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As I was eating my breakfast of ice cream this morning (yay wisdom teeth surgery) and wracking my brains for an idea of a blog post, the perfect thing came to me. Three Dark Crowns.
Now, for anybody who doesn't know Kendare Blake's FANTASTIC book, I suggest you go out and buy it immediately. I was lucky enough to receive this book in the October Owlcrate (an amazing bookish subscription box) and it's honestly one of my favorite books that I've read this year.
Set on a magical island called Fennbirn, this book switches between the viewpoints of three different queens. Every generation in Fennbirn, the queen gives birth to triplet daughters. Each daughter has a different power. There are Poisoners- those who can withstand any poison and who are adept at mixing them, Elementals- those who can control the elements, such as wind, fire, water, etc, and Naturalists- those who can control animals and plants. Each set of triplets has one daughter of each gift. When they are born their mother sails away, never to return, and they are raised together until they are six. Then at age six they are each taken to a different part of the country and raised learning how to kill the other two.
Our story begins just before the queen's sixteenth birthday when the fight for the crown begins. The queens will have one year to kill each other off until only one queen is left standing. The one true queen.
This is one of those books that I actually couldn't put down. I devoured the entire thing in under a day. Kendare Blake's storytelling is masterful and unique, and she kept us guessing at who would win the entire time. Her skill with character development is formidable as well. I was expecting for there to be one queen who was the protagonist, and the other two would be horrible villains. However, to my surprise, I ended up falling in love with all of the queens in their own way.
Blake does an incredible job of telling a dark story in a way that isn't draining on the reader. It is a very atmospheric novel, but it has moments of happiness, love, and discovery throughout. Not to mention the plot twist at the end. I'm waiting with bated breath for the sequel, One Dark Throne, to be released in September.
My rating- 5/5
Thanks for reading! Each and every one of you guys makes me so happy. Until next time, happy reading :)
