A review by rinku
Die Schwestern by Kendare Blake

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 Three Dark Crowns had so many things I love to see in YA fantasy: a predominantly female cast, main characters that have different world views, and a story with a political dimension. If it wasn’t for the flat romances, this would’ve been the perfect book for me. 

I loved the general premise of this novel so much: the three sisters Katharine, Arsinoe and Mirabella have grown up in different families and cultures on the island Fernbirn and now have to kill each other to determine who the new queen of the island will be. Those three families include the poisoners, the elementals and the naturalists, each with their own abilities. 

The whole story and the politics of the world are so intriguing. Yes, the story is slow, but I didn’t mind it. By this, we could get to know the characters and the different political groups better. I just love to see how different the lives of the three sisters are and how they and their family dealt with the situation. Furthermore, thanks to the third person view, we get more insight in what is happening around the sisters and other characters which I enjoyed so much. The settings of the story were great as well. 

Just during this first book, the sisters develop so much in different ways, and I can’t wait where the series will take their characters:
Mirabella trying to escape (and failing) was so dramatic. It was even more dramatic when Arsinoe tried the same and failed as well (which was a bit tiring tbh) and Mirabella saved her from being executed – this was Mira’s defining moment in this book. At the end, Katharine gets thrown in a gorge, but she survives it. Her returning was such a creepy and well-written moment
. 

I also really liked all the characters. From the sisters, I was rooting the most for Arsinoe, then Mirabella and Katharine but I would like to see them all winning. It was so interesting to see how different the sisters see specific people and how some people seemingly randomly meet each other. The thing I liked the least about this book though was the romance. Literally every girl had an insta love which was so annoying. Additionally, the guys are also all so jealous and one of them is a cheater; the only one I liked was maybe Billy. 

Nevertheless, Three Dark Crowns was a great novel and I’m excited to see how the series will continue. 
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