BOOK REVIEW
One Dark Window - Rachel Gillig
Welcome back to Fantasy Friday, and welcome to my book review of the romantasy read, One Dark Window, by Rachel Gillig.
Why this book? I loved the cover art firstly, gothic and creepy, giving me Little Red Riding Hood vibes. I also liked the premise of a hidden brain demon, which I suspected would add a dynamic that steers clear of the trope of a woman who needs to be rescued, who is weak without her man, you get the drift.
All that from a cover and a blurb? I could be entirely wrong, but it's what sold me on starting this audiobook!
BLURB
ELSPETH NEEDS A MONSTER. THE MONSTER MIGHT BE HER.
An ancient, mercurial spirit is trapped inside Elspeth Spindle's head - she calls him the Nightmare. He protects her. HE keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, she is thrust into a world of shadow and deception. Together, they embark on a dangerous quest to cure the town of blunder from the dark magic infecting it. 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.
For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a gothic fantasy romance about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom.
MY REVIEW
Oooooh I enjoyed this! Another audiobook gem, though I may read the sequel as a physical copy just to shake things up a bit :)
The world-building was strong, each chapter starts with a poem, an excerpt I assume from the book of magical lore that was read to Elspeth as a child. Like fairy tales, the poems tell the history of the town of Blunder, the magical curse that traps it, and its inhabitants. I liked this little element of magic, it added to my understanding of the world without a whole bunch of unnecessary and confusing dialogue.
In short, a magical spirit, in a dirty little bargain with the King (The Shepherd King no less) created an infection that I *think* is held within the mist that envelops the town. The people infected gain magical powers, but the price of this magic is degradation, be that physical or mental. The King created his own magic, held within cards. To rid the town of the mist, and the infection, the cards must all be collected. A ritual can then take place, which cures the town of the badness.
That's the quest, finding the remaining magical cards to help save Blunder from the mist. There's alot more to it than that, but this is a spoiler free blog :) you'll have to read it to find out!
Elspeth bumps into Raven at the beginning of the book. She's quickly discovered to be someone who has been infected and she is brought into the group of merry (or not) men (and woman) who are hunting for these mystical cards. Thus ensues fake dating, which quickly turns into real dating. There's a little spice, one page worth, and I liked that the book didn't rely heavily on spice to flesh out the story. It felt appropriate to the intensity at that point in the story, Raven put in some graft and they both seemed to have a good time, and the plot just carried on from there, which was nice!
Side note - the descriptions of Raven gave me Professor Snape, but hot, vibes. I'll accept no judgment on this matter, I simply heard 'hooked nose, grumpy but actually protective' and that's what was conjured up. I have no control over this, but tell me I'm wrong?
Moving swiftly on. The Nightmare character was another interesting and quirky way of telling the backstory. As Elspeth lets Nightmare in, he does the same. I enjoyed the narration of this character too, I really got an understanding of his snake-like, sneaky, and manipulative character and enjoyed the way he and Elspeth would bicker in an incessant internal dialogue.
As there's a sequel, this book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving me just enough rope to go out and buy the next book! Well played Gillig, well played!
This a dark and gothic read, but with some real moments of levity. It was well-paced, with a good build-up of drama and revelation towards the end.
My only real frustration (I have an uncontrollable urge to throw a tantrum any time I feel this happening) was the simplicity of resolving many of the issues encountered if the main couple just communicated with each other. I realise that the story is never as interesting when there's healthy trust built from the start, and I definitely still enjoyed the storytelling, but it's a bugbear of mine, speak to your partner people, it solves many many issues!
Thoroughly enjoyable read, I'm starting to understand why the fantasy genre is so well loved. This was entirely different to other fantasy books I have read, but equally as good!
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