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Five Dark Fates

(Three Dark Crowns #4)

Kendare Blake (Goodreads Author),

Amy Landon (Narrator)

3.93 · Rating details · 15,957 ratings · 2,236 reviews

After the grim confrontation with Queen Katharine, the rebellion lies in tatters. Jules’s legion curse has been unbound, and it is up to Arsinoe to find a cure, even as the responsibility of stopping the ravaging mist lies heavy on her shoulders, and her shoulders alone. Mirabella has disappeared.

Katharine’s reign remains intact—for now. When Mirabella arrives, seemingly u ...more

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Published September 3rd 2019 by HarperAudio

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· 15,957 ratings · 2,236 reviews

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Sep 12, 2019 Cesar rated it it was ok · review of another edition

2 stars.

Since Five Dark Fates was announced a year ago, a lot of people, including myself, were anticipating the finale while wanting to know who will be the one true queen.

With the book finally released, does Five Dark Fates give us a great finale, or does it suffer from being a dull finale?

Sadly, for me, it's the latter.

Five Dark Fates sets up the story and characters to conclude the ongoing threat against Katherine, the rebels, and the Mist surrounding Fennbrin. Major obstacles are in the wa ...more

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Feb 09, 2019 Hamad marked it as lost-interest · review of another edition

Looks like this is a One Fat Disappointment!

I am not into YA books anymore except for a very few titles, I forgot most of the details in the last 3 books and I saw spoilers and reviews for this one and it does not look encouraging! Unfortunately moving this one for my Lost-Interest shelf!!

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Oct 26, 2019 Amy Imogene Reads rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fantasy, read-in-2019

An incredibly weak ending to such a promising series. (Not to mention an upsetting and polarizing one?) Literally all of my expectations fell through like dominos in the second half.

Pacing: ★★★
Character arcs: ★
Ending:★

EVERYTHING BELOW THIS POINT WILL BE A SPOILER. SORRY!

(view spoiler) An incredibly weak ending to such a promising series. (Not to mention an upsetting and polarizing one?) Literally all of my expectations fell through like dominos in the second half.

Pacing: ★★★
Character arcs: ★
Ending:★

EVERYTHING BELOW THIS POINT WILL BE A SPOILER. SORRY!

(view spoiler)

Blog | Instagram ...more

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Apr 21, 2019 Tomoe Hotaru rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: zzzzzzz, young-adult, coulda-been-better, fantasy

05 Sep. '19
My other reviews for:
Three Dark Crowns | One Dark Throne | Two Dark Reigns

This book in a nutshell:

confused? read 1 | 2 | 3

Overall, it’s a two-star series for me.
Hoboy. Where do we even begin with this?

I thought I'd be nice and start with the positives. Most of them had to do with the expectations, predictions, and questions [[which you can read at the end of this review]] that I had for this book. Unfortunately, even the positive points came with an execution that I found lacking, ...more

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Aug 24, 2017 Fatih Turgut added it · review of another edition

It's rumoured title is: Last Dark Queen. AS I SAID ITS JUST A RUMOUR ...more

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Sep 08, 2018 Cindy ✩☽♔ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Welp it’s taken well over a year for me to get around to finish this, and I must say I’m thoroughly upset.

This ending was nothing I wanted not anything I needed.

*Review to come*

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Sep 10, 2019 helena rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-english, favorites, series-i-finished

perfection!

i can’t believe this series is over. i’m gonna miss it.

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Feb 08, 2019 Catherine rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

0,5) Queens of Fennbirn ★★★★☆
1) Three Dark Crowns ★★★★☆
2) One Dark Throne ★★★★☆
3) Two Dark Reigns ★★★★☆

I think this finale book will be very polarizing for every reader who liked the Three Dark Crowns series until then: either it was what you wanted or it wasn't. Yes, there will be 3 stars ratings like always, but I think that mostly we have the ones who will give it 4 stars: good finale, makes sense, it was what they expected from the conclusion and the ones like me giving it 2 stars: we reall 0,5) Queens of Fennbirn ★★★★☆
1) Three Dark Crowns ★★★★☆
2) One Dark Throne ★★★★☆
3) Two Dark Reigns ★★★★☆

I think this finale book will be very polarizing for every reader who liked the Three Dark Crowns series until then: either it was what you wanted or it wasn't. Yes, there will be 3 stars ratings like always, but I think that mostly we have the ones who will give it 4 stars: good finale, makes sense, it was what they expected from the conclusion and the ones like me giving it 2 stars: we really liked this book series and yes, some things from this ending were predictable so we're not shocked, but we still don't have to like it, plus some things aren't explained and we're left with a feeling of "all that for this".

