Reviews with content warning for Confinement - One Dark Throne

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

4 reviews

zaesbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Okay. Wow.

You often hear about “the second book curse”. This phenomenon in which the second of a series is a bit of dud - something to get through to continue the story. This book is not.

Since the world has already been built and as much time is not needed spent creating this island of Fennbirn, this book moves quickly. Lots of action, lots of character development. The beautiful writing and storytelling started in the first book continues here.

Kendare Blake does such a good job of keeping the reader on their toes; never quite sure what will happen. Which I deeply appreciate! Halfway through this series and (though I have hopes) I genuinely have no clue how it will end. And I am very excited to find out!

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cardlikecredit's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was so intense! The pace definitely was better than the first one, especially the utter chaos at the end. I also appreciated the character map at the beginning.

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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

In the second book of the Three Dark Crown series, One Dark Throne, the pace of the story finally picks up and the stakes are higher than ever. While the first book was more an introduction to the characters and the world, the battle between the sisters intensifies here and gets more dramatic-

I’m still so much invested in this intriguing story. Since I’ve bounded so much already with certain characters, I was always worried that something terrible would happen to them. This leads to a more suspenseful atmosphere than before. Adding to this is that Katharine has lost her mind which makes her even more unpredictable than before. Besides her, the other two queens develop so much in the course of the story which was amazing to see. Thanks to the many different POVs besides the sisters, we get a closer insight in the politics of Fennbirn and how they play a huge role in the fight for the throne.

The ending was so dramatic as well:

It was so hard to see how Katharine became the queen and how Mirabella and Arsinoe couldn’t do anything to prevent it. They should be executed as well but Arsinoe was able to fake her own death while Mirabella thought it was her real death. Natalia’s death was so dramatic too, just as Nioclas’ death was brutal. After this, it is revealed that Katharine is barren, meaning that the whole system of the queens will probably end and nobody knows what will happen then. In the end, Mirabella and Arsinoe are able to flee but Joseph dies, and Jules goes back to Fennbirn

I’ve said it before, but all the characters are so well written. I’ve bounded so much with some of them (like Arsinoe and Jules) that I’m always worried that something will happen to them. My opinion on the queens has also changed a bit; the main ranking is still the same (Arsinoe > Mirabella > Katharine) but I don’t like Katharine now at all.

I mentioned this as well before, but I love that are only females in power positions. Besides this, there are so many great female characters. In comparison, the male characters, and the love triangle every queen has are just not great. I hate how Joseph couldn’t make a decision, and Pietyr’s justification for what he did was so weird.

In summary, One Dark Throne took all what made the first book great and extended upon it. There’s so much potential for the rest of the story since so many things happened that will change everything.

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bookishgoob's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Such a beautiful and heartbreaking sequel. part of me doesn’t want to go to the next book from the fear of my heart breaking even more. Katharine is terrible and i can not stand any of the arryns. this book series is such an adventure and i very much recommend it

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