Review: Three Dark Crowns - Kendare Blake

Elemental Cover

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn a set of triplets is born: thee queens, all equal heirs to the crown, all possessed of a coveted magic.

Mirabella, a fierce elemental, can spark hungry flames with the click of a finger.

Katharine, a poisoner, is known to be resistant to the deadliest of snake bites.

Arsinoe, a naturalist, is rumoured to have the ability to bloom the reddest of roses.

But becoming the Queen Crowned is not just a matter of royal birth. These three sisters must fight to the death for the throne, and on the night they turn sixteen the battle begins. Only one queen can inherit the crown.

Whose side are you on?

Three Dark Crowns Series:
Three Dark Crowns
Future titles and release dates to be confirmed

Visit Kendare Blake's website for more information.

Review:
As soon as I read the blurb for this story I wanted to read it. Triplet princesses with magical powers who have to fight each other to the death in order to claim the crown? Yup, sign me up! I was expecting a fast paced story full of action packed battles and bitter enmity between the sisters but that's not really what I got. This book is more of an introduction, there are a lot of characters to meet and a whole world to get used to so the action doesn't really start until right towards the end and I imagine the story I was expecting here will be what we'll actually get in the sequel.

In spite of the slower than expected pace I still quite enjoyed getting to know the three sisters. Arsinoe is probably my favourite, she is the naturalist queen and as such she should have the ability to influence plants and control an animal familiar but unfortunately her powers are weak and she hasn't even bonded a familiar yet. Her best friend Jules is one of the most powerful naturalists the island has seen in centuries so Arsinoe's lack is even more glaring in comparison. I absolutely loved the friendship between the two girls though, they never let the difference in their abilities come between them and Jules was incredibly supportive and protective over Arsinoe. I think Jules (and her familiar Camden) actually ended up stealing the spotlight in quite a few of the scenes, there was a really sweet romance between her and Joseph that I had been enjoying every minute of until a certain thing happened that I just found incredibly disappointing and very out of place.

My second favourite sister was Katharine, she is a poisoner and should be immune to all kinds of poisons but her ability is also incredibly weak. The family who raised her have spent years trying to build her immunity by poisoning her on a daily basis and it has left her smaller and weaker than her sisters so she's not expecting to have much of a chance when the fighting starts. I felt really sorry for Katharine, she's quite innocent and naive considering she's constantly being tortured with different poisons and I really wanted to see her stand up for herself a little more. We did see her start to gain confidence though and I'm hoping she'll be much more proactive in the next book.

Mirabelle is the sister with the best control of her powers and is the strongest elemental in a long time. The last few queens have all been poisoners but the temple priestesses are so convinced that Mirabelle will win that they've abandoned all appearance of staying neutral. I liked her character at first, she is the one who has the highest chance of winning but she also seems the most resistant to the idea of killing her sisters, the others are pretty resigned to dying but Mirabelle doesn't want to fight them. She is being manipulated by the priestesses but she quite often sees through what is going on and she isn't a pushover which I appreciated. Unfortunately she is also involved in the most ridiculous love triangle of all time, one full of insta-love and some scenes that were just completely cringeworthy. I lost all respect for her character because of that triangle and it meant I stopped enjoying the chapters from her perspective and it's a big part of why she's my least favourite sister.

Based on the premise and the characters I should have loved this book but I've been left with so many questions and there are a lot of things about the world building that just don't make sense. The queen only rules until she gives birth to the next set of triplets and at that point she is banished from the island to the mainland. Why? What is the point of that? Especially when the triplets are raised in isolation for the first six years and then they're separated to live with the clans that share their abilities. It's not until the triplets are sixteen that they are allowed to start fighting for the crown and able to go claim the throne so you have at least sixteen years where there is no ruling queen on the island which just doesn't make sense. It's also not really explained why only one of the triplets is allowed to live, why doesn't the most powerful just automatically take the throne? They could banish the other two to the mainland to get rid of them but I don't see why they need to die. I had lots of other questions but this review is already long enough so I'm not going to list them all.

I'm hoping I'll get some of those answers and a lot more action in the next book because I definitely do want to know what is going to happen to these characters. This book isn't perfect but I did find it a very easy read and there were a lot of things I enjoyed about it so I have high hopes for the series as a whole.

Source: Received from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

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Poisoner Cover                    &                    Naturalist Cover

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood - Kendare Blake

Cas Lowood is no ordinary guy - he hunts dead people.

Dead people like Anna Dressed in Blood, a beautiful, murderous ghost entangled in curses and rage. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dressed in blood. Cas knows he must destroy her, but as her tragic past is revealed, he starts to understand why Anna has killed everyone she's ever met.

Everyone, that is, except Cas . . .

The Anna Series:
Anna Dressed in Blood
Girl of Nightmares

Visit Kendare Blake's website for more information.

