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the_castle_library's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This series right here is a MUST read/listen!! Three Dark Crowns tetralogy with two much needed and loved prequel novellas.
It's dark and twisty and perfect for the upcoming spooky season! This is the first and so far only series I've read from @kendareblake , but certainly won't be the last! I love her writing style, imagery, and craft for world building 😍 I am so sad this series is over. I want so much more history of Fennbirn, the Mainland, and all the other islands as well as the Queens and the Goddess. 😩
My ratings for romance and action are 💖💖💖/👊👊👊👊
It's dark and twisty and perfect for the upcoming spooky season! This is the first and so far only series I've read from @kendareblake , but certainly won't be the last! I love her writing style, imagery, and craft for world building 😍 I am so sad this series is over. I want so much more history of Fennbirn, the Mainland, and all the other islands as well as the Queens and the Goddess. 😩
My ratings for romance and action are 💖💖💖/👊👊👊👊
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
maple_dove's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Favorite Quotes:
"Give him to me," Mathilde says, and holds out her arms. The baby reaches for her and gurgles. "I was near when your light came into the world, and I will always sense when it is near."
Little Katharine. Gone as Little Mirabella is gone, and how she mourns them. How all women must mourn the loss of those little girls, relegated to shadow as they grow.
(One of) My Favorite Scene(s):
!!!HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
The mist is rising, racing up alongside the dead queens. It swoops up above them and dives back down, swallowing them whole and tearing them apart, spitting wisps of blackness into the sky. Arsinoe and Pietyr freeze as they stare at the battle, the dead queens shrieking, becoming a maelstrom of writhing arms and bared teeth, as the mist wraps around and around them.
The dead queens do not stand a chance. The mist devours. The mist protects. Arsinoe sees the queens of old, hidden inside its depths. She sees Illiann and even Daphne. She feels Mirabella's might as the mist crashes against the Volroy like a thunderstorm. She recognizes Katharine in the sharp, twisting quickness as it slices strands of darkness and casts them off in ribbons. She sees them fight, for her and the island, until all that remains of the dead queens are tatters and ashes floating in the air.
[...]
"It was them," she says, panting. "Mirabella and Katharine."
"It was them," Pietyr agrees, and knocks his head against the stone. "And now it is finished."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
grayscale08's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
cardlikecredit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This one was way more intense than the previous books but a pretty solid wrap up. Not for the faint of heart though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Torture, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility and Kidnapping
thebookkeepers's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Overall I really enjoyed this series, though it did lose some wind for me but that could be from breaks I took in between books. This was a well done series & I enjoyed the final wrap up. I was happy the author didn’t shy away from killing some critical characters & the battle scenes were vivid and entertaining.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
pagesbycaroline's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture and War
pageafter_paige's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This final book wrapped up the series better than I had anticipated. I laughed, I cried (twice), and I screamed throughout the story! The character arcs came full circle and really tore my heart out. Even though romance isn’t the focus of the book I am always rooting for Billy and Arsinoe so without the bonus epilogue I would’ve been in limbo. Overall great series and I found this book very fast paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
scourtheatlas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Blood, and Murder
esme_may's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I adored this! I'm so glad I decided to finish this series because it was so much better than the last one. An incredible end to the series
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Self harm, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty and Sexual content
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Just like its predecessor, Five Dark Fates couldn’t spark the same excitement in as like the first two books of the series. Maybe my 3.5 stars rating is a bit generous; I generally liked this book and the series but for some reason, I mainly focussed on the negative things in my review.
The revolution plot of the last book continues, and the rebels are still trying to overthrow Katharine. Mirabella has changed sides but it’s honestly good for her since she can be with her friends again and the rebels treated her terribly. This is one of the reasons I was not so invested in the revolution, and it only became interesting when Billy got kidnapped by Katharine and in return, the rebels kidnapped Pietyr. I felt so sorry for Billy since he’s the only character in this series that is actually good . Another amazing moment was Katharine killing Mirabella so that the dead queens can’t take her over. This is such a defining moment for Mirabella, but it made me so mad because she was my favorite queen of the three .
In general, the ending was dramatic and epic: Katharine saves Arsinoe from death and then dies with the dead queens. I’m honestly mad that Arsinoe is the only queen surviving since she’s the most boring one; Jules of course is able to defeat Rho as well and survives. Already before, I’ve noticed the trend of YA books only telling and not showing us what happened after the big final battle; this is the case here again. I strongly dislike that Jules became the new queen because I don’t think that she’ll be a good queen and she doesn’t deserve to be in this position. I’m normally a fan of characters changing the status quo but here, they keep the monarchy going instead of using the opportunity to create a more democratic system .
Coming to the characters, I’ll have to say that I’m quite mad that only the boring characters survive . The characters around Mirabella, who takes this great role as a mediator on in this novel, are so great and I love them. In comparison though, I really disliked the people around the rebellion. Emilia is the worst character in the entire series, I just hate how impulsive she is. Apparently, she’s in love with Jules but this love is barely shown on screen, and she just talks about it. Besides this, the other romances are also not that great.
All in all, the finale of the Three Dark Crowns series was a bit underwhelming. For me, the series started so amazingly with the first two books that had interesting conflicts and introduced us so well to the characters. Those are almost all thrown over in the last two books for an arbitrary revolution apparently every YA book needs. Don’t get me wrong, I love revolutions, but they get so predictable with the time. The ending of the series was also just not that great and I wished it had a different outcome. I’m honestly not sure if the series is worth it; probably when you’re invested in the characters and world after the first book like I was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Gore, Infertility, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content and Murder