Review: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Published: September 20, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 398 (Hardcover)
Series: Three Dark Crowns #1
Source: Library
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

When kingdom come, there will be one.

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.

This book was not at all what I was expecting. The summary is very misleading. It promised three queens that were all spectacularly gifted, but it didn't deliver. I felt kind of lied to. 

Lately, I seem to be picking up books that are incredibly slow in the beginning and then pick up pace about halfway through the book. This one didn't seem to pick up until very close to the end. That's about the only exciting part of the book with a few chapters that were more entertaining than others. The premise of the book was enough to keep me reading. I wanted to know which queen would survive so bad.

For the most part, the characters were decent. I wasn't strongly attached to any of them, but I did enjoy Arisnoe and Katherine's chapters much more than Mirabella's. By the end of the book I hated Mirabella as a character. I completely disliked her relationship choices. It was unnecessary and honestly uncomfortable to read about, especially because the character she's involved in is someone that is very present throughout the story. I did really enjoy reading about Arisnoe and Katherine and that's probably because they struggle, unlike Mirabella. I found Mirabella annoying, even before she made poor choices. Out of the three sisters I feel like her self-pitying was the least warranted and the most annoying.

I thought the world that Kendare Blake created was quite vivid and easy to picture, as well as interesting. It kept me intrigued throughout the story and honestly I'm strongly considering picking up the second book, even though I didn't love this one. I'm hoping that it will be more exciting, especially after the ending of this one.