Review: Three Dark Crowns

Ｔｉｔｌｅ：Three Dark Crowns

Ａｕｔｈｏｒ：Kendare Blake

Ｓｅｒｉｅｓ：Book 1

Ｒａｔｉｎｇ：★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

When kingdom come, there will be one.

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.

✩ Katharine was the character I sympathized with the most. She was really quiet, shy, and meek. She was bullied a lot by other people and I felt really bad for her situation.

✩ Arsinoe was another character I felt bad for. She was pretty much ignored by everyone. No one considered her a threat. She was even named after a past queen who died easily. It seemed like she didn’t get much respect.

✩ Mirabella was also likable despite everything because of how much she loved her sisters. I was expecting her to be terrible, but I also liked that she was brave enough to admit to herself that she loved them and that she didn’t want to hurt them.

❝ Three dark queens

are born in a glen,

sweet little triplets

will never be friends

Three dark sisters

all fair to be seen,

two to devour

and one to be Queen.❞

 

This book really surprised me, in the best of ways. I came into this book not being too sure if I would like it or not. I had seen some other negative reviews about how the book didn’t have much action. Let me start off by saying: yes, this book does lack in action the way we usually think about it, but it was definitely not boring! The synopsis of the book is a little misleading because you go in thinking that the sisters/queens will be going after one another, but this book is really more of a setup for the rest of the series.

Three Dark Crowns covers the first part of their rituals/ceremonies where the queens are introduced to the people, they meet suitors, show off their abilities, etc. They are not allowed to kill one another until the Ascension Year begins (which doesn’t take place until the very end of the book). So, if you’re expecting them to go at each other’s throats it can be a little disappointing. However, the book makes up for this with the character development of the three queens and their relationships with one another/the people in their territories. I’ll get into each of the queens a little later.

I really enjoyed the writing style and format of the book because we were able to meet each of the main characters individually, and get to know what their life was like. It was like each of them had their own little world they lived in right before all the rituals/festivals started and they had to interact with one another. I liked getting to know the people that had raised each of the queens, who had trained them and molded them into what they had become. It also made me appreciate their struggles even more.

❝ Queens are not supposed to love their sisters. She has always known that, even when they were together at the Black Cottage, where she had loved them anyway. 

“They are not those children anymore,” she whispers into her hands. 

They are queens. They must die.❞

 

As I said in the Character section, I really sympathized with the main characters. For Katharine and Arsinoe it was the worst.

Katharine grew up being bullied and pushed around by the people who fostered her. She was constantly told she wasn’t good enough, that she was weak. I really felt bad for her because people didn’t think she was good enough, but at least she was sort of seen as a threat.

With Arsinoe, it was even worse only because she never seemed to show a gift so people didn’t expect her to win. She grew up being considered basically a sacrifice. People thought she was worthless and going to be the first to die. I felt terrible for her

Finally, Mirabella was always the strongest and considered by many people to be the one true queen. People had no doubt she’d win because of how powerful she was. I honestly didn’t think I’d like her very much, but I grew to admire her because of how she admitted to herself that she loved her sisters and didn’t want to hurt them. She was a very good person, very caring and empathetic. She was strong-willed and had her own ideas of right and wrong–she didn’t let the temple and priestesses decide what she should think.

I also liked many of the side characters, so I’m going to instead talk about a character I didn’t like. Joseph really bothered me in this book because of how he was essentially leading on two girls. He not only betrayed the girl he supposedly loved but kept going back to the other girl. I was actually really annoyed with the girl he was supposed to be in love with because she kept forgiving him and letting him back in. I think Joseph didn’t deserve either of the girls to be honest. He seemed like a nice guy otherwise, but this just made me not like him in the end.

I think that even if this book feels a little slow that it is well worth pushing through to read the next book in the series. I was surprised by the events that took place in the story, especially where it concerned the queens. There were some twists I didn’t see coming that definitely made the story more intense. There were secrets kept and made that ended up complicating things so much between the different characters. Ugh! And I had so many questions about what would happen next. I’m really anxious to continue and find out what happens to the three queens ❤ Keep an eye out for my review on the next book, One Dark Throne!

Also, my favorite quote: “I shouldn’t do it,” she says. “I should go down to the water and yell at a crab until it prostrates itself before me”. Because don’t we all have those days where we feel like yelling at crabs, lol?