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One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, 1)

Rachel Gillig

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THE FANTASY BOOKTOK SENSATION!

For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom—but the monster in her head isn't the only threat lurking.

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason.

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.

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Posts about this title from chronicallybookish

chronicallybookish\ \ Kaley\ \ • Sep 1 2025

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The way that this was actually so hard because I have no hobbies outside of reading 🫣 I do like to bake, though, and I’m hoping to get a bit more into that again over the summer when I’m back from college and actually have access to a kitchen.

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Moonlit Fables\ \ Rupali\ \ • May 24 2025

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Poll:\ \ Did you like the Shepherd King Series\ \ I don't usually read Romantasy, but when I do I tend to approach it with a critical eye. This week, I finished One Dark Window, Rachel Gillig's Booktok famous dark romantasy. I would love to hear your thoughts on this book too!\ \ Warning: The review below contains spoilers! Proceed with caution!\ \ \ \ Review\ \ I’m not sure what I should rate this… I was definitely engaged & consumed by the story, but at the same time, every plot twist was SO predictable. I could see them coming from a mile away. I’m not sure what the hype for this book is for? It felt like a very average fantasy. The world of Blunder built around the Providence Cards was confusing at first, so I did appreciate the constant reminders of what each card’s power is, because your girl was forgetting OFTEN lol. \ \ Even with a better understanding, I couldn’t get too emotionally connected to the kingdom. Blunder felt really isolated & lacking in community that is usually felt in these fantasy books. Which of course was the point. BUT if we are going to live in an isolated kingdom, I felt that there should have been more insight on the political background of the Rowan family & what their court looked like. You know what, it felt like a watered down version of a Kingdom. One king, one maiden, one illness that the kingdom tries to destroy. One task to cure the illness & appease the Spirit of the Wood. It was lacking depth in ways that I am not sure how to explain. \ \ That being said I did enjoy the romance part of this. Ravyn & Elspeth were so destined for each other, this is the first time I haven’t rolled my eyes when the main characters fall for each other. Their romance made sense & didn’t draw away from the fantastical world that Gillig was creating. It felt like a natural development between the two. When Elspeth finally succumbs to her illness I cried because she had finally started to trust Ravyn & now she can’t express it. \ \ Will I be reading the 2nd book? Yea of course, but I’m reading it for the romance…\ \ Join for free or login

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Thank you for being here:)

CONTACT ME: hello@lareesocial.com

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Check out the books mentioned on my bookshelf: https://mareas.binderybooks.com/books/

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7:53 - 15:40 - Annie Bot by Sierra Greer Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156023123-annie-bot cw: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3498a6e4-9e18-4a65-a401-18508150bec4/content\_warnings

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21:31 - 30:02 - Bride by Ali Hazelwood Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/181350812-bride cw: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/be049e13-9e22-4b99-82f5-41fc739ae7e1/content\_warnings

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