Review: One Dark Throne - Kendare Blake

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One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
Series: Three Dark Crowns #2
My rating: {★★★★☆}

YA Fantasy
Expected publication: September 19th 2017 by Harper Teen

Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
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.
Wow. What a ride! There was so much happening and so much at stake all of the time that it was a pretty breathless read.

First things first - this series has now been expanded from a duology to a quartet, which is SUPER EXCITING. It's always a little nerve wracking when an author extends a series, but I remember reading somewhere after the first book that this series was expandable so I don't think that we will be reading a lot of fluffy filler material and I for one am so glad that I have two more books coming in this incredible world.

The intensity was definitely ramped up. We pick up almost immediately where we left off in Three Dark Crowns and the sisters are now in their ascension year. Unlike the first book that took it's time laying out the world and carefully building the tension this one took off with a running start and only slows down doesn't stop. Because of this I'd say that the pacing would suit more people than in the first book.

There's still plenty of plotting and political manoeuvres so the plot remains intricate and precise. What was already quite an ominous and nasty tale took an even darker turn with each sister devoting time to killing the others and the body count begins to climb as the collateral damage spreads.

I love the matriarchal society and the fact that females are the powerful gender. Even the most influential of the men are accessories to the women.

The three queens are all wonderful, strong female characters in their own way and I am still attached to all of them. Even though Katharine came back changed from her experience in Three Dark Crowns and was a good deal crueler and fixated on winning the throne I still felt glimmers of the 'old' Katharine under the surface and I hope she can be 'saved'.

There were side plots carried over from Three Dark Crowns that were resolved (mostly satisfactorily) and there were new and interesting story lines introduced.

Revelations, betrayals and discoveries provided quite a few twists and turns along the way and, once again, there was an ending that leaves you on the edge of your seat waiting impatiently for the next instalment.

Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1)

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