Synopsis:
In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.
But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.
The last queen standing gets the crown.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
WOW, I really liked this one! I've heard a lot of mixed reviews, with
people either loving it or hating it and not much "meh" in between. I
tend not to buy into hype anymore - especially YA hype - because I
always end up disappointed, so I'll admit I was pretty cynical going
into this. But hot damn, I was gripped from the first chapter.
I understand why Three Dark Crowns isn't everyone's cup of tea: it's slow, has a lot of characters, and is unapologetically dark and mature as YA goes. But that's exactly what made me love it. I love dark fantasy, but it usually fails in the YA genre. I find much of the time that when an author tries to make their YA dark, it ends up coming off as cheap and edgy, and overall feels gratuitous. But Kendare Blake really nailed it here.
Though I do agree that there are a few too many characters, I really enjoyed the main trio of Katharine, Arsinoe, and Mirabella. I didn't necessarily like them all - Arsinoe in particular I liked less and less as the novel progressed - but they were all so wonderfully flawed and different from each other. YA has a tendency to default to the badass female character archetype, and it was refreshing to see the nuances of what it means to be "powerful" explored through each sister. What power means for each sister is different, but ultimately each one is rendered powerless at some point in the novel, depending on the circumstances. I absolutely adore how layered Blake's exploration of power is. Not to mention, I loved seeing women at the forefront of politics and power.
Jules and Joseph fell the most flat for me. Joseph felt more like a way to create drama in order to propel the plot forward than a character. Jules just pissed me off to no end, and often had me wondering what her purpose was in the novel besides to cause drama and make Arsinoe more interesting. Jules falls most into that "strong female character" trope, insta-love included. I personally would've liked to see Arsinoe navigate her life without Jules to constantly save her ass, or keep Jules, but have her be less trope-y.
I don't mind slow reads as long as the writing keeps building my sense of suspense and anticipation, so the slow pacing didn't bother me as much as I think it did other people. But I do think the pacing needed to pick up sooner than it did. I started to get a little bored in the page 200-300 range. If the synopsis had been different, I don't think it would've been a problem. This book is mostly set-up for the death competition between the queens, but the synopsis paints the novel as though it is the death competition. Because the competition doesn't kick in until the last 100 pages, the all the set-up started to drag for me.
Ultimately, the things I disliked about Three Dark Crowns were minor for me. I went in with low expectations, and instead was presented with a real gem of dark YA fantasy. I can't wait to start the second book!
I understand why Three Dark Crowns isn't everyone's cup of tea: it's slow, has a lot of characters, and is unapologetically dark and mature as YA goes. But that's exactly what made me love it. I love dark fantasy, but it usually fails in the YA genre. I find much of the time that when an author tries to make their YA dark, it ends up coming off as cheap and edgy, and overall feels gratuitous. But Kendare Blake really nailed it here.
Though I do agree that there are a few too many characters, I really enjoyed the main trio of Katharine, Arsinoe, and Mirabella. I didn't necessarily like them all - Arsinoe in particular I liked less and less as the novel progressed - but they were all so wonderfully flawed and different from each other. YA has a tendency to default to the badass female character archetype, and it was refreshing to see the nuances of what it means to be "powerful" explored through each sister. What power means for each sister is different, but ultimately each one is rendered powerless at some point in the novel, depending on the circumstances. I absolutely adore how layered Blake's exploration of power is. Not to mention, I loved seeing women at the forefront of politics and power.
Jules and Joseph fell the most flat for me. Joseph felt more like a way to create drama in order to propel the plot forward than a character. Jules just pissed me off to no end, and often had me wondering what her purpose was in the novel besides to cause drama and make Arsinoe more interesting. Jules falls most into that "strong female character" trope, insta-love included. I personally would've liked to see Arsinoe navigate her life without Jules to constantly save her ass, or keep Jules, but have her be less trope-y.
I don't mind slow reads as long as the writing keeps building my sense of suspense and anticipation, so the slow pacing didn't bother me as much as I think it did other people. But I do think the pacing needed to pick up sooner than it did. I started to get a little bored in the page 200-300 range. If the synopsis had been different, I don't think it would've been a problem. This book is mostly set-up for the death competition between the queens, but the synopsis paints the novel as though it is the death competition. Because the competition doesn't kick in until the last 100 pages, the all the set-up started to drag for me.
Ultimately, the things I disliked about Three Dark Crowns were minor for me. I went in with low expectations, and instead was presented with a real gem of dark YA fantasy. I can't wait to start the second book!
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