This review originally appeared on the book review blog: Just One More Pa(i)ge.

What a great, broody, intriguing start to a trilogy. This has all the elements of a great YA [historical fiction] trilogy: political drama, budding romances (both hetero and homo), betrayal, secrets, and lots of emotional ups and downs. First, let me just say that I LOVE this historical recasting of Vlad the Impaler to be a lady, Lada the Impaler. And both Vlad’s story and the Ottoman Empire are, for me, fascinating parts of history. I'm also enjoying the way Islam is portrayed, from various lenses, by the different characters, and how that plays both for them individually and into the larger story. So altogether, that combination gives me a lot of reasons to love this book. For an opener, I felt like this book did a fantastic job setting up the rest of the story. And that’s not to say it was not interesting in its own right. The relationship building among Lada, Radu and Mehmed, along with many of the other side characters, like Huma, Halil Pasha, Nicolae, Bogdan, Kumal and Nazira, was phenomenal, both on interpersonal levels and related to political gain/maneuvering. Seeing how everything started for these characters, how they all met, and how they grew into who/what they are now…it just sets the stage perfectly for what is coming.

And to that point, I love where this book ended. It has definitely got me ready to jump into the next one to see what comes next, emotionally loaded and on the verge of big things, but without being overly/unnecessarily cliffhanger-y (which is one of my biggest pet peeves in series – you can create a reason for me to want to read on without overdoing it, but anyways…). Lada has made her decisions and is poised to take up a major mantel, fighting (impressively) against everything it means to be a woman in that day and age. Mehmed is similarly poised, ready to strike out after his destiny…and a little heartbroken too, I would think (I’m interested to see how that plays out). And Radu, probably the character my heart hurts for the most, is stuck in the middle of everything – my feels for him are real. But her too is starting to come into his own, which I’m totally down with. Overall, I cannot wait to read more about one of my new favorite heroines in what is, so far, a great historical retelling/embellishment. Lada is badass, brutal, sure of herself (even if it’s sometimes to a fault), and just an awesomely strong lady. And this exploration of the lives of some of history’s most debated characters, and how they became the legends they are today, has got me hooked.