SPOILS ALERT!

General Opinion

I enjoyed this book, even though the ending tore my heart a bit. This book is about how brutality and attraction could ruin a relationship, and how the pressure of the crown can change one person. 

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Characters

I LOVE LADA DRAGWYLA!!! She is violent, she is brutal, and she is merciless, and that's why I love her! Because of all those qualities, Lada still managed to love, and that love was spent on her little brother Radu, whom she tried all her life to protect. Yet because of her violent nature, her protection isn't the most welcomed, Lada is harsh on her little brother, but it can't hide how much she cares about him. When they were kids, Radu was often jealous when Lada hung out with someone else, and always sought his sister's approval, not knowing that Lada would always love him. Lada is just a complex character and I just love her. 

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Radu, I can't say the same for him, I liked him at the beginning of the book, but as the story progresses and he begins to fall for Mehmed, he starts to choose Mehmed over Lada, which annoyed me. Even though I understand his reason, having a sister like Lada could be difficult, but Radu knows that Lada was trying to protect him. And it's just that I hate the trope of siblings falling out, it just broke my heart :((

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Mehmed was even worse, he was manipulating Radu, he knew that Radu liked him but never told Radu that it wouldn't be possible. Instead, he uses Radu's affection to his advantage, and because we never get a point of view in his mind, we never know what Mehmed was thinking, making it harder to sympathize with him. Mehmed also proves to be quite ignorant of Radu, which is proven when it takes him so long to notice that Radu is not with them. Mehmed was also the core reason for the fallout between Radu and Lada. Both Radu and Lada like Mehmed, but Mehmed only has eyes for Lada, and Lada doesn't know about Radu's feelings, as she isn't the best with emotional feelings. Causing Radu to resent her, which was unfair, one of the reasons I didn't like Radu. 

 

Plot

The plot is a bit slow at the start, with their childhood and how horrible their father is. But when Lada and Radu moved to Ottoman, things got more interesting. Mehmed became king at a young age, and how there were targets for the 3 of them. With the ending of Lada choosing to come back to Wallachia to rule the kingdom, as she always sees it as home. Radu didn't go with her, choosing Mehmed, as he never had a love for his birthright, which was understandable, seeing how abused he was there. But the siblings being driven apart was just so sad that I couldn't stand it. And it just makes me resent Radu's character more, because even though he and Lada haven't been the best pair of siblings, Lada had always tried to help him throughout, and when Radu was affectionate towards Mehmed, he hasn't been treating Lada that nicely, yet everyone around him always views him as the saint. ​

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​Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed the plot of the book, wasn't a huge fan of the love triangle though... So if you felt like an insight into the history of European countries back then with a more interesting sight, I recommend it. But if you feel like siblings falling out isn't your thing, I recommend you pass it. ​

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