Hype or Like Friday – November 25th, 2016

Woohoo, it’s Hype or Like Friday again! This meme and Goodreads group were created by myself, Jill @ Rant and Rave Books, and Britt @ Geronimo Reads. To join our group and find out more information about what it’s all about, please go to our Goodreads page HERE.

The November BOTM is going to be Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. All of the topics this month revolve around being thankful! Perfect for the upcoming holiday season, right?

RULES:

  • Answer the weekly discussion topic.
  • Optional: Discuss your chosen hyped book of the week.
  • Optional: Talk about your progress on the BOTM.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK: Three Dark Crowns Book Review

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Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1) by Kendare Blake

Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

If only it was that simple. Katharine is unable to tolerate the weakest poison, and Arsinoe, no matter how hard she tries, can’t make even a weed grow. The two queens have been shamefully faking their powers, taking care to keep each other, the island, and their powerful sister Mirabella none the wiser. But with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens’ every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest…but she may be the darkest.

The Good

  • World Building – Fennbirn was a really interesting world. I loved how the island was set up with the different magic wielders each living in their own cities and areas. The magic system was really interesting, too. I never would’ve though of poisoning being a magic, so that was really unique. The poisoners were also very perfect for their magic – clever, cold, haughty, and malicious. It was also really neat to see how the different magic wielders each had their own characteristics and personalities. I think I would’ve been a naturalist running wild through the woods and reading books to squirrels up in the trees. HA!
  • Arsinoe – This girl is me. She doesn’t care what others think of her, is stubborn as hell, and just does whatever she wants. I loved her personality and sarcastic little comments. She was really the only character I thought that had any personality, other than Pietyr. I would have much rather the entire book just be in her POV.
  •  The Ending – All of the action FINALLY showed up in the last 60 or so pages. I would’ve preferred more throughout the rest of the book, but I’m just glad that it showed up at all. Things were so intense once Beltane arrived and I couldn’t put the book down to see what was going to happen next! And that plot twist?! Seriously, my mouth dropped and was like WTF?! Then it ended… And now I have to wait until the sequel arrives. I’m not pleased.

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The Bad

  • Almost Every Character – I really just didn’t care for any of the characters, except for Arsinoe and Pietyr. Katharine started off all whiny and “poor me”, and kept being described as too small and weak. I found it extremely annoying. Then she has some sort of sexual revelation and turns into a horny bitch. I wish I was kidding, but I’m not. I really didn’t like her but I’m hoping that she goes on a psycho revenge binge in the next book because of her little ‘adventure’ at the end. Maribella was just boring. She didn’t really have a personality to me and so I found myself bored during her chapters. As for Jules, well she was a bit too obsessed with her boyfriend (who I really didn’t care for). I mean, come on girl – grow up!
  • Pacing – As I briefly mentioned earlier, this book was a bit slow. While I never struggled to make myself pick it up, there was never any real action either. I would’ve preferred to have a bit more of it spread throughout. I think it was sacrificed in this book for all of the world building, background information, and information that was needing to be explained.
  • Pointless Sexual References – I don’t know if this society is just more sexually open or something, but there was just a lot of references to it. I swear everyone was either doing it, talking about it, or doing it. It was just weird. Like what is the point of this? I don’t mind sex in books at all, but it just seems strangely prominent in this book serving no purpose at all other than to maybe create some drama. Yawwwwwwnnnnnn….

Overall this book was alright – nothing special or terrible, just alright. I enjoyed that it was dark and I really liked the plotline, but I wish that the characters would have been better. I would have also liked there to have been a bit more action, and not the sexual kind. I do plan to continue with this series to see where it goes and if there is any growth in the characters. Blake is a pretty popular writer so I’m hoping that she knows what she’s doing with this story. I think this is one of those books that is going to get very polarizing reviews and I’ll be interested in seeing what others think of it, so you should read it just for that reason alone. Now go read it and then let me know what your opinion is!

Final Verdict: 3/5 Stars

Have you read the Three Dark Crowns? What did you think of it? If you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to in the future? Have you read any other books by Kendare Blake? Leave a link to your Hype or Like Friday post in the comments!

