Book Review # 9: THREE DARK CROWNS

“Three dark queens Are born in a glen, Sweet little triplets Will never be friends Three dark sisters All fair to be seen, Two to devour And one to be Queen."

Read: January 21,2018

Rating: 3.5/5

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Let's go first to the characters. First of all, out of the 3 sisters, I liked Arsinoe more. I love her ability to be jolly, bright and optimistic despite the circumstances. She's very practical and honest, and never sugarcoats her fate. She's aware of her shortcoming, she's aware of what will happen to her, and yet she still manages to wake up the next day with the energy and excitement of a normal teen. Let's just say that for a person who knows her death is forthcoming, she's so positive.

Mirabella is the definition of a queen. She's strong, brave and powerful, but she's also merciful. I liked her in the start for her refusal to hurt other people. I believe that is normal to her since she refuses to kill anyone or be killed for her sake. I liked her at first, but towards the ending, I slowly start to loathe her. Her actions and choices are really selfish. I want this to be spoiler free review so I will leave the details out. Let's just say that Mirabella is used to getting what she wants, and no matter how much she denies it, she's such a spoiled brat. Her inability to hurt only applies to the one she loves, or those close to her. But to be a rightful Queen, you have to know what is right from wrong, and to stop yourself from doing all the wrong things. I guess Mirabella is not fit to be Queen, she's to selfish for that title.

As for Katharine, I was such in awe in that ending of hers. I felt like the true Katharine will unfold on the second book. We will feel Kat's wrath, toward whom or what, that's what we have to find out. She's also weak, but not like Arsinoe, she's not strong like Mirabella, but she's really intelligent. She may lack in one thing, but she tries to fill it with her other skills.

There was one guy who appealed to me so much (appeal being a sarcastic adjective here!) He's such a dumb ass! I'll let you guess who I'm talking about. Thinking back, I will never accept his actions. It actually pleased me at first to know that he loves "her". But one incident, one night, and all those years of waiting vanished into thin air. How easy are men? How petty and shallow are they? To always think between their legs, to not question their actions. How cruel are they to hurt the people they love for letting themselves get caught up in the moment. One moment of weakness is forgivable, but to repeat it again? And outright show it in front of everyone including the one you used to love, just how cruel are you? I hate him now. Even if there is some kind of reckoning for him in the next books, I still don’t care. If only she would hate him too. I actually adore her best friend for speaking her mind and not caring at all for his feelings. He should rot in hell. Oh and another thing, stop with the "pity me, I didn't mean it" antics, the first time it was working. But to repeat the same mistake, and when you're aware of the consequences, these acts are just foolish.

Honestly, I'm not so sure if what I read is a fantasy novel. I believe it falls more on the romance genre. Well because of all the guy dramas, the boyfriends issues, all the side flings, it would be hard to believe that this is not some romance novel with a touch of fantasy. There are more scenes involving the men of these three sisters, a lot of kissing, a lot of making out, and a lot more of issues involving these men. At first well yeah it was sweet and romantic and would really make you all giddy. But then when there's too much of it, it spoils the sweetness and the innocence of the book. If this was a romance novel, I would have totally understood the drama. But then again this is a fantasy book, so yeah!

For me, more details, more scenes regarding the priestesses, Beltane, the Quickening would have been better. Really, there were only a few pages for these important scenes. What would have been the climax of the story isn't exciting at all. Instead, they were shadowed with all the dramas involving the guys (or should I say guy?because there's only one causing trouble here). It would have been better to know more of the traditions and their world. Instead of giving us a proper background about the three sisters, we only got scraps of information about them. Who’s who, which family got this specific sister, or how they were chosen and what they can do. It would even be cool to know more of some cool queens before their time. (and not just a quick mention of their names and what they did) It would be more appealing to have more conflicts with the priestesses and head of the families, but there's too less (or even none)!

Take out all the unnecessary drama, it was good, it could even be exciting. My rating wasn't affected at all by my opinion regarding that one guy. The lack of excitement, the ruined scenes because of these unnecessary distractions, my disappointment with the important scenes that should have been given more light, made me give a 3-star rating. I'm sad to think that Three Dark Crowns has a lot of potential, but it was destroyed by all the drama or lack thereof.

Until my next review!

Happy reading,

BB Belle

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