B-

One Dark Window

Let’s start with what this book does well. It’s a really interesting premise and the world-building is good (if slow). A long time ago, the balance of magic was upset and now the Spirit of the Woods is taking over with a magical mist that kills people. Cue: a need to save the kingdom and those infected by magic.

While the King is ostensibly trying to do this, he is prepared to sacrifice the captain of his guard, Ravyn’s brother (both of whom are infected by magic, which should be a death sentence, but anyway). So Ravyn and a small group of loyal friends and family set about saving the kingdom. They’re led to Elspeth, also infected with magic, but she has some deep secrets too.

Are you feeling a little confused? Don’t worry, in the book all of this happens much more slowly and with more detail. But maybe too slowly…. While the first half of the book is rather slow, in hindsight I can see the need for some of it because the world is a rather complicated one and I needed time to take it all on board. That being said, it was still a bit too slow for me. For example, we know who the voice is inside Elspeth’s head long before she does. The clues are all around her and she doesn’t put them together. So the first half of the book doesn’t have any action.

Then, the second half of the book is absolutely electric. Things HAPPEN. I won’t say what things because you need that slightly dull first half for the second half to make sense. This book does end on an absolute cliffhanger though. (The second book comes out in October 2023, so I would advise maybe reading this book a week or so before the next one comes out – that’s if you’re like me and aren’t a fan of cliffhangers.)

Elspeth herself is a bit of a wet blanket initially with lots of fear and handwringing, but the voice in her head does give her a bit of backbone. Her blossoming relationship with Ravyn is tentative at first, but they give in to the chemistry and that part is lovely. I’d say this is more fantasy novel with a romantic subplot, but the romance is pretty good.

This really was two very different paced books stuck together, which makes reviewing it rather difficult. Overall, I’m glad I read this book and I’m glad I stuck with it through the dull parts. There are enough loose strings to the plot that book 2 in the series promises to be a belter and I’ve already preordered it.

– Lara

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.