Synopsis:
The battle for the Crown has begun, but which of the three sisters will prevail?
With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off. Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favor without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before—ones that put those around her in danger she can’t seem to prevent.
In this enthralling sequel to Kendare Blake’s New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns, Fennbirn’s deadliest queens must face the one thing standing in their way of the crown: each other.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟
Unpopular opinion: I liked Three Dark Crowns better.
I understand why Three Dark Crowns was slow. It gave the reader the opportunity to really get to know the characters before their lives were in danger, set up the world, build the stakes, etc.. One Dark Throne, therefore, had no business being as slow as it was for the first 200 pages or so. The death competition has started! We don't need anymore set-up! Not to mention, the slow pace didn't create the same sense of tension as it did in Three Dark Crowns, and so the pacing just felt dull without any payoff of suspense.
I didn't like Arsinoe or Jules in the first novel, but they were tolerable enough that I wasn't "seething hatred"-level bothered. In this book, however, they drove me absolutely bonkers. Thankfully, Joseph wasn't nearly so annoying as the first book, but it's like Arsinoe and Jules absorbed everything irritating about him and doubled it. Arsinoe really doesn't contribute anything to the plot, and really seems more like a vehicle for making Jules's narrative relevant to the story. I guess I understand Kendare Blake wanting to include a non-queen narrative, but I wish it hadn't been at the cost of sacrificing Arsinoe as a character. She's not even boring. Boring I could handle. Instead, she's so frustrating that I want to hurl her out of the novel.
Low-key, I'm devastated about Katharine's character. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE the power and mystery she's taken on since being thrown into the Breccia Domain a la the previous novel, but I wish it had happened to a different character. Katharine was my favorite character, and in my opinion the most compelling of the three queens. I would've preferred to see her character preserved, and had a different character undergo the changes of the Breccia Domain. I think Mirabella would've been a fine candidate, and seeing her struggle between the will of the dead queens and her own mercy for her sisters could've been incredible.
I couldn't put the book down from the Queen's Duel section and onwards, hence my 3 star rating despite all of my issues. That, combined with Katharine's existence, really saved this book from being a 2 star read for me. One Dark Throne really felt like a lot of missed opportunities. The first book set it up to be so dark and so complex, and it just didn't live up to the expectations the first book built.
I'm relieved that there are more books after this one, because that conclusion read as such a non-ending that I would've rioted lol
I understand why Three Dark Crowns was slow. It gave the reader the opportunity to really get to know the characters before their lives were in danger, set up the world, build the stakes, etc.. One Dark Throne, therefore, had no business being as slow as it was for the first 200 pages or so. The death competition has started! We don't need anymore set-up! Not to mention, the slow pace didn't create the same sense of tension as it did in Three Dark Crowns, and so the pacing just felt dull without any payoff of suspense.
I didn't like Arsinoe or Jules in the first novel, but they were tolerable enough that I wasn't "seething hatred"-level bothered. In this book, however, they drove me absolutely bonkers. Thankfully, Joseph wasn't nearly so annoying as the first book, but it's like Arsinoe and Jules absorbed everything irritating about him and doubled it. Arsinoe really doesn't contribute anything to the plot, and really seems more like a vehicle for making Jules's narrative relevant to the story. I guess I understand Kendare Blake wanting to include a non-queen narrative, but I wish it hadn't been at the cost of sacrificing Arsinoe as a character. She's not even boring. Boring I could handle. Instead, she's so frustrating that I want to hurl her out of the novel.
Low-key, I'm devastated about Katharine's character. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE the power and mystery she's taken on since being thrown into the Breccia Domain a la the previous novel, but I wish it had happened to a different character. Katharine was my favorite character, and in my opinion the most compelling of the three queens. I would've preferred to see her character preserved, and had a different character undergo the changes of the Breccia Domain. I think Mirabella would've been a fine candidate, and seeing her struggle between the will of the dead queens and her own mercy for her sisters could've been incredible.
I couldn't put the book down from the Queen's Duel section and onwards, hence my 3 star rating despite all of my issues. That, combined with Katharine's existence, really saved this book from being a 2 star read for me. One Dark Throne really felt like a lot of missed opportunities. The first book set it up to be so dark and so complex, and it just didn't live up to the expectations the first book built.
I'm relieved that there are more books after this one, because that conclusion read as such a non-ending that I would've rioted lol
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