One Dark Throne – Kendare Blake

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.

In this enthralling sequel to Kendare Blake’s New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns, Fennbirn’s deadliest queens must face the one thing standing in their way of the crown: each other.

Goodreads

I received an Advanced Reading Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

My Rating: 5 Stars

Oh, Kendare Blake, how is it possible for you to be the author of my favorite book of the year, two years in a row? Now, I’m not declaring One Dark Throne my favorite book of 2017 yet. I mean, its only September, that would be madness. All I will say is this: there is only one contender thus far…so make of that what you will.

Now, those of you who disagreed with my review last year and thought that Three Dark Crowns wasn’t well paced will be thrilled with this book. While I personally had no problem with the pacing of Three Dark Crowns, I found One Dark Throne to be perfectly paced. There was quite literally never a dull moment. The book followed multiple characters, giving it a truly rounded out feel.

One of the things I have enjoyed the most about this series is that its so comprehensive. Instead of telling the readers everything that happens, Blake shows them. Her writing is such a joy to read because almost nothing happens “off screen” so to say. One of the advantages of the POV and tense chosen for these novels is that they allow the reader to easily and seamlessly slip from character to character.

I personally hate when reviewers say that reading a book felt like “being on an emotional rollercoaster”…but if the shoe fits! I gasped, I cried, and I even cracked the occasional warm-hearted smile. At the end of Three Dark Crowns, I had a very clear favorite Queen. Around the middle of One Dark Throne I hated her and had chosen a new favorite. Near the end, I had chosen a new one again. By the time I finally closed this book I had switched Queens more times than Katy Perry changes costumes during a performance.

At the end of my last review I claimed that JJ Watt could have shown up at my door in a towel and I wouldn’t have looked at him twice. During the last 20 pages of One Dark Throne, he could’ve dropped the towel and I still wouldn’t have glanced up. I can only hope that if this scenario ever presents itself, JJ is a patient man.

My Takeaway: If my bold hinting didn’t make it clear, One Dark Throne is thus far my favorite book of 2017. It’s too soon to declare it now, but I am willing to bet my cats that it will end up on my end of year favorites list.