What disappointed me the most was that we were expecting to have know more about The Mist (yes, they began in the previous book, but I wanted to know more, to have explanations...) and the Blue Queen storyline from the previous book (for which we have no answer at all). In terms of world-building, this series wasn't the best, but I always loved every novel despite its flaws because there were other things to make up for it and because I expected the author to give us answers and explanations in the last book, which isn't the case at all. It's really disappointing, because many people gave up on this series because of its flaws, and when you still faithfully stay an enthusiastic fan of the books, you don't want to be let down in the end. The previous book was my favorite (I know it's not a popular opinion among every fan of the series) because it really showed how much potential this series had. The last book showed that said potential would go to waste.

Now, the rest is BIG spoilers, so don't click if you haven't read Five Dark Fates.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 08, 2019 Suzanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good finale to a great series that I highly enjoyed. It moves at a good pace and the characters we have read and watched developed over the last three books come to head fairly quickly. The action was intriguing but the real intensity comes from the dead queens. Overall, a satisfying final book!

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Sep 13, 2019 Jessica ❥Chatterbooks Book Blog❥ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

My emotions! 😭 I don't know what I feel yet! Lol I need to let this one marinate for a while. So much happened to the queens and their family and friends over the past 4 books. One thing is for sure... I'm glad I read it.

Buddy Read with Natalie & Misha ...more

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Oct 27, 2019 April (Aprilius Maximus) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

“Three dark sisters rise to fight.”

representation: disability rep (amputation of a hand and a leg), f/f rep.

[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 3 . 5 s t a r s *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

This series was so much fun, but this last book had SO MANY PLOT HOLES. I'm still left with so many questions even though the entire thing is over. Mainly, (view spoiler) ...more

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Nov 26, 2019 Alexandra Elend Wolf rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2019

“Those scars you have,’ Emilia says, ‘that you would hide behind a mask. They are the fiercest part of you. Now let us earn a few more.’”

That was a rollercoaster of emotions for sure.

Going into the book I only had one wish for it. A fierce wish that I was not prepared to let go of. That is until I realized that in order for me to actually love the ending, to feel like it made it justice, I needed that wish destroyed. So, I changed my wish -and boy was that a drastic, 180, change - and it ...more

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Sep 23, 2019 Ashley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

Star Rating: —> 4.5 Stars

Wow. I actually loved this so much & thought it was a crazy ride, but a rather well-fitting ending for the series. A few things I didn’t like, but maybe I’m just more critical of finales :-P

Maybe a more detailed RTC ? Who knows.

I feel so... off. As do I always when something has ended permanently.
*Sighs*

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Mar 13, 2020 Sylvie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: royalty, magic, high-fantasy

2.75 out of 5 stars.

description

(view spoiler)

*********
Me: Minding my own business by reading the book that I'm currenty reading.
Brain: "Do you know which series your book's title sounds similair to?"
Me: "Thr..."
Brain: "THREE DARK CROWNS!"
Me:...
Brain ...more

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Nov 30, 2019 Alaina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult, supernatural, paranormal, fantasy, books-i-own, 2019

WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!

Five Dark Fates tortured me. Gave me false ass hope... and then crushed all of my damn dreams. I wasn't expecting the ending I got.. and I seriously have no idea how to wrap my mind around it. Low-key, I took my sweet ass time with this book, adding comments, and writing this review because it completely mindfucked me. Again, wasn't expecting any of this to go the way it did.

First off, I have no idea if I will ever be able ...more

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Sep 09, 2019 Jessica {Litnoob} rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 12, 2019 Krystal rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy-and-paranormal, ya, owned

Well this sure was full of some dark twists and turns!!

