Three Dark Crowns - Kendare Blake
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Series: Three Dark Crowns, #1
Length: 398 Pages
Purchase: [Amazon] | [Barnes & Noble]
Synopsis:
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.
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.
_____________________________________________________________________
“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”
Oh boy, where do I start with this.
When I was starting this book I was expecting a battle, fight, death and everything that was described. Instead, we get preparations, festivals, suitors and romances. Oh my!
This isn't what I wanted. This isn't what the book previewed for.
When I first discovered the book, I knew it was everything. The storyline was awesome, intriguing, and knowingly good. I could just tell that the story was going to be a very good right off the back. I also expected to give this book a 5 star rating. Now, I'm coming out with a 3.5 star rating. I was very disappointed.
Before I got into this book, I started reading Anna Dressed in Blood first, and I loved everything about it. The details, the writing style, and the characters. While reading this book, I kept thinking that if I enjoyed this book, I was really going to love Three Dark Crowns. Once again, I was proved wrong.
Don't get me wrong, I did like this story and I will continue it. It was just everything I didn't come to expect. The unexpected sometimes can be a good thing with some stories, but in this case, it was just walking into unknown area you thought you really knew.
In this story, it tells the journey between three Queens, who have special abilities and who are triplets. I loved this specific idea because triplets are awesome, and I am one myself. (So yes, I am awesome obviously.) Mirabella, who is my favorite right now because of her abilities, is an elemental. A normal elemental queen usually has the abilities over one or two abilities. However, Mirabella can control just about every normal element, making her one of the strongest Elemental Queen ever known.
Arsinoe is a Naturalist. She has the abilities to call upon animals and familiars and control plants. She can control them and do everything else with animals. Katharine is a Poisoner. She has the abilities to eat poison without being killed and can create, or change poisons. I thought this ability was cool as I have not seen it around that often.
If the story was normal, it would have been a full-on war between the three queens. However Katharine and Arsinoe are deemed weak because they can't control their gifts. Katharine can't control much of the poisons and Arsinoe can't even make a plant grow, or call an animal. Everyone assumes that Mirabella is the one destined for Queenship.
As the story continued, I kept thinking that this felt more of a prequel instead of the actual story. I was under the impression that the three queens knew what they were doing, and the fight was to go on. Instead, we got more of a background information on all the characters in the story. The background was helpful, but it was like sitting in the back of a car and asking the driver "Are we there yet?" I just kept waiting for the action to happen, and it finally happened at like the 80% mark. It was really one long drive, and it was the reason why it took me longer than normal to finish it. The story got more interesting towards the end, but for what was advertised towards the release date and before hand, the main plot of the story just seemed to far distanced.
I also thought that there was a lot of characters. Of course it was a big land, and three different kingdoms (if you want to call it that), but it was a lot to keep track of. Due to this reason, I kept switching Katharine and Arsinoe with each other and I kept forgetting which side character was with who. I also felt that some side characters had a way much bigger spotlight that needed for, sometimes more than the queens. However, I may be wrong with this.
The romance in the story did and did not bother me. It felt normal to the story, but it also felt like it was the main point of the story other than the huge battle that was supposed to be going on. I understood the importance of it, but I hoped there would have been just a little less of it.
Before writing this review, I had to dig into reviews and discussions as I looked at several many sites. I found a discussion that had similar thoughts to I did, but also explained theories. These theories made me think over some of my thoughts. What if one of these side characters actually has a bigger place in the story than it seemed? What if the spotlight this character took was actually required? What if another character did something for a reason unknown to the reader? (Which I assumed anyways.) What if some of the specific details that were brought in that didn't mean anything, that actually meant something in the future as possible twists? In a way, these theories helped me think over this story first.
Also, I curse Kendare Blake for those twists at the end. Although this book was not what I expected, I will go onto the next book because I know it is going to be what every wants. The fight will go on!
“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”
Oh boy, where do I start with this.
When I was starting this book I was expecting a battle, fight, death and everything that was described. Instead, we get preparations, festivals, suitors and romances. Oh my!
This isn't what I wanted. This isn't what the book previewed for.
When I first discovered the book, I knew it was everything. The storyline was awesome, intriguing, and knowingly good. I could just tell that the story was going to be a very good right off the back. I also expected to give this book a 5 star rating. Now, I'm coming out with a 3.5 star rating. I was very disappointed.
Before I got into this book, I started reading Anna Dressed in Blood first, and I loved everything about it. The details, the writing style, and the characters. While reading this book, I kept thinking that if I enjoyed this book, I was really going to love Three Dark Crowns. Once again, I was proved wrong.
Don't get me wrong, I did like this story and I will continue it. It was just everything I didn't come to expect. The unexpected sometimes can be a good thing with some stories, but in this case, it was just walking into unknown area you thought you really knew.
In this story, it tells the journey between three Queens, who have special abilities and who are triplets. I loved this specific idea because triplets are awesome, and I am one myself. (So yes, I am awesome obviously.) Mirabella, who is my favorite right now because of her abilities, is an elemental. A normal elemental queen usually has the abilities over one or two abilities. However, Mirabella can control just about every normal element, making her one of the strongest Elemental Queen ever known.
Arsinoe is a Naturalist. She has the abilities to call upon animals and familiars and control plants. She can control them and do everything else with animals. Katharine is a Poisoner. She has the abilities to eat poison without being killed and can create, or change poisons. I thought this ability was cool as I have not seen it around that often.
If the story was normal, it would have been a full-on war between the three queens. However Katharine and Arsinoe are deemed weak because they can't control their gifts. Katharine can't control much of the poisons and Arsinoe can't even make a plant grow, or call an animal. Everyone assumes that Mirabella is the one destined for Queenship.
As the story continued, I kept thinking that this felt more of a prequel instead of the actual story. I was under the impression that the three queens knew what they were doing, and the fight was to go on. Instead, we got more of a background information on all the characters in the story. The background was helpful, but it was like sitting in the back of a car and asking the driver "Are we there yet?" I just kept waiting for the action to happen, and it finally happened at like the 80% mark. It was really one long drive, and it was the reason why it took me longer than normal to finish it. The story got more interesting towards the end, but for what was advertised towards the release date and before hand, the main plot of the story just seemed to far distanced.
I also thought that there was a lot of characters. Of course it was a big land, and three different kingdoms (if you want to call it that), but it was a lot to keep track of. Due to this reason, I kept switching Katharine and Arsinoe with each other and I kept forgetting which side character was with who. I also felt that some side characters had a way much bigger spotlight that needed for, sometimes more than the queens. However, I may be wrong with this.
The romance in the story did and did not bother me. It felt normal to the story, but it also felt like it was the main point of the story other than the huge battle that was supposed to be going on. I understood the importance of it, but I hoped there would have been just a little less of it.
Before writing this review, I had to dig into reviews and discussions as I looked at several many sites. I found a discussion that had similar thoughts to I did, but also explained theories. These theories made me think over some of my thoughts. What if one of these side characters actually has a bigger place in the story than it seemed? What if the spotlight this character took was actually required? What if another character did something for a reason unknown to the reader? (Which I assumed anyways.) What if some of the specific details that were brought in that didn't mean anything, that actually meant something in the future as possible twists? In a way, these theories helped me think over this story first.
Also, I curse Kendare Blake for those twists at the end. Although this book was not what I expected, I will go onto the next book because I know it is going to be what every wants. The fight will go on!
No comments:
Post a Comment