Three Dark Crowns
Ratings95
Average rating3.7
4 stars I think. This was great and helped pull me out of my reading slump. Full review to come!FULL REVIEW:I'm a huge YA Fantasy fan, so when I heard the pitch for [a:Kendare Blake 4086715 Kendare Blake https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1276645449p2/4086715.jpg]'s Three Dark Crowns, I was definitely curious. Combined with an awesome cover and an unusual tense choice (third person present) and I was glad I picked it up.Initially I was a little confused about why there were so many POVs—I was expecting three (one for each princess) and I think we end up with...five? Something like that. For the first portion of the book, I know the many POVs made it difficult for some people to get into it. I just rolled with it, and in the end it made sense as to why every POV was necessary. I will say I did find it a little difficult to keep track of all the names and places (the map helped with the latter, though), so sometimes I confused characters. But once I got used to the cast, that became no longer distracting. So that said, there were two things I really liked about this book: the magic, and the sisters themselves. There are a lot of takes on magic in YA, and many of them look like Mirabella: some sort of elemental stuff with extras thrown in. Nothing wrong with that, I love elemental magic portrayals, but I was really fascinated by the magic of the poisoners and naturalists. The poisoners especially was magic I hadn't seen before in YA, and it was super fascinating to see how that magic manifested (or how it was supposed to manifest, anyway), how it affected the way other people looked at them, and how they “showed it off” to demonstrate power—and the ruse of power. What I really liked about the sisters was they exceeded my expectations in multiple ways. I'd expected Mirabella to be the “evil twin” in the sense that as the most powerful (whether she knows it or not) she'd be biting at the bit to take out her other two sisters, but she was much more complicated than that. But what I especially loved about the three was they demonstrated a variety of ways to “be a girl” without ever implying one way is better than the other. Katherine and Mirabella are both traditionally feminine and take power in their femininity—which was awesome to see. On Fennbirn, women are the top of the power totem pole, so the girls never deal with misogyny and in many ways, their femininity was used as a display of power (yay!). Arsinoe, however, is an entirely different kind of girl. She's defiant, cuts her hair short, and never once wears a dress—even in the scenes where the girls are expected to dress formally, she stands beside her two sisters in dresses wearing a black shirt, vest, and pants. I loved this, because I've literally never seen a princess portrayed as anything short of femininely unless she was in disguise—and as a bonus, Arsinoe never gets any grief over it. She's accepted as she is, and while acknowledged as different, no one ever implies her less feminine style is a bad thing. So all in all, I found this book fascinating—and I was so glued I read sixty percent of it in one day. While I didn't love some of the details at the end, I really enjoyed this one overall and I'm very much looking forward to the next book, [b:One Dark Throne 29923707 One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns, #2) Kendare Blake https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1487862160s/29923707.jpg 50306201]. Diversity note: From what I could tell, not much there, unfortunately.
This book was not great. Not terrible either though. And considering my feelings on Anna Dressed in Blood that's really not a huge surprise. Kendare Blake writes to a younger portion of the YA demographic, and has a gift for unique stories and creating some evocative scenes and moments. But her style is...gentle. I was not expecting anything earth-shattering. But with such a great premise as this, I was definitely hoping for more.
The three 16-year-old queens of a remote magical island are sisters Arsinoe, Katharine and Mirabella. In order for one of them to ascend to the throne, the other two must die. Thankfully, they all have super powers to aid them in this endeavor, but sadly Arsinoe and Katharine's powers have yet to manifest, while Mirabella's are flourishing with leaps and bounds. But things aren't that simple. While Mirabella can generate storms and dance with fire, she has intimate memories of her sisters that she's not supposed to have, and the thought of doing them harm paralyzes her. Meanwhile, Katharine may not be able to hold down her belladonna like she should, but she's a masterful poisoner raised by some pretty scary people, and Arsinoe is tough as nails even if she can't make a single bud bloom. It's a great set up, with some really interesting world-building to support it. But I don't think Blake started this story near enough to its end.
