Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake - HIGH

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, 416 pages. Harper Teen, 2016. $18.               

Language: PG(1 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13 (nondescriptive undressing, alcohol); Violence: R (poisons, graphic deaths, maiming) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, the queen gives birth to triplet daughters.  Each of them has a magical gift.  Katharine is a poisoner who thrives on eating poison, Arsinoe is a naturalist who can control plants and animals, and Mirabella is an elemental who can control wind, water, and fire.  When the three young queens reach age 16, they are presented to their subjects at the Beltane Festival.  They have known all their lives that no queendom needs three queens, so a contest of strength and cunning begins as each queen has one year to kill her sisters using any means possible. The last one alive will take the throne, marry a husband of her choice, and reign until the next generation of triplets is born. This is the first book of a trilogy, so don't expect to have a neatly packaged ending!    

I was on the edge of my seat reading this book and knowing that two of the characters I cared about were going to die.  There are no evil sisters in this book, only three young girls who are manipulated (and abused) by those around them for their own political gain and who have very human fears and desires and I wanted them all to miraculously survive the horror that they were thrust into. The plot twist at the end was an absolute shocker! I don't usually enjoy violent books, but I'll be reading the sequels.  I have to find out what happens to Katharine, Arsinoe, and Mirabella.       

Dona Wilson, Library Media Teacher, Stansbury High School