Published by

wonderfilledreads

Obsessive book reader and blogger. Texas girl. Sports fanatic. Lover of travel, video games, and scented candles. I also just really enjoy sleeping. #noshame

35 thoughts on “Hype or Like Friday – November 25th, 2016”

  1. Ooh, I had a feeling this one wasn’t all that. I attempted to read the first chapter, without any luck, and I also felt the characters were flat and boring. The pacing also seemed off. And it was a bit info dumpy. From what I heard from other bloggers, they also said there’s no action for most of the book. Like most HLF books, I didn’t finish this one. 😂🙈 Not at all shocking. Lol I also didn’t read enough that I thought I could write a DNF review either. I don’t think these fantasy books are holding my attention anymore like they used to. I think that’s my problem. I’m so into contemporary, romance, and thrillers now. Love your review! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you!! Yeah, this one didn’t live up to my expectations unfortunately. But it still held my attention and was interesting enough for me to finish, so that’s good. I do want to continue on with the series though because I think it might get better with each book.
      Haha! I’m sorry you’ve had such a bad time with the picks for the past couple of months. Do you think it doesn’t help that you’ve got so much going on too? I’ve noticed that I can’t get into books as easy when I’ve got a lot going on. I bet the genre thing could be a big part of it as well! 🙂

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      1. Yeah, I think my current schedule isn’t helping. I must be too distracted to properly focus on any book other than my own. When I first moved to Florida, I was reading so much it was unbelievable. Maybe I also burned myself out with my October marathon. This month I’ve only read a few books, which is not much for me. I think I only read about 5-6 books. I also think YA fantasy isn’t holding my attention like it used to.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yeah, sometimes for me that I’ve just been reading too much haha. Sounds crazy, but it’s true! We’ve also been reading some mediocre fantasy lately. Maybe you should try reading some more of the ToG series to get a nice refresh? I’m also open to recommend some decent fantasy books! 😁

        Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m glad you like Gilmore Girls as well haha. Yeah there are some books out there that get so hyped up and then people get left disappointed at the end.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Is it strange to say I’m a sucker for multiple birth characters? The two things that appeal to me about this story are the triplets potential queens who have to battle it out for the throne, and the fact that two of them are faking their powers. That’s so interesting! Unfortunately, life’s too short to read slow-paced books with characters who aren’t well drawn.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Haha that’s not strange at all! It’s really interesting too in that the sisters all don’t even care that they have to kill each other. I found that so fascinating, haha! And while it is a slow-paced book, I still found it enjoyable to read and I have a feeling that the rest of the series will be much more action packed.

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  4. Great review! I feel like a lot of bloggers didn’t enjoy the pacing of this book, and say that it’s a bit off, and some even wanted to DNF it from the start because of that. it’s too bad, the way that book has been marketed, it sounded very interesting, too bad it didn’t live up to everyone’s expectations :/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks! Yeah, that pacing wasn’t what I was expecting when I first started it. But it wasn’t bad enough to make me DNF it either. The premise was really intriguing and I like where the story is heading. It just didn’t live up to all of the hype for me.

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  5. Great review! Arsinoe was great – and the ending was also really good. Now I need the sequel ASAP!
    And I completely agree with you about the “pointless sexual references”. There was SO much of it, and it felt oddly thrown in. It was just weird and didn’t fit.
    I can’t wait to see what Katherine and Arsinoe end up doing in the next book! Love the quote you selected – that one was my favorite in the book 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much! I’m totally dying for the sequel now, because that cliffhanger left me so hyped!
      And I know, right?! Like they were just casually thrown in here and there, and I’m like, what the hell is up with this sexually charged island?! It was so weird!
      I’m looking forward to psycho revenge Kat in this next book. She’s going to be reallyyyy interesting to watch. That twist with her was insane. I honestly didn’t see it coming at all!

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  6. “The Bad: Almost every character”

    Okay, I loled.

    After all the mediocre reviews I’ve seen for this one, I’ve finally removed it from my TBR. Such a shame that it disappointed so many people! I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of the sequel–particularly with regards to the (hopefully existent) character arcs.

    Great review, as always! =)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hahaha thanks, Liam! And yeah, it was an okay book. I think it was just too overhyped and that was the biggest problem with it, well that and that most of the characters were awful lol. I do expect the sequel to better though… Hopefully!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. “turned into some kind of horny bitch.” Hahahahah you killed me. I swear, I have the impression this book had A LOT of expectations from everyone. It ended up either disappointing or average. Great review! 😛

    – Lashaan

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  8. I’ve seen sooo many mixed reviews for this. Some people seem to absolutely love it, others absolutely hate it, and others are in the middle. It’s so hard to guess what I’ll end up thinking of it haha I got it from OwlCrate though, so I’ll definitely end up reading it (eventually).

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. I had so many of the same thoughts as you did! Absolutely nothing happened, but at the same time too much was happening. I also hate how we were promised a fight to the death, but it didn’t even come CLOSE to that. I really didn’t care about any of the characters either. I’m hopeful for the next book in the series though. Great review, Larkin!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you! Yes, exactly! I’m going to guess that the entire series is going to the be the fight to the death and this first book was just an introduction. I’m expecting things to amp up in the next book, especially after that ending! 😊

      Like

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  13. Looks like I’ve now been properly warned before reading this book haha. I might like this one, although slow pace, pointless sexual references and unlikeable characters doesn’t really sell it to me. It’s good to know I should keep expectations low, so thanks! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
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