Reviews with content warning for Death - One Dark Throne

Reviews tagging 'Death'

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

19 reviews

socialpsysteph's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I struggled to get through the first book but I think that was more a reading slump's fault than the book itself so I wanted to pick up book 2 pretty quickly to see if it was worth continuing the series. It was definitely the reading slump's fault; I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have no idea where the story is going to go so I am excited to keep reading and trying to figure it out. Definitely, there are some twists in this one that I didn't see coming! I've already requested the third book from the library!

This book counts for the Magical Readathon Alchemy Side Quest 2023 to read a book with furniture on the cover.

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pagesbycaroline's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book definitely keeps you on your toes. There was so many ups and downs where you thought something was over and then it comes back later. A good sequel.

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mia_luvsreading's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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thaliareads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall I enjoyed this book. Through probably an accidental pocket tap on my end while trying to pause the book, I'm pretty sure I skipped about an hour of the book towards the end, but didn't realize for a bit because I assumed it was just the jumpiness between perspectives. While I like the idea of the book and am glad I read it, I don't think I would have finished it if I were reading the physical book because I moved through it pretty slow. I do still plan to finish the series as I'm excited about the direction the story was moving at the end of this book.

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lrose02's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was so full of action I sped through it. Mirabella and Arsinoe just got more lovable throughout the book whilst my contempt for Katharine grew.

Spoiler

I’m glad they confirmed that Arsinoe and Katharine were switched. I loved that we got to meet Jules’ aunt. Fuck her Mum though. The only valid man in this series is Billy and Luke. The tiny side characters don’t count. I am sad to admit I was not upset when Joseph died. It was a very obvious build up as he kept bleeding even though he was “fine”. Natalie didn’t deserve that ending but it’s going to be interesting to see how Katharine is affected in the next book. It’s a really interesting plot point that now everybody knows Arsinoe is meant to be a poisoner. The poisoner vs the poison. I don’t get how Katharine was able to be crowned when her sisters were still alive- I’m surprised the island let her. I think it’s possible now that Mirabella and Arsinoe can rule together but Katharine is never giving up the throne. I like the twist at the end with her husband and what she has become. Jules is an interesting character because I’ve never really encountered a side character that is more powerful than one of the main ones and the ending is one that makes me go “ooooh bad idea”. Jules definitely should not have returned to the island but I can’t blame her after Joseph. She needs to learn independence and strength away from him and I hope the warriors help her do that

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eddiroll's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: Violence , descriptions of blood and gore, death/murder, animal cruelty, infanticide mention

One Dark Throne is book two in the Three Dark Crowns quartet. I felt similarly about this book as I did the last book. The story is interesting, but some of the dialogue is still a little weird.

We pick up after the events of last book with Arsinoe is trying to keep her discovery to herself and Jules, as well as trying to figure out how not to die in the Ascension year. Arsinoe continues to be the best queen of the bunch and I want to see how she puts her gift to use in the coming books. As always, Jules is the real MVP and he she got to have a really fascinating discovery as well.

Queen Mirabella just wants to not have to kill her sisters. Even though she has been acknowledged as the chosen queen, she isn't doing as well as hoped. Not to mention the guy she's in love with belongs to someone else. We get to see more of Mirabella's powers at work here. I love that she can sail a ship with her elemental abilities.

And then there is Queen Katharine. She went through some shit last book that she truly didn't deserve, but her personality took a complete 180° turn. She went from being meek and sickly to evil and slightly less sickly. It isn't really explored why she's so different, but it is hinted at that it's connected to the Breccia Domain. I hope we get more of what she's thinking next book, because she just seems evil for evil's sake.

This is a decent series with good characters, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

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lizzie___'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I love the series, but I felt that with this book the author really just tried to create a opening for as many sequels as possible, as some choices she made during the story clearly leave holes that give oportunity for a longer series... It kinda made me mad (?) 'cuz the story would be better/more interesting (in my opinion) if she didn't tried to make so many turns and plot twists!

Spoiler

With Katherine being the Queen we would still have an opening for AT LEAST one more sequel... Like how things would go whit the execution of her sisters (the discovery of Arsinoe's real gift and Mirabella facing Luca during her execution knowing the temple "trade" her for chairs in the council since she refuse to kill her sisters), what would happen with Jules and even how Katherine would deal with the fact that her king is dead and she has to hide it from EVERYONE... Would she manage to do that? The consequences for the island, her relationship with Pietyr, Genevieve being the new chief of the Arrons and the council (that now counts with a heavy presence of the temple), what really happened to Katherine and the forgotten queens...

It's just that the history could develope so much without her clearly molding it to go in a certain way to make it longer or without caracters making really boderline dumb and incoherent decisions in the name of leadin the history to places!

Spoiler

like when they decided to not sacrifice Jules even with her having the legion curse in name of "calmin down Wolf Spring" when is know that's a island tradicion to do things that way and that she was already disliked by them, how Billy's dad killed Natalia and they never even tried to look for Billy after that, how they sent just 3 really weak guards to escort Mirabella when she's know to be the most powerfull one, how when Katherine is crowned everyone is still treatin the other sisters like queens and obeying then even when it leads to then scaping, how only 12 members of the gift of the war (WHO WHERE SUPPOSE TO BE FUCKING WEAK 'CUZ OF THE GENERATIONS WITHOUT A QUEEN OF THEIR KIND) were able do destroy every single guard of the Volroy without being caught and how the council only was informed of the queens escape a freaking day later

Still it's a good read if you just want to have a good time and don't care that much about the series :)

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kibiiiariii's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

In the second book of the Three Dark Crown series, One Dark Throne, the pace of the story finally picks up and the stakes are higher than ever. While the first book was more an introduction to the characters and the world, the battle between the sisters intensifies here and gets more dramatic-

I’m still so much invested in this intriguing story. Since I’ve bounded so much already with certain characters, I was always worried that something terrible would happen to them. This leads to a more suspenseful atmosphere than before. Adding to this is that Katharine has lost her mind which makes her even more unpredictable than before. Besides her, the other two queens develop so much in the course of the story which was amazing to see. Thanks to the many different POVs besides the sisters, we get a closer insight in the politics of Fennbirn and how they play a huge role in the fight for the throne.

The ending was so dramatic as well:

Spoiler

It was so hard to see how Katharine became the queen and how Mirabella and Arsinoe couldn’t do anything to prevent it. They should be executed as well but Arsinoe was able to fake her own death while Mirabella thought it was her real death. Natalia’s death was so dramatic too, just as Nioclas’ death was brutal. After this, it is revealed that Katharine is barren, meaning that the whole system of the queens will probably end and nobody knows what will happen then. In the end, Mirabella and Arsinoe are able to flee but Joseph dies, and Jules goes back to Fennbirn

I’ve said it before, but all the characters are so well written. I’ve bounded so much with some of them (like Arsinoe and Jules) that I’m always worried that something will happen to them. My opinion on the queens has also changed a bit; the main ranking is still the same (Arsinoe > Mirabella > Katharine) but I don’t like Katharine now at all.

I mentioned this as well before, but I love that are only females in power positions. Besides this, there are so many great female characters. In comparison, the male characters, and the love triangle every queen has are just not great. I hate how Joseph couldn’t make a decision, and Pietyr’s justification for what he did was so weird.

In summary, One Dark Throne took all what made the first book great and extended upon it. There’s so much potential for the rest of the story since so many things happened that will change everything.

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