Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns, 3)

Good and necessary. It took a turn in the story. The story is evolving and I like that :)

Die Reihe liest sich so gut. Ich mag besonders Mira sooo gerne und bin gespannt wie sich alles im letzten Band auflöst. Es gibt aber auch viele frustrierende und nervige Figuren. Die Welt gefällt mir aber sehr.

Nachdem ich die ersten beiden Teile so geliebt habe und lange überlegt habe, ob ich die Reihe auf Deutsch (nicht zusammenpassende Ausgaben, out of print) oder auf Englisch (wie einfach zu lesen?) weiterlesen wollte habe ich mich für Englisch entschieden und keine Sekunde bereut. Der Schreibstil ist einfach zu verstehen und der Handlung konnte ich sehr gut folgen. Trotz der mehrmonatigen Pause zwischen Band 2 und 3 habe ich schnell wieder in die Welt gefunden und war wieder völlig gefesselt von den Wendungen, die Kendare Blake uns in diesem Band bereit hält. Die Kapitel fließen nur so ineinander über und ich konnte keine langen Stellen bzw. "Füllerkapitel" erkennen, da jeder Moment die Handlung vorangetrieben hat. Band 4 wurde auch sofort hinterher gelesen!

Eher 3,5 Sterne Für mich zugegebener Maßen der bisher schwächste Band der Reihe. Vielleicht auch, weil mir schon eine ganz bestimmte Entwicklung aus Band 2 nicht so gut gefallen hat. Ich kann mit der Figur der Jules einfach nicht besonders viel anfangen. Insgesamt bereitet sich die Reihe nun auf den Abschluss der Geschichte vor und einige interessante Wendungen wurden dafür ins Rollen gebracht. Schade fand ich dabei aber, das Mirabella so in den Hintergrund gedrängt wurde. Sie hat kaum ein eigenes Kapitel bekommen. Da ich eigentlich alle drei Schwestern gleich spannend finde, hat mich das nach einer Weile doch etwas gestört. Insgesamt passiert eigentlich längere Zeit gefühlt kaum etwas, das die Handlung wirklich voran bringt. Vor allem Arsinoes Träume hätten meiner Meinung nach das Potential gehabt, ausführlicher erzählt zu werden. Da es hier um historische Hintergründe von Fenbirn geht, hätte ich mir einfach gewünscht, das die Autorin sich dafür richtig Zeit nimmt. Im Gesamtbild ist der Roman für die gesamt bisherige Handlung der Reihe schon stimmig, vor allem gegen Ende passieren einige Wendungen, die dafür Sorgen, das ich auf jeden Fall wissen möchte wie es weitergeht. Außerdem steht ja auch im Raum, was es jetzt mit Jules genau auf sich hat und was nicht. Ich freu mich also auf den Abschluss und hoffe das sich Blake dafür noch einmal steigern kann.

Sadly, I didn't like this installment as much as the first two. I feel like this book suffered from middle book syndrome.Nothing really happened, there was a lot of moving around. The ending was quite exciting though. Also, I felt that the writing felt kind of clunky at times, I don't know if that just didn't bother me in the other books or if Kendare Blake changed up her writing. However, I found it to be a little weird.

Frustrating at first because things just weren’t making sense and dragged along for quite a while. But then everything came together and at the end I was even more frustrated because i don’t have the next book yet and am left with an ending that could go either way.

I don't know what to make of this book. I changed my mind about it a million times while reading. Let's start with the good: I like the fact that, seemingly, Fennbirn stuck in a more "medieval" fantasy world while the mainland seemed to have progressed into the 19th (?) century. It was delightful to read Arsinoe and Mirabella walking through this different world with such weird customs. I also loved the sisterly relationship. Mirabella and Arsinoe needed to get used to each other but there was still so much love. And with that one boring white boy whose name I forgot out of the way, the focus was more on them again. Also the fact that despite Billy being there, Arsinoe wasn't focused 100% on him and Mirabella also had a friendship with him. There is so much more to life than one guy for one woman! The world building was nice. I got a clearer sense of Fennbirn and where some things were than in the last books. And their culture was a bit more fleshed out with the mainland as contrast. Showing Katharine's softer side and the fear she feels with the dead queens inside of her made her less totally annoying. And her trying to bond with Bree was somewhat heartwarming. The twists. Sometimes I thought where this book was going and then suddenly nope, it is connected to something different. I genuinely did not see coming what was actually going on with the mist. Kudos for that! Honorable mention to the fact that lover boy is dead. I hated this asshole. Now onto what I disliked about this book. The writing. It is still in third person and Kendare Blake has yet to figure out how to make the characters sound more personal and like actual people. I can see her attempts and yet sometimes, this book still read like more of a history book than anything else. The POV jumps. It seems like this time, we got a POV from any and all characters. There wasn't always a clear cut that gave away who actually was the main point of the scene, which made reading very confusing. It's hard to get into something when you have no idea who is talking. Jules. Just. Jules. Everything seems to be happening around her. She doesn't have any true agency. All she does is for or because of other people. For her stupid lover who she never resents for cheating on her while antagonizing the woman who had no idea he was in a relationship. For Arsinoe. For her mother. For her aunt. For Emilie. She never does anything for herself and yet she still constantly drags her feet during it until all of a sudden, she's fine. I would have loved to see her tour through Fennbirn and see the damage Katharine's reign is doing outside of her home. Maybe make her realize that this isn't about Arsinoe and Mirabella, it is about the whole island. And then she has a moment where she acknowledges that the other two aren't there and the people need someone to fight for them. But it never happens. She has to be convinced that she can go home afterwards for her to take on the role as Legion Queen. This book is still so white and so straight. Jules still antagonizes Mirabella even though SHE wasn't the one cheating. Also generally too much girl on girl hate. This is exhausting. All. Of. The. Men. I hated all of them throughout this book. Billy the least but even he treats Arsinoe like a child. Pietyr can go fall into a ditch for all I care because his weird possessiveness towards Katharine is annoying. I am probably going to read the next book because the plot is good enough to draw me in but the characters need a serious overhaul.