The premise of this book is striking, but the storytelling feels lazy. There's a lot of time spent of each of the queens in their own worlds, with their friends and falling in love with boys. I'm not sure why. Katharine's story line with Pietyr was probably the most interesting to me, maybe just because the poisoners seem strange and wicked and glamorous and I am very about that. Mirabella's story also isn't bad since it is more closely tied to the central conflict, but it could have easily been condensed. Her poorly thought out plans to run away multiple times felt silly. Why bother with a contrived reason for Mirabella to bump into Arsinoe when you can just move the story forward instead? We also get an additional perspective in the naturalist world from Arsinoe's adoptive sister, Jules, who is probably the most talented naturalist on the island. We get to know about this cute little love story between Jules and one of her and Arsinoe's childhood friends that goes sour because Mirabella sleeps with him and....hold on, what? This is not the book I signed up for.
Instead of a more tightly wound story involving three queens plotting against each other, we get three insecure young women whose lives are controlled by the more powerful women around them. Instead of poisoner plots and palace intrigue, we get side quests and love triangles. As said, it's not awful. The queens are interesting, well-written characters who carry their stories well, and their world is a rich and intriguing one. But this book plays very light-footed with what should have been a stronger, more dangerous, more plot-driven story.
Despite this, the great question still hangs over the story, generating a lot of mystery. Were Arsinoe and Katharine swapped and are trying to manifest powers that they don't have? Is Jules secretly a queen? Does one of them have one of the other two gifts that a queen could have - the sight or the mysterious war gift? Or is it something even stranger? This is the main reason why I fully intend to read the next book, but I still wish Blake had given us more of a resolution at the end of this book and answered more of those questions. Honestly, Three Dark Crowns doesn't hold its own very well as the first installment in this series. It's not a complete story. It's more like a meandering prologue that features the emotional lives of three girls in a strange situation, and it just so happens to have a wee bit of a climax at the end.
This book is worth reading for the universe and what I am hoping will be the larger story. It's also fairly enjoyable. Not riveting and page-turning but...nice. There are worse things a book can be, I guess.
If you are intrigued by the description, read the book.
This story has so much going for it. I enjoyed it. The world and mythology are unfamiliar, giving the reader something curious to learn the whole time. This world is full of tradition and plots within plots. All along, I wanted more. I think the story should have been much longer. I know it is a series and it continues after this book - what I mean is that this part of the story needed more words. The characters needed more time to help readers get to know them. The world and mythology needed more backstory.
Besides there being something missing, there was too much awkward teenage romance - even for an young adult novel. Most was unnecessary - even with love interests and jealousy helping to drive the plot forward.
All of that being said, the story is interesting and worth a read.
This book starts off weird especially because we are just thrown into these Queens lives without really knowing anything about them. But slowly we do learn. I definitely am a Arsinoe fan. But like Katharine and Mirabella as well. It was fascinating to see how each girl was brought up differently than the others and how each discipline uses their strengths to live. The ending of this was definitely shocking and now that I know there were definitely hints, but I missed them. I cannot wait to continue this story to see where it takes the Queens.
DNF. The writing was okay but, like a lot of previous reviews say, there's just not enough action to keep me interested. The poisoner was interesting but then the elemental dragged so much I just couldn't go on.
《Three Black Witches are born in a glen,Sweet little tripletsWill never be friends.Three Black Witches, all fair to be seen.Two to devour,And one to be queen.》
The ending. THAT ENDING ALMOST KILLED ME.
DAYUM!!! Just give me the next book, I'm begging you!!!!!
This was alright.
It is NOT what's promised by the cover synopsis. There is no battle to the death between three sisters, there are no terrible moral decisions between family and survival. No no, this novel is entirely about the PREPARATIONS for that. As long as you know that going in, it is not a bad book.
Sure, the focus is mostly on the numerous romances and love triangles/squares/whatevers that spring up like mushrooms, but underneath all that, there are three very intriguing sisters living in three different but no less intriguing surroundings.
More focus on the side characters wouldn't have hurt. To me, most of them were just random names that randomly say stuff. Only the protagonists and their lovers had any personality. And of course the scheming people in the background, but they also kind of blur into the same person.
So yeah, it's a flawed book, it's not what marketing says it is but it has potential. And after this, the second book is definitely going to be that royal Battle Royale we were all kind of hoping for.
Full review hiding under this link
With the recent release of the second book in this series I decided that I really needed to get myself organised and delve into Three Dark Crowns before I started hearing too many spoilers about the series online. I haven't read any books by Kendare Blake before but reviews about Three Dark Crowns seem to be generally good and the plot sounded really intriguing so I was happy to give it a go.
