Over the past couple of weeks, I decided to tackle one of the many young adult fantasy series I have sitting on my shelves. I settled on the Three Dark Crowns books, which I first heard about through YouTube and been interested in checking out for a while now. I ended up powering through them all pretty quickly, so I thought I'd combine my thoughts for all four into one review so I can comment on the series as a whole. This will be spoiler-free.
These novels are set on a mysterious and dark island named Fennbirn. Magic exists there, and many people are born with powers that fall into one of five possible areas. There are elementals, who can control things like wind, water, and fire, there are naturalists, who can make things bloom and control animals, and there are poisoners, who are unaffected by poisons themselves and adept at poisoning and healing others. The last two possible gifts are rare, but still possible to have--the war gifted, who excel at fighting and battle, and seers, who have visions of the future and can make prophecies. Each type of magic has its own region on the island, and most people choose to live in communities composed of people like them. Fennbirn is ruled over by a single queen, and the process for how this title is passed down is bloody and brutal. The current queen always, at one point, becomes pregnant with triplet girls--one will be an elemental, one will be a naturalist, and one will be a poisoner. They are raised separately and trained by experts in their gifts all throughout their childhoods. When the girls turn sixteen, they engage in a battle to the death to determine which one will rule next. This process has been the tradition on the island for hundreds of years.
The plot of the entire series concerns the latest generation of queens to battle for the crown. Mirabella is the elemental queen, Arsinoe is the naturalist queen, and Katherine is the poisoner queen. As their sixteenth birthday approaches, tensions are rising for all three, and not just because of their upcoming battle. Poisoners have held the throne for the past several generations, so the pressure on Katherine to beat her sisters is intense, but there is a problem. Her poison gift appears to be nonexistent. She's had to build up immunity to poisons the old-fashioned way - by continually ingesting them and getting sick, and this method hasn't worked that well for her either. She's had to fake ceremonies and demonstrations to appear strong, and it's clear that if she's going to continue the tradition of a poisoner sitting on the throne, she's going to have to cheat to win. Her powerful friends are putting complex political schemes into place to help her, but it may not be enough.
Similarly, Arsinoe shows almost no aptitude for her magic either. She's a naturalist queen, but is incapable of making flowers bloom or calling to animals. She hasn't been able to develop a relationship with a familiar either, an important part of the naturalist culture. She has a close friend named Jules who is inordinately powerful, and she tries to look out for her, but it's clear that Arsinoe's gift is very weak, if it even exists at all. She has come to accept that she will be easily slaughtered in the competition after her sixteenth birthday arrives, but as that date approaches, she becomes more and more afraid of this probable fate. She decides to turn to a low and dangerous form of magic to give herself a fighting chance, but this kind of magic always comes with a price.
Mirabella is in the opposite side of the spectrum from her sisters. She was born incredibly powerful--the most powerful elementalist born in decades, in fact. She can control the air, fire, water, and earth with ease. Her supporters believe she will win the throne easily, and the religious leaders of Fennbirn have broken with their traditionally neutral stance on the competition and have started openly supporting her. Her problem is simply that she has a kind heart. She doesn't want to kill her sisters. She remembers them from the short time they were together before being separated and has no desire to murder them for the throne. Reluctantly, she participates in the ceremonies leading up to her sixteenth birthday, but the most powerful amongst her supporters fear that she won't be able to go through with the killing in the end. So, they also begin a plot to cheat and get her on the throne without her actually having to complete the ritual.
Over the course of the four books, the sisters battle each other for the throne in their own ways. As they go through the process, many secrets are revealed and they begin to break with the established traditions, throwing the whole island into a chaotic and rebellious state. When a mysterious mist begins creeping over the island and killing people indiscriminately, they begin entertaining the idea that their goddess is displeased with them and that perhaps the tradition is meant to be broken in this generation, but aren't sure why or what that would look like. If there isn't one victorious queen to rule over everyone, who would rule? What would happen to the established bloodline? Each of them must show courage, exercise their intelligence, and make sacrifices to find out and bring peace back to Fennbirn.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this series. A big part of the reason for that was the excellent world building. Kendare Blake really did an excellent job creating a world that was weird, complicated, and totally engrossing. The magic, the brutal rules and rituals, and the complex lore of Fennbirn was easy to get lost in and formed the perfect backdrop for the story. I liked the characters as well. Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katherine all felt genuine and unique from one another. The story changes perspective between them with each chapter, and I found each perspective equally entertaining. My favorite sister out the trio changed throughout my reading as they grew and changed over the course of the story, which really shows how dynamic they all were. I also appreciated that while romantic storylines were included, they were not the sole focus of the story. Themes of family, friendship, and sacrifice were at the forefront and they were compelling. The story remained consistently interesting and everything about the books felt well-crafted.
Despite all of the good things about the series, there were a few things that I didn't enjoy as much. This series fell prey to the same thing that happens with a lot of young adult fantasy novels--the books got a little less interesting with each new installment. The first book in the series was phenomenal. I rated it five stars. I loved learning about the world and was intrigued by all the mysteries the book posed. The second and third novels were still great, but I was a little bit less engaged with them. I thought some parts dragged a bit and some of the mysteries weren't addressed in a way that was satisfying to me. I rated them four stars. The last book was the weakest of all for me. I felt like more of the story dragged here and I found myself wishing that some of the supernatural elements were a little more understandable. I rated that one three stars. I still liked it and thought it was a decent end to the series, but it wasn't my favorite. So, taken all together, I would rate the series as a whole at four stars and say that it was better than most young adult fantasies.
So ultimately, I was happy to have picked up the Three Dark Crowns series. It was well-written, dark, and very entertaining. Blake packed a surprising amount of emotion and complexity into these books, and I enjoyed my time in Fennbirn very much. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone that enjoys the young adult fantasy genre.
Challenge Tally
Finally in 2022 - Series Edition: 34/28 - Finished!
Total Books Read in 2022: 82
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