Review:
Cas comes from a family of ghost hunters and his early life was spent moving around the country with his parents while his father killed dangerous ghosts. Since his father was killed by a ghost Cas has taken over his role and now travels with his mother searching out ghosts. His latest tip has sent him to Canada searching for Anna Dressed in Blood. Anna was brutally murdered over 50 years ago and since then has been haunting the house that she used to live in, anyone who tries to enter her home is viciously torn to pieces. It is up to Cas to permanently destroy Anna before she can murder anyone else but the more he learns about her past the more he starts to feel for her. Hasn't she already suffered enough? Is there any other way to stop her?

I have been looking forward to reading Anna Dressed in Blood ever since I first heard about it after it's US release so I was really excited that the book has finally been published in the UK. I love reading stories told from a male perspective and Cas was a great hero for this story. I was a bit nervous about him at first because he comes across as quite arrogant and over confident but as you get to know him you learn how brave, smart and kind he is. Having always moved around he is used to changing schools and although he never bothers to spend time making friends he immediately makes himself at home. He knows the best way to get the information he needs about Anna is to be accepted by the popular kids so he instantly makes a connection with the queen bee Carmel.

His latest job turns out to be quite different from the previous ones though. Not only does he find himself actually starting to make friends and let people in on his secret but there is also something very different about Anna compared to all of the other ghosts he has ever had to deal with. She is more aware of what she is for a start but she is also more violent and much more powerful than any that he has come across before and it isn't going to be easy to stop her. I really loved the mythology that Kendare Blake has used to create the world Cas lives in. I thought the way that most of the ghosts who become violent were originally victims themselves who now spend their afterlife reliving their most horrific moment and killing people in the way that they died was really interesting. It made sense to me that their pain, suffering and confusion caused them to become something that they never were in life.

The one thing about the book that I wasn't so keen on was the romance. Call me stupid but I found it hard to believe that Cas would be attracted to a ghost who he knows has committed multiple murders and who he actually watched rip someone in half! As much as Anna's back story was tragic and made me feel sorry for her it doesn't change the fact that since her death she has become a murderer herself. Although I felt she deserved to find peace I just didn't believe the romance and I found it more than a little creepy. Anna does make a fantastic scary ghost though and there is no way you'd get me to step foot inside her haunted house!

Overall I really enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood and am looking forward to reading the sequel. The story is fast paced, gory and different from anything else I've read recently. If you like your ghosts scary and don't mind a lot of blood and guts in your books you'll really enjoy this one!

Source: Received from Orchard in exchange for an honest review.

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Publisher Spotlight: Hodder & Orchard - July - November 2012

I thought it would be fun to start spotlighting new releases that different publishers have coming up over the next few months for us to look forward to.  I'm constantly looking for new books to add to my wish list and thought it would be a nice way of spreading the bookish love with other bloggers.  It's been a little while since my last Publisher Spotlight post so I thought it was about time for another one!  So in the spotlight today we have . . .

 & 

Today I'm going to talk about the YA titles that Hodder Children's Books and Orchard Books are publishing in the second half of 2012. They all look fab & I can't wait to read them!  Check out the Hodder Children's Books website and the Orchard Books website for more information. All book descriptions have been taken from Amazon UK unless otherwise stated.

July the 5th:

First up we have A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton, this is the second book in her Winter trilogy and one I'm really looking forward to. You can read my review of the first book A Witch in Winter here. Can I just say how much I love this cover - don't you think it's gorgeous? Visit Ruth Warburton's website for more information.

Anna still finds it hard to believe that Seth loves her and has vowed to suppress her powers, no matter what. But magic - like love - is uncontrollable and soon, Anna is being hunted. Abe wants Anna to embrace her power, while Seth is pushing Anna to accept that his feelings are real. She finally does ... a moment too late. Suddenly, it's like the Salem witch trials all over again: burnings, torture and faceless judgements. In the face of the ultimate betrayal, who will save her?

The second novel in the Winter trilogy, this follows the critically acclaimed debut A WITCH IN WINTER.

Next we have the first book in a new series by David Gatward called Doom Rider. I don't read a lot of YA horror because I'm a big wimp but I think this may be more of an action story and I'm very curious about it. Visit David Gatward's website for more information.

Seth Crow has lived a thousand lives, and in each one he's been murdered before he turns thirteen.

And now he's being hunted again. But this time it's different.

Enter Lily, who tells him of his fate: Seth is CONQUEST. The first of the four riders of the Apocalypse. And people want him dead, before he can fulfil his destiny.

Seth's only hope lies in finding the other riders - Strife, Famine and Death.

Together, the fate of the world lies in their hands ...

Next we have Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley. Now I don't read many contemporary books but I absolutely love the sound of this one and am looking forward to picking it up soon. Visit Cath Crowley's website for more information.

