mia_luvsreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, and Gore
Minor: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
pageafter_paige's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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 final book wrapped up the series better than I had anticipated. I laughed, I cried (twice), and I screamed throughout the story! The character arcs came full circle and really tore my heart out. Even though romance isn’t the focus of the book I am always rooting for Billy and Arsinoe so without the bonus epilogue I would’ve been in limbo. Overall great series and I found this book very fast paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Infertility, Torture, Body horror, Grief, Murder, War, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, and Confinement
emtees's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I finished this book yesterday and normally I’d give myself a few days to think about it before putting down my thoughts. But this book keeps going down in my estimation every time I think about how it ended, so I needed to write down the good parts before I forget them. There were a lot of good parts - up until about 2/3 of the way through, I thought this was going to be my favorite book in this series - but the way so many of the character arcs ended left me very dissatisfied.
Five Dark Fates (don’t ask what those are, we’re never told, though if I had to guess I’d think maybe the five powers found on Fennbirn?) starts off in the aftermath of the disastrous meeting between the Undead Queen and the rebel faction which left Madrigal Millone dead, Katharine barely in control of the dead queens who possess her, and Jules in the thrall of her legion curse. Pietyr’s attempt to use low magic to free Katharine from the queens failed, leaving him in a coma and Katharine alone and increasingly desperate. It’s into this environment that Mirabella arrives to answer Katharine’s call for unity, partially because she doesn’t really believe in the rebellion and the need to bring an end to the line of triplet queens, but also because she wants to figure out the mystery of Madrigal’s last words: “she has the dead in her.” Her quest to figure out what is really wrong with Katharine and how much of the little sister she once loved is still in her leads her to investigate the history of Fennbirn’s queens and reforge her connection with her mentor Luca, the High Priestess who betrayed her. The more time Mirabella spends in the capital, the more she feels torn between her two sisters and the very different futures they support for the island they were all born to serve.
Meanwhile, with the rebellion, Arsinoe cares only about saving Jules. To find a way to free her best friend from the legion curse, Arsinoe finally embraces her nature as a poisoner. But while she may pretend not to care about the bigger political matters around her, the rebellion is still alive. Emilia, their war-gifted leader, is still determined to see Jules on the throne, and while Arsinoe is a potentially valuable ally, she also represents the old world that the rebellion wants to overthrow. And Mirabella’s defection has left Arsinoe caught between the sister she loves and the friend who has been her most loyal ally all her life.
Like I said, I really enjoyed this book for the majority of the time I was reading it. I really love these characters and the relationships between them. Kendare Blake does a great job with complicated friendships, whether it’s the difficult history and lingering love Mirabella has for both her sisters, the complex feelings of Arsinoe and Katharine for each other, the deep loyalty of Arsinoe and Jules or the sweet sisterhood between Mirabella, Bree and Elizabeth. I especially liked getting to see some of these relationships shift around. Arsinoe and Emilia will clearly never be friends, but I liked seeing their points of connection. I was glad that Bree and Elizabeth had come to care about Katharine, and I even enjoyed the brief alliance between Arsinoe and Pietyr. And Blake takes that same complexity to the larger groups - seeing Arsinoe try to find her place within the rebellion or Mirabella with the Temple that both raised and betrayed her were great.
It was also great to finally dig into the background of Fennbirn. Since the beginning of the series, there have been intriguing hints about this world, it’s Goddess and it’s magic: where did the line of queens come from and why are they locked into a cycle of sacrifice and death; what is the relationship between the queens and the Temple; what is the source of the mist that protects Fennbirn but keeps it isolated from the outside world. In this book, for the first time, it felt like the characters themselves were interested in these questions, and we got to learn more than we had before. Other than the question of the mist, none of these were really answered, but there was enough to hint at other stories in Fennbirn’s history. I wouldn’t mind if Kendare Blake decided to write more stories in this universe.
