Review: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake 

Three Words: Family, Power, Betrayal

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

Meet Mirabella, an elementalist with exceptional power, Katherine a poisoner with next to no talent, and Arsinoe a naturalist with no power to speak of. Sisters born with unique powers destined to fight for the throne, and kingdom in which only one can rule. Separated from a young age each have few memories of their time as sisters outside the capital, and each are given to foster families with the same abilities as they do. The families they are fostered with will help train them for the Ascension, the time when each sister will then have a year to dispose of her siblings in order to rule.

I expected something a bit more dark and foreboding with TDC, however it is quite slow to start, and does show promise of becoming darker as the series continues. Arsinoe is definitely my favorite character. She is so down to earth, care free, and will do anything for her friends. Plus being a huge animal lover myself, I would love to have her ability to read them, and have a familiar. I was however quite surprised by this as Mirabella being an elementalist, has a power that I am always drawn to, creating fire! Unfortunately though her personality, or more her involvement with a certain boy, who I also strongly dislike, has lowered her in my eyes. If you've read the book you'll know exactly what I mean, and if you haven't read it, well you soon will. Katherine doesn't really get mentioned much throughout the book, and is seen as not being much of a threat. Sadly she is also the character I despise the most, although I did quite like her, and felt sorry for her up until the end when a certain plot twist throws everything off kilter. Out of all the sisters she has quite possible been through the most, and it is her training and the nature of the other poisoners that adds a little darkness to this first book.

Although it was slow to start, I did really enjoy TDC, and can't wait to dive into the second book, One Dark Throne, and is a perfect read for Halloween.