Five Dark Fates: An Epic Young Adult Fantasy Finale of Three Sister Queens in a War for the Crown (Three Dark Crowns, 4)

Kendare Blake is a refreshing new voice in the literary world and the Three Dark Crowns series was recommended to me and I loved it. In publishing, there is an utter lack of strong female characters with high arching plot lines, where women are heroes, villains, victims, politicians, and saviors. Kendare Blake delivers all of these in this series. I became wary when the romantic sub-plots entered the picture and then I remembered this is Young Adult literature after all and the main characters are all teenagers. When reading about the tremendous challenges the young women go through, it’s easy to forget they are so young. For that reason, I forgave the romantic sub-plots as there does need to be something for everyone. I was grateful that Blake did not George R.R. Martin this story to death, by adding in too many characters, locations, storylines that don’t go anywhere and flat characters that ultimately serve no purpose. There were very few flat characters in this series, and I can really only think of two that only served to help further the development of the main characters. It’s refreshing to read books with fully fleshed female heroes and to understand the why about how some villains are made, in the characters of Katherine and the priestess Rho. Blake shows a great deal of emotional intelligence and systems intelligence in her presentation of the storyline and there was very little that was easily predictable. Not only was there little that I could predict in advance, there were a great many surprises to keep the story interesting, like Arsinoe and her bears. Other reviewers have lamented about this final book in the series and I want to explain the title to our non-pagan readers. The island is a character in the book. The priestesses and the queens all serve the island. Therefore one of the fates belongs to the island itself and all its inhabitants. The Legion Queen, The Undead Queen, The Bear Queen, The Elemental Queen, and the Island. The five dark fates. This is a lovely series and I didn’t want it to end. I would love to see it on the big screen or developed into a show. Hint, hint HBO.

This is the final book in this series! Please, do not proceed unless you are all caught up with the past three or you’ll be ruined for the whole series. Stop now and go back to where it all began! I would have hated for this to be ruined and I’d hate to ruin it for you. It’s definitely one of my favorite series. After the events of the last book, the rebellion lies ruined. Jules’s legion curse has had a rebound and it is up to Arsinoe to find the cure which could means stopping the ravaging mist. She’s definitely feeling the pressure since she will have to do it alone. Marabella has disappeared. For now, Katharine’s reign lies intact. Mirabella arrives at her door and is seemingly under the banner of truce. Soon enough, Katharine begins to miss the and yearn for the closeness that Mirabelle and Arsinoe shared. But soon enough, the dead queens are issuing warnings about Mirabella saything she’s not to be trusted. This book is the conclusion to all that the previous three have been building up to. A final confrontation between all the main players is going down and not everyone will survive. I loved this. I thought it was a great ending to the series. It really wrapped up everything that started all the way at the beginning. When it’s all said and done I found myself in tears and really thinking back to everything that happened along the way. I absolutely love this series.

I must say, I have been waiting for this book since I finished the previous, and waited for that one as soon as I finished that ones predecessor. The end of the Three Dark Crowns is one that I was not able to predict. There are areas where I would have loved to have a happier ending, some ambiguity to be clearly defined (but that's my personal choice as a reader), and overall for me, more details, probably to stretch out the book even longer for my longer enjoyment. There were unexpected twists and turns, there was suspense, there was switch and bait with a scheme. Overall, I loved the novel and can definitely see myself reading all of it from the very beginning of "Three Dark Crowns".

First off I'm really gonna miss this series now. It's one of my favorite series that I've read. At least I get to visit them again whenever I get a copy of the novella. This book had my emotions all over the place. I thought this was great finale for the series. This book/series moved at a good pace. You really got to see the characters develop as this series went on and to finally see it all come to a head was great. There was a lot of action in this book most of it was from the dead queens. Sometimes the suspense killed me and I'd have to put the book down for a bit. The only thing that got on my nerves with these books was Jules and Arsinoe and with this last book Emilia too. God I cant stand them three. They were all just so whiny and bratty that at points I just wanted to skip there parts completely but I wouldn't do it because it's all connected. Despite those 3 characters I hope the author releases something else so I can revisit this world again after how it ended.