This is a dark, fairytale in atmosphere story about 3 sisters, triplets, who are born Queens then separated and fostered to different homes based on their special talent. When they turn 16 they will each have the chance to fight for the throne, whoever wins will reign until their own triplets are born. The two losers will be killed at the hand of the victor.
The first chapters of the book are quite lengthy as we are introduced to each of the triplets in turn. Firstly we meet Queen Katherine, a poisoner, who is able to withstand any venom and can create deadly potions of her own. We meet the people raising her after 3 generations of poisoner Queens they have grown powerful and will do anything to put a 4th poisoner Queen on the throne. Katherine is not as strong as she looks though and is struggling to survive the demands placed upon her.
We then meet naturalist Queen Arisone, wild and carefree she has grown up surrounded by friends who have protected her and now she turns 16 she needs to face up to the fact that her gifts have not arrived as yet, she should be able to make flowers grow and fields bloom and animals do her bidding but she cannot and soon everyone will learn the truth.
Finally, we meet Queen Mirabella, the Elementalist who can command the elements, the wind, fire, water and the earth. Mirabella is strong and word has spread of her strength. The priestesses of the temples have led her tuition and they will stop at nothing to oust the poisoners from the throne and see the true Queen ascend to her rightful place, even if they need to rig the outcome.
This book was wonderful, it is full of really great characters in the lives of each of the Queens who we come to love. Particularly wonderful is the world of Arisone and her best friend Jules, the strongest naturalist in the community who will do anything to protect her friend and help her to become the new Queen. The characters in the story are really well crafted and it is so easy to become invested in them all and they are all quite distinct so although there are lots of them across each of the three queens courts you don't get confused.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the book, the question of whether the sisters will come to fulfil the prophecy and kill each other or who is the rightful queen. The book asks you to question which one is your favourite but as the book goes on you find each girl has her own attributes that would make her a good Queen but if I had to say which one I was rooting for secretly I'd have to say Arisone but then the cliff-hanger at the end of this book was wonderful and left me quite shocked and desperate to see how this will progress as we move into book 2. It helped to make sense of some of the story in Three Dark Crowns but sets up wonderfully for us to continue the story.
I loved my first experience of Kendare Blake's writing, I really enjoyed the style in which the book was written. The narrative was exicting and the plot moved along nicely with plenty of action without skimping on the relationships within. I would highly recommend this book and I know I won't be able to hold off long before picking up the sequel, One Dark Throne.
Intense and gripping
Intense and gripping from beginning to end. This stoery has so many fantastic female characters in a fantastic world, as it should be.
I don't usually like YA Fantasy; in fact, I actively avoid anything relating to that particular genre, because, as interesting as the premise may be, it will, inevitably, dive much deeper into the relationships, and how the girl is stuck in a love triangle, or quadrangle or whatever. No doubt, several paragraphs will be spent in describing how steamy the kisses were, how conjoined their bodies were during intercourse, how inseparable they were, how much they loved each other, and how devastated they were when the other died. Then again, my view is very prejudicial. I just don't like the writing.
But man, oh, man this book. The premise was so interesting that I just had to pick it up to read, and as I was reading I was desperately hoping that, with every page I turned, with every new chapter I begun, the character wouldn't fall in love with the nearest hot male character and then ruin the book. I was even willing to risk the love stuff for this book.
The premise is super interesting: there are three sisters, which are split up and given to different “clans” who specialize in certain abilities - the Poisoners, the Naturalists, and the Elementalists. These girls will grow up and learn their respective abilities, and when the time comes, something called Beltane, they will try and kill the other sister and take the throne. The time after the Belatane festival in which one of the sisters attacks one of the others is called the Ascension Year. And whichever sister gets to the throne, the respective clan will, therefore, reap the benefits.
There's nothing particularly brilliant about the prose, but it nonetheless flows seamlessly. We are introduced to each of the three sisters and their closest folk, and we read a lot of rumination on the interesting magic system, and ways and means of killing the other sister through out the book.
The best part? There is only one tiny bit where a sex scene is described in detail, and that is one of the very very few intimate scenes in the novel.
The story is really interesting; I love the world in which they live; I love the magic system; I love the concept that the novel explored. It is really quite unique; I don't think I've ever come across any such novel.