So that’s the good. What about the bad? Well, an unfortunately large percent of the plot of this story centers around terrible communication. There is an entire subplot in the middle of the book that only exists because Mirabella, for no good reason, ran off without leaving Arsinoe a note telling her where she was going, and even when they meet up again, she still won’t explain for reasons that make no sense. Arsinoe is also keeping a major secret from Mirabella - but one she has no problem sharing with just about everyone else. Luca holds the key to explaining one of the big mysteries of the story, but rather than just spit it out, she sends Mirabella on a library quest, I suspect just to take up more time in the book. That leads to another problem: a lot of this book involves characters trying to figure out the answers to questions the audience already knows. I was really interested in the story of Illiann and Daphne that was introduced in the previous book and wanted to know more about it; instead, we got to spend time in this book watching Mirabella and Katharine, separately, learn the same information Arsinoe got in the last one.
If those were the only problems, I would have been okay with a book that stretched its story out unnecessarily to get to a satisfying ending. But instead we got deeply unsatisfying endings for the majority of the characters and a very weak wrap-up to the plot.
Spoilers for the ending of Five Dark Fates:
Katharine’s death was equally pointless. It seemed that she had accepted that she had to let Arsinoe kill her to destroy the queens, but then Arsinoe managed to exorcise the queens out of her with low magic. So instead Katharine died by… falling off a building trying to save Arsinoe? And then the mist killed the queens for… reasons…. None of it felt like a satisfying end for any of these characters or relationships. Not to mention all the worldbuilding around the dead queens, Illiann and Daphne, the mist… none of that really went anywhere. The magic apparently just sorted itself out.
I was happy to see Jules end up as queen - I’m always here for a disabled heroine - but her storyline felt like it kind of fell apart at the end too. Jules accepting her legion curse as the only way to defeat the dead queens: great. Jules’s legion curse then just disappearing because I guess she’d used it for what it was meant for? Uh, sure. (And are she and Emilia getting together or not? I know that’s not the most important thing but there was such build up around that relationship and then it never got resolved. I appreciate Jules having difficulty moving on from Joseph but it felt like there was a scene missing here.)
Arsinoe was the one main character who did have a satisfying ending. Arsinoe was the queen who always expected to die and who never fought for anything but her own survival and that of her friends, so it was nice to see her finally embrace her power - and her low magic! - and step up as a queen. I was glad she survived, glad she doesn’t have to be a ruling queen, and glad that she and Billy will probably end up together after all they’ve gone through, even though the last-minute drama over their relationship felt unnecessary. I still wish her connection with Daphne felt like it had any kind of point or resolution.
I would still read more Kendare Blake books but I’m not sure I’d recommend this series without a serious warning that the ending is not a satisfying one.
Five Dark Fates (don’t ask what those are, we’re never told, though if I had to guess I’d think maybe the five powers found on Fennbirn?) starts off in the aftermath of the disastrous meeting between the Undead Queen and the rebel faction which left Madrigal Millone dead, Katharine barely in control of the dead queens who possess her, and Jules in the thrall of her legion curse. Pietyr’s attempt to use low magic to free Katharine from the queens failed, leaving him in a coma and Katharine alone and increasingly desperate. It’s into this environment that Mirabella arrives to answer Katharine’s call for unity, partially because she doesn’t really believe in the rebellion and the need to bring an end to the line of triplet queens, but also because she wants to figure out the mystery of Madrigal’s last words: “she has the dead in her.” Her quest to figure out what is really wrong with Katharine and how much of the little sister she once loved is still in her leads her to investigate the history of Fennbirn’s queens and reforge her connection with her mentor Luca, the High Priestess who betrayed her. The more time Mirabella spends in the capital, the more she feels torn between her two sisters and the very different futures they support for the island they were all born to serve.
Meanwhile, with the rebellion, Arsinoe cares only about saving Jules. To find a way to free her best friend from the legion curse, Arsinoe finally embraces her nature as a poisoner. But while she may pretend not to care about the bigger political matters around her, the rebellion is still alive. Emilia, their war-gifted leader, is still determined to see Jules on the throne, and while Arsinoe is a potentially valuable ally, she also represents the old world that the rebellion wants to overthrow. And Mirabella’s defection has left Arsinoe caught between the sister she loves and the friend who has been her most loyal ally all her life.
