Reviews with content warning for Gore - Two Dark Reigns

i really liked this 3rd book, however it definitely was more focused on character growth compared to action and plot like the last 2 books, which is why im rating it a bit lower. however i understand it was necessary for worldbuilding and whatnot! but still was amazing as expected, and it was nice to get to see the characters develop more compared to the first two books.
one thing i predict for book 4:

jules and emilia relationship?? i swear emilia has a crush on jules fr

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Two Dark Reigns is the first book of the Three Dark Crowns series that I didn’t enjoy as much but I still gave it three stars because I’ve bound with the characters so much and it has its great moments here and there.

The plot was simply not as great as the one in the books before. The storyline following Mirabella, Arsinoe and Billy, who are now on land, was at first interesting. I loved to see how the queens had to adjust to this new situation, but everything was sadly so slow. The most annoying and boring storyline though was Jules’. The warrior people (I don’t remember what they were called) are planning a rebellion with Jules as the head – that’s it. We also get to know a prophecy about Jules, but this was just not enough to be engaging.

Even though I don’t like Katharine at all, her part of the story was the most interesting since it focusses on the political dimension of things. There’s also some drama happening at Fennbirn because there’s a mist coming from the sea which kills everyone who gets in contact with it. This was a bit weird, just like the fact that

the dead queens inside Katharine make her kill people

. But towards the end, the story got good and dramatic:

The mist, which is apparently Queen Illian, is coming closer and Katharine – or the dead queens inside her – kills Jules’ mom which leads to her losing her mind and unleashing her full abilities

From all off the queens, Mirabella is now my favorite, I love her so much. It was especially interesting to see the relationship between her, Arsinoe and Billy since they have such a great dynamic. In comparison, there were loads of characters I couldn’t stand, like Emilia who’s just so annoying. Jules and Arsinoe started to annoy me as well towards the end because they

force Billy and Mirabella to fight in a war which they never wanted to in the first place. The new Jules also creeps me out so much

It's obvious that Two Dark Reigns is more a filler book and after reading all books, it would’ve been better if the series would’ve been a trilogy. With this, many of the slow moments that are especially prevalent in this book could’ve been avoided.

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esme_may's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Wen I started reading this I was reminded of how much I love reading about this world, so I was really sad that I didn't love this book as much as I expected. I think the strength of this series is the interpersonal conflict/relationships between the sisters and how they fit into Fennbirn's system, which doesn't feature very much in this book at all as it ended up going down a typical rebellion route, which is less original/interesting to me. I was much more interested in reading about Mirabella and Arsinoe than anything else. I wasn't sure whether to continue with this series but judging from the blurb the last book sounds like it will be more in line with the first book, which I adored, than this one so I'll definitely give it a try!

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emily_mh's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is definitely my favourite in the series so far. I actually quite enjoyed reading it, as the mystery of the Blue Queen and the mist made everything so much more compelling and gave the book some real plot direction. HOWEVER there were some definite issues that reduced the quality of the read. First and foremost, why wasn’t there more discussion about the magnitude of overthrowing the queen system? It’s everything everyone on Fennbirn has ever known, and also considered the will of the Goddess, a divinity that everyone believes in. But also, where was the grief over Joseph? That was a major character death at the end of the last book, but it’s barely even talked about in this one. And finally, I found it hard to believe that Mirabella and Arisnoe just automatically knew how to be loving sisters when they were raised to hate one another for nearly their entire lives. I think if Blake had really explored this connection it would have added a lot of depth to their characters and relationship.

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lexabrielle's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

What a way to end with such a cliffhanger! In any case, I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. There were some parts that had me confused, and I really wish the map at the front was of the island and not the mainland that surrounds it because remembering where cities of the island were in relation to each other was hard, and the map at the beginning was just not helpful at all. I enjoyed the history and lore of the queens that was woven into this book! It connected quite well to the current queens and explained a lot of the issues that was going on throughout the book.

My queen ranking after finishing this book: Mirabella = Katharine << Arsinoe.

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books_and_coffee_vibes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book seemed to drag on for me. I took forever for me to read because the first half I found so boring. I thought that the plot was being dragged on and on for no reason and I was waiting for some action that never came. This book isn’t her best as the first two were better.

The second half of the book was a lot better. It really picked up and I felt more interested to read it. At the end of the book I did not see that plot twist coming and it’s left me hanging. I can’t wait to get the next book to see where it goes.

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just_an_avocado's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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brynn_books's review against another edition

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4.0

I was so excited to read this book because the last book left off on a major cliffhanger.

This book follows three different perspectives in three different places. The first perspective is Katharine who is struggling with the beginning of her reign as queen. The second perspective is Jules who discovers that she is the Legion Queen and she is going to lead a rebellion against the queen. Then the third perspective is Arsinoe and Mirabella who are on the mainland.

I have to say that I did get a little confused with juggling the different perspectives but I really enjoyed getting a different view on what was going on. It was really interesting to see what was going on in different parts of the island and even a view on outside the island. I also enjoyed seeing the perspectives come together in the end and seeing how everything connected.

Honestly, I was not expecting the ending and I am shocked but excited for whats to come from this series.

Side note: Do you think Kendare Blake is trying to confuse us?? Three Dark Crowns, One Dark Throne, Two Dark Reigns? Three, One, Two? What's the next one going to be? Four Dark Queens?

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