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cee_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Overall a good book, the pacing was a little slow and I figured out a major plot twist early on so the fact it didn't come until later really made the book go slow. I found the overall concept fun but a few details felt muddled and could have been clarified a little more
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Fire/Fire injury
thejadylady's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I usually read books in the first person in this one is third person omniscient, so that was a little challenging for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Body horror
Minor: Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
eyyitsalex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Infidelity, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Murder
luarna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Blood
teri_b's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I read this to get an idea as to what my own take on this series is.
Suffice to say that I dnfed this book nearly a couple of times. The toxicity of the relationships that is defined by the adults is appalling. Combined with the underlying representation of eating disorders that can be triggering, I would not consider this book to be a healthy read.
Suffice to say that I dnfed this book nearly a couple of times. The toxicity of the relationships that is defined by the adults is appalling. Combined with the underlying representation of eating disorders that can be triggering, I would not consider this book to be a healthy read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
anastasiamakes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I was expecting this book to be very Hunger Games / Battle Royale-y but it actually focused a lot more on the characters, their relationships, and the politics of their world. A dark romp with strong female characters throughout and some good twists. Enjoyed it more than I expected!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Torture, and Violence
emily_mh's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
A sentence that sums up how I feel about this book is: I'm glad I didn't buy it, but I am interested in what happens next. The best part about the book was its premise of three queens vying for the throne, and there was some good world-building surrounding this. Everything else was a bit meh. I didn't like the omniscient narration style, or that it was done in present tense. I think it was the reason behind the poor characterisation of literally every character (but ESPECIALLY Katharine's. Her POVs were... so bland). There was just no internal world for any of them. I was expecting big reactions from the sisters meeting for the first time in ten years, but it was literally "oh there's my sister on her platform" or "oh my sister's talking to me in this forest" which was incredibly disappointing. Flat characters also meant that all the romances fell flat. It was very insta-love. And on top of the characters being meh, the plot had no direction beyond the fact that Beltane was gonna happen in a couple of months. Literally nothing of consequence happened between the beginning and that point. And you'd expect with the whole book leading up to the Quickening, that event would have some impact. But it was over in 10 pages tops. On the whole I was just expecting a lot more from this book. What partially saved it was the unique world-building and the fact that I wasn't dreading picking it back up when I put it down - it was actually somewhat enjoyable and definitely easy to read. That's enough to make me pick up the sequel!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Excrement, and Alcohol
barry_benson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
booksthatburn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
So that was dark and stressful.
THREE DARK CROWNS doesn't pull punches and lives up to its name. It's the kind of story where if you ask "does the dog die", the answer is not only "yes", but begs the follow-up "do you want to know the fates of any other animals?" In the canon of books where sisters raised apart must fight to the death for only one can be queen, this stands out for having understandable reasons why. There's a goddess who at least supposedly wants everything to go this way, but more importantly there are large, driven, and complex political factions full of individuals pushing for power and prestige. The triplets have been apart from each other and mistreated by their various handlers for nearly a decade, each one being told that the other two will be just as ready to kill her as she must be. The three sisters are very distinct from one another, and their various clusters of friends, allies, and manipulators were fascinating to read. When things go wrong (and they just keep going wrong) there's a known reason (at least to the reader).
The worldbuilding is detailed and vibrant. The three largest factions each are backing a Queen whose ability matches theirs, but there are two more power-based factions and then the (supposedly neutral) Temple. We learn that sometimes there are four babies instead of three, and other kinds of messiness that the power systems have worked around, redirected, or incorporated to their own ends. I love how these little explanations make it feel like a system that people within it might actually want to perpetuate, which is so vital for a story so full of deadly machinations and impetuous decisions. Arsinoe is my favorite character though I gradually warmed to Katherine and I like her much more by the end. I like how Mirabella is handled, but I didn't warm to her as a person. The Poisoners are my favorite faction, Natalia is a driven and manipulative guardian for Katherine, and Pietyr completes the picture in a way that's good for the plot but doesn't bode well for anyone around him. The nice thing about having the factions and multiple protagonists is it feels like there's room to like and dislike any permutation of characters as people and still enjoy the story.
I love the ending, the last chapter transformed my general interest into needing to get the next book as soon as I feel emotionally recovered from this one.
THREE DARK CROWNS doesn't pull punches and lives up to its name. It's the kind of story where if you ask "does the dog die", the answer is not only "yes", but begs the follow-up "do you want to know the fates of any other animals?" In the canon of books where sisters raised apart must fight to the death for only one can be queen, this stands out for having understandable reasons why. There's a goddess who at least supposedly wants everything to go this way, but more importantly there are large, driven, and complex political factions full of individuals pushing for power and prestige. The triplets have been apart from each other and mistreated by their various handlers for nearly a decade, each one being told that the other two will be just as ready to kill her as she must be. The three sisters are very distinct from one another, and their various clusters of friends, allies, and manipulators were fascinating to read. When things go wrong (and they just keep going wrong) there's a known reason (at least to the reader).
The worldbuilding is detailed and vibrant. The three largest factions each are backing a Queen whose ability matches theirs, but there are two more power-based factions and then the (supposedly neutral) Temple. We learn that sometimes there are four babies instead of three, and other kinds of messiness that the power systems have worked around, redirected, or incorporated to their own ends. I love how these little explanations make it feel like a system that people within it might actually want to perpetuate, which is so vital for a story so full of deadly machinations and impetuous decisions. Arsinoe is my favorite character though I gradually warmed to Katherine and I like her much more by the end. I like how Mirabella is handled, but I didn't warm to her as a person. The Poisoners are my favorite faction, Natalia is a driven and manipulative guardian for Katherine, and Pietyr completes the picture in a way that's good for the plot but doesn't bode well for anyone around him. The nice thing about having the factions and multiple protagonists is it feels like there's room to like and dislike any permutation of characters as people and still enjoy the story.
I love the ending, the last chapter transformed my general interest into needing to get the next book as soon as I feel emotionally recovered from this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent