finished copy of BRIGHT WE BURN, US Only.
Rafflecopter Link:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2771/?
Tour Schedule
Week One:
6/25/2018- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review- Books 1 & 2
6/26/2018- Pandora’s Books– Excerpt
6/27/2018- Two Chicks on Books– Interview
6/28/2018- Jena Brown Writes– Review
6/29/2018- The Hermit Librarian– Interview
Week Two:
7/2/2018- The Desert Bibliophile– Review
7/3/2018- PaperTrailYA– Review
7/4/2018- Wonder Struck– Review
7/5/2018- The Pages In-Between– Review
7/6/2018- Beware Of The Reader– Review
Week Three:
7/9/2018- Lisa Loves Literature– Review
7/10/2018- Omg Books and More Books– Review
7/11/2018- Rhythmicbooktrovert– Review
7/12/2018- Wishful Endings– Review
7/13/2018- A Dream Within A Dream– Review
Week Four:
7/16/2018- The Clever Reader– Review
7/17/2018- Under the Book Cover– Review
7/18/2018- mall3tg1rl– Review
7/19/2018- The Book Nut– Review
7/20/2018- lori’s Little House of Reviews– Review
The Clever Reader 
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