Two Dark Reigns ~ Book Review

The third installment of the Three Dark Crowns series definitely brought some surprises but it was another amazing read! Another incredibly intense and thrilling novel from a great author.

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake (2019)

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Book Length: 447 pages (paperback)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

No spoilers

How can you leave a book on such a cliffhanger? I am so lucky to have the next one otherwise I think I might scream – I need to know what happens to everyone!

This book began with sort of prologue set 400 years before Mirabella, Arsinoe and Katherine were born. Initially this chapter seemed very out of place and I couldn’t understand why it was being mentioned however it is eventually revealed as you piece together parts of the story. It actually turns out the book would have been more confusing without that knowledge!

For me, the story started off a bit confusing (and not just because of the prologue!) There were three different perspectives being shared all at once and to begin with they appeared to have no links. As Blake developed links between each part the story became so much easier to understand and follow – eventually there were only two different parts to keep up with.

One thing I do love about this book is the amount of questions every chapter leaves you with. It seemed that the moment one question was answered another one would form. This isn’t a bad thing as it made the book super exciting to read however there were some parts where I was just so desperate for an answer! Now that I have reached the end of the book I still have questions – nearly one for every character – but hopefully these will all be answered in the next (final) book.

Another thing I must mention that I enjoyed was the insight Blake gave into the warrior city (Bastian) and the oracle city (Sunpool). The mainland was also explored which I think was a great touch as it seemed brushed away in the previous books as a sort of mystery land.

I was absolutely glued to this book and I read most of it in one night so lost in the story that time melted away completely! The story was so intense and very well written despite the initial confusion created at the beginning.

I have enjoyed almost every page of this series so far and now its on to the final book – Five Dark Fates.

Have you read this series? What did you think?

Stay safe, keep reading

Sophie Lou x