Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - One Dark Window

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

44 reviews

amy14's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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etymoye's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book took me a little while to get into, to the point where I almost DNF. The writing style is very dense and just very wordy, plus the world-building is kind of slow going. But once things started falling into place, it hooked me.

I felt like the main romance between the two main characters, Elspeth and Ravyn, was just okay. I liked that Ravyn isn’t your stereotypical Alpha Male, but I also felt like we never quite got to know him that well, either. In my opinion, where this book really shines is world-building and storytelling. The atmosphere is really well done, very creepy and tense at times, and I loved the detail about magic being tied to cards. (Though they’re not the only source of magic, which is a major conflict in the book.) Definitely planning on reading book 2.

Safety Stats:

Ages:

Elspeth is 20, I didn’t catch Ravyn’s age.

Cheating:

None.

Other OM/OW:

There's brief mention of another character Elspeth kissed once three years ago. He's interested in courting her now, but she's not interested in him and shuts him down.

Separation:

Separated at the end of the book. Cliffhanger.

Triggers:

Mention of past death of a parent (Elspeth’s mother). Elspeth’s father is alive but a relatively deadbeat dad.

HEA/HFN?:

No, cliffhanger at the end of the book.

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tkatt20's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Sometimes I find that when I really like a book I don't have a lot to say review wise, this is exactly one of those cases. I finished this a couple of weeks ago and waited to do a review because I thought the words might come to me, but they never did. The writing was solid, I loved the characters, setting, magic system, everything. This is honesty all I want in a YA/New adult fantasy. For my Teen Wolf fans, this book reminds me of season 3 with the nogitsune, to try to give an idea of the vibes between the FMC and the "Nightmare", which was my all-time favorite season btw. This was def a vibe read for me and I loved it.

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briannagriffin567's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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pagesihavenotyetread's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the second one! Gillig’s prose is both elevated and easy to follow, invoking something similar in feel to classic Victorian literature with a distinctly modern twist. Her pacing was great—neither slow or fast, and with just enough action to keep readers excited. However, I will say that I felt her world-building lacked a smidgen of severity. While we are often told in the first 2/3rds of the book that it is quite dangerous to be an infected person in Blunder, I think the tension could have benefitted from an earlier example of the King’s brutality (i.e. someone Elspeth knew being taken away, or her witnessing a public execution). In that regard, I do feel as if some of the stakes fell a tiny bit flat due to the lack of “showing” in comparison to “telling.” Despite that, I easily tumbled into the magic of the woods and mist and cards, and thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns of Elspeth’s journey through such a tempestuous town. Excited to see how this story concludes!

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