# of Pages: 393
Time it took me to read: 5 days
# of pages a day to finish in a week: 56
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
(Statistics above are for The Forever Song)
Hey everybody, just a quick life update. Like I mentioned last week, I started a new job this week, and it’s been a big challenge, so while I did read a book this week (The Forever Song), I really don’t really want to review the last book in series I’ve already done two reviews on. I’d rather review a book that’s unique. So that’s why I’m going to talk about Three Dark Crowns, because that was a book that I read just before I started this blog, and I’d like to review.
I’ll say a few things about The Forever Song first, just to sort of wrap up the Song of Eden series. I think that The Forever Song was sort of the most predictable of the three, but not in an entirely bad way. Just the two or three main plot points of the book I definitely saw coming, but as a reader I was satisfied because I like happy endings and strong character arcs. And all of these characters certainly grew and progressed and became more than they were in the beginning. And the whole story had good resolution, which I like. No loose ends, which always bugs me when a series ends, even if the author wants to argue that it’s more “realistic” that everything isn’t wrapped up in a neat bow. In my opinion, a vampire dystopia doesn’t need to be particularly “realistic”. I do recommend this series overall, I think that if you want to read a vampire series that is unique in it’s dystopic universe, it’s a good choice. But if you want the best of Julie Kagawa, the Iron Fey series for sure. Also she’s got a new series about dragons, but I’m not super into dragons, so I probably won’t pick them up (at least not until I get some sort of confirmation that they are excellent).
For generations in the Queendom of Fennbirn, three royal sisters, triplets always, are separated at a young age, knowing that one day they will grow up and have to attempt to kill each other to take the crown as their own. Each sister has her own unique form of power, one a poisoner, one a naturalist, and one an elemental. They are raised by foster families that teach them to use their power, hoping that one day their sister will be Queen and rule them all. For generations the poisoners have ruled Fennbirn, but there are whispers that this will be the year a new power will rise. Fate, family, and prophecy affects each sister differently, but doesn’t change what they all know to be true. There is one crown only, and the last one standing at the end of their sixteenth year will be Queen.
Anyway, now I’ll talk a bit about Three Dark Crowns, but I’m going to be pretty brief, because I did read it a couple of months ago, and because I’m running short on time and energy. I appreciate the patience of anyone who reads my blogs weekly, because I know these last couple of weeks have been a little sporadic on timing and quality of blogs. But I am human, and I can only really do what my life allows right now. But when things slow down, I promise I’m going to do more daily post stuff, maybe even more than one review a week. I’d love to start a throw back Thursdays for book recommendations, and maybe a compilation of recommended books by genre.
Sorry, back to the point. Three Dark Crowns was a book I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I was going to. I’d rate it a solid 4 out of 5 stars. The fantasy world that Blake has created is immersive, and the powers that the characters possess are original and capable of moving the story along in unpredictable ways. Original books such as this are usually far less predictable, and this book was no exception. One of my favorite parts is that I didn’t like any sister more or less. I didn’t want one of them to win, or one in particular to lose. All three sisters have their strengths and weaknesses as characters. It’s difficult, because as a writer I think that it would be fabulous to actually have two of the sisters die and one win supremacy, because even though that’s the premise of the book, I kind of think that these sisters will find a way to break the cycle of sororicide (the killing of one’s sister). As a reader I hope that will happen in the next book, because I like all of the sisters, and I don’t want any of them to die in the end.
I think that the best part of this book is the power that they give women. All of the rulers of Fennbirm since the beginning of time are Queens, not Kings, and the women tend to have more magic in this realm. All of the main characters are women. The men, if not merely plot devices, are obviously all secondary counterparts to the women of this story. In fact, I think that if all of the male characters were taken out of this story, not a whole lot would change. The romantic subplots of this story are few, and clearly secondary to which woman is going to take power.
The one reason that I took a star away is because it starts slow. Even though the premise is interesting from the start, it really didn’t grab me until about a quarter of the way in.
Okay, anyway, I promise that next week I am going to have a fresh book for you, on time, that is a full and comprehensive review. And more good stuff will be coming for this blog, like I said above. Sorry again for the inconsistency, I just have to get my life on track. But just remember, even though I’m currently working six day, 48 hour weeks and getting ready to move, I still have time to read a book a week, and you do too.
P.S. Normally I’d put an “If you liked” down here as well, but since I read and talked about two very different books this week, I’m not going to put anything. Which feels lame, I know, but I promise it’ll get better. Please stay tuned!
Sarah's Shelf 