Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake is the first novel in a four book series that I have been reading recently. Right now, I'm reading the fourth novel, so I'm excited to see how the series will end! The other novels in this series are One Dark Thrown, Two Dark Reigns, Five Dark Fates, and the novella Queens of Fennbirn. I never used to read novellas associated with the series that I have read, but I've started to recently and would highly recommend it. To me, reading the novella after you've finished the series is a satisfying way to tie off a series, especially if the ending left you feeling unsatisfied.
So far, I've been pleasantly surprised by the Three Dark Crowns series. It has been on my "too read" list for a long time, so I finally got around to reading it. I didn't expect it to be a very intense series or have much depth, but I'm glad that I was wrong. Within the very first chapter, I was surprised by dark and eerie Three Dark Crowns seemed. I was a little spooked by it since I wasn't expecting it, so the tone takes a little getting used to (especially since the very first chapter starts off with the darkest character, Katherine).
Three Dark Crowns is written in the third person so that the author can switch between different characters for each chapter. There are three main characters (four in the following novels) that the point of view switches between, with the occasional section shown from the point of view of a random character so that the reader can obtain vital information (trust me, this makes sense in the novel). The main characters are the three triplet queens: Mirabella, Katherine, and Arsinoe.
To understand the triplet queens, I first need to explain how Blake's setting of Fennbirn works. Fennbirn is an island blessed by the Goddess and ruled by her decedents, three queens. Each queen has a gift; they can be an elemental, poisoner, war queen, oracle, or naturalist. Depending on the gift that is identified at their birth, they are sent to foster families of their gift to be raised. Once they turn 16, the queens must enter the Ascension year where they have one year to kill each other. The surviving queen becomes the ruler of the island until she gives birth to her triplets and the cycle repeats.
Mirabella is the most powerful elemental the island has ever seen; she has control over all four elements (elementals can generally control one, maybe two, elements). The other two queens are much weaker. Katherine is a poisoner, meaning she can consume any poison without feeling its effects. Unfortunately, she appears to not actually have this gift, and she only has the immunity that she has built up from years of being poisoned (in attempts to strengthen her "gift"). The final queen is Arsinoe, the naturalist who also appears to have no gift, though it is revealed at the end of the final novel that she is actually a poisoner. In theory, a naturalist should have a familiar and be able to control nature and its animals.
Obviously, Mirabella is the queen favored to win the Ascension year. She is the only queen supported by the temple (the religious control center of the island and voice of the Goddess), and she is the only queen who is actually gifted (at this point). But since this is a four book series and they never go as expected, the path to the throne is not as clear cut as it should be.
For more information and to find out what happens during the Ascension year, visit Goodreads!