Like I said, I really enjoyed this book for the majority of the time I was reading it. I really love these characters and the relationships between them. Kendare Blake does a great job with complicated friendships, whether it’s the difficult history and lingering love Mirabella has for both her sisters, the complex feelings of Arsinoe and Katharine for each other, the deep loyalty of Arsinoe and Jules or the sweet sisterhood between Mirabella, Bree and Elizabeth. I especially liked getting to see some of these relationships shift around. Arsinoe and Emilia will clearly never be friends, but I liked seeing their points of connection. I was glad that Bree and Elizabeth had come to care about Katharine, and I even enjoyed the brief alliance between Arsinoe and Pietyr. And Blake takes that same complexity to the larger groups - seeing Arsinoe try to find her place within the rebellion or Mirabella with the Temple that both raised and betrayed her were great.
It was also great to finally dig into the background of Fennbirn. Since the beginning of the series, there have been intriguing hints about this world, it’s Goddess and it’s magic: where did the line of queens come from and why are they locked into a cycle of sacrifice and death; what is the relationship between the queens and the Temple; what is the source of the mist that protects Fennbirn but keeps it isolated from the outside world. In this book, for the first time, it felt like the characters themselves were interested in these questions, and we got to learn more than we had before. Other than the question of the mist, none of these were really answered, but there was enough to hint at other stories in Fennbirn’s history. I wouldn’t mind if Kendare Blake decided to write more stories in this universe.
So that’s the good. What about the bad? Well, an unfortunately large percent of the plot of this story centers around terrible communication. There is an entire subplot in the middle of the book that only exists because Mirabella, for no good reason, ran off without leaving Arsinoe a note telling her where she was going, and even when they meet up again, she still won’t explain for reasons that make no sense. Arsinoe is also keeping a major secret from Mirabella - but one she has no problem sharing with just about everyone else. Luca holds the key to explaining one of the big mysteries of the story, but rather than just spit it out, she sends Mirabella on a library quest, I suspect just to take up more time in the book. That leads to another problem: a lot of this book involves characters trying to figure out the answers to questions the audience already knows. I was really interested in the story of Illiann and Daphne that was introduced in the previous book and wanted to know more about it; instead, we got to spend time in this book watching Mirabella and Katharine, separately, learn the same information Arsinoe got in the last one.
If those were the only problems, I would have been okay with a book that stretched its story out unnecessarily to get to a satisfying ending. But instead we got deeply unsatisfying endings for the majority of the characters and a very weak wrap-up to the plot.
Spoilers for the ending of Five Dark Fates:
Spoiler
I went into the book expecting Katharine and Mirabella to die. Katherine has been a tragic character from the beginning, and once she decided that the dead queens possessing her had to be defeated, I thought she would die to do it. And while I knew Mirabella wouldn’t be queen - too many people kept insisting she was born for it for the story to actually end that predictably - I was also sure she wasn’t going to get the happy ending as a teacher on the mainland that she’d dreamed of. Mirabella was too sure that she had been born to serve the island and I thought she would do so by dying to stop the mist. So for both of them, I expected a sad ending… but I also expected one that had a point. Instead, Mirabella was killed by Katharine, not to stop the mist or save anyone, but so she couldn’t be possessed. And the writing of that scene was so awkward - her death came out of nowhere, right when it seemed she and Katharine were finally going to get some answers about the Goddess and the cycle of queens, and it was written to deliberately obscure that I guess she asked Katharine to kill her? That’s revealed later like it was a big surprise but it sure didn’t feel like one. And the timing meant that Mirabella ended up having no role at all in the climax of the story. (Yes, she wrote Arsinoe a note telling her to… do exactly what Arsinoe had already planned to do anyway. So helpful.)Katharine’s death was equally pointless. It seemed that she had accepted that she had to let Arsinoe kill her to destroy the queens, but then Arsinoe managed to exorcise the queens out of her with low magic. So instead Katharine died by… falling off a building trying to save Arsinoe? And then the mist killed the queens for… reasons…. None of it felt like a satisfying end for any of these characters or relationships. Not to mention all the worldbuilding around the dead queens, Illiann and Daphne, the mist… none of that really went anywhere. The magic apparently just sorted itself out.
I was happy to see Jules end up as queen - I’m always here for a disabled heroine - but her storyline felt like it kind of fell apart at the end too. Jules accepting her legion curse as the only way to defeat the dead queens: great. Jules’s legion curse then just disappearing because I guess she’d used it for what it was meant for? Uh, sure. (And are she and Emilia getting together or not? I know that’s not the most important thing but there was such build up around that relationship and then it never got resolved. I appreciate Jules having difficulty moving on from Joseph but it felt like there was a scene missing here.)
