One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

I have finally finished this and OH MY HEART I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOW!! One Dark Throne takes place right after Three Dark Crowns ends, so it’s a good thing I read Queens of Fennbirn recently and was still familiar with the world.

Ascension Year has started after the ending of Three Dark Crowns. And because of the ending, the futures of the three queens aren’t as assured - Mirabella, the strongest Queen, has lost a lot of standing, while her two weaker sisters are faring better. But the Queen can only be crowned after she’s killed both her sisters, which means that all three of them still have a chance...

I don’t really want to talk too much about the plot because I’ll end up giving away the ending of the previous book (and if you haven’t started the series it’s best not to know) but I was really taken for a ride in this one! I loved Three Dark Crowns but it did spend quite a lot of time laying the groundwork and as a result, the plot of One Dark Throne moved at a good pace. I really couldn’t wait to finish the book because I was desperate to find out who won.

Character-wise, Mirabella is still my favourite character because she really has the best heart. Sometimes to her detriment, but I really liked her and she was my favourite candidate. That said, Arsinoe’s development surprised me. I wasn’t really a fan or her or her best friend Jules, but by the end of the book, I was also rooting for both of them to have a happy ending. I think that the author did a good job in showing their growth and motivations which helped me sympathise with them.

Katherine, on the other hand, I disliked. She was just nasty and since she was just weak in the previous book, didn’t endear herself to me. But I did find out why she changed to become like that towards the end, so while I still don’t like her, her character motivation is real to me.

As for the supporting characters, I would end up with a way too long review if I talked about them all. So let’s just say that there were many of them and if you can keep track of who’s who, their personal motivations and feelings start to become clearer and they become people rather than filler characters.

Overall, I really, really loved this book. It definitely helped that I read the novellas before this because I would be lost without a refresher, but this book gripped me from the start and now I cannot wait for the next book because I need to see how things end!