Two Dark Reigns

Kendare Blake

Sep 2018 · Three Dark Crowns Book 3 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake returns with the highly anticipated third book in the Three Dark Crowns series! And while Arsinoe, Mirabella, and Katharine all have their own scores to settle, there is another queen stirring things up on Fennbirn Island.

Queen Katharine has waited her entire life to wear the crown. But now that she finally has it, the murmurs of dissent grow louder by the day. There’s also the alarming issue of whether her sisters are actually dead—or if they’re waiting in the wings to usurp the throne.

Mirabella and Arsinoe are alive, but in hiding on the mainland and dealing with a nightmare of their own: being visited repeatedly by a specter they think might be the fabled Blue Queen. Though she says nothing, her rotting, bony finger pointing out to sea is clear enough: return to Fennbirn.  

Jules, too, is in a strange place—in disguise. And her only confidants, a war-gifted girl named Emilia and her oracle friend Mathilde, are urging her to take on a role she can’t imagine filling: a legion-cursed queen who will lead a rebel army to Katharine’s doorstep.

This is an uprising that the mysterious Blue Queen may have more to do with than anyone could have guessed—or expected.

Don't miss Five Dark Fates, the thrilling conclusion to the series!

Ratings and reviews

I always find it hard, going back into the Three Dark Crowns world. There have always been so many main characters and secondary characters and they keep growing with each book and well, I’M ONLY HUMAN, OKAY? What I mean to say is that it’s hard to remember all the character and all of their interconnecting stories without forgetting a few details with a year or so in between installments and well, it took me a while to really get into the book. MY THOUGHTS: 1. Two Dark Reigns is probably my FAVOURITE book in the series so far. While it started off with very fast chapters that kept me from connecting with all of the characters who landed up in so many different places at the end of Book 2, it ended in this COMPLETELY UNPREDICTABLE way and I absolutely loved it. 2. I quite liked the way all three queens – and Jules – grew in this book. I had slight issues with One Dark Throne in that I didn’t feel like anyone was REALLY in danger, and that the characters were going back and forth on the same tangents. I especially loved Katharine, who came into her role as queen and Arsinoe, who finally found her sense of duty and country (or island, in this case.) 3. I really liked that what happened to Katharine was properly explained in this book. I didn’t understand it for all of book two, but I’m quite glad that it was better explained now. I loved Pietyr and Katharine’s relationship as well. It’s kind of adorable. 4. I loved how the Island and the queens of the past played such a big role in Two Dark Reigns. I loved the visions Arsinoe had of Illian, the Blue Queen and Daphne and IT WAS ALL JUST SO INTRIGUING AND I LOVED IT. 5. I quite liked Billy in this book, with his unwavering loyalty. He always seemed fickle to me in the previous two instalments and I didn’t think much of him until Two Dark Reigns. I love that we got to see the ‘human’ world in this book with all of its ‘rules’ and I love that Arsinoe rebelled against the convention of what it meant to be ‘proper’ here. 6. I started off this series with Jules being my favourite character, that I thought deserved to be queen, but I LOVE THAT ALL THE CHARACTERS HAVE GROWN SO MUCH AND NOW I DON’T KNOW WHO WILL SIT ON THE THRONE AT THE END OF THE DAY? I’m loving the intrigue, though! Would I recommend this series? OF COURSE! YA Fantasy is my favourite genre and this series has really managed to surprise me, Two Dark Reigns in particular.

You'll feel thrilled, then some suspense and then broken hearted. And in love again.

Darn...is it bad I fell in love with queen katharine?

About the author

Kendare Blake is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series. She holds an MA in creative writing from Middlesex University in northern London. She is also the author of Anna Dressed in Blood, a Cybils Awards finalist; Girl of Nightmares; Antigoddess; Mortal Gods; and Ungodly. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages, have been featured on multiple best-of-year lists, and have received many regional and librarian awards. Kendare lives and writes in Gig Harbor, Washington. Visit her online at www.kendareblake.com.