Arsinoe was the one main character who did have a satisfying ending. Arsinoe was the queen who always expected to die and who never fought for anything but her own survival and that of her friends, so it was nice to see her finally embrace her power - and her low magic! - and step up as a queen. I was glad she survived, glad she doesn’t have to be a ruling queen, and glad that she and Billy will probably end up together after all they’ve gone through, even though the last-minute drama over their relationship felt unnecessary. I still wish her connection with Daphne felt like it had any kind of point or resolution.
I would still read more Kendare Blake books but I’m not sure I’d recommend this series without a serious warning that the ending is not a satisfying one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent
reckless_counsel's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Death of parent
esme_may's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I adored this! I'm so glad I decided to finish this series because it was so much better than the last one. An incredible end to the series
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Death, Gore, Blood, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Murder, Self harm, Xenophobia, Confinement, Grief, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal cruelty and Sexual content
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Just like its predecessor, Five Dark Fates couldn’t spark the same excitement in as like the first two books of the series. Maybe my 3.5 stars rating is a bit generous; I generally liked this book and the series but for some reason, I mainly focussed on the negative things in my review.
The revolution plot of the last book continues, and the rebels are still trying to overthrow Katharine. Mirabella has changed sides but it’s honestly good for her since she can be with her friends again and the rebels treated her terribly. This is one of the reasons I was not so invested in the revolution, and it only became interesting when . Another amazing moment was .
Spoiler
Billy got kidnapped by Katharine and in return, the rebels kidnapped Pietyr. I felt so sorry for Billy since he’s the only character in this series that is actually goodSpoiler
Katharine killing Mirabella so that the dead queens can’t take her over. This is such a defining moment for Mirabella, but it made me so mad because she was my favorite queen of the threeIn general, the ending was dramatic and epic: .
Spoiler
Katharine saves Arsinoe from death and then dies with the dead queens. I’m honestly mad that Arsinoe is the only queen surviving since she’s the most boring one; Jules of course is able to defeat Rho as well and survives. Already before, I’ve noticed the trend of YA books only telling and not showing us what happened after the big final battle; this is the case here again. I strongly dislike that Jules became the new queen because I don’t think that she’ll be a good queen and she doesn’t deserve to be in this position. I’m normally a fan of characters changing the status quo but here, they keep the monarchy going instead of using the opportunity to create a more democratic systemComing to the characters, I’ll have to say that . The characters around Mirabella, who takes this great role as a mediator on in this novel, are so great and I love them. In comparison though, I really disliked the people around the rebellion. Emilia is the worst character in the entire series, I just hate how impulsive she is. Apparently, she’s in love with Jules but this love is barely shown on screen, and she just talks about it. Besides this, the other romances are also not that great.
Spoiler
I’m quite mad that only the boring characters surviveAll in all, the finale of the Three Dark Crowns series was a bit underwhelming. For me, the series started so amazingly with the first two books that had interesting conflicts and introduced us so well to the characters. Those are almost all thrown over in the last two books for an arbitrary revolution apparently every YA book needs. Don’t get me wrong, I love revolutions, but they get so predictable with the time. The ending of the series was also just not that great and I wished it had a different outcome. I’m honestly not sure if the series is worth it; probably when you’re invested in the characters and world after the first book like I was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, Violence, Confinement, and War
Moderate: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Infertility
Minor: Murder and Sexual content
taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Stars
Another series in the books! As far as series endings go, I wouldn’t say that Five Dark Fates was my favorite ever, but it was still a really solid conclusion to a very enjoyable series.
Much like One Dark Throne, this installment of the series was another one that I just didn’t want to put down. I felt like I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how everything was going to end.
I much more enjoyed the storyline of the rebellion and Jules’s role in it in this book. Jules certainly grew on me as a character in this one. The whole revolution trope is something that’s perhaps quite overdone in YA, but I thought that the Three Dark Crowns take on it kept it feeling fresh. Most of the time this trope is approached as “overthrowing the powers that be,” but especially in this conclusion, the rebellion felt like more. It wasn’t just about overthrowing a corrupt government but also shucking off the roles that these characters have been told they need to fulfill.
