Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake Review

Title: Two Dark Reigns

Author: Kendare Blake

Age Group: Teen/Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy/Horror

Series: Three Dark Crowns, book three

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

                I borrowed this book from my local library and reviewed it.

                Kendare Blake is one of my favorite authors of all time; I read her debut novel, Anna, Dressed in Blood, and have been a longtime devotee ever since. I’ve adored her Three Dark Crowns series, but have only just got around to finishing the quartet. I devoured Two Dark Reigns in three days, and I loved every dark, tense moment of it. Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katharine have competed for the crown, and it turns out that the youngest sister, Katharine, the poisoner, has won the right to be Queen Crowned. Mirabella and Arsinoe have fled the island of Fennbirn, seeking out shelter with Arsinoe’s lover’s family. Katharine has found victory, but a steep and terrible price: her body is being shared with all the lost, dead queens that came before her and sisters, and they will stop at nothing to make sure that they have a willing vessel, even if it means hurting everyone that Katharine still loves. Meanwhile, Arsinoe is haunted by visions of a dark specter: The long-lost Blue Queen, who keeps telling the girls that they must return to the island. Jules, too, is in a strange place, also in hiding and in disguise. Her only confidants, the war-gifted soldier Emilia, and her oracle friend, Mathilde, are encouraging her to do the impossible: become a legion-cursed queen who will lead the rebel army straight to Katharine’s doorstep. An uprising that The Blue Queen may have predicted or foreseen, or even expected, is coming, and not everyone will make it out alive…

                This book was nothing less than wonderful. Normally, sequels make me nervous, but I had nothing to fear from Blake. This book picks up where One Dark Throne left off, with Katharine anxious about her sisters still being alive and coming to take the throne she has worked her whole life to rule on, and Arsinoe and Mirabella still reeling from losses of their own. The pacing was breakneck, and I was immediately thrust into the world of Fennbirn and its murderous, powerful queens. As with all sequels, it took a little while for me to get back into the swing of things, but once I did, the book went by in a flash. I devoured it in less than three days, and I very much enjoyed it. I was so happy that I had Five Dark Fates next in line, because after that ending, I was reeling. I’m so happy that Blake decided to continue in the series, finishing up with Five Dark Fates. This series has been a recent favorite of mine, and I’m so excited to finish it! The bottom line: Rich, detailed, thrilling and shocking, I loved Two Dark Reigns, and I cannot wait to finish up the quartet with Five Dark Fates! Next on deck: Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake!