#AllHallowsWeek Review - Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Series: Three Dark Crowns  #1

Genre: Fantasy 

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Purchased

Published: October 2016

Hardcover - 398pgs

Add it // Buy it

Rating- 4/5

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.

Kendare Blake continues her string of dark and gritty stories with this foray into fantasy. Unsurprisingly this story had just the right mix of dark elemental magic and awesome writing.

If I had one word to describe this book, it would be solid. It started as an intriguing synopsis which I was very excited to check out. The foundation for this new duology is well set. An interesting set of characters is introduced and the world building is slowly starting to take shape. I honestly loved all the sisters, which I wasn't expecting, and am eager to have the next book in my hands.

Most of the characters, especially the strong main characters, are ladies. All of them are fierce and brave throughout the book and romance took a back seat to the main storyline which I really enjoyed. The story really focused on the three sisters' lives and their preparations for this year when they would try to kill each other. The romance is there, but for a majority of the book it is low key and in the background. 

Overall I only had two issues with this story which all relate back to the very short chapters. Throughout the book the chapters are short and we switch between the three sisters' lives. For the first part of this book this constant switching made it difficult to distinguish the many side characters. It was also difficult to feel connected to any of the sisters since we constantly jumped from one to the other. These short chapters also made the pace drag. It took a long time for the story to build and not  much happens in the middle of the book. The ending is quite exciting and action packed, which really saved the book, but I would have liked more action throughout.

Like I mentioned, I am still really excited about the next book. There will be a lot of ground to cover and a lot of strings to tie up, but I am sure Blake is up to the task.