Three Dark Crowns

I deeply regret paying $20 for a hardcover version of this book. In simple words, the book was lackluster and tedious to read. In my opinion, Katherine has little to no characterization at all - she is bland and severely shadowed by Mirabella and Arsinoe who I just could not find in my heart to like.

The setting is never fully developed and the background (politics, religion, etc) is never elaborated upon, making everything quite confusing. It brings about several questions that go unanswered such as why people join the temple if the priestesses are like dictators? How are the queens separated based on their talents if they don't even show their abilities wholly? Why is this entire plot based on an island? I couldn't help but just wonder why things were the way they were and with no explanation or history into that, I just got insanely bored.

When I read this in middle school when the book was first released, I remember loving it and waiting excitedly for the next one, so I do believe that perhaps it is a book better suited for younger people or those who are just getting into the fantasy genre. However, if you're a veteran of fantasy and have read several series such as the Shatter Me series, Throne of Glass series, Red Queen series, even the Divergent and Selection series, this is something just too tame and mundane for an action-packed novel you might expect.

TLDR: suited for newbies to fantasy, but boring in comparison to other popular series.