Review: Three Dark Crowns

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(view spoiler)[I TOTALLY CALLED IT. (hide spoiler)]

Dang, how about that ending, huh??? *wink*

But seriously, this started out so dull but totally had me hooked once I started shipping Joe and Mira. I'm not the only one, am I??!

So, okay, look, this is real confusing at the start but once you accept that and kind of just go with it it's not so bad. I wasn't really taken with any of the characters at first but they did become a little more badass further on and now I'm pretty keen to read the second book.

I got a bit confused about who some of the characters were but they didn't seem too important. For example, Luke. Totally forgot who he was, how old, how they knew him etc but I knew he was kind of a pal? So yeah lots of names with immemorable descriptions.

There's some real nasty goings on here. So much plotting! But it's not really clever plotting? I don't like that all the grown-ups are doing all the hard work while the kids just follow blindly. I think that's why I liked Mira so much.

So plot wise it takes a bit to get into it all but the second half of the book races along and is a lot of fun to read.

I felt like there were a few errors though - it's got this gorgeous map in the front but it must have been flipped at some stage coz travel down the 'west coast' mentioned a lot of places in the east, according to the map. There was something else I spotted but I forget so ehhhhh. I basically got really lost trying to understand where everything was.

It's interesting that the blurb makes naturalists sound like glorified gardeners when I think it's pretty cool that they get familiars. As if we haven't all imagined having a badass pet we could turn loose on our enemies. Animals make any story a hundred times better. Especially when said animals are loyal sidekicks.

Kat was dull and I totally thought Pietyr (seriously what is UP with that spelling??) was a swine so I wasn't wholy on board with his character development. Arsinoe and Billy were cute together but Jules and Joe was a no-go from me so I was pretty happy when he went off on that sailing trip. (view spoiler)[He and Mira are the best couple in this book. They actually have passion and I don't know about them but I have no regrets about the time they spent together. (hide spoiler)] Mira was the most fun because she actually sticks up for herself a bit and goes after what she wants.

As for all the rituals and stuff, I no comprendo. It was pretty confusing and I didn't really get the point of it all. These people are weird. *shrugs* (view spoiler)[Also, what exactly was Arsinoe's plan before the bear plan? Was she just gonna get up on stage and stand there? (hide spoiler)]

And now we come to the spoiler discussion about the ending.

(view spoiler)[So I TOTALLY CALLED IT about halfway through. It seemed too obvious when Arsinoe had no animals and Kat got sick. I was kinda hoping it would come to light with Kat's snake biting her and consequently causing her death or with her taking control of the bear as her familiar but I guess Arsinoe not dying from poison keeps them all alive for the sequel. Plus I love the idea of vengeful Kat. But it was also kind of a giveaway when I started thinking how weird a name Arsinoe is and how it sounds a lot like arsenic. (It did take me half a book, though, coz I was mentally pronouncing it as Ariss-inoe.)

I am very much looking forward to Kat getting some brilliant revenge on Pietyr for being an A Grade douchebag (and spelling his name in such a ridiculous manner) and I hope her dead snake was not her familiar and she gets some totally awesome animal that can mess him up. Imagine if she got, like, a cockroach or something. Man, would that suck.

I hope Mira continues to kick butt in the second book and that her romance with old mate Joe gets so steamy Jules sets her cougar on him. I love Jules being all wound up over it. Mira's a lot of fun with her attitude and power combining to make a fierce character. I have so much time for her. Not the priestess, though. Screw her. (hide spoiler)]

Slow start to an unusual series but I did end up really enjoying it and I look forward to reading the sequel!


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