Review: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Firstly, thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia for this review copy <3

Date Read: August 21 - September 6 2016
Date Released: October 1 2016
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating:

Synopsis:

"Three sisters. One crown. A fight to the death.
In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn't solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it's not just a game of win or lose . . . it's life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown."

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I can’t even begin to describe how sad I am that I didn’t like this. When I think of TDC and how it just went downhill, I’m filled with such disappointment.

The premise sounded amazing - three sisters who are equal heirs to the crown and who have to fight to be queen on their sixteenth birthday. Each has their own distinctive ability: elements, poisons, nature. There was the implied promise of strategy, action, manipulation and wonderful magic.

Three Dark Crowns started off strong - I was immersed in Katharine’s training of poisons and the way she’d been brought up in the family of poisoners. Blake keeps true to her word that it’s about three sisters with equal rights to the crown because she writes all three perspectives of each sister. I can’t say I cared much for Arsinoe and her supposedly naturalist gift. Mirabella was quite interesting with her elemental abilities and to be honest she seemed to be the only one who had any sort of personality. By the end I didn’t see how Katharine had grown as a person. I had no idea of her hopes and dreams, what she wanted for herself. Arsinoe too seemed to not really give a shit about anything and I was extremely bored with her. There were some things to do with her ‘abilities' that led her in a particular direction but her drive for that was very lacklustre. I found the sisters to be quite flat overall. Can you tell I don’t even care?

I think the secondary characters, especially the heads of each family that were training each sister, really drove the direction of the novel, and the sisters themselves. There was definitely manipulation here and the sisters felt like puppets. As such it didn’t feel like the story was about the sisters but more about these families at each other’s throats trying to put the sister they were looking after onto the throne for their own goals. Was I interested in their motives? Somewhat but not really. There wasn’t enough there to make it anymore than a power play and be a famous family.

What I really wanted more of was the history of the queens. There seemed a lot of promise behind the idea of the triplets and I’m really hoping that Blake explores this because it has so much potential to drive the direction of the sisters going forward. As it stands, there wasn’t enough of this history to hint at what Blake plans for the future and I can’t even tell if this history will be opened up in the sequels. This is possibly wishful thinking of my part.

The plot… was not really a plot at all for me. Maybe because it took me so damn long to read this book because I got so damn bored because it dragged on forever and nothing seemed to happen. Everything was meant to lead to this festival but honestly I was so fed up at this point that any plot twists/revelations and the like didn’t wow me or reduce my boredom at all. Stuff happened and I guess I was like wtf but then I was like ok *turns the page* let’s get this over and done with.

It felt like the story lost its direction. I couldn’t tell where Blake was going with this. By the time this ended I felt lost. I didn’t feel like I’d finished a story. I felt like I’d drifted in the middle of the sea and was floating aimlessly. There’s potential but I can’t anticipate what happens in the sequel because not enough happened in Three Dark Crowns. I wanted more from the sisters; I expected more from their abilities and I wanted them to use their brains.

I see the potential in Three Dark Crowns, I really do. However, book 1 failed to hit the mark to establish itself for a strong series. I’m hoping the sequel will be better.

Review: Antigoddess (Goddess War #1) by Kendare Blake

Firstly, thanks to Hachette Children's Books for this review copy <3

Date Read: September 30 - October 4 2013
Release Date: September 10th 2013
Publisher: Orchard Books (Hachette Children's Books Australia)
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy
My rating: 

Synopsis:

"He was Apollo, the sun, and he'd burn down anything that tried to hurt her... Cassandra and Aidan are just your average high-school couple. Or so Cassandra believes. Blissfully unaware that she was once a powerful prophetess, Cassandra doesn't even know thats god exist... Until now.

Because the gods are dying - and Cassandra could hold the answer to their survival. But Aidan has a secret of his own. He is really Apollo, god of the sun, and he will do anything to protect the girl he loves from the danger that's coming for her. Even if it means war against his immortal family...

Sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; relentless action and suspense - ANTIGODDESS is the YA novel you've been waiting for."

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“We should have seen it coming. It’s not as though it hasn’t been foretold and written about. The Twilight of the gods.”

Greek mythology is one of my favourite topics period. I’ve always enjoyed ancient history and it was one of my favourite subjects in high school. The sheer number of myths surrounding the gods and goddesses of the ancient Greeks have always fascinated me so I’m always on the lookout for YA books that are either retellings or have incorporated Greek mythology as the plot. There aren’t many that include the majority of the Olympians so I was very keen to read Antigoddess.

Cassandra seems like your average high school student with the uncanny ability to predict things like the outcome of a coin toss or when it’s going to rain. Then haunting dreams start plaguing her and she begins to see these dreams/hallucinations during the daytime.

Blake is true to mythology and Cassandra’s character is how I imagined a prophet would act, with adjustments for the modern era. Prior to her vivid visions, she’s a seemingly ordinary girl, the quiet type who stands on the sidelines. Her friends and boyfriend have much pretty much always believed the little things she sees because they do happen. When her freaky visions of mythical creatures being chased and killed begin, I liked how she questions them as to their relevance to her life. It’s obvious those visions are of another world so she takes it to mean something bad will happen, but not in the literal sense of actual Cyclops being killed which I found to be plausible. When the action does hit though, she’s pretty useless and I guess that’s reminiscent of the Cassandra in legends – never able to do anything but at least in this case people believe her. I can’t really say much about her character; I didn’t dislike her but I wouldn’t say she was profound either.

The ensemble of Olympians were mainly present which made me really happy. The book alternates between Cassandra and Athena; Blake shows what it’s really like for a god to die through Athena and Hermes’ desperate journey to find answers, and the physical changes they suffer. Various gods and goddesses are shown throughout the novel, at varying stages of their impending death and I liked how their traits came through – Athena the strategist, Aphrodite and her vanity, Hermes and his mischievousness. It was very interesting to see them with the outer appearance of 17-year-olds though.

It’s obvious Aidan loves Cassandra and believes everything she prophesises. He trusts her completely and really believes they’ll be together for a long time. He’s sweet and protective but in delaying the inevitable I just thought his actions just left them with less time to prepare.

The plot was very well thought out and I had no idea where it was going other than knowing the gods were supposedly dying. It’s a race against time as the different gods each try to get Cassandra because she holds the key to their survival… or their death. But do the gods really ever learn. Thousands of years ago, in their boredom, the gods sparked a war that ended in insurmountable casualties with dire consequences that reshaped the ancient world. Have their mistakes finally caught up to them? Is there a limit to being a god – to doing what they do? As this mounted, I was on the edge of my seat and that ending hit me so hard. I would have liked more action and a bit more build up, but the way Blake ended this had me completely intrigued as to how this trilogy progresses.

Despite the slow pace, I did enjoy this and I thought Blake did a very good adaptation of Greek mythology. The way she incorporated the gods, their various myths, powers and flaws with a twist nobody thought could happen was great. I mean seriously, who would have ever thought that gods could die? She does this in a very suspenseful and mysterious fashion and tops it off with her fantastic writing. Antigoddess is the first novel I’ve read by Blake but I can definitely say she’s a skilled writer – especially in the macabre. Her descriptions could be a touch gory, slightly disturbing, sending shivers down my spine and like a moth to flame, had me anxious for more.

“For the record I don't believe in Fate. I believe that the pieces have been placed. The ending hasn't been written yet.”