Welcome to Litsy!

#ManicMonday
#LetterA

This seems like a fun game :)
📚: And I Darken
✒️: Annie Rains
🎬: Aaahh!! Real Monsters
👩🏽‍🎤: Avenged Sevenfold
🎶: Adore You- Harry Styles

@CBee

Thank you @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks for bringing this fun game to our attention!
#AlphabetGame
#LetterA

I recommend And I Darken by Kiersten White. I really enjoyed this book. It took me by surprise.

I tag @texaschica45 @alexus_sb and anyone else that want to play 😁

I heard this was a Vlad the impaler retelling with gender swap. This was very slow, no action. Perhaps this first book was the is the very boring prequel to what vlad had become??

I should have known better since it was compared to Game of Thrones….and I didn‘t enjoy those books either….. 😩

This novel has a little more political intrigue than I generally have the patience for, but the interactions and developing relationships between the characters are interesting, as is the time period and geographical setting. Overall a fun audiobook to finish while making a somewhat sylvan-looking mask I'm gifting to someone not on Litsy (so not spoiling any surprises by posting...unless someone here was hoping to be surprised with a mask).

#TBRPile Day 33 📚 I really liked The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein so I have high expectations of this one ☝️

I might end up reading both the e-book and the physical version at the same time.

Today is a #dropeverythingandread kind of day! Which is why I finished this today! Loved rereading this for my first #bookspinbonanza! #bookspin #bibliomaynia

Well, although the first half of the book intrigued me enough to keep me reading, I decided to bail at 300 pages in. When books come with a glossary, geographical maps, character references and family bloodline maps it quickly becomes a bit much. Especially when you‘re only minding interested in the first place.

Oh well, can‘t love em all.

#bookspin #bookspinbonanza @TheAromaofBooks #theunreadshelfproject

Well, my first book of the #BookSpinBonanza has been chosen and I‘m about to dive in. If I‘m being honest, I‘m pretty sure I‘m not going to enjoy this book at all. Not sure why I‘ve held onto it this long and I probably bought it for the cover alone, but hopefully I‘ll be wrong in my assumptions 🖤💜🤍

 @TheAromaofBooks #BookSpin

I finally finished a book - it feels like I haven't had any time for reading this year! I didnt love this as much as I hoped, but I did enjoy it. Lada is a great character and I really liked the setting. I sometimes found myself losing track of secondary characters and getting a little bogged down in the political intrigue though

The kids and husband are all napping. A nap sounds lovely, but so does an uninterrupted hour to myself! Enjoying a little #audiocrochet until someone inevitably needs me

Starting the border on this blanket that‘s consumed my life for the past month... didn‘t get it done by Christmas, but I‘m almost there. Naturally all my audiobook holds came in at once, so I‘ve got to decide which to start tonight. #audiocrochet

A surprisingly dark, somewhat unstable lead is the focus of the novel set in an alternate Ottoman Empire. The sibling relationship is done well and the three maim characters are complex. Not typical YA - looking forward to the others on this series. 2019 no. 16

I‘m eight pages in and I already love both this book, not to mention Lada herself. Thank you, Kiersten White, for my vicious lady protagonist rights.

Day 2 #7covers7days #covercrush

Post seven favorite covers over seven days, no explanation. Tag one Litten each day! Today, I tag @Reading_in_the_meadow

”On our wedding night," she said, "I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied”

3.5/5⭐ Aside from 2 clearly stolen moments from Disney's Mulan, I thought this book & its characters were unique. I LOVE the sibling relationship between Vlada & Radu. The contrast & exploration of their individual strengths/weaknesses & how each either helps or hinders them is fascinating. There's also complexity with side characters, especially women, & how they attempt to find power. I'm excited to read the next book. #NEWTsReadathon2019

A retelling of Vlad the impaler?! Loved this series! Lada is a strong, fierce girl who does what she wants and takes no shit from anyone. This book and the series as a whole has great representation and the plot is very well paced. You get to dive deep into different cultures and you can tell the author did her research! Would recommend this whole series to anyone who loves history, retellings, strong female characters and diversity. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Too dark and angry for me

Dirt Cheap, Taco Bell, Books-A-Million, Starbucks, and home for dinner. A great visit with my BFF and her two tiny humans ❤️ Also, great #BookHaul 🙌 Most is these were on clearance and two are signed!

A little behide on my reviews This one was a 3.5 for me but I can totally see why others gave it 5

Starting this on this dark and gloomy afternoon.

