One Dark Window: the gothic and spellbinding fantasy romance sensation (The Shepherd King)

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This book was great! This was a gothic and dark fantasy about power, revenge, love and the power of choice. One Dark Window follows Elspeth, a girl with magic and a monster in her head and the quest that she goes on with a group of thieves to save the world from dark magic. this book had no business rivaling the love for my favorite fantasy (six of crows, obviously) I've read this year. I loved everything about it.. the storytelling was like nothing I've ever read before 🥺 The characters were flawed, a bit mysterious, and I absolutely adored them! Elspeth hasn’t had an easy life, trusts few people, and stays away from crowds because of her dark secret. That is, until she meets a handsome and mysterious highwayman who convinces her to help him on his quest. I love Elspeth, Ravyn, Elm, and Jespyr. This group of characters are witty, loyal, and so courageous. Last, but not least, The Nightmare. His character was intriguing, frightening, and surprisingly funny at times. Even when I wanted to dislike him, something inside me was just so attached to him and his story. Highly recommend but don’t go into it expecting more romance like I did. overall, I very much enjoyed this and the writing pulled me in. The world building felt easy to get into and almost immediately (for me) you’re able to understand what’s going on. it ended on a satisfying cliffhanger that’s left me anticipating everything to come and I need the next book IMMEDIATELY.

The Dedication - 𝕿𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖖𝖚𝖎𝖊𝖙 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑𝖘 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖘. 𝕿𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖉𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒𝖘—𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖊𝖘. THE ENDING WAS exciting and I’m super intrigued to see how this resolves! It’s definitely a cliffhanger but not one that I was super surprised by This is the easiest 5 stars I’ve given a book in a while. One Dark Window is a gothic fantasy that gripped me from the start and didn’t let me out of its claws until the very end. Actually, I’m still in its clutches. This is a story about a girl with a dangerous secret, a mist that threatens to destroy the Kingdom, cards that grant magic for a high price, and a quest that could change the lives of many. A 500 year old scary psycho and a dangerous monster who previously lived in a nightmare card for years but now lives in Elspeth's head. His hilarious sarcasm had me laughing all the time and the dark lores and the riddles he spoke to Elspeth in her mind made me curious to know more about him. Elspeth and the nightmare had a kind of hate and yet a precious relationship. They were together for 11 years and they protected each other in all the dangerous times. Is it, again, a question of expectations, then? In parts only. Sure, if you had told me about the YA vibes (minus one sex-scene) before I started, I might have enjoyed the beginning more.As the price to be paid for being infected is death, elspeth has had to hide her infection for so many years and keep hidden mostly.

A creepy mist-plagued village and woods, a 500-year-old mercurial mind monster who talks in rhymes, a book within a book, and beautiful poetic writing without being too flowery. Rachel Gillig’s darkish fantasy, and slightly gothic fairytale, was an atmospheric read with elements of slow-burn romance and a small touch of spice. Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.The story featured a great cast of morally grey characters - including a tight-knit found family, and quite a few characters that you love to hate (looking at you, Hauth 😒) When he looked at me, I felt seen, known. There was a line between us, drawn by fate and magic, that stretched out over space and time. Ravyn and I had walked that line our entire lives, unaware we were headed straight for each other.” GOOD AUTUMN VIBES with the somewhat gloomy atmosphere and all the mist. Not to say that fall is gloomy… I just felt like this it was a good time of year for this book 😅 Elspeth meets a Highwayman and his companions on her way with her family to join the King's Equinox ball at the castle. Secrets and dangerous schemes begin to unravel, and Elspeth is at risk of being exposed as the child who had survived the fever and was kept hidden until adulthood, and that equals to treason to the King. On the other hand, the Spirit of the Wood created the mist to punish Blunder. Anyone who gets lost in the mist is taken by the spirit. Further, children can catch “the fever”. If they survive they end up with magic powers that are different for each child. Fever magic also has a price but it is different for each person. This magic is outlawed in Blunder. The children must be turned over to the king and put to death. The girl

