Review of Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake
Like probably most people I have a Hate-Love relationship with the ending of the series. Many times, it can be a hit and miss, it can be horrible and ruin the entire series or it can be a great ending, but endings, in general, are hard. The fans are always expecting so much from it and the author is under a lot of pressure to deliver.
I personally really liked Five Dark Fates. In terms of drama, tragedy, romance, and humor it delivered everything it promised. It felt a little like the world-building at the end was lacking, we never know exactly what kind of government is put in place after the victory, the readers are just told it won’t be the same as before.
As someone with a sister, I always feel like siblings relationships are lacking in fiction, they just don’t have the exact formula of complicated that a sister relationship has in real life, a formula that is hard to capture if you haven’t experienced it yourself while still adding the toxicity of the TDC world in the triplets and Kendare Blake understood it perfectly. Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katharine have the exact equation of love, complications, and toxic. They love each other, you simply can’t have a sibling and not feel a complex mix of emotion for them, even if love is not a part of them. Mirabella loves her sisters and that love unites the sisters together, Arsinoe and Katharine come together because of their big sister. They start remembering because of her and they slowly grow into a unit because of that, of her. In the end, it’s their love for each other that saves the island. The island that has been making the triplets kill each other for centuries.
I cried for about half the book, it was heartbreaking all the way, but I didn’t really expect anything else from Kendare Blake. When the series came out it was a lot darker than most YA series out at the time and she never shied away from how horrible the Island ideology was and the suffering. The ending had the same formula. It’s a bittersweet ending to a book that couldn’t give us a happy ending because that just doesn’t happen in a world where sisters have to kill each other. (Instagram)
The fact that Jules, who was put in the role of sidekick in the first book, was the one who became the Queen in the end and was always supposed to be, that she was sent by the Goddess to end the Triplet line is a plot I can get behind off. Jules is beyond powerful in both of her gifts so it’s not like it’s anyone that is being put in charge. Since the last book, I suspected that the first Queen was probably a Legion Queen, or maybe even that Jules was the reincarnation of the last Legion Queen or the first one.
The romance in the book was perfect, it was important, but it wasn’t a big goal for anyone in the book. Emilia and Jules, Arsinoe and Billy, Petyr and Katharine, Caragh and Matthew… they loved each other, they wanted to be together, but they had bigger priorities and they accepted that. Petyr loved Katharine but he knew he needed to betray her to save the island and maybe even her, Billy and Arsinoe loved each other but Billy needed to take care of his family and Arsinoe belonged on the Island. It feels more real that way. Love is important but not everyone gets to make it a priority.
The only problem I have with Five Dark Fates is that we don’t know exactly what kind of government is placed on the island at the end. It seems a little weird with how much world-building the author had included.
Three Dark Crown is a tragedy and horror book so a bittersweet ending is probably the best we could hope for. I am happy with the ending. Do I wish everybody could have had a happy ending? Of course, but it wouldn’t have been in trend with the first book.
