Book Review: One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2)

Release Date: September 19, 2017
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: HarperTeen
Length: 464 pages
Source: Purchased Book

The battle for the Crown has begun, but which of the three sisters will prevail?

With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off. Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favor without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before—ones that put those around her in danger she can’t seem to prevent.

In this enthralling sequel to Kendare Blake’s New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns, Fennbirn’s deadliest queens must face the one thing standing in their way of the crown: each other.

    

Review:

Characters: Going into this book almost right after reading the previous installment, I wasn't rooting for any queen, in particular, to be seated on the throne by the end of this tale. However, as the story expands and deepens, as it is no longer a duology, we really get to see more from these characters than I ever thought we would. Arsinoe, after discovering her true gift longs to discover more about it and why she was sent to the Naturalists. Mirabella, after nearly getting attacked at the Quickening, wants to win her crown, but her love for her sisters still persists and she's shocked that Arsinoe would try and attack her even after Mirabella saved her life. Katharine, after crawling out of the Breccia Domain, is stronger than ever and she has her sights set on being the next queen and her ambitions and tactics are frightening. Even if I liked one or more of these girls less in this installment, that was more for their conduct and their personality, as characters in this story though they are all fantastic and I really liked seeing how their dynamics shifted and evolved in this installment.

Romances: So, the romances in this book are about as important to the story as the first installment, which wasn't that much, but there was a good amount of development between all couples involved. Without going into it too much, Arsinoe and Billy haven't yet fully confronted their feelings for each other, if there are true feelings there at all, then there's the fact that Billy's still a suitor and required to spend time with the other queens as well. Katharine and Pietyr are in a very rocky place ever since he shoved her down a seemingly endless pit and subjected her to who knows what horrors. Finally, Mirabella is stuck being one side of a very awkward love triangle between Joseph and Jules. I was pleasantly satisfied with how the romances developed in this installment and how some newer romances also entangled into this very tangled and sticky web.

World Building: The Ascension year begins and it's time for one queen to be Crowned. After the initial shock of just how much political intrigue there is in this book, and not even done by the three triplet queens, but their foster families, I really enjoyed how the world building was built in the first installment and while I wished, and still wish, for more clarification on just who the goddess is, I'm still holding out hope. The world did expand quite a bit though there weren't a lot of jaw-dropping twists that fleshed out the world, there are places seen that have not been seen before and new characters only referred to in the previous installment, and I can see why the author expanded this series, there's a lot still left to explore, but the bits and pieces, however large or small, that we got in this installment was fascinating and I can't wait to see how everything comes together.

Predictability: I did not expect this story to go that way. I think I had very strict expectations for this series going in and even when I saw the story diverting quite a bit, I never thought that it would get so off track. Don't get me wrong this story still sticks to its hook, but how everything comes into play in this story is phenomenal and I barely saw any of it coming. As the story progressed I began to understand and anticipate more and more, but it wasn't until one scene that had my jaw dropping that I really began to see how this story was unfolding and even got some hints on where the story might continue.

Ending: The final climax of this story is incredible, I mean, if you didn't know that this isn't the end of the story you would once you read this ending. Things get really exciting and as the story unfolds and plans are devised I still wasn't quite sure how everything was going to go down, and once the dust settles it gets kicked back up with a doozy of a cliffhanger!

Rating:

Wow! I was blown away by this story and I can't wait to see what else comes in this story. I have so many theories and ideas for where I think the story can go and I just want to know if I'm right, I hope I am!