★★★★☆
Three Dark Crowns got me. It got me hard. You can read my review here, but I basically set down the book and immediately started screeching like an animal as I frantically wrote the publisher and asked if they *happened* to have an extra ARC of One Dark Throne.
Needless to say, I got my wish (and you can get your hands on it, too, if you enter our giveaway). One Dark Throne started out a little slow, in that not much actually went down, but it was still interesting to anyone who enjoyed the first book. I was engrossed, constantly wanting to know what each sister was thinking and planning. Plus, the whole messed up bird’s nest that is Jules and Joseph, I mean damn. I’m conflicted, but not really, because as soon as Joseph [spoilers from Three Dark Crowns] cheated on Jules I was like nope, nope, nope. Bye.
There’s a whole new kind of drama and suspense in the second book in this series! It was originally supposed to be a duology, but Kendare Blake announced earlier this year that it’s now a four-book series. Which is awesome, but also means that One Dark Throne is no longer the thrilling conclusion to the series that fans were expecting. The story is a little more spread out, which I personally liked, but I’ve heard others complain that “nothing is happening.”
Rest assured, things happen in One Dark Throne. It may take a little while, but dang, do I want to reveal some serious spoilers just so I can talk about all of my thoughts. Suffice it to say, while this book is different from Three Dark Crowns, it’s still awesome.
You’ll get to see a lot of scheming from all three sisters, and you’ll scream at Katharine with me. She changes a lot after Pieytr [spoilers from Three Dark Crowns] throws her down a damn chasm in the last book, and I swear, I constantly want to reach into the book and slap her. To be fair, she doesn’t know about Arsinoe’s new Poisoner-related revelation, so it’s not entirely her fault.
For Mirabella fans, don’t worry! There’s plenty of innocent, kept-in-the-dark Mirabella. She and Joseph are shoved together a lot in this book, and by the end it creates a strange dynamic where Joseph is pulled between Mirabella and Jules and has to choose where his loyalties lie — I still want to punch him in the face, but nevertheless, his character arc is interesting. Whether it was Arsinoe’s failed spell that “made” him cheat or not, he’s getting no mercy from me, no thank you.
My advice here, overall, is to read One Dark Throne ASAP! I’m in love with the world Three Dark Crowns created, and I’ll definitely be reading all four books.
I’m going to give One Dark Throne four stars, because the critiques about slow pacing aren’t completely unfounded, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it!
Order One Dark Throne from Book Depository and get free worldwide shipping! Here’s a direct link!