The story also places an emphasis on how things aren’t just good or bad, especially through Katharine’s character. Like Jules, Katharine has never been my favorite, but I did find her a more compelling character in this book. Katharine truly embodies that idea that people can be both good and bad. She’s the representation of the things that are “bad” or “wrong” on Fennbirn, but this book makes it a point to show the good in her, too. She’s continuing her desperate hold on the crown that began in Two Dark Reigns, but we get to see her slowly realize that she’s running out of things to hold onto. I think Natalia’s death at the end of One Dark Throne really sealed Katharine into her ultimate demise.
Speaking of ultimate demise, I’m really torn on how I feel about Mirabella’s and Katharine’s deaths. Mirabella was definitely my favorite character, so I was devastated when she died, especially since it was so sudden. I was even a little disappointed when Katharine died. On one hand, there’s something poetic about this last generation of triplets still falling prey to the tradition of having only one survivor. But on the other, I can’t help but be disappointed because that’s what Arsinoe and Mirabella were fighting so hard to prevent throughout most of the series. I had really hoped that this set of triplets would be the ones that were different, but alas, fate was not on their side.
The only major thing holding me back from giving this book a higher rating is that it just felt like it was missing something, and I think it comes down to tension. In the first half of the series, there’s an excellent tension knowing that the triplets are all running towards this battle royale for the crown. In Three Dark Crowns, we’re watching them brace for the Ascension Year, and in One Dark Throne, we’re seeing that Ascension Year come to pass. But in both of the books that follow, there’s an uncertainty about what everyone is moving towards. Sure we can tell that there’s a battle on the horizon with the rebellion, and we know what the rebellion’s short term goals are, but especially in this last book, there seemed to be a lot of uncertainty. I never quite felt like I was sure of what the story was moving towards in a broader sense, beyond the notion of attempting to overthrow Katharine. The tension just didn’t have the same je ne sais quoi as it did in the first two books, if that makes any sense.
That aside, I do still think that Five Dark Fates was a great read and provided a satisfying conclusion to the story of Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katharine.
I think I overall liked the first two books of the series better than the last two. However, I know that the story was originally planned as a duology, and I definitely think that I would not have been satisfied if the story had ended with One Dark Throne.
My ranking for the series (it’s worth noting that I read Three Dark Crowns about a year before the rest of the story and prior to when I started rating and reviewing books):
1. One Dark Throne
2. Three Dark Crowns
3. Five Dark Fates
4. Two Dark Reigns
The Three Dark Crowns series is definitely going to become one of my new go-to recommendations. I absolutely love this world and these characters. The aesthetic and atmospheric are impeccable, and even with this story over, I’m excited to read more from Kendare Blake in the future (I’ve actually already read an arc version of her latest, “In Every Generation.”) But for now, I’m sad to leave to world of Fennbirn behind.
2022: 19
Another series in the books! As far as series endings go, I wouldn’t say that Five Dark Fates was my favorite ever, but it was still a really solid conclusion to a very enjoyable series.
Much like One Dark Throne, this installment of the series was another one that I just didn’t want to put down. I felt like I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how everything was going to end.
I much more enjoyed the storyline of the rebellion and Jules’s role in it in this book. Jules certainly grew on me as a character in this one. The whole revolution trope is something that’s perhaps quite overdone in YA, but I thought that the Three Dark Crowns take on it kept it feeling fresh. Most of the time this trope is approached as “overthrowing the powers that be,” but especially in this conclusion, the rebellion felt like more. It wasn’t just about overthrowing a corrupt government but also shucking off the roles that these characters have been told they need to fulfill.
The story also places an emphasis on how things aren’t just good or bad, especially through Katharine’s character. Like Jules, Katharine has never been my favorite, but I did find her a more compelling character in this book. Katharine truly embodies that idea that people can be both good and bad. She’s the representation of the things that are “bad” or “wrong” on Fennbirn, but this book makes it a point to show the good in her, too. She’s continuing her desperate hold on the crown that began in Two Dark Reigns, but we get to see her slowly realize that she’s running out of things to hold onto. I think Natalia’s death at the end of One Dark Throne really sealed Katharine into her ultimate demise.
