One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2) - Review

One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2) - Kendare Blake

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.

One Dark Throne continues shortly after the end of Three Dark Crowns, the story beginning to build suspense from the very beginning now that we know all three sisters are working towards the same objective - becoming queen. The book begins to build suspense almost immediately. With the knowledge that Katherine is completely changed after escaping the Breccia Domain, Mirabella is pitted against Arsinoe, convinced she set her familiar to kill her and Arsinoe just discovering and working to improve her skills as a poisoner, having to keep every detail under wraps and she plans the downfall of her sisters.

Just like the book before, this book gripped me with it’s intense story, plot building and driven characters. Though I thought that the time spent dwelling and planning for the ascension year took a while to get through, when the action began I was hooked. Each character’s perspective gripped me, especially Arsinoe, and the plot twists that were weaved into the mix as the book neared the end were intriguing.

Katherine being referred to as the “undead queen” brought an element of mystery to the plot. Whilst at times it felt as though the plot focused mainly on the relationships between Arsinoe and Mirabella within their respective chapters, Katherines mystery was always lurking in the background. Each and every time someone died due to one of her poisonings, you were instantly reminded of her boldness and strength which I think was easier to overlook compared to Arsinoe and Mirabella due to the favoritism that seems to surround them and the stigma against the Arron’s as a whole.

The greatest example of Katherine’s boldness was the hunt she conducted whilst in Wolf Spring. The intensity of the hunt told from each sister’s perspective, and the confidence in which she pursued each of them. From this point onwards, the rest of the book was a constant stream of excitement, intensity and emotion. This book is where I truly realised how attached I was to each of these characters. Their growth and development had already come leaps and bounds from the first book and I cannot wait to see where they end up in the rest of the series.

The only complaint I have about this book was the ending. Whilst it made sense for it to wind down a little at the end, I don’t feel as though the emotion that was supposed to be conveyed by Jules leaving after Josephs death was done in a way that impacted me very much. We know from both of these books how strongly Jule’s felt for Joseph, and for him to die without much of a reaction from her felt out of character. Perhaps this will be referenced throughout the last two books, however it did make me less inclined towards starting the third book which was disappointing after the intensity of the plot over the last half of the book.

Overall, this book was amazingly written and truly dragged me back into the story once again. Even though the first book appeared to have a clean cut plot with a clear goal, this book did a greater job at holding my interest and conveying each character's emotions and development as the plot became deeper. Each side plot ties in nicely with the main story and every loose end always seems to be tied up, making for a tidy and easy to follow novel whilst also drawing in the reader from each character's perspective.