Reviews with content warning for Death - One Dark Throne

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!

Content Warnings

cardlikecredit's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

rafacolog's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

socialpsysteph's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I struggled to get through the first book but I think that was more a reading slump's fault than the book itself so I wanted to pick up book 2 pretty quickly to see if it was worth continuing the series. It was definitely the reading slump's fault; I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have no idea where the story is going to go so I am excited to keep reading and trying to figure it out. Definitely, there are some twists in this one that I didn't see coming! I've already requested the third book from the library!

This book counts for the Magical Readathon Alchemy Side Quest 2023 to read a book with furniture on the cover.

Content Warnings

pagesbycaroline's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book definitely keeps you on your toes. There was so many ups and downs where you thought something was over and then it comes back later. A good sequel.

Content Warnings

mia_luvsreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

Content Warnings

thaliareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

Overall I enjoyed this book. Through probably an accidental pocket tap on my end while trying to pause the book, I'm pretty sure I skipped about an hour of the book towards the end, but didn't realize for a bit because I assumed it was just the jumpiness between perspectives. While I like the idea of the book and am glad I read it, I don't think I would have finished it if I were reading the physical book because I moved through it pretty slow. I do still plan to finish the series as I'm excited about the direction the story was moving at the end of this book.

Content Warnings

lrose02's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense fast-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

4.0

This book was so full of action I sped through it. Mirabella and Arsinoe just got more lovable throughout the book whilst my contempt for Katharine grew.

I’m glad they confirmed that Arsinoe and Katharine were switched. I loved that we got to meet Jules’ aunt. Fuck her Mum though. The only valid man in this series is Billy and Luke. The tiny side characters don’t count. I am sad to admit I was not upset when Joseph died. It was a very obvious build up as he kept bleeding even though he was “fine”. Natalie didn’t deserve that ending but it’s going to be interesting to see how Katharine is affected in the next book. It’s a really interesting plot point that now everybody knows Arsinoe is meant to be a poisoner. The poisoner vs the poison. I don’t get how Katharine was able to be crowned when her sisters were still alive- I’m surprised the island let her. I think it’s possible now that Mirabella and Arsinoe can rule together but Katharine is never giving up the throne. I like the twist at the end with her husband and what she has become. Jules is an interesting character because I’ve never really encountered a side character that is more powerful than one of the main ones and the ending is one that makes me go “ooooh bad idea”. Jules definitely should not have returned to the island but I can’t blame her after Joseph. She needs to learn independence and strength away from him and I hope the warriors help her do that

Content Warnings

More...