This is kind of like a double prequel story, adjacent story to two other books in a series, THREE DARK CROWNS and ONE DARK THRONE. I don't think this book really reveals any spoiler for the first two books in that series? But it also explains a few things that were unexplained in the previous two books but alluded to? I kind of hope we see a few other stories similar to this about other alluded to stories.
An amazon summary which better tells you it's two stories in one book, "Together in print for the first time in this paperback bind-up, the dazzling prequels to the Three Dark Crowns series are finally available for fans to have and to (literally) hold. Uncover the sisters’ origins, dive deep into the catastrophic reign of the Oracle Queen, and reveal layers of Fennbirn’s past, hidden until now.
The Young Queens
Get a glimpse of triplet queens Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katharine during a short period of time when they protected and loved one another. From birth until their claiming ceremonies, this is the story of the three sisters’ lives…before they were at stake.
The Oracle Queen
Everyone knows the legend of Elsabet, the Oracle Queen. The one who went mad. The one who orchestrated a senseless, horrific slaying of three entire houses. But what reallyhappened? Discover the true story behind the queen who could foresee the future…just not her own downfall." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Since these are two short stories in one smaller book, I'm just going to give my reactions to each story.
The Oracle Queen freaking felt like a cop out. It started out pretty detailed, in depth, well paced, then suddenly flew into a flurry of everything happening at once. It was kind of obnoxious since I really liked reading the story up until the flurry started. We got to see the Oracle magic and also the War gift (which are both only alluded to in the other two books). We did get to see more of the island's inner workings and kind of see the seeds of how the current day in the other books came to be? It didn't feel like nearly enough though. So much more could have been accomplished in this story, but it does explain a few questions I've been asking which was nice. I did like the story overall, I just wish it maintained it's pacing/thoughtfulness.
The Young Queens explains a lot about the foundations of each person. I really liked this because it also showed who their mother was and how she felt about the island/rituals/world; especially as she had to leave her babies at the black cottage. I did like how it shows the queens when they're taken to their respective capitals/families to raise them, since I felt that also showed us some revealing traits about their characters that were touched on and hinted at in the other stories.
Overall, if you read the other two books and LIKED them, want to know more about some of the history that's alluded to in them, I would recommend reading this book. I don't think if you skip this book, you'll miss out on anything for the other two books.
Happy reading!
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