Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns Series, book 1) 

By Kendare Blake 

Blurb: 
When kingdom come, there will be one.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown.

Review: 
Two weak Queens and one strong Queen! Their sixteenth birthday is coming up and they need to fight one another to win the throne, who will win, what will become of them all.

Let's find out and discover more about this book in my review.

All 3 Queens were bought up in the same household until one birthday when they all got separated and sent to their future homes, which we designed to strengthen their gifts. Mirabela the elemental, Katharine the poisoner and Arsione the naturalist.

Mirabella's life is quite simple her gift is strong her weakest point is controlling water, she is kept locked up in her room and not allowed to socialise much, unless it is with Bree and Elizabeth. She has memories of her sisters when they are younger and she loves them dearly. Sara Westwood suspects that Mirabella will not be able to kill her sisters to become Queen so she comes up with a plan with Luca to ensure that she has a better chance.

Katharine is weakm she is also kept alone in her room, she explores every now and then but this is to a minimum. Genevieve is a cruel maid that looks after Katharine she is supposed to be making her stronger, but because her power is weak, Genevieve gets annoyed easily and punishes Katharine with poisons on her skin so she suffers.

Arsione is weak her power has not developed yet, she is allowed to explore with her best friend Jules. She used to have another best friend but he was sent to the mainland because Jules and Josepth tried to help Arsione escape the land and become free of not becoming the Queen.

All 3 characters have their point of view within the book. The amount of detail that goes into each other lives is great, it allows you to grow a connection with each one. I don't think I could really choose which queen is my favourite because I like them all, for different reasons, I also have my reasons why I don't like each Queen.

The story develops throughout the book really well, as there is several events that happen before the Queens 16th birthday to ensure that they become the best most ideal Queen to the suitors and the Kingdoms they represent. 

Katharine ends up spoiling herself at a party before her trial to become the Queen and loses quite a few followers and people start to doubt her. From this point things become quite interesting as someone new is introduced and tries to help her become stronger and more liked by the public, but she ends up falling in love.

Arsione has alos resolved to low blood magic when her friend Joseph returns to the mainland because she is dragged into it by Madrigal who is Jules' mother.

The night of the trials before their birthdays is the beginning of things taking twists and things get very nasty.

Throughout this book their was quite a few stories of love. The main love triangle is between Jules, Joseph and Mirabella. Jules and Joseph have been life long best friends and have loved each other for a while, but then something happens to Joseph and he comes across Mirabella. Joseph does regret what happens and tells Jules after sometime and says that things won't happen again, which I found really sweet. But then things happen again and she find out which I find really annoying of Joseph. He is just a two faced cheater and this is why I don't trust guys properly. Once a cheater always a cheater.

The amount of detail for each character and the setting for each household that they are living in is impressive. I loved the scenic descriptions as it was different for each character so you knew which characters point of view you were actually reading. Also the relationships between the main characters and the side characters was quite nice to know that the majority got along with the people that were bringing them up and strengthening their powers.

Being truthful I don't really think that there is any bad points about this book, it's just my opinion that Joseph is a total jerk. I've read this book twice now and I don't actually think my opinion has changed about the characters or the actual storyline within the book.

My opinion on the Queens is quite strange. I like Mirabella because she is strong and powerful and has a lot of love for her sisters even though she hasn't seen them for ages. I also like how she gets along with Elizabeth and Bree it's like they are the sisters she lost when she moved.

Arsione I like because she has a really close relationship with the people looking after her and it's nice to read a friendship like that, one that supports one another. I also like how she tries to overcome her weakness but it is in a bad way slightly, but she just thinks it will make things easier and more people like her.

Katharine is a nice girl she is weak and deals with a lot of pain, she isn't sure what to do to help her. But when she gets help from one of the Arrons she changes for the better with the help she recieves but she becomes quite a stuck up bitch in my opinion, and this opinion sadly sticks with her right until the end of this book.

Overall I'd defintely recommened this book to anyone who enjoys multiple point of views, strong female characters, adventure, love, a great story line and following traditions.

Favourite Characters: Arsione

Read: 29/08/18 - 31/08/18

5 stars out of 5

Check out Sammie's review of Book 2: One Dark Throne

written by Sammie