Introduction

“It would be sweet to be cared for despite her faults, and to be wanted for her person rather than the power she comes with.”

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.

My Thoughts

Maybe it was because Normal People got me out of a reading slump, or maybe Fantasy really is my preferred genre, but I burned through Three Dark Crowns! The first time I tried reading he series, I had to DNF after only a few chapters because my brain couldn’t process the amount of characters – there’s a lot – but this time was a cake walk! I loved the characters, loved the three queens, loved all the DRAMA. Not to mention the cliff hanger at the end! I couldn’t stop myself from starting the second book. I’m surprised I wanted to jump into another series (especially since I’m reading ACOTAR right now) but here we are!

Let’s get into this review:

This book has an average 3.8 rating on Goodreads and I don’t know how to feel about that. Obviously, the book has it’s flaws, but this is a fantasy series after my own heart. Who can be mad at a matriarchal fantasy world where there’s a weird culture of triplets being born and being referred to as queen by their respective communities until it’s time for a battle that decides which sisters gets to die a gruesome death and which sister gets to rule the entire kingdom?

That’s really the plot of the book here, folks. We spend several hundred pages getting to know Arsinoe, a naturalist queen who kind of sucks at being a naturalist; Mirabella, an elemental queen who everyone thinks will win the battle when it comes down to it; and Katherine, a poisoner queen who sucks at being a poisoner.

I didn’t fall in love with these sisters individually, but I’m hoping the following books changes my minds about them. I like their collective vibe but I think I haven’t been able to connect to the sisters because of the third person, split narrative style. Each sister has their own POV and even side characters get their own POV from time to time – I don’t think anyone is really fleshed out enough for me to like them.

The sister’s spent most of the book in their respective territories in Fennbirn and I know many people might find that tedious but I really enjoyed it? We don’t get much insight into why Fennbirn is the way it is, or why the girls are the way they are, but I liked spending time in their territories because it showed me their dynamics with others. Arsinoe is a stubborn tomboy, Mirabella pretends to be a dainty woman but she’s got a storm in her veins, and Katharine really just deserves a break, she’s trying her best. The series doesn’t end with winner of the battle but I think I know who I want as the queen of Fennbirn (I can honestly bet money that I won’t get what I want).

Despite the fact that the triplets stay in their territories, their stories intermingle very quickly and I loved that the most. I didn’t have to go too long wondering how the girl’s would be when they finally meet Mirabella and Arsinoe meet very quickly and I was sweating from the moment I realized that was where the story was going. How they ended up meeting was very funny to me, but I understand that others might not enjoy the first book’s love triangle as much as I did. Did I want to pit two strong characters against each other? Of course not. Did I enjoy witnesses the pure chaos of young love? Absolutely.

The book was really easy to read, which I’m grateful for. The book was very slow at first and I expected to DNF it one more time but I powered through and the second half of the book was perfect. I have a feeling the following books are going to be much better.

Rating

Overall, I give the book 5 stars. Now I know, I know, how can I give the book five stars when I critiqued it for the majority of this review? Well, reader, I think numerical reviews are arbitrary. I set no actual rubric for star ratings, I just base it all on how much I enjoyed the book, and I enjoyed this one a lot. Even with its flaws, I was so excited and found myself deep into the night with my book light on its most intense setting just so I can get through this series. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it was certainly mine.