After reading a few gothic fantasy novels, I've taken a special liking to this genre and have been on the search for more. I read positive reviews of the Shepherd King duology by Rachel Gillig on Goodreads and decided to give it a try. The first book is titled One Dark Window.
The beginning thrusts readers straight into the action and core of the story without prelude. The town of Blunder surrounded by a magical misty woods is being plagued by the black death. The king sends out his elite soldiers, the Destriers, together with physicians to catch and kill anyone who has this plague.
Our female lead character, Elspeth Spindle, falls ill with the plague. Her father hides her in her uncle's estate in the woods and she makes a miraculous recovery. While looking through the estate, she sees her uncle's Providence cards and touches the Nightmare card and instantly absolves the monster itself. She and this demon share her mind and he sometimes helps her out of dangerous situations. She hides this secret from everyone, including her family.
Elspeth lives cautiously, trying not to be caught or killed by the Destriers until she attends the king's Equinox party and meets Ravyn, the captain of the Destriers. They are both wary of each other. When Ravyn discovers she is a survivor of the plague, he enlists her help to find other cards in order to save Blunder from the powerful mist and the king's discrimination. Elspeth isn't sure what Ravyn's motivations are but she has agendas of her own. Can she embark on this quest without revealing who she is? Should she trust this man who could easily order her arrest and death?
Genres: Gothic, Fantasy, Romance
Publication: September 2022
Pages: 441
My Review And Rating
This story is a fine one and well-written loosely based on fairytales, a blend of Red Riding Hood and Cinderella but it isn't perfect. Though the plot is interesting but predictable, the unique magic system and atmospheric writing is what makes this book stand out.
Written in the first POV, the worldbuilding is fascinating and pulls you in because of the magic system. In this world, there are two kinds of magic—magic from providence cards and magic born from the plague, and both come with a price. Also, the mysterious deity who releases the mist, the imagery and overall gothic creepiness adds to the beauty of this story.
I love the author's writing style. Every chapter begins with fairytale-esque rhymes and snippets of poetry. It sort of introduces what to expect in the chapter. For a lover of poems, this makes the storytelling fancy.
The characters are well developed and they all sync finely in my opinion. The female lead, Elspeth, is calm, quiet and mysterious mostly because of her circumstance and the monster that lives in her. The monster on the other hand is kind of my favourite character in this book. He's tough, snarky and loves violence (to protect Elspeth). Often, he speaks in riddles and rhymes which I find fascinating and doesn't suffer fools gladly.
The romance between Ravyn and Elspeth is beautifully written, not spicy, yet I feel it started too fast. Considering that Elspeth has been hunted for most of her life by Destriers and Ravyn is their captain, that she trusts him so easily and begins to find him attractive doesn't feel realistic to me. I expected a sort of enemies to lovers connection but the author's writing smooths out this part and I don't have a reason to complain anymore. I can't wait to start the second book.
Rating this book, I'll give it 4 stars out of 5. It's fascinating and the worldbuilding is great. If you enjoy dark, atmospheric fairytales or retellings, you'll love this one.
All images above are from my E-library
Header images compiled in Canva.
Thank you for visiting and supporting my blog. 🤗