One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake | When the Sequel is Better Than the Original

Title: One Dark Throne

Author: Kendare Blake

Published: September 19th, 2017

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Book 2 to Three Dark Crowns (review here)

AMAZON | GOODREADS


Synopsis: 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.

In this enthralling sequel to Kendare Blake’s New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns, Fennbirn’s deadliest queens must face the one thing standing in their way of the crown: each other.

     This is the sequel to Blake's Three Dark Crowns, which had been riveting and presented the author's writing style very well, but I did not care for the first book very much.
 There had been for numerous reasons for why that you can find in that review (linked above), but I had been ready to not finish the series and just dive into another.

  However, I picked up this one One Dark Throne, because a fellow bookish friend told me that if I wanted to DNF the series I needed to get further in first.
 And heck, am I glad I listened to them!

This is one of those rare cases where the sequel was infinitely better than the first book!


I was already head-over-heels for the scary-to-think-about plot and world, and I already had favorite characters from when I read the first book.
My favorite characters stayed the same, and a few characters were actually redeemed for me too!

 Katherine and Arisnoe are my absolute favorite girls! Mirabella I still can not stand, even though her character did get better in this one. Joseph was... I suppose redeemed for some, but I still hated him.
 We actually had a few character deaths that both surprised me and made me sad, and reappearances of others that had me cheering and beyond excited to see what chaos they would bring!

As a darker YA fantasy, this book's elements and characters have different depths and stakes- but it was impossible for me to put down this time!


 The plot takes place not long after the first book ends, so we see how each sister is adjusting and preparing to kill the other- as well as how our side characters are dealing with how much each queen has changed. (Changed for the better in Mirabella's case, changed but still the same for Arisnoe, and changed where I want to cry but I still love her for Katherine.)
 
  The side characters have changed themselves in terms of priorities and in some cases which sister they support, but otherwise, it's now an intense battle to the death.


There are some creepy tones that fit well for the spooky season- so if you've read the first book already definitely pick this up this fall!!


[My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟] [4 stars!]


Have any of you read this series yet?? Where did you get to in the series and what did you think??

Is this on your TBR or have you heard of it at all??


Thanks for reading!! <3
~Books with Noel