NOW I RISE BY KIERSTEN WHITE {review}

Hardcover, 496 pages

Published June 27th 2017 by Delacorte Press

Rating: ★★★★★

Wow. Just wow. I have been eagerly anticipating the release of Now I Rise since the moment I finished And I Darken last year. It didn't disappoint, if anything it improved upon its predecessor and exceeded my expectations.

In The Conquerer's Saga Kiersten White takes on the very end of the Byzantine Empire with the fall of Constantinople and changing power in eastern Europe, but with her own twists. Here Vlad Dracul is a young woman named Lada, one of two main characters. The other is Radu, Lada's younger brother.

White gives Lada all the room she needs to be ruthless, brutal and yet also sympathetic. Her wildness cannot be tamed, her desire for Wallachia cannot be quenched, and she will kill or destroy anyone who attempts to part her from either. In a sea of very samey protagonists, Lada stands out; there is nothing she won't sacrifice to rule Wallachia, no brutality too far. Her love affair with Mehmed stagnates too as love falls to the steely strength of their twin ambitions.

Lada's younger brother Radu is a study in contrasts. Though by now he is no stranger to killing battles, Radu remains the clever, soft-hearted boy he once was. His love for Mehmed, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, brings him to Constantinople as a spy. Luckily, Nazira, our beautiful secret lesbian princess and Radu's wife, comes with him. Nazira is a breath of fresh air, for Radu as well as for the reader. She's deeply intelligent, both socially and emotionally, and is a bit like sunshine, really. In Nazira Radu has a friend, one that he can be completely honest with as she knows all his secrets and shares her own with him as well. There are moments where the friendship and affection between them is so strong and pure that you can't help but be protective of them both.

MUNRO VS THE COYOTE BY DARREN GROTH {review}

Softcover ARC, 288 pagesExpected publication: October 17th 2017 by Orca Book Publishers

Rating: ★★★½

This is the second book in a month I've read about a Canadian teenager grieving the death of a younger sibling. It wasn't a conscious choice, but rather chance; I won both Munro vs. the Coyote and Optimists Die First from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.

Munro Maddox has been struggling since the sudden death of his thirteen year old sister six months earlier. Munro hears a cruel, pessimistic voice in his head that he has named 'the Coyote' and, though it is never mentioned in the text, he also seems to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Munro's symptoms make it difficult for him to attend school, the place where his sister died, so he signs up for a school exchange program in Australia. In Australia he stays with a nice foster family that are more sympathetic to what he's going through than he expected and is assigned a volunteer position at a care community. The community is set up like a village, for adults who have developmental or physical disabilities. One girl in particular reminds Munro of his dead sister, who also had Down's Syndrome. At first this triggers Munro's issues, before eventually alleviating them. Munro's interactions with the residents are sweet and you can see how it helps him.

The story is quick and readable, the language accessible and, in many ways, quite simple. Munro's a sympathetic character, his pain is palpable and relatable, his confusion understandable. However, the length of the book made the story feel very rushed, particularly towards the end. That was a big drawback for me as it made Munro's recovery feel far too fast. I would have liked the setback Munro has towards the end of the book to have been focused on more. It felt like it wrapped up too early.

Other than that, I really liked it. There's minor romance that's sweet and doesn't overpower the story as well. The school exchange to Australia was a particularly nice conception; the location served as a reminder that you cannot run away from grief, while at the same time recognizing that sometimes the only way to come to terms with trauma is to remove yourself from the emotional triggers. Plus the culture clash was cute and fun.