1.5 stars

Without a doubt, the thing which has let down both books in their pacing. Dear God, this series is painfully tedious! I struggled to find even the slightest thrill to keep me going. This one, in particular, dragged on and on. It is probably due to the amount of time the characters spend caught up in mundane drama, most revolving around their love lives. The actual war between the siblings rarely took the main focus and when it did, it was an incredibly mild, watered down version of what I hoped for. It is obvious that the sisters could have killed each other quite easily - particularly Mirabella - if they had been allowed but Blake holds back. All of the fight scenes felt forced as a consequence. You know when you start a TV show late - one that already has like twelve seasons out - and there is a near-death experience in the first season. You don’t even blink because you know that the character has to be in the next eleven seasons: they were never going to die. This entire book had that feeling. There was no sense of urgency… and I was completely disengaged. If Blake does not want the sisters to fight to the death, fair enough, but maybe pitch the story a little different? I’m here for the battle to the death, not the romantic drama.

The fact that this series is championed for its characters continually boggles my mind. I could not connect or stand the majority of them. In fact, I would have happily cheered on the executions of most of them… which is morbid but not untrue. Arisone and Billy were literally the only characters I cared about. Billy was genuinely sweet. I think his affection for Arsinoe was a little too much at times but he had a great character arc that I appreciated. Arisone was the only sister I thought had a consistent voice and genuine personality. If this series focused on her - and her alone - I definitely would have enjoyed a hell of a lot more.

I just cannot understand the appeal of Jules. She was constantly riling people up with her temper and acted so recklessly. Her constant complaining about Joseph also made me rage. If she cannot come to terms with his mistakes (which I don’t blame her for, I still am not okay with it myself), she should have left him. I know it is slightly more complicated than that but it felt like Blake kept them together just to create drama between her, Joseph and Mirabella in otherwise dull plot points. It was infuriating. I have no idea why so much time dedicated to her subplot. The other secondary characters were kind of a blur. I found it hard to remember who was who - particularly Mirabella’s friends - but that is probably more to do with my memory than anything. I did really dislike Madrigal, though. I felt like we spent way too long focusing on her as well.

Katharine was a disaster. She had such potential to become this eerie villainous tyrant but she just… acted so strangely. It was not thrilling. I was not interested. I am trying to keep this vague but her, let's call it development, was an amazing idea that just did not get met. If it is still not tapped into in the sequel, I will scream. Speaking of which, Pietyr made we want to scream and then claw my eyeballs out with frustration every time he appeared. He had literally no personality! All he said was how much he loved Katharine, that was it. I just… why. I have no patience for such repetitive banalities. I was also just not okay with Nicholas. He was such a creep! He showed all the warning signs of an abuser. Ugh.

Overall?

I had hoped that One Dark Throne would be a step above the disaster that was Three Dark Crowns but I set my expectations too high. I still liked Arisone and Billy but all of the other characters irritated me, particularly Jules and Joseph. Katharine could have had potential but I felt like we barely got to scratch the surface with her. The plotline continued to play it safe and devote too much time to drama and romance for my tastes. I wanted more action, more blood, more conflict. I do not have high hopes for the following sequels since this was originally meant to be a duology. I am not even sure if I can push myself to read them anymore...

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.