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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You can find my reviews on my book blog over at:
https://brooklynthebookworm.wordpress.com
I recieved a finished copy of Five Dark Fates from Pan Macmillan Australia in exchange for an honest review,
“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.”
– Three Dark Crowns (#1) by Kendare Blake.
It seems fitting to start off my review with the poem that sets the premise for the first installment in this series.
Katharine, Mirabella and Arsinoe. Three triplets, pitched against one another for the crown. Only one can rule, only one may survive.
This series has honestly been one of my all time favourites and of course I’m sad to see it come to an end, but this was such an epic, emotional and completely satisfying finale!
Right from the first page, I just knew that Five Dark Fates was building up to an epic and memorable finale, every moment had me reeling and constantly wondering what on earth might happen next!
Was I worried that I may have forgotten some minor details throughout the series? Why yes, I was – though mind you, at the release of Two Dark Reigns I actually reread the first two books, just so everything was ingrained in my mind! However, when I started reading Five Dark Fates, I found all of those climatic feelings from Two Dark Reigns come right back and the emotions felt as strong as ever!
I love how each chapter of this book focused on a different sister, as always and even though that it’s written in third person, I felt like I could visualise and feel each sister’s emotions! From Katharine’s progression into fear and desperation, thirst for revenge and losing control over her own being, to Mirabella knowing something is not at all quite right with Katharine, who goes to her sister to seek answers but knows she must tread carefully, to Arsinoe, who also has to be careful too, who finds herself also determined to bring back her closest confidante, Jules, so she is once again the dear friend that Arsinoe had.
Jules’ storyline throughout this book was utterly amazing and addictive too! Jules had always been my favourite secondary character, along with her Cougar Familiar, Camden. Truthfully I was slightly worried for them both during this book, with a big war looming, but then again that could be said for all of these characters, truly.
No one was safe!
I was specifically pleased by Pietyr’s character during this book – I remember being so shocked at the events that went down near the end of Two Dark Reigns, but it was definitely satisfying with what came next!
The pacing of this book was absolute perfection! As I had mentioned, right from the get go I was hooked! I didn’t know some of the character’s true instincts or if they could be trusted and frankly I think that just added so much to this reading experience! Especially with everything that had gone down in the previous books, the stakes were high and so were the emotions! As I was reading this, I felt a sense of bittersweet, “wow, this is it, the final installment,” but not at once did it disappoint! There was one specific scene where what was about to happen had been hinted at, and I was just shocked and devastated! I’m still processing it, as well as that incredibly sad but moving ending!
This may just be my favourite book of the series and definitely one of my all time favourites. I’m going to miss the world of Three Dark Crowns so much! Kendare Blake just weaves the tale of three Elemental triplet Queens so vividly and uniquely, I daresay there won’t be anything like these books again!
https://brooklynthebookworm.wordpress.com
I recieved a finished copy of Five Dark Fates from Pan Macmillan Australia in exchange for an honest review,
“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.”
– Three Dark Crowns (#1) by Kendare Blake.
It seems fitting to start off my review with the poem that sets the premise for the first installment in this series.
Katharine, Mirabella and Arsinoe. Three triplets, pitched against one another for the crown. Only one can rule, only one may survive.
This series has honestly been one of my all time favourites and of course I’m sad to see it come to an end, but this was such an epic, emotional and completely satisfying finale!
Right from the first page, I just knew that Five Dark Fates was building up to an epic and memorable finale, every moment had me reeling and constantly wondering what on earth might happen next!
Was I worried that I may have forgotten some minor details throughout the series? Why yes, I was – though mind you, at the release of Two Dark Reigns I actually reread the first two books, just so everything was ingrained in my mind! However, when I started reading Five Dark Fates, I found all of those climatic feelings from Two Dark Reigns come right back and the emotions felt as strong as ever!
I love how each chapter of this book focused on a different sister, as always and even though that it’s written in third person, I felt like I could visualise and feel each sister’s emotions! From Katharine’s progression into fear and desperation, thirst for revenge and losing control over her own being, to Mirabella knowing something is not at all quite right with Katharine, who goes to her sister to seek answers but knows she must tread carefully, to Arsinoe, who also has to be careful too, who finds herself also determined to bring back her closest confidante, Jules, so she is once again the dear friend that Arsinoe had.
Jules’ storyline throughout this book was utterly amazing and addictive too! Jules had always been my favourite secondary character, along with her Cougar Familiar, Camden. Truthfully I was slightly worried for them both during this book, with a big war looming, but then again that could be said for all of these characters, truly.
