TWO DARK REIGNS By Kendare Blake

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake
Series: Three Dark Crowns #3
Published by HarperTeen on 9/4/18
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Young Adult
Pages: 464
Format: Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Queen Katharine has waited her entire life to wear the crown. But now that she finally has it, the murmurs of dissent grow louder by the day. There’s also the alarming issue of whether or not her sisters are actually dead—or if they’re waiting in the wings to usurp the throne.

Mirabella and Arsinoe are alive, but in hiding on the mainland and dealing with a nightmare of their own: being visited repeatedly by a specter they think might be the fabled Blue Queen. Though she says nothing, her rotting, bony finger pointing out to sea is clear enough: return to Fennbirn.

Jules, too, is in a strange place—in disguise. And her only confidants, a war-gifted girl named Emilia and her oracle friend Mathilde, are urging her to take on a role she can’t imagine filling: a legion-cursed queen who will lead a rebel army to Katharine’s doorstep.

This is an uprising that the mysterious Blue Queen may have more to do with than anyone could have guessed—or expected.

Short and Sweet

After waiting her whole life Katharine is finally the crowned queen of Fennbirn, but theres a few things that still trouble her: the dead queens that life inside of her, the fact that she doesn’t know for sure if her sisters are dead, and that the people aren’t happy with her reign. Arsinoe and Mirabella are very much alive and are on the mainland trying to adjust to life there. But things become complicated when Arsinoe starts dreaming about things that occurred during the Blue Queen’s reign and when Arsinoe sees the blue queen her message is clear, the two sisters need to go back to the island. Jules has been with the war gifted warrior Emilia training to control her legion curse but Emilia believes that Jules can take the throne from Katharine with a rebellion, and begins to call Jules the Legion Queen

Characters

Mirabella: Mirabella is my favorite character, I love her so much. She definitely loves her sisters especially Arsinoe and she takes on the big sister role and really likes it. In this book we see more of her big sister nurturing side come out because its her and Arsinoe together on the mainland.

Arsinoe: Sweet, strong Arsinoe. Arsinoe is also one of my favorite characters and her story in this book is interesting. Even though she’s on the island its like she can’t leave Fennbirn behind and that becomes even more true when she starts having dreams about a girl named Daphne who lived during the reign of the Blue Queen. Arsinoe is the only one having the dreams and its because of the low magic that she used on the island. Arsinoe’s goal is to find out what the dreams mean and why the Blue Queen would want her and Mirabella to go back to Fennbirn.

Katharine: Usually I dread reading about Katharine and her life but something changed in this book. I actually felt bad for the poor girl I couldn’t tell if she still had a bit of Katharine in her or if she really was overcome by the dead queens in her body. She really struggled with them and they did end up doing things when they took control of her that made the people question her leadership even more than they already did which only made things harder for her. The undead queen deals with a lot in this book.

Billy: Billy plays a bigger role in this book mainly because Arsinoe and Mirabella are staying with him and his family on the mainland. I loved Billy he cares about Arsinoe and he has a friendship with Mirabella and I liked seeing these relationships develop in this book.

Jules: Jules Jules Jules, the Legion Queen. Jules has been staying with Emilia training and learning how to control her war gift. I liked Jules in this book she has to make a lot of decisions in this book about her future and whether being a queen would be worth it in the end.

Emilia: … I feel bad for saying this but I could not stand Emilia, I dreaded reading scenes with her in them. Emilia is so head strong and believes that Jules needs to be the legion queen and does not care if Jules wants to do it or not. Jules would try to tell Emilia that she doesn’t want to do this and that she just wants to be able to go back to wolf spring but  Emilia will not hear any of that.

Romance

Arsinoe and Billy: We obviously get a lot more of Billy and Arsinoe in this book and I couldn’t stop swooning over them. They’re just so right for each other even though they do have to deal with certain things like Billy’s mother trying to marry him off to another girl and him having to go to school on the mainland. In the last book Arsinoe wouldn’t tell Billy how she feels about him but I’m sure she made it obvious in this book and I love how patient he is with her.

Katharine and Pietyr: Well these two definitely care about each other but they’re dynamic has somewhat changed since Katherine has become queen crowned. I like that Pietyr cares about Katharine and that she trusts him and that he’s her confidant.

Quotes

~ “I am my sister’s keeper. Her protector.”

My Thoughts

~ The whole Blue Queen mystery was intriguing. First of all, who is she? What does she want? What is she doing back? Why is she in Arsinoe’s dreams? Further into the book we get the answers to all of these questions and it was not what I was expecting. When I got the answers I had to process everything I just read. The Blue Queen and the mist play such a big role in this book.

~ The mist is supposed to protect the island of Fennbirn and it was created by the Blue Queen during her reign. But the mist starts to attack the people of Fennbirn and leaves the bodies strewn around.

~ My favorite characters POVs to read from were Arsinoe and Mirabella and I liked seeing how their bond as sisters grew. They both genuinely care for each other and it was nice to see.

~ On the island Arsinoe and Mirabella’s powers aren’t strong and start to fade because of their distance from the island.

~ On Fennbirn Katharine has to deal with the mist and a so called rebellion from the legion queen so her time as queen crowned is not going well and not only does she have to deal with that she has the dead queens to worry about.

~ Jules is just weighing her options and trying to decide if she actually wants to be a queen or if she just wants to lay low.

~ There’s so much going on in this book but in a good way and it kept me hooked until the very end. And the ending ugh cliffhanger and I need to know whats going to happen!

Overall

The books in this series just get better and better and I can’t wait until the next one is released! The build up of whats going to happen or what I think is going to happen has me on the edge of my seat. This is one of my favorite series and I will always recommend it! So on that note read this book, and if you haven’t read any of the books binge the first three!!!