The fourth and final book and can I just address the fact that this is called FIVE Dark Fates when
a) we haven't had FOUR anything yet
b) there are three queens - four if you count Jules - so whose fates are we talking about?

Also YES I have read this book and still have no idea which five fates this book is referring to. But YES there are some dark ones. Yikes.

WARNING: This review contains uncensored spoilers for the previous three books in t ...more

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Sep 04, 2019 Abbie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-fantasy, young-adult

F*CKING HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had such high hopes for this series. F*CK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't believe that was how it ended. I am so freaking disappointed.

description

(view spoiler) ...more

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Sep 06, 2019 Kathy rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Let me preface this review by saying this: I loved this series. I gave Three Dark Crowns four stars. One Dark Throne and Two Dark Reigns were five star reads for me. But, Five Dark Fates is another story. Maybe if I had not loved those first three books as much, I would not have been as disappointed as I am now.

The first half of the story was strong. The political intrigue and character dynamics were top-notch. It is what I have come to appreciate about this series- that it is not afraid to be Let me preface this review by saying this: I loved this series. I gave Three Dark Crowns four stars. One Dark Throne and Two Dark Reigns were five star reads for me. But, Five Dark Fates is another story. Maybe if I had not loved those first three books as much, I would not have been as disappointed as I am now.

The first half of the story was strong. The political intrigue and character dynamics were top-notch. It is what I have come to appreciate about this series- that it is not afraid to be dark.
Our four queens have their own agendas full of betrayal, heartbreak, and retribution. However, the second half of this series not only felt rushed, but the characters seemed to make decisions that felt extremely out of character.

I loved the way Kendare wrote Mirabella’s and Katharine’s relationship. It would have felt extremely out of place for Kat to immediately trust Mirabella or for Mirabella to forgive Kat for all her cruelty. Their relationship wasn’t forced; it grew reluctantly, but these queens are sisters above all else.

Blake doesn’t shy away from death; it should have been obvious from book one that people were going to die- our queens were never safe. That being said, some of these deaths were undeserving and anticlimactic. Mirabella’s death felt so underwhelming for such a great character. She was a beloved queen, one of the most powerful in the entire history of Fennbirn. Her death felt like a cheap way for the rebellion to seem like the “heroes” in this series and to label Katharine as a mad queen.

The beauty of these characters is that they blur the lines between a typical good or bad character. They have all done their share of atrocities, some more than others. Furthermore, Blake kept flip-flopping between her portrayal of Kat. Kat is as morally complex as a character can be. Labelling her as a villain completely erases the fact that Kat wanted and was trying to be a good queen; she was a result of the life-altering decisions made by others around her including Queen Camille, the Arrons, and Pietyr. She was left to be raised as a poisoner queen, having to endure years of poison training that ultimately left her scarred and afraid. She was thrown down the Breccia Domain where she was once again made a puppet queen. In the end, she died saving her sister; even after she had kissed the only boy Kat had ever loved. It seems a great injustice that Kat will be remembered as a monster, especially since she had offered a truce to Arsinoe and Mirabella- a chance for peace.

Another thing to note is the horrible characterization of Pietyr. Pietyr gave up on Katharine so easily; he who traveled to the Breccia Domain and performed low magic to try to save her. He who did not put up a fight when Arsinoe told him she would kill Kat. He who did not try to save Kat in her last moments or believed she was beyond any help.

Also, it seems redundant that Jules will most likely remain the Legion Queen and ruler of Fennbirn. That there will still be a Black Council. I thought the whole point of the rebellion was to oust corruption and to have all the people heard. It seemed that they don’t mind having a monarchy as long as the rulers aren’t poisoners. It feels so hypocritical and pointless that the monarchy wasn’t destroyed completely.
...more

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Sep 08, 2020 Lucy Tonks rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5
I have so many feelings!
I really like this series and I am so sad it's over! I've read the first 3 books last year, but because I am HORRIBLE with finishing seires I've only read this last one now!

I love this characters! Out of all the three queens, Arsinoe is for sure my favourite! I like Kat too, but during the series she has done some questionable things that made me like less and have conflicting feelings about her. I never really liked Mirabella though. I just found her annoying and I co ...more

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Aug 11, 2020 Laura ☾ rated it liked it · review of another edition

I'm really not sure how I feel about this

RTC ...more

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Oct 05, 2019 Fiona rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: twisted-sisters, sad, ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I've marked this review as spoilery, because it's going to be full of spoilers for both this individual book, and the series in general. If you want a spoiler-free opinion - it's a great finish to a fantastic series.

