Reading With Tyler

Name: One Dark Window
Series: The Shepherd King #1
Author: Rachel Gillig
Publisher: Orbit
Format: Kindle (through Kindle Unlimited)
Genres: Gothic, Horror, Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Magic
Noted Tropes: Enemies to Lovers
Steam or Spice: Spice-ish

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Review:

I had hoped to read this earlier in the year, both before October and in October and it just kept getting pushed to the wayside. There was a brief moment in November when I forgot that Carissa Broadbent’s next book was out (shame on me) and so picked up One Dark Window because I was so intrigued by this tarot card inspired magic system… I regret nothing! Even if it delayed me getting back to my 2024 Queen.

One Dark Window is a gothic, horror, fantasy, romance. Yes, all of those things. Throw in a really cool magic system, a nightmare creature that speaks occassionally in riddles, and a group of treasonous traitors (yes I know that’s essentially the same thing, but it sounded good) and I’m in! I’ve never read anything by Rachel Gillig, but I am already in love with her style of writing. She fed us clues throughout the whole thing but my brain wasn’t fast enough picking up on them and so I kept getting surprised! I loved that element of this story!

Future Tyler here – I did some digging (aka looked at Goodreads) and have come to the realisation that Rachel Gillig doesn’t have any other works out yet – but there are some more coming!

Elspeth is our infected, magic weilding FMC, the one with a nightmare creature stuck in her head, and she is brilliant. I’m sure other people would probably find fault with her but I just loved her. I enjoyed being in her head – the relationship she has with Nightmare was great, and I loved her relationships with the traitors. That being said, a few TikTok posts led me astray on which of these traitors I should have been focussing on, and so the romance that blossomed threw me off guard a little! Not that I’m complaining, because I love Ravyn Yew! And the moment when he opens up, if you know you know, made me want to rip my own heart out at the end. I have questions about this ending and right now, no answers!

Let’s look at the story: Elspeth caught an infection when she was younger and as a result developed magical abilities. Her ability meant that she ended up with a buddy, Nightmare, being stuck in her head. As part of the harvest celebration, Elspeth and her family is invited to Stone to celebrate with the royals. It is there the story really gets going. In an attempt to free Blunder from the cursed mist that surrounds them, Elspeth joins a group of traitors in their attempt at bringing together a full set of the Providence Cards (the magic system of this world). And I was here for it!

I freaking love the magic system – I love that each of the cards have both a positive and a negative effect, I enjoyed the ‘trading’ aspect of the world (again because the rulers are trying to also free Blunder from the cursed mist and so they’re also trying to build a full deck). I am hoping that we get more of this magic in the second book because honestly it’s brilliant – and based on the ending of book one, I do think we will!

Speaking of the ending of book one, my jaw hit the ground because whilst I expected it (a bit) – I did not see it coming in its entirety. Rachel Gillig created a group of characters who are a found family of their own, as well as an FMC that I absolutely got behind and then mic dropped with her cliffhanger. I cared about this whole damn group, Rachel. And this is what you do to me?

Bloody brilliant book, the story is there, the romance is building, the suspense for which group is going to complete their task first is killing me! Book 2 will be a wild ride, I can tell that much already! If I could give One Dark Window more than 5 stars, I absolutely would – it deserves it!

“There once was a girl…clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King—a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book. The two were together, so the two were the same: The girl, the King… and the monster they became.”