Five dark fates

The fight for the throne of Fennbirn began, as it always has, with three queens. It was supposed to end with one. Instead, there are now four: Katharine, the Queen Crowned, has become preternaturally gifted, having absorbed the essences of the island's dead queens. Her sisters Mirabella, the powerful elemental, and Arsinoe, raised a naturalist but born a poisoner, have returned to Fennbirn after living on the mainland, guided by Arsinoe's mystical visions. And Jules Milone, not of royal blood but blessed or cursed with both naturalist and war gifts, is surrounded by fervent supporters who would make her a queen. As the fates of the four girls collide, the fate of the very island itself, and the magic that made it, will be determined. This fourth and final series installment brings the story of the queens of Fennbirn to a bittersweet and suitably dark close. This is a fully realized series with notable world building throughout; as it comes to its end, that magic lingers. Whichever queen readers were rooting for, it will be hard to say goodbye.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Demand for the first two volumes in this set turned a planned duology into a quartet; as the final volume arrives, readers will be hungry for the end.--Maggie Reagan Copyright 2019 Booklist

Four rival queens, civil war, vengeful ghosts, lethal mists, torture, madnessany happy ending seems very unlikely in this conclusion of a pitch-black fantasy quartet.As Arsinoe turns to low magic in a frantic effort to cure Jules' legion curse, Mirabella abandons the rebel army for Katharine. But the dead queens possessing the Queen Crowned grow ever more bloodthirsty, and all Fennbirn Island may have to pay the cost. The earlier books assembled huge casts to wrangle and an enormous tangle of plot threads to tie off, so it's no surprise that even with its considerable heft, this tome feels a bit crowded and rushed. But if Blake (Two Dark Reigns, 2018, etc.) relies on a deus ex machina (or, more accurately, a dea ex caverna) to resolve otherwise intractable narrative knots, she does not stint on her characters: Each one is a complicated, sympathetic individual with intelligible motivations despite their often bloody deeds. As the story digs into the legendary history of Fennbirn's matriarchal cultureapparently default white but also intriguingly default female and explicitly not default heterosexualit gains greater depth and richness. Yet this world remains harsh, dark, and graphically violent, filled with impossible choices and dreadful sacrifices; As everyone fights, betrays, or tries to flee, all are inevitably drawn to the climactic clash that leaves no one unscathed.Things may not end happily ever after, but they do end just right. (cast of characters, map) (Fantasy. 14-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.