Now, to the spoilery opinions!

It's been one hell of a journey to get here, and the overall quality of this series is absolutely upheld in Five Dark Fates. There's a lot of YA out there - I've started many series, but these days it's rare for me to finish them. Too often YA can signi ...more

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Sep 28, 2019 Elizabeth rated it liked it · review of another edition

I’m conflicted because of my emotional investment in the characters and general approval of the conclusion, but much like the last two seasons of GoT, this book suffers from the pacing.

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Sep 27, 2019 Andy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rainbow-shelf, own, audio-narrators-i-love, 2019-read

God I can't believe it's over. I am reeling from the emotional destruction of this and the end of Kingdom of Ash which I also finished today :/

I don't have enough words for how it feels to finally finish this series. I've loved this series for four years now and it finally ended. Two Dark Reigns ended with Jules's legion curse being unbound, Katherine refusing to give up the dead queens, Mira betraying Arsinoe and leaving for the capital and Arsinoe trying to cure Jules and deal with the possibi ...more

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Jan 27, 2021 Lauren rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, shattered-my-heart, young-adult, fantasy, 2019-publication, read-in-2021

3.5 STARS!!

THIS BOOK WAS VERY INTENSE, AND I WAS NERVOUS THE ENTIRE LAST 200 PAGES.

So it's been a couple of days since I finished this and I think I finally know what to rate it. The first half of this book was kind of slow, but the second half was SO FAST PACED. I just wanted to know how everything would end.

I think whether you liked this book or not comes down to the plot and the ending. I read many reviews saying they did not like the end, which I do agree with. But it didn't make me hate thi 3.5 STARS!!

THIS BOOK WAS VERY INTENSE, AND I WAS NERVOUS THE ENTIRE LAST 200 PAGES.

So it's been a couple of days since I finished this and I think I finally know what to rate it. The first half of this book was kind of slow, but the second half was SO FAST PACED. I just wanted to know how everything would end.

I think whether you liked this book or not comes down to the plot and the ending. I read many reviews saying they did not like the end, which I do agree with. But it didn't make me hate this book like it did to others.

Also, while I did hate Katherine, I slowly started not to mind her as much. I'm not really sure how to word this, but I guess I did not hate her as much. I think you're supposed to like her and feel bad for her, but I don't know why I just didn't. However, towards the end, I did start to like her character a tiny bit more.

I have so many other things I want to say but are all spoilers. It definitely will just be me ranting and will not be coherent, so I apologise.

(view spoiler)[ FIRST OF ALL, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MIRABELLA'S DEATH BECAUSE THAT WAS SO RANDOM AND COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY. Maybe the author was trying to go for the shock factor because of how unexpected it was, BUT STILL, I HATED THAT SHE DID THAT. It came out of absolutely nowhere, and she didn't even need to die, I honestly don't know why it had to happen. And I don't mean this like 'oh she was one of my favourite characters, I am so sad she died, I didn't want her to..' but more of it just kind of ruined the story because it didn't make sense for her to die at that point. BEFORE THE BATTLE AND BEFORE ALL THREE OF THE SISTERS COULD PROPERLY REUNITE.

At first, I was waiting for her to be brought back to life because I didn't want to believe it and because I just didn't think the author would kill her off at that point BUT NOPE SHE WAS DEAD.

BEFORE I TALK ABOUT THE ENDING LETS TALK ABOUT JULES BECAUSE SHE WAS SO ANNOYING THESE PAST TWO BOOKS. I loved her character in book 1 and 2 because her and Arsinoe's friendship WAS EVERYTHING. IT WAS SO GOOD. But her trying to become Queen, it was so obvious she was being forced. WHICH BRINGS ME TO EMILIA WHO WAS SO PUSHY IT WAS ANNOYING. The whole Jules trying to be Queen should not have happened or even if it did, SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE BECOME QUEEN IN THE END. Maybe if she actually wanted to do it and it didn't feel like she was being forced, I would have been more on board with it.

