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riverstyx1325's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's starts of slow paced in the beginning, but speeds up a lot at the end. The ending had a MAJOR plot twist, so I would recommend having the second book available to read before finishing 🙃
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual content
akirma's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
2.5
The premise is so promising, but the writing style made reading this like pulling teeth. The characters seem flat, there's no discernible rationale behind their actions. The author throws the world at your feet and just expects you to go along with it. I kept thinking "this scene would be great if it were written by someone competent". It's a pity, seeing as the plot twists at the end of the book make me want to know what happens next but I just can't take 400 more pages of this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
bohemianhermit04's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Blood
cc0906's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
hannahwhiteyy's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a good first book to the series, but didn’t stand well on its own. The pacing and flow was spotty at times, yet faster in others. Yet overall, the plot was intriguing and I empathised with a lot of the characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt
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
just_an_avocado's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It took me a while to acclimate to the simplistic and slightly bland writing style, but once I did, I found the characters and plot to be rather captivating. This world is dark and brutal, and the plot is full of twists and turns that you'll never see coming. I can't rate it very high because the first half was just way too slow-paced for my taste, but eventually, I found myself enjoying it a lot. Will read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Torture
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'll admit, the first half of this is pretty slow paced and doesn't really pick up until the last third or so. There's a lot of setting the tone, which makes sense, since this is the first book in a series. But that ending! Blake definitely knows how to grab her readers to be sure they'll continue to the next book. What a cliffhanger ending!
On a side note, I listened to the audiobook of this and got confused when it randomly rewound and I realized I was listening to the same chapters over again. At first, I thought maybe it was a weird formatting thing, but Hoopla was just being weird. The narrator for the audiobook was fantastic, though! And useful because I'm sure there were a bunch of things I wouldn't have been able to pronounce, otherwise.
On a side note, I listened to the audiobook of this and got confused when it randomly rewound and I realized I was listening to the same chapters over again. At first, I thought maybe it was a weird formatting thing, but Hoopla was just being weird. The narrator for the audiobook was fantastic, though! And useful because I'm sure there were a bunch of things I wouldn't have been able to pronounce, otherwise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Blood
Minor: Animal cruelty and Sexual content