In this final book in the Three Dark Crowns series, the question of the sister's fate and the island's future are answered. The Elemental Queen Mirabella has never been my favorite character and the decision she made in the last book made me dislike her even more. But the love that she has for Katherine and Arsinoe shines so brightly in this book I couldn't help but like her. While she will never be my favorite character. I grow to really respect and like her in this final book. The Poisoner Queen I will always love Katherine. She is ruthless and power-hungry and even more so in this book. I will always remember her how she was before she was possessed with the dead queens. Katherine's struggle with the dead queens was one of my favorite parts of the book. The Naturalist Queen Arsinoe will always be my favorite of the sisters. I have always loved her spunk, loyalty, bravery plus who doesn't love a character who has a pet bear. I love Arsinoe and Billy's relationship. They are so adorable together. The friendship between Arsinoe and Jules has always been one of my favorite parts of the story and still is. The Legion Queen Jules has always been one of my favorite characters. I don't want to say much about her character because of spoilers but she continues to be one of my favorites in this book. And one to be Queen I loved seeing old characters return in this book. This book has tons of twists and turns and that final battle was amazing and heartbreaking. The Queen Crowned was whom I was rooting for and I am sad to say goodbye to these characters and this world. Rating: 5 stars

Overall, I enjoyed the series. However, this one felt like the author stopped loving it and just wanted it to end. The story felt rushed, there were a number of plot lines that were set up in great detail in the previous book that were given bare minimum attention and/or resolved hastily and unceremoniously. So much time was spent building everything up to this finale and then it was all just kind of glossed over and tied up abruptly. It's almost disrespectful to readers time in a way. We invest all the time to make it to book 4 and then the author gives us a half-hearted finale.

So, it took me a very long time to finish this series. Not because I lost interest, I'm just really bad at finishing things. But I'm so glad I did! What a wild ride! I really enjoyed the audiobooks, the narrator did a really good job of keeping me involved and differentiating between characters. As for the story itself, I got angry a few times, especially when things happened that were just unbelievable! Just WHY?! However, it was not enough to make me quit reading. You know a good series by how many times you yell at the characters and author. I'm still undecided on if I liked the ending. Nothing predictable about this one...

I anxiously anticipated this book's arrival and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I am going to try and give my review without any spoilers! Overall I think the author did a good job in concluding the story, she wrapped up all the loose ends, there really wasn't more to build on with the close of this. We know the fates of all 4 queens which is of course what we all were waiting for. Did the story end how I wanted? Hecks no. Did it end even how I expected? Nope, not at all, which is actually good on the author's part because who wants to read something predictable. Now, I couldn't justify giving this a 5, because it definitely did not live up to my expectations. There is a chapter near the end that gives the battle scene from 4 different perspectives, and you don't realize that you're re-reading the same stuff, until after you have finished the chapter and it was just pointless. I think that it could have been written differently instead of having us go around and around in circles. I think the closing of the battle was not as amped up as it could be, it kind of was mellowed out - if that makes sense. There is a lot of build up for a mediocre end, basically. The conclusion was underwhelming, by far but I am not as disappointed in that as I thought I would be. I still think most of our questions were answered, but Fennbirn's World is done, there isn't really a lot to build on from there. If you have read the story so far, you must finish with this last book, it's still worth it.

El libro está como lo esperaba

I should have stopped at book 2 and pretended Katharine was Queen Crowned while Mirabella and Arsinoe went on their merry way to live new well deserved, hard won lives away from Fennbirn. But this was a beautiful, yet worthy and heartbreaking conclusion to the stories of the three beautiful dark queens. Everything went sideways. I could never truly guess at how the story was going to end. So many twists and turns that I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. But now I’ve come to the end of my journey with them, I can honestly say it’s been an honor fighting alongside them,learning who they are as beautiful as they are and reading their story. Beautiful, powerful Mirabella; stubborn, strong-willed Arsinoe; kind, sweet Katharine. You three broke my heart but it was wonderful being with you on Fennbirn, the island I’ve come to love since I first came in 2016.

The books are in pristine condition.

This was , for me, the best book in the series. There were many plots, sub plots and twists which kept me reading.

Confesso que me decepcionei um pouco com o rumo que a história tomou e a explicação de alguns mistérios da série. Não sei se minhas expectativas eram altas demais, mas eu amei ler todos os livros anteriores da série e inclusive esse, só achei que os acontecimentos finais poderiam ter sido um pouco mais "grandiosos". Eu esperava uma grande revelação que iria me deixar completamente sem fôlego, mas infelizmente isso não aconteceu. De qualquer forma ainda curti acompanhar as aventuras das protagonistas.