OKAY, NOW THE ENDING. I know many people were mad about the ending, which I understand, but still, I didn't completely hate it. I guess it comes down to I honestly had no idea how I wanted it to end or how it would even end, which is why I read the second half so quickly. I just had to know how it ended because it could've gone in many different directions. Part of me was expecting all three of them to die. Like I said before I hated Katherine a lot so throughout the book, I kind of wanted her to die and then Arsinoe or Mirabella become Queen. I just knew I didn't want Katherine nor Jules to be Queen. Like I said I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted it to end, BUT I KNOW IT WAS NOT WITH BOTH KATHERINE AND MIRA DYING AND JULES AS QUEEN. In the end, I realised I wanted them all to survive and be happy together. I think it would be better if the island just had no more queens AT ALL.

IT WAS JUST SAD THAT THEY ALL NEVER GOT TO BE SISTERS AGAIN. LIKE I KNOW KATHERINE SAVED ARSINOE, BUT WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE ALL THREE OF THEM TOGETHER RESOLVING IT. I get both Katherine and Mira could have died, but we should have at least got to see all three of them resolve their relationship first.

In the end, there were many ways this could have ended and many BETTER ways, but I just have to accept the ending we got.

Also, I don't know if it was just me who missed it, but why did Katherine never acknowledge properly that she was a naturalist. Her snake sweetheart was clearly her familiar, and I feel like had she realised she would have thought of her snake. Maybe she did, and I just didn't notice it. To be fair, I was reading really fast so I could finish. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, had it not been for the ending this book would have received a higher rating. I still really enjoyed reading this and will definitely be sad to see these characters and this story go. ...more

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Apr 14, 2020 Ashley Lewis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This finale was deeply satisfying for me. I know there are a lot of people out there who disagree, but it is what it is. Of course there were some issues in this final installment, but overall I loved this series and feel like it concluded well. So very glad this novel picked up after the third installment, which was a bit tedious for me.

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Nov 12, 2018 Morgane Schroyen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I need this book like yesterday

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Feb 10, 2019 Eleanor rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I can't believe it's over... I feel empty

*update*
I struggled to fall asleep last night.
I'm gonna miss this series and its characters so much. ...more

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Dec 28, 2019 Maryam🌻 rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I did not want to end 2019 with a disappointment but here we are...
I did not expect the last book in this series to be so uneventful and boring. Such a weak ending to a series i actually liked very much. I kept waiting for something ANYTHING to happen for most of the book but nothing did. No surprises; not a single plot twist. The only real action that happened was in the last 50-so pages and even that was not worth all the wait. So saying that I’m disappointed is an understatement; especially a ...more

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Oct 09, 2018 Claire ✨ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-fantasy, rated-4-star, reviewed, age-ya

FIVE DARK FATES may polarise readers as it draws the grim, dark tale of three triplet queens to a close. Though with its varied, three-dimensional cast, what it builds up to ultimately is not given in the end.

What is simply a fact about the last book of the series: you don't want it to disappoint you.

Yet I come away from FIVE DARK FATES... underwhelmed.

I think at this point, if you're still criticising the slow pacing of the series, you will probably find it most obvious in FIVE DARK FATES. Sinc ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
YA Buddy Readers'...: Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns #4) by Kendare Blake - Starting August 3rd 2020	1	7	Jul 31, 2020 11:51PM
Challenge Corner: Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake - Starting November 6th 2019	6	8	Dec 02, 2019 10:22AM
Addicted to YA: Five Dark Fates	5	105	Nov 10, 2019 02:31AM
Addicted to YA: Discussion Leader Sign Up: Five Dark Fates	3	51	Nov 01, 2019 06:28AM
The count down begins!!!	2	16	Aug 14, 2019 08:52PM

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About Kendare Blake

Kendare Blake

53,829 followers

So, I write books. The Anna Dressed in Blood duo is horror, The Goddess War trilogy is mythology, and Three Dark Crowns is fantasy, because the world don't move to the beat of just one drum. What might be right for you, may not be right for some. Love to read, too. Fiction, philosophy, good books, bad books, because you take the good you take the bad you take them both and there you have a stack o ...more