
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Rating:
Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.
Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.
I realised that I had reviewed this on storygraph and raved about it on Instagram stories and to some friends, but had not actually put this up on the blog. And since The Knight and the Moth is publishing this month, why not make it a Rachel Gillig series of posts.
I had received this book free from the publisher when it first came out and at the time I was a little burnt out on similar stories so set it aside and forgot. And as I was clearing and packing books, this lovely one came up and I started reading.
I could not put it down. I read until stupid o’clock in the morning just to finish it. And as soon as I finished it was already ordering the next one. I could not wait (the wait was agony, I needed to know!). Honestly, the book had wrapped its beautifully crafted story around me, and I could (did) not want to leave.
So, I’ve raved about loving it but what is it about?
We follow Elspeth, a survivor of a mysterious “plague” that left her with some odd powers, particularly a monster she calls Nightmare that lives in her head (rent free). However, Nightmare can sometimes be very helpful (if he wants to) by protecting her, and keeping her (their) secrets.
But the kingdom of Blunder is a dangerous place for a survivor that shouldn’t have survived. And when she has an encounter with a highway man, suddenly her life seems to move from predictable to chaotic. And so an adventure to save the kingdom from a cruel king, and discover why magic is forbidden or limited to the twelve Providence Cards. The stakes rise as the time goes and as they try to survive, including her own Nightmare.
The overall world-building is crafted in a n intriguing way, it makes you feel like a fairy tale world. You feel the magic of it, the way the citizens live, how the cards influence life in such deep ways, and you discover the world Elspeth had been avoiding due to technically being a survivor that shouldn’t have survived.
It touches on faith, family, on magic, obviously it has a ormance story and some interesting swoony characters to tie everything nicely. There is a lot of sass and funny scenes too, and a lot of stakes, but it all ties in nicely to a point where you just want to find out what comes in the next book.
I enjoyed it a lot, and can recommend it for a gripping romantasy.