Speaking of ultimate demise, I’m really torn on how I feel about Mirabella’s and Katharine’s deaths. Mirabella was definitely my favorite character, so I was devastated when she died, especially since it was so sudden. I was even a little disappointed when Katharine died. On one hand, there’s something poetic about this last generation of triplets still falling prey to the tradition of having only one survivor. But on the other, I can’t help but be disappointed because that’s what Arsinoe and Mirabella were fighting so hard to prevent throughout most of the series. I had really hoped that this set of triplets would be the ones that were different, but alas, fate was not on their side.
The only major thing holding me back from giving this book a higher rating is that it just felt like it was missing something, and I think it comes down to tension. In the first half of the series, there’s an excellent tension knowing that the triplets are all running towards this battle royale for the crown. In Three Dark Crowns, we’re watching them brace for the Ascension Year, and in One Dark Throne, we’re seeing that Ascension Year come to pass. But in both of the books that follow, there’s an uncertainty about what everyone is moving towards. Sure we can tell that there’s a battle on the horizon with the rebellion, and we know what the rebellion’s short term goals are, but especially in this last book, there seemed to be a lot of uncertainty. I never quite felt like I was sure of what the story was moving towards in a broader sense, beyond the notion of attempting to overthrow Katharine. The tension just didn’t have the same je ne sais quoi as it did in the first two books, if that makes any sense.
That aside, I do still think that Five Dark Fates was a great read and provided a satisfying conclusion to the story of Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katharine.
I think I overall liked the first two books of the series better than the last two. However, I know that the story was originally planned as a duology, and I definitely think that I would not have been satisfied if the story had ended with One Dark Throne.
My ranking for the series (it’s worth noting that I read Three Dark Crowns about a year before the rest of the story and prior to when I started rating and reviewing books):
1. One Dark Throne
2. Three Dark Crowns
3. Five Dark Fates
4. Two Dark Reigns
The Three Dark Crowns series is definitely going to become one of my new go-to recommendations. I absolutely love this world and these characters. The aesthetic and atmospheric are impeccable, and even with this story over, I’m excited to read more from Kendare Blake in the future (I’ve actually already read an arc version of her latest, “In Every Generation.”) But for now, I’m sad to leave to world of Fennbirn behind.
2022: 19
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gore
emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
3.75
The best way to sum up my feelings about this book (and this series as a whole, really) is that nothing feels developed enough. It's like a cake. The core elements - the flour, sugar, eggs, etc. - are there, and they're good, but it wasn't put in the oven long enough so everything about it seems underbaked. Like you're about to sneeze and you know it's gonna be a good one, but it never comes. Or a 2D drawing that was meant to be a 3D rendering.
In terms of specifics, the ending action was pretty good. But apart from that, I don't have much else to say.
In terms of specifics, the ending action was pretty good.
Spoiler
Although the most important chapter in the whole book, where Katherine changes allegiance and Mirabella dies, came across as a sketch or an outline, so didn't feel like the momentous event that it was. Mira dying at this point before she could really made an impact also just turned her into a non-character for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, and Self harm
Moderate: Death of parent, Cannibalism, Ableism, Child abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Torture, and Body horror
Minor: Child death, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual content, Infertility, Vomit, Confinement, Medical content, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Pregnancy
Illness, loss of a loved onebegentile's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
Que conclusão incrível! No geral, essa série surpreende muito, nunca se sabe que personagens vão sobreviver ou qual será o próximo grande plot twist. Infelizmente, esse foi o último plot twist, e que reviravolta! Entre rainhas vivas e mortas, os segredos da Ilha são revelados, a relação entre as trigêmeas, apesar de ainda muito conturbada, se apoia mais do que nunca nos laços de irmandade e a névoa continua a aterrorizar Fennbirn. Jules Milone assume seu papel como rainha da legião ao lado de Emília e os rebeldes se unem para retirar Katherine do poder, iniciando uma nova era para a Ilha. Mas será que é isso o que a Deusa realmente quer? Nessa conclusão descobrimentos finalmente quem assume o Trono e quem fica vivo pra contar a história.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, War, Torture, Murder, and Gore
bskell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: War