'We've got at least seven hours to get what we want before the sun comes up.'

School is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. Somewhere in the glassy darkness, he's out there, spraying colour, birds and blue sky on the night. And Lucy knows that a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for - really fall for.

The last person Lucy wants to spend this night with is Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since punching him in the nose on the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells Lucy he knows where to find Shadow, the two of them are suddenly on an all-night search to places where Shadow's pieces of heartbreak and escape echo off the city walls. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.

Also published in July is the second book in Ally Cater's Heist Society series Uncommon Criminals. I've heard really good things about this series and it sounds like a lot of fun but it is one I haven't started yet. Perhaps I'll get around to trying it soon! Visit Ally Carter's website for more information.

Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life: Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she's simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That's why Kat isn't surprised when she's asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn't been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long - and in Kat's world, history almost always repeats itself. But it's the third problem that makes Kat's crew the most nervous, and that is...the emerald is cursed.

Kat might be in way over her head, but she's not going down without a fight. After all, she has her best friend -- the gorgeous Hale - and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses and realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless for this heist.

This time, Kat's going to have to make up her own rules...

The final July release is one of the ones that I'm looking forward to the most and that is Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. It's not often we get to read books written from the boy's point of view and this one sounds fabulous. I also adore the cover - so eye catching! Visit Kendare Blake's website for more information.

Cas Lowood is no ordinary guy - he hunts dead people.

People like Anna. Anna Dressed in Blood. A beautiful, murderous ghost entangled in curses and rage. Cas knows he must destroy her, but as her tragic past is revealed, he starts to understand why Anna has killed everyone who's ever dared to enter her spooky home.

Everyone, that is, except Cas...

August the 2nd:

If you enjoyed Sam Hawksmoor's debut novel The Repossession then I'm sure you're already looking forward to the sequel The Hunting with is being published in August. I guess I need to hurry up and read the first book so I'm ready for this one! Visit Sam Hawksmoor's website for more information.

Genie and Rian thought they'd beaten The Fortress and stopped the dreadful experiments. But now someone even more ruthless has taken over, and wants to investigate why the experiments didn't kill Genie Magee. She is Fortress property, he claims - along with the other survivors.

Now there's $10,000 reward on their heads, armed roadblocks on the highway, and the dreaded threat of 'Mosquito' that can shut down their brainwaves by using their genetic information against them. There's only one possible escape from the bounty hunters with shotguns, and that's down the wild unforgiving river to a bleak future forever on the run.

Or they must turn and face The Fortress, find out its secrets, and use them against it. Seize their lives back, and fight for their very right to exist!

Have you read Robert Muchamore's CHERUB series? Guardian Angel is the second book in his spin off Aramov series that started with People's Republic. Visit Robert Muchamore's website for more information.

Guardian Angel is the second book in a brand-new CHERUB series from Robert Muchamore. Ryan has saved Ethan's life more than once. Ethan thinks he must be a guardian angel. But Ryan works for CHERUB, a secret organisation with one key advantage: even experienced criminals never suspect that children are spying on them. Ethan's family runs a billion-dollar criminal empire and Ryan's job is to destroy it. Can Ryan complete his mission without destroying Ethan as well?

For official purposes, these children do not exist.


Next up we have Lisa Stasse's debut novel The Forsaken which sounds amazing. It's been described as a cross between Lost and The Hunger Games which immediately caught my attention and I love how kick ass the main character looks on the cover. Yup, I definitely can't wait for this one! Visit Lisa Stasse's website for more information.

Alenna Shawcross is a sixteen-year-old orphan growing up in a police state formed from the ashes of Canada, the US and Mexico after a global economic meltdown.

But when she unexpectedly fails 'the test' - a government initiative which supposedly identifies teens destined to be criminals - she wakes up alone on a remote island reserved for the criminally insane.

Terrified and confused, she soon encounters a group of other teen survivors battling to stay alive, including Luis, a boy who will become her love...and her lifeline.

Soon Alenna makes the terrifying discovery that there's more to the island (and her past) than she could ever have guessed... But who can she trust? And can she ever escape?

The first of a planned trilogy, this incredible novel will leave you gasping for the sequel...

Another August release I'm really excited about is The Blessed by Tonya Hurley. I love the idea of a contemporary retelling of three famous female martyrs, it's so different from anything else I've read and I can't wait to try it. I also adore the UK cover for this book - let me just say if I didn't already have a tattoo between my shoulder blades I think I'd be getting one done that looked very similar to this cover! Visit Tonya Hurley's website for more information.

Brooklyn teens Lucy, Cecilia and Agnes find themselves in the emergency room at Perpetual Help Hospital at the lowest point in their lives. Lucy, the superficial party girl; Cecilia, a drop out rock chick; and Agnes, a hopeless romantic. All rebels running from their lives and themselves, plagued by broken hearts and broken dreams.

