Three Dark Crowns

First, let me confess the fact that I am a huge fan of Kendare Blake's writing. I devoured her Anna books, with their deliciously gore filled pages. I madly paged through the Goddess War series, thoroughly enjoying Blake's mythological tale. So, of course, there was no doubt that I would want to dive right into Three Dark Crowns and the start of a new series. Plus, it was Fantasy. My favorite genre, written by one of my favorite authors? I'm so in.

Alas, the premise to this story far exceeded the actual execution in this first book. I can forgive a lot when it comes to Fantasy, but the world building has to be spot on. Without good world building, everything else that is built has nothing to cling to. Which was the case here. Blake starts out by laying the groundwork for the story of these three triplets who must fight for the title of queen. In order to claim the throne, a girl must murder the other two. Sounds amazing, right? I thought so too. If only that had been more laid out, Blake would have had me hook, line and sinker.

Instead, this first book chooses to focus heavily on each girl individually. I understood that, after a bit. The aim was to build up each girl and allow them to gain their own distinct personality. That worked to a certain extent. We meet Arsinoe, the naturalist queen who can't seem to find her gift. Mirabella, the elemental queen who is fiercely good at harnessing her power. Katherine, the poisoner queen who is unsure of herself at the best of times. Each of these girls had their own POV, that alternated by chapter. I liked that, because it gave us a glimpse into their different lives. However their voices weren't ever quite as distinct as I had hoped, and it made it difficult to transition at times.

As for the plot, I was willing to forgive how slowly it started out because I know there are good things coming around the bend. It takes while for Three Dark Crowns to build up steam (admittedly a longer while than I expected), but once it does things get very exciting! The use of magic, the backstabbing, all of it finally caught me up around the last third of the book. I could definitely have done without the beginnings of a love triangle, but I'll let it go. As long as it doesn't dominate the next book.

So, although this wasn't quite what I was hoping for and never quite got up to receiving that 4th star, this is a series that I'll be continuing on with. What can I say? I have faith in Kendare Blake.