This, though, ends on a cliffhanger that'll leave you wanting the next book immediately. I just cannot wait till later this year for the sequel. ARGH!
Wow... dark is an understatement. Even though these characters are twisted and all trying to kill each other you still get kind of attached to the and have sympathy for their story.
I'll give the next book a try, but to my friends you've been warned...very, very dark.
oh my god, this book dragged on for SO LONG. none of the three queens were interesting whatsoever and they were just so weak and pathetic tbh. it was so hard to get into that i ended up listening to the audiobook which still couldn't keep me interested. i would've rated it 1 star if it weren't for the unexpected romance and the cliffhanger at the end.
What I loved:
- The grittiness
- Mirabella
- Jules
- The mythology/lore
- The last 50 pages
What I wished were different:
- The pace: it was pretty slow for most of the book
- More structured POVs
- Less confusion due to a huge cast of characters and relations
I had such high hopes for this one after reading so many glowing reviews but unfortunately I just did not get on with this book.
I found a huge disconnect when reading this which meant I never felt any connection to the characters or the story, I just didn't care. I found the writing style distant which also really didn't help me connect, I felt as if we glossed over certain seemingly important events but then focussed on less important ones with so much detail.
The inconsistent pacing and disconnected story was just too much in the ene and I ended up skim reading to finish it. Such a shame!
This book seems to follow a very obvious path. And just basing it off of the books of this type, expected it to take another path. The plot followed the line I thought it would. Untill the end. That was a curve ball. I didn't not expect that ending. I can not wait to read the next one!!
Wow! What a page turner! I couldn't put this book down and when I did, I kept thinking about the characters. I will admit at first I was a little confused, not too sure what what completely going on, but I think the author wants you to figure it out slowly so that it's not just told to you. Once it all started to make sense I didn't want it to end! Man what a cliffhanger. The next book is set to arrivr in the next few days and I can't wait to read it! This is a great start to the series.
After months I'm finally marking this as DNF. It's too boring and bland and ugh. I just can't.
Really love this dark fantasy. The writing is great, I love the characters, and the story. Can't wait to see how the story plays out!
It took me a REALLY long time to get into this book–it definitely starts very slowly, and I almost put it down. But right about when I was ready to do that, things finally started moving along, and I really got into the story by the end. I think it's an okay beginning to a series that shows a lot of thoughtful worldbuilding and a sincere attempt at creating a fantasy world that isn't just reliant on the usual tropes. I'm interested in seeing where this goes.
Ketiga putri Sang Dewi terlahir dengan takdir yang telah ditentukan. Bertakhta atau mati. Mirabela si Pengendali Elemen mampu menyulut api atau mendatangkan badai dengan jentikan jarinya. Katharine si Peracun, kebal dari segala jenis racun paling mematikan. Arsinoe si Naturalis dikatakan memiliki kemampuan menumbuhkan mawar paling merah dan mengendalikan binatang paling buas.
Setelah Upacara Beltane, pada ulang tahun keenam belas para ratu, pertarungan untuk menjadi penguasa Fennbirn akan dimulai. Sanggupkah mereka mengorbankan saudari mereka demi mahkota dan nyawa mereka sendiri? Siapakah sang ratu terpilih?
Lebih dari 50% awal buku ini terasa sangat membosankan Karena alurnya lam bat se ka li. Plot dikisahkan dari 3 orang calon ratu, yg juga merupakan kembar 3, namun hanya ada 1 takhta untuk diklaim.
Maksud penulis untuk membuat Alur menarik ketika Mirabella bertemu dengan Joseph, yang juga kekasih dari Jules, sahabat & pembimbing Arsinoe, membuatku jengkel. Pertama kali, okelah suatu kesalahan. Namun yang kedua & ketiga? Membuatku menyayangkan Jules untuk tetap bersama Joseph (cheater sshle) & mencemari tokoh Mirabela yg awalnya lebih aku sukai disbanding Katharine.
Memang tidak dipungkiri, plot twist & segala komplikasi terjadi, termasuk menjelang akhir buku yg menurutku cukup baik untuk menebus setengah bagian awal buku yg menguji ketahanan membaca. Aku pastinya akan memberi kesempatan buku kedua apabila diterjemahkan