Enter Sebastian: mysterious, compelling, seductive.

He brings the girls together and seems to provide each of them with what they long for ... and they begin to heal.

But Sebastian is on the run - and soon the girls are hunted too ...

A dark, contemporary rock 'n' roll retelling of three famous female martyrs - Agnes, Cecilia and Lucy - and their transformation from street delinquents to soul models.

September the 6th:

If you're a fan of The Secret Circle series created by L.J. Smith then keep an eye out for the fourth book in the series The Divide written by Aubrey Clark. I have to admit that even though I bought the first 3 books way back before I started blogging I've never got around to reading them!

The bonds of the Secret Circle are weakening. Cassie's evil half-sister has surfaced and won't rest until she has taken Cassie's place in the Secret Circle. And a band of powerful witch-hunters are targeting the group, determined to destroy them.

Will the circle remain intact despite the powerfully evil magic that has infiltrated their ring?

And will Cassie survive this ultimate battle between good and evil?




Shut Out by Kody Keplinger sounds like a fun read for contemporary fans. I've heard great things about Kody's debut The DUFF so must add this one to my wish list! Visit Kody Keplinger's website for more information.

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all. She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.
(Description taken from Kody Keplinger's website)

October the 4th:

Now I'm a massive fantasy fan so I'm really excited about Catherine Fisher's new book Obsidian Mirror. Time travel, mystery & adventure with a male main character - what more can you ask for? Visit Catherine Fisher's website for more information.

Jake's father disappears while working on mysterious experiments with the obsessive, reclusive Oberon Venn. Jake is convinced Venn has murdered him. But the truth he finds at the snow-bound Wintercombe Abbey is far stranger ...

The experiments concerned a black mirror, which is a portal to both the past and the future. Venn is not alone in wanting to use its powers. Strangers begin gathering in and around Venn's estate: Sarah - a runaway, who appears out of nowhere and is clearly not what she says, Maskelyne - who claims the mirror was stolen from him in some past century. There are others, a product of the mirror's power to twist time. And a tribe of elemental beings surround this isolated estate, fey, cold, untrustworthy, and filled with hate for humans.

But of them all, Jake is hell-bent on using the mirror to get to the truth. Whatever the cost, he must learn what really happened to his father.

November the 1st:

For those of you who read R.J. Anderson's Ultraviolet you'll be pleased to know you don't have much longer to wait for the sequel Quicksilver. This is another one of those series that I've heard good things about and want to read at some point but haven't got around to adding to my mountainous to read pile yet! Visit R.J. Anderson's website for more information.

Once I was a girl who was special.
Now I am extraordinary.
And they will never stop hunting me.

The compelling follow-up to the bestselling ULTRAVIOLET, this psychological thriller will take your breath away...

I'm sure Vampire Diaries fans will be excited about the third book in The Hunters series created by L.J. Smith - Destiny Rising. I read the original series back before I started blogging & have always meant to re-read them so I can review them but never seem to find the time. One day I'll get around to it so I can read the two new spin off series too!

Elena Gilbert has never been an ordinary teenager. After falling in love with the irresistible vampires Stefan and Damon Salvatore, she became a vampire, died, returned from the dead, and journeyed to hell and back to save Stefan. Now in college, Elena faces a terrifying new danger and discovers her destiny.

I read the first book in Gabriella Poole's Darke Academy series Secret Lives not long after I started blogging (you can read my review here) and although I enjoyed the book it seems to have been one of those series I completely forgot about. With the fourth book Lost Spirits being released in November it really is about time I get caught up! Gabriella Poole is the pseudonym of Gillian Philip and you can find out more about the series by visiting her website here.

A new term, a new location for the Darke Academy - and everything is different for Cassie Bell. The beauty of the turquoise Kenyan sea can't make up for the loss of her soulmate, Ranjit. He's on the run, and Cassie will do anything to find him.

But when the evil Katerina and her mother appear, more powerful than ever, Cassie has to make a crucial decision.

And her love for Ranjit might just be her ultimate weakness ...




Last but not least is another one for Robert Muchamore fans. If you love the CHERUB books and always wanted to know about the history of the organisation then you need to look out for One Shot Kill in November.

Spring, 1943. The war is turning against Germany, but Hitler isn't giving up. In a secret bunker deep in occupied France, scientists are hard at work on Hitler's latest deadly weapon: code name FZG-76.

Back in England Henderson's boys will need to undergo advanced sniper training if they've any chance of infiltrating the bunker. Parachuting into occupied France, they track down a secret dossier filled with invaluable material - and uncover the meaning of the enigmatic code.

For official purposes, these children do not exist.

So what do you think of the Hodder & Orchard upcoming releases? Which ones are you most excited about? Personally I can't wait for A Witch in Love, Anna Dressed in Blood, The Forsaken, The Blessed & Obsidian Mirror!