VERDICT Dark indeed, and exploring themes of loyalty, this is a thrilling sequel with everything from action to romance to entice readers. Though Blake describes some violence, the gore is minimal, making this appropriate for a broad range of ages. The large cast of characters may seem overwhelming at times, but each is characterized skillfully.
The present-tense style throughout underlines the drama of the plot.
Readers will appreciate the epic payoff of the first novel in this second installment. A continued detailed development of characters carves out unexpected alliances with Blake's careful manipulation. The author takes the cursed sisters to new exciting heights with a driving plot. When Katharine seems to gather strength, Mirabella and Arisonoe must determine whether they can work together or if they even should. While the teen queens deal with suitors and advisors, they must also grapple with the reality of their tasks in killing one another for the ultimate throne. Gr 8 Up-Following up on the events of Three Dark Crowns, Blake brings the queen triplets to their fates as they fight for their lives. 14-adult)ĬOPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Achingly gorgeous and gruesomely fascinating. The deliberate pacing at the outset serves to re-establish the labyrinthine web of characterization and plot, paying off in a tumultuous climax that piles one shocking twist upon another. With numerous alternating viewpoints, the exquisitely restrained prose limns a nuanced, subtly realized matriarchal society: all-white, normatively heterosexual (but with exceptions), in which even the most complex male characters function only in relationship to women.
Yet more excruciating is the curse upon their experience of love, whether with siblings, parents, or friends in romance, passion, even religious devotion-all relationships are twisted, broken, abandoned, and betrayed. Blake's already pitch-black tale shades even darker, as the queens' cruel contest piles up an escalating (and grisly) body count. Alliances shift as the various factions play Temple against Council, and potential suitors become both rivals and pawns-but not even the Goddess can prevent the queens from deciding to take their fates into their own hands. Meanwhile, poisoner Katharine has returned from her rumored death with a vengeance.and a mission. With the rampage by Arsinoe's bear, the naturalist candidate has demonstrated unexpected strength, and now elemental Mirabella is no longer treated as the foreordained victor. After the spectacular catastrophe of the Quickening (Three Dark Crowns, 2016), the balance of power among the queens has shifted. JThree sisters intensify their deadly struggle for the crown in the second of a horror-tinged fantasy series.
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