Review : Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Published: September 20, 2016

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.

This book is hands down one of my favorites of 2016 (I know, I’m a bit behind of writing posts but I’m sorry!) . I never read a Kendare Blake book but I’ve only heard good things (mostly Taylor raving about Anna Dressed in Blood).  I kind of wish I read her books before this because holy crap this was fabulous.

The writing was great and the three sisters were all so different and I was so enthralled with all of them I loved each of them for a different reason.  They’re such different three main characters but they’re all so great in their own way, I can’t wait to see who they become now that they’re all crossing paths.  I think Arsinoe is my favorite though. There’s a will and strength about her that I love.  But all of them have a different type of strength.

I loved the darkness of this book and the ruthlessness of it all. I loved that these girls were all so cut throat and all the women in the book were strong ones. It was something I wasn’t expecting from this and it was a great surprise. I loved the settings and the vast differences of where these women were brought up and the differences in how the societies were run.

I also loved the relationships everyone had. I love Katerina’s relationship with Piertyr (did I spell that right? probs not) and how he hopes to help her show that she is a strong contender since her sisters are stronger and more likable than she.  But I also love Mirabella and how she falls in love with THAT ONE PERSON she probably shouldn’t be in love with even though she can have men just fall at her feet.

The spin at the end was fabulous, as the pieces were coming together I was literally getting more and more in shock, it was just such a well thought out and such a great transition into a second book. I cannot wait to see where this series goes.

All in all lessons learned from reading this book: Kendare Blake has awesome writing skills, she writes bad ass women, and I should’ve read a lot more Blake books prior to this one.