BOOKS | Review: Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

Name: Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King #2)

Author: Rachel Gillig

Publisher: Orbit

Date published: October 2023

Genre: Fiction, new adult, fantasy, romance, gothic

Pages: 437

Rating: 5/5 

Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.
If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom.
And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth's head. The Nightmare. And he's not eager to share any longer.

- From Goodreads. 

Rachel Gillig is excellent at writing dramatic moments and making them feel very epic and monumental. My favourite moments were when the Nightmare could really show what he was capable of, his connection with the land and trees and how he could use that really made for some very thrilling moments that were so enjoyable to read.

I think the Nightmare's link to Elspeth and their relationship was so fascinating and it was so well done how it built emotionally up to the very end. I really felt attached to both of the characters and wanted to see what would happen with their bond in the end.

It was interesting to see more from the other characters in this book as we got some additional perspectives and learnt more about the world than what we had previously just seen from Elspeth's point of view. Elm was especially compelling and I really liked following his development and watching him decide what was important to him and what he would decide to fight for.

Overall, I really loved this duology and will definitely be coming back to reread it at some point. I am looking forward to reading more from Rachel Gillig as I think she has a wonderfully atmospheric writing style, can create some truly cinematic scenes and creates very fascinating characters. 

BOOKS | Review: One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

Name: One Dark Window (The Shepherd King #1)

Author: Rachel Gillig

Publisher: Orbit

Date published: September 2022

Genre: Fiction, new adult, fantasy, romance, gothic

Pages: 432

Rating: 5/5

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder - 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 Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder... and guilty of high treason.
Together they must 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 taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

- From Goodreads. 

This story was incredibly atmospheric and wonderfully intense and so suspenseful in the plot. 

Elspeth was such a fascinating character to follow along, she had a lot of depth to her and so much heart, she cared a lot about the people close to her, but could not truly be herself with them because of the secrets she had to keep. Her relationship with the Nightmare was so intriguing and it was so interesting seeing their dynamic.

I really enjoyed the romance, I think Ryvan was a very compelling character, full of mystery at the beginning, but very empathetic once you got to know more about him, and I love that they wanted to be together and to be able to care for each other, despite everything around them working against them.

I found the plot very thrilling and all of the other characters very intriguing, the ending was very dramatic and exciting and I am curious to see what will happen in the next book and the parts each character will play in the events that follow on from this book.

I would definitely recommend this if you enjoy gothic and atmospheric fantasy romance stories, like Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. I will definitely be reading the second book very soon as I'm excited to see how the story continues! 

BOOKS | Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Name: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury

This edition published: 2020

Genre: Fiction, young/new adult, fantasy, romance, fairy tales, retellings

Pages: 432

Rating: 2/5

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

- From Goodreads.

A Court of Thorns and Roses had a promising start, a really great atmosphere, some very interesting characters and world building details, and a good premise (I find it difficult to resist a Beauty and the Beast retelling), but I felt let down by some parts of it that will probably mean I will not feel motivated enough to continue with the series, despite the things I did like about the book and the reasons why I could see it was so popular.

I really did enjoy the atmosphere, the way that Maas built up the world with her description was great, especially at the beginning of the book. Tamlin's estate and the surrounding lands were described particularly beautifully and I was able to fall in love with his home just like Feyre did.

I also really liked some of the characters, specifically Tamlin and Lucien, and the way they were written in most of their scenes, and I thought their backstories were interesting. Unfortunately, apart from a few background characters, there were not many more characters that I found to be likeable.

In relation to that, I did have a little trouble connecting to Feyre. While I did like her sometimes and occasionally really felt for her, I felt like something was stopping me from reacting really emotionally to her, which meant I could not get as lost in the story as I would have liked to.

My rating of the book would probably have been higher if it were not for the last part of the story, which I felt took a strange turn and did not connect well to the rest of the book for me. While for most of the book I had enjoyed Feyre and Tamlin's romance, in this part something seemed missing from it which made the challenges they had to face at the end and the sacrifices that had to be made fall a little flat. There was also a lot of explanation in this part of the story, a lot of backstory, just a bit too much exposition that left me a little lost, I could not quite keep track of it all. I also felt like the characters did not act quite like they would in that situation and there were just a few things that happened that did not make sense to me. One character's actions were explained away as if they had justifiable reasons for what they did, but I felt like they had gone too far and crossed a line and it should have been better addressed.

Overall, while A Court of Thorns and Roses began well, although it was not perfect, it was fun to read with an enjoyable romance and some exciting intrigue, however the ending became too frustrating and out of place and ruined the pacing of the story for me and I felt it was not the ending I wanted for the book. I do not think I will be reading on with this series as the first book left me with too much disappointment, but I would not discourage others from trying it if they want a faerie romance with some mystery and think it might be for them.