The magic system is so unique, I honestly don’t know of another book that I can compare it to. I think it’s one of my favorite parts of the entire story. The author did such a great job at filling us in on how everything works, despite some of the gaps in logic. This applies more to the people within the world than a flaw in the magic system. This book turned about to be such a great read. I was a little hesitant going into it, kind of felt like it wasn’t going to be my thing. It seemed like I was going to be proven right as the first bit of this book is very slow to get into. This story is more mid-high fantasy so the author has to do a bit of info dump at the beginning to set up the world and fill us in on what’s going on. Once you read around chapter six though, prepare for it to take off. Rachel's writing was beautiful and elusive. The little riddles and poetry in between the chapters made everything more interesting. This was a fast paced story and Rachel perfectly balanced everything—the mystery, the characters' journey to find the remaining cards and Elspeth's relationships with Nightmare and Ravyn. This was written from Elspeth's pov and I loved it because how many times does a girl have a 500 year old hilarious monster in her head? I would also love to see some found family trope with Ravyn's family, Elspeth, Elm and Ione. A creepy mist-plagued village and woods, a 500-year-old mercurial mind monster who talks in rhymes, a book within a book, and beautiful poetic writing without being too flowery. Rachel Gillig’s darkish fantasy, and slightly gothic fairytale, was an atmospheric read with elements of slow-burn romance and a small touch of spice. I was completely enthralled and could not put down One Dark Window.

Read One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

The writing had no emotion. It is written in a very bland way and comes across as if facts are being presented but all jumbled up, rather than a story being written. I was bored. I started to skim. It does have goth YA vibes to it but nothing too impressive. The Nightmare and her have a complicated relationship. Unlike Artemisa and the Revenant, where she was educated on what the being possessing her was and knew better about his powers and his nature, Elspeth was never taught how to use her powers, she doesn't even know who or what the Nightmare is. Which accounts for her erratic feelings and attitude towards him, screaming for help when she's afraid and lashing out when she's annoyed. The age difference and the education level definitely account for this, so I'm not sure I'd call this poor characterisation. I do, however, wish they talked more naturally and had better banter, because sometimes the Nightmare sounds like your street's resident gossip doing live commentary on your behaviour. I do wish Elspeth knew how to reply to him without sounding like a brat so often. Second, the magic system is unparalleled. So so so incredibly good. I love the whole card system. I love that there is a price to pay for the magic as well. Honestly, the magic system in this book is pure perfection. The ending hurt—this cliffhanger almost made me cry. I’ll forgive it, because it’s meant to lead us into the next book, but I won't be able to forget it. Elspeth’s father was the head of the Destriers when she caught the fever but he couldn’t bring himself to turn her in. So he sent her to her Aunt’s with the hope that she would avoid detection. And it worked. Helpfully, everyone thinks that she escaped the fever with no magical gift. The truth is a bit different though.

He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him. These questions linger and hinder her chance of happiness for so long, that when the time comes for action - she doesn't know for sure, which is the right one? 🥺 Caught up in the kingdom's ploys of trying to save their own and still uncover the secrets behind it, Elspeth gets closer to the truth - one she may not be ready to accept or believe, but impossible to avoid. One Dark Window is I was completely immersed in the story and the gothic and dark vibes of their world. Humans, a nightmare in Elspeth's mind (500 year old monster), magical cards and artifacts, magic in the forest and the mist, a curse and an infection which gives magic but that magic comes at a cost. The world building in this was beautifully done and it wasn't detailed but it still gave me a beautiful insight as to how their world, the magic and providence cards work. Marred by a haunted mist, Blunder is a village where magic is outlawed and comes as an infection in the night, granting magical abilities to people who survive it. FMC Elspeth Spindle survived the fever, and her family has treasonously harboured her, keeping her “infection” secret to protect her from the certain death that awaits anyone “tainted”, with the belief she has no resulting magical symptoms.There will be spoilers for each section so we can freely share our thoughts for what just happened and predictions for what will follow! I’m very excited to hear your thoughts and opinions! Besides, I added, my voice hollow, my father wouldn’t have abandoned me eleven years ago if he truly wished for my company. You know that—why bother taunting me? The way the book ends, may have broken my heart a little. I cannot wait to read the sequel as I have to know what happens with some of the side characters ie. Ione, Emory, The Nightmare and even Elspeth, herself. I think this book set us up for book two, perfectly. An enchanting tale with sharp claws and teeth – Gillig’s prose will pull you in and won’t let you sleep. Pulse-pounding, darkly whimsical and aglow with treacherous magic, One Dark Window is everything I love in fantasy and more’ Allison Saft, author of A Far Wilder Magic One Dark Window is set in the wonderfully dark and gothic town of Blunder that is cut off from the rest of the world bc of a mist that keeps the townspeople trapped and threatened with dark magic. Anyone infected with the magic is believed to be evil or dangerous and is sentenced to death. Elspeth has hidden her infection since childhood not letting anyone know that she lives with another inside her own mind but when she meets a mysterious highwayman who holds his own secrets, she must risk her own safety to work together to possibly find a cure to the dark magic and save herself and everyone else.