Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake Review
Hello Again!
Another week, another review! If you haven't noticed by now, I will be reviewing a book every Thursday. This week I will be reviewing Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. I picked up this book because I had heard about it in the book community for so long and I was chomping at the bit to give it a read (also the cover art is amazing). Read on to see what I thought of this novel! Enjoy!
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."
-Barnes and Noble
Review
This novel was different from others in the YA Fantasy genre in that it was narrated from three different perspectives (not necessarily three different people). Each chapter would cut to a different queen's residence and most of the chapter was narrated by the queen but some of the chapters were narrated by other character's as well.
The constant perspective switching made the material a little hard to grasp at first and I thought this made it hard to get attached to the main characters but I quickly got used to it and enjoyed seeing other plot points going on in the story as well as the queens.
Another thing that I found interesting was that at the beginning of the novel, I had a favorite queen but by the halfway point, I liked them all. I think this says alot about Kendare's writing style and how she can weave influence into her writing.
This was the first of Kendare Blake's novels I had ever read, although I plan to read some of her earlier novels now. I think the pacing was a bit slow through the first half of the book due in part to having to develop three separate characters but it picks up about halfway through. Some of the lore and world building could have been developed a little more fully but I think this is probably explained further in the second novel, One Dark Throne, which I intend on picking up soon.
Conclusion
Overall, I enjoyed the novel but it was not as fast- paced and adventurous as I expected it to be. There were some dry parts but it was enjoyable overall. I'm looking forward to seeing the story continue as it ended on a big cliffhanger.
Length: 416 pages didn't feel long enough to tell a story from 3 perspectives somehow
Story Development: Not as fully developed as it could be but there were 3 of them
Romance: Well developed, not forced
Protagonist Strength: Average(since there were 3 to keep up with)
Re-readable? Yes
I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars
