One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake | ARC Review

Title: One Dark Throne

Author: Kendare Blake

Series: Three Dark Crowns #2

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, High Fantasy, Romance

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication date: September 19th, 2017

Pages: 464

My rating: 

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The battle for the Crown has begun, but which of the three sisters will prevail?

With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off. Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favor without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before—ones that put those around her in danger she can’t seem to prevent.

“That is why I am going to win,” she goes on as they twirl. “I may be the weakest, but I am a queen, through and through. All the way down to my dead blood and bones.”

Wow, guys, I’m pretty surprised with the pace the story has taken. I read Three Dark Crowns last year, and even though it wasn’t my favourite read, I though it still had a lot of potential, and the last half of that book was amazing, so I was really anticipated this installment mainly because of that (also the cliffhanger of the first book may have had much to do with why). And its sequel was so much better! I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, but I flew through the book.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was unaware of how the story would turn, because if you don’t know the series was supposed to be a duology but then they decided to add two more books, so I was a bit afraid I would suffer of the second book syndrome. But, honestly? I liked it better than the first one. It wasn’t as slow, and it was more action packed, which I apreciated.

“Then how do we know we are doing the right thing?”

“We do not. We do our best, knowing that there is no choice and that she will have her way, in the end.”

I found the storyline even more intricate than the first installment. I had to read a spoiler summary of Three Dark Crowns because my potato brain couldn’t remember some of the events, but it was really easy to get into. I already knew the world and the characters, so I had no trouble remembering those.

AND THAT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! Oh, boy, that was so good. I have to say I wasn’t a big fan of Katharine in the first one (my favourite was Arsinoe, sorry), but in this book she was such a great character. She went through some pretty awful things in TDC, and I was really happy to see her turned into someone stronger and ruthless, and maybe even villain. You know how much I love antiheros, but the way she was and her entire personality was something new that I wanted to read ever since I started the series.

I also really enjoyed the interactions between the triplets. I felt that this book was closer to the whole triplets-that-have-to-kill-each-other-so-one-would-be-queen synopsis, and we definitely got some juicy, gory action in this one. There were some really good sister’s relationships forming, which I was very excited, and I cannot wait to see their bond in the third one and how their sisterhood would develop after all the events happening in this book.

The only thing I’m still not sure if I like is the romance. Even though I loved and shipped one of the couples, because there were adorable and so supportive to each other, I wasn’t convinced with the other one. I don’t know, it was a bit problematic and I feel that Katharine was better off alone (don’t get that wrong, but it is what it is).

Katharine’s head swivels loosely on her neck. When she speaks, her voice is rasping and strange, hardly her own. 

“Do not be ridiculous, boy. You cannot kill what is already dead.”

I must inform you, it was slow paced. Not like the first one, because this installment was more action packed and easier to read in my opinion, but it still had that slowness attached to the story. It didn’t bother me as much as the first book (I finished it in two days, so that tells you something, guys), because I flew through it. I was very engrosed in the story, because of all the dark twists coming, but there were some parts that were a bit slower. So be aware of that ifyou pick up the book.

And even though the ending didn’t have the shocking cliffhanger Three Dark Crowns had, it was still pretty awesome. The second half of the book was amazing, and the ending made me want to immediatly pick the third book.

I recieved an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This doesn’t change my opinion whatsoever. All thoughts are my own.

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