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maple_dove's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Death, Blood, Misogyny, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Self harm
Minor: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Child death, War, Animal death, Vomit, and Sexual content
Self-harm (graphic - Ritualistic purposes)mia_luvsreading's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Animal cruelty, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Vomit
thaliareads's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Self harm, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
This book is very dark. Be prepared for self-poising with the intention of getting stronger, animal attacks, and general violence and torture. Injuries are described in high detail. There are some animals that do die, and one animal that becomes neglected during this book.emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I feel pretty much the same about this instalment as I did about Three Dark Crowns: this book had the same selling points and pitfalls. I added a quarter star to the rating as the second half is better and has definitely breathed new life into the plot line; I’m intrigued to see where the series goes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Self harm, Ableism, and Physical abuse
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, War, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Grief, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Misogyny
booksthatburn's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ONE DARK THRONE is a pretty good sequel to THREE DARK CROWNS, but it feels like it's not sure which role to play: final book in a duology or book two in a long series. Since there are more sequels, the second option won out, but the story doesn't seem to know that quite yet, and it suffers a bit for it. It was definitely easier to stomach than the first one, with much less animal death (but still some). I think the human body count is lower too, now that the big shows of dominance and power are exchanged for more pointed attacks. It does mean the deaths which do occur tend to get more individual focus in the narrative. It's an okay continuation, but where book one was drenched in poison, book two mostly gestures with the threat of it. Since book one poisoned me once, it was enough to keep the tension until book two delivered, but I wasn't nearly as stressed while reading.
This wraps up several things left hanging from the first book. I don't think it has any major storylines that didn't exist in the first book, since most of the big events are ones which were planned in the first one (provided that the main characters survived to reach them). Some big things are resolved, but most of them were introduced in the first one. This leaves some things to be picked up in further books, but if the series ended right here I think I'd actually be okay with it. There are more books so I will keep reading. The main narrators haven't changed, though the mix of minor and secondary characters who occasionally get to narrate is a bit different. The narrators are definitely different people, but the style of the narration is pretty consistent across narrators. It works since the whole thing is in a rotating third person view, getting the thoughts of one character per chapter but never quite narrating from their perspectives. It's a good thing this is the second book because it wouldn't make much sense without the first book. There's enough explanation to refresh a returning reader after a gap, but the first book explained a lot of backstory and this volume only lightly attempts to re-explain things. Since it's book two it's not a big deal, but I'll be watching as I continue with the series.
This wraps up several things left hanging from the first book. I don't think it has any major storylines that didn't exist in the first book, since most of the big events are ones which were planned in the first one (provided that the main characters survived to reach them). Some big things are resolved, but most of them were introduced in the first one. This leaves some things to be picked up in further books, but if the series ended right here I think I'd actually be okay with it. There are more books so I will keep reading. The main narrators haven't changed, though the mix of minor and secondary characters who occasionally get to narrate is a bit different. The narrators are definitely different people, but the style of the narration is pretty consistent across narrators. It works since the whole thing is in a rotating third person view, getting the thoughts of one character per chapter but never quite narrating from their perspectives. It's a good thing this is the second book because it wouldn't make much sense without the first book. There's enough explanation to refresh a returning reader after a gap, but the first book explained a lot of backstory and this volume only lightly attempts to re-explain things. Since it's book two it's not a big deal, but I'll be watching as I continue with the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual content
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