Book Review I Three Dark Crowns
This will be a fully fledged review, so beware, it'll be full of spoilers.
Three Dark Crowns has definitely captured my attention by it's plot. It's different, not at all like the typical YA novel. It narrates the story of three sisters (triplets), each with her own power, from their point of view as the year for ascension draws near. An Elemental, a poisoner and a naturalist, all of whom grew up in different parts of the island after being separated at a young age.
First of, Katharine: The youngest of the triplets and the love of my life. She's the poisoner, although her gift is weak at first. She can't digest poisons like how she is supposed which led to her weak physical state and left scars on her body. She's a brilliant potioneer though and can brew poisons very well. She's been abused by members of her adoptive family (f*ck you Genevieve) and has been ill throughout her life. Always reminded of how weak and unhealthy she is, yet somehow she accepts it all and doesn't say anything. This shows how most people in real life take in words and how they handle them and honestly i relate to her. Later on though, after that unfortunate event at the Brecca Domain, her personality takes a 180 degree turn. Going from the girl who tries to please everyone to the girl who will do anything to take her crown and respect back. I have to admit, the transition was sudden, but it was what people of similar stories needed. P.S. she's my emo child. Also her love interest is Peter Aaron (i love him so much) who is also Natalia's (Katahrine's mentor and caretaker kinda) nephew.
Next, Mirabella: The oldest of the three and another beautiful human. Known as the strongest and most beautiful, Mirabella is believed by most in the island to be the next queen. She's passionate, strong, lethal but at the same time, she loves deeply. She isn't as evil as the rumors say and isn't one bit cold-hearted. I loved her so much at first, but then the whole Joseph situation ruined it for me. Fine, I forgive her at the beginning for not knowing about Jules, but then she still hooked up with him after she knew he was engaged to another woman. I mean, come on, that's really low of you. She knows about Jules, and she still did it. For someone who cares about others and demands respect, that was horrible. After that incident I was pissed. They kept hooking up again and again. Like wtf. And Jules saved her goddamn life. She still doesn't give two shits. I don't even understand how she can agree to hooking up with someone who's cheating on his fiance, who's clearly a playboy, who has no actual love for Mirabella and is just with her because she's gorgeous. Can't she see how f*cked up that is? She's very imperceptive and I hated it.
Lastly, Arsinoe: The middle sister and who I couldn't bring myself to love or care about. She's the typical courageous, rebellious, tomboyish, wild-hearted character you will ever come cross. Jules is her best friend, who's also Joseph's lover. Arsinoe was labelled as the gift-less one, but later on it turns out that she's a poisoner like Katharine. I found her pretty boring. I do have to highlight the fact that she would go to any lengths for anything she wants to achieve, although that has led to stupid, reckless decisions. I honestly didn't like her character that much. She kind of annoyed me.
This is it for the sister's. I can talk about other characters in another post if you readers want to.
I do have to point out though that the book is hard to get into. The first 50% is quite boring and you have to push yourself to read it. I was also really disappointed with the fact that most of the story was about the girls playing around and about pointless love interests and complications. I expected it to be more political, with more preparations for the Ascension with physical fights and martial arts. I wanted to see twists in the system, assassins, political unrest, more realistic characters but instead I got petty love triangles and a high school musical love story. Then again the book felt more like prequel than an actual story. Maybe real shit will get down in later books.
I'll say this once, this book has GREAT potential, but it has just been... not taken seriosly? I feel like there wasn't lots of research or work done, not much effort put into the book. I really do hope the second book is better than this. I'm only giving it one more chance to see what happens next.
Finally, I'll rate it a 3.1/5 (I can't bring myself to make it a 3 or 3.5).