This story reimagines Vlad Dracula as a girl instead of a boy. The account follows some of the bones of Dracula‘s real life story but weaves an intricate tale around it. Much of the historical backdrop is correct though. I loved fierce Lada. The story begins with she and her brother‘s early years when they were held hostage in the Ottoman Empire. I highly recommend!

#anewchapter #newbeginnings

First book of new year for YA book club at my local independent bookstore. This will be my third year participating and I look forward to the year of reading with this group.

A sample of my fave books this year... There was a lot more for sure (like The Hate U Give and all the other Rick Riordan books)

And I Darken by Kiersten White❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I loved this book. Likely to an degree unwarranted by the book... but it is what it is, y'all!

Lada is a reactive, emotionally unavailable princess. Her brother, Radu is a bullied sissy-man. They meet a prince who was never meant to lead, born of an ambitious concubine. You can see where this is going. It's gold, I tell you. Gold! I'm on hold for book 2. #YALit #AmReading
https://buff.ly/2Gvo0tB

#CurrentlyReading I have been wanting to start this trilogy for a while, so here I go!

So guess what I did last night.... all night 👀😳📖 yep finished this in one setting but like I said yesterday I was excited and it was great highly recommended read I have to go get the second book now 😝📖 very interested in what happens next 😉

Then the Genealogy chart shows a relationship to Vlad Dracula... I‘m so excited now 😋📖

So opening page is a map it‘s amazing 😉

I am starting this tonight hope it continues to be a great reading week for me 😋📖

Finally finished my galley copy of And I Darken, by Kiersten White. I hadn't read it in all these years because the beginning was slow...but it picked up towards the end, and now I am interested in continuing with the series. It is the story of a female Dracul (Dracula) of Wallachia. It's good to see a female anti-hero.

For my full review: https://hibernatorslibrary.com/2018/10/16/and-i-darken-by-kiersten-white/

Hour 4 of #24b4Monday - with mixed shame and pride, I am finally reading my NetGalley ARC of And I Darken. Good so far!

#pop18, DONE!

When I walked out to my front porch this morning, I was expecting just one package containing the #justabookswap book I bought so I can send it out today. It was an exciting surprise to find this as well! Thank you so much @sammisho for the book! I have almost purchased this so many times and then talked myself out of spending the money. Can‘t wait to read it! @TheBookKeepers

Loosely based on Dracula and Transylvania.

Siblings Lada and Radu are opposites. Lada is ruthless and doesn‘t have a minute to spare for patriarchal BS. Her brother is the timid one and better at diplomacy. In order to keep his throne, their father abandons them at the Ottoman court, as hostages. Once there, they meet Mehmed, the sultan‘s youngest son. The three form a strong, complicated bond.

A Game of Thrones vibe, but less rapey.

This was a part of my #makemereadit challenge and I LOVED it! Lada is amazing. Well she's more than a little cruel, but I love her anyway. She's so different from your typical YA female. She's not pretty and she has very little use for soft natured things. Instead she is fierce, feral, and cunning. I am so glad I finally got to this one. Thank you Litsy!

@TheReadingMermaid

As the first book in a trilogy, I felt the buildup was a bit slow and the romance seemed a bit like an obstacle in order to enjoy the book for me. However, the story seems to go into an interesting direction and the historical setting of the Ottoman Empire is one that I haven't read about before, which makes this a fun way to explore and learn new things! Will be starting the next book now!

I picked this book because of the cover, with no idea what it was about, and I am so glad I did. Instead of Vlad the Impaler, Lada The Impaler? I am here for it! Historical fiction, fantasy, epic storytelling.
#pop18 #abookyoumeanttorsin2017butdidntgetto

Pre dinner snack.
Hoping to finish this book tonight. So good, I wish I had the sequel ready to start next!

1. The Princess Bride
2. Onion Rings
3. If I am not listening to an audiobook, I listen early 2000s pop.
4. Man, it's good!
5. hey y'all!
#friyayintro @jesshowbooks

Weekend coming to a close and so is my time with “And I Darken.” I can understand the fan love for this one, but never found myself rushing back to it. Maybe next books in series get better, but not inspired to try.

Likes:
Story idea, female Vlad the Impaler? Yes please!
First few chapters = amazing
Different vibe from typical YA

Dislikes:
Story seemed to go on repeat, dragged on, then got interesting right at the end
Never connected w/Lada

Really trying to get into this one... started reading it when I saw people give the latest release in the series high marks. Plus, series binge possibility.

I love the idea of a female Dracula - even as a student of history I think it‘s a great twist to the legend. It reads well, but having trouble connecting with Lada.

I just want to give Radu a hug the whole time.

Is this a “get through the first book the rest are awesome” kind of series??