I think that this is one of those books that you go into expecting one thing and are given something else entirely. I wanted a strong heroine and I definitely got that, in a way. Lada is defiant and uncharacteristically unlikeable. Radu is self pitying, self centered and whiny. Mehmed is oblivious. And yet, we are expected to listen to their stories and care about their interactions. 
 The whole plot was slow as molasses and thick with names, places and dates. We are introduced to spoiled children who grow into hardened adults and a vast amount of secondary characters that have little face time. All in all, the writing is beautiful and the development of each character, or lack thereof, believable. By then end of the book, Lada is still defiant, Radu is still self pitying and Mehmed is still oblivious. 
 Will I recommend this to others? Probably not. Will I be reading the next installments? Probably not.*** 
 10/03/16 updated to add- I couldn't stop thinking about this book after I read it, despite the fact that I didn't necessarily like it. It evoked an array of emotions, and I guess that's the whole point, right? ***If I remember to, I'll probably pick up the next one just because I'm curious. Apparently.