No one was safe!
I was specifically pleased by Pietyr’s character during this book – I remember being so shocked at the events that went down near the end of Two Dark Reigns, but it was definitely satisfying with what came next!
The pacing of this book was absolute perfection! As I had mentioned, right from the get go I was hooked! I didn’t know some of the character’s true instincts or if they could be trusted and frankly I think that just added so much to this reading experience! Especially with everything that had gone down in the previous books, the stakes were high and so were the emotions! As I was reading this, I felt a sense of bittersweet, “wow, this is it, the final installment,” but not at once did it disappoint! There was one specific scene where what was about to happen had been hinted at, and I was just shocked and devastated! I’m still processing it, as well as that incredibly sad but moving ending!
This may just be my favourite book of the series and definitely one of my all time favourites. I’m going to miss the world of Three Dark Crowns so much! Kendare Blake just weaves the tale of three Elemental triplet Queens so vividly and uniquely, I daresay there won’t be anything like these books again!
Five stars! This book was the perfect ending for this amazing series. The ending was not cheesy and all “happily ever after” and it still made me extremely happy while reading it. I love how all the queens ended up throughout the book and the choices they made. I read this book extremely fast, and i love how the queens Interacted with each other. An amazing, amazing ending for this spectacular series!
I'm disappointed because this is not the ending I was hoping for.
Even Katherine's death felt rushed. It's like if something didn't feature Arsinoe, it wasn't worth slowing down for.
I'm also still unclear what the point was of the Mist and Arsinoe's Daphne dreams.
All that being said, I still enjoyed this series over all. It is definitely incredibly slow paced, which I found frustrating, but I think the world and (some of) the characters were interesting. I'm glad this is the end because this series was definitely starting to lose me in this book. There is not 400 plus pages of story here. For the amount of plot that actually happens, I feel like this would've been better off as a duology instead of a four-book series.
Spoiler
I adored Mirabella and had a soft spot for Katherine, but I cannot stand Arsinoe and Jules. I can understand that this story was building to Katherine's death, but Mirabella's death was ridiculous. The whole scene was rushed (I wasn't even sure she was dead for a while there) and it had no impact on the story. The rebellion was preparing to fight - with Arsinoe with them - regardless of Mirabella's death. What a waste of a great character! It felt like Kendare Blake had just reached a point where she needed her out of the story.Even Katherine's death felt rushed. It's like if something didn't feature Arsinoe, it wasn't worth slowing down for.
I'm also still unclear what the point was of the Mist and Arsinoe's Daphne dreams.
All that being said, I still enjoyed this series over all. It is definitely incredibly slow paced, which I found frustrating, but I think the world and (some of) the characters were interesting. I'm glad this is the end because this series was definitely starting to lose me in this book. There is not 400 plus pages of story here. For the amount of plot that actually happens, I feel like this would've been better off as a duology instead of a four-book series.
Eh. The ending turned out better than I thought it was going to, but it was still a lot of build up over the course of 4 books for pretty much nothing. I'm glad I finished it because the 3rd book literally leaves you on a cliffhanger, BUT after reading all the books in the series, the author could have easily crunched all of this in to 1 larger book. It gets a solid C.
The series started out really promising, but then took a weird uncalled for turn. I didn’t like how the series ended at all, it was a failed trial at writing a plot twist.
But I enjoyed the series nevertheless and I will truly miss it with all of its characters and the world of Fennbirn.
And this book made me cry so props to that!
The character growth is impressive, although one character needs to be strangled right then and there *cough* Emilia *cough*.
I enjoyed reading the series but most of the choices made in the last two books were just..?? But I still would recommend it, it’s a solid series.
But I enjoyed the series nevertheless and I will truly miss it with all of its characters and the world of Fennbirn.
And this book made me cry so props to that!
The character growth is impressive, although one character needs to be strangled right then and there *cough* Emilia *cough*.
I enjoyed reading the series but most of the choices made in the last two books were just..?? But I still would recommend it, it’s a solid series.
I really liked this more. Wayyy more than the other ones. This book is what I was expecting when I started this series.
The writing was more compelling for some reason and there was so much action.
The ending was kind of obvious, but it's fine.
I really enjoyed my time!
I really recommend this!
The writing was more compelling for some reason and there was so much action.
The ending was kind of obvious, but it's fine.
I really enjoyed my time!
I really recommend this!
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the last book in the One Dark Crown series. I was very excited to finally finish the series, though I was expecting a more grand ending. I also found the ending to be not as clear as it could have been, but over all, I enjoyed it very much.