Reviews with content warning for Violence - One Dark Window

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

473 reviews

ladylofthouse's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

A darkly enchanted world with unique magic - I ate this up in a day! Fantasy is definitely the focus, which is fine but I think some characters could have had a little more depth. The romance worked for me though, and the nightmare Dr Seuss riddles are good fun, so I'm definitely hooked enough to jump right into the sequel

Content Warnings

laurenpat's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

**Quietly moves this to my All-Time-Favorites shelf, and orders the second book….

I had the same feeling when I was reading The Cruel Prince: this book was meant for me, and I am the target audience. Every time I put the book down, I kept thinking about the story. And I think it’ll be on my mind for a while even after I’ve finished. I guess I’m a sucker for gothic dark fantasy….? It definitely had one of the coolest magic systems I’ve seen in a book.

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soliska's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

I give 5 stars based on purely emotions immediately after reading a book.

I loved the atmosphere and the rhymes, which gave it a creepy fairytale flavour. It was also written in such a close third POV that you felt very close to what Elspeth did. I liked the unique magic system and the way it impact the world this is set in.

That's all I want to say. Or else it would spoil it.

Content Warnings

bsikora002's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

kaymacreader's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kaana's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

volleyworm's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was one of the BEST books I’ve read! The magic system is so interesting and honestly I loved all the characters! Cannot wait to read the next book!

Content Warnings

divazumaya's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This year I'm leaning hard into escapist reading...like, obviously. But I've been burned before by popular romantasies being poorly written, so I'm trying to be more discerning in my research. This one popped up multiple places/across multiple platforms, so I decided to give it a go. Similar to Broadbent's Crowns of Nyaxia, this one is soliddddd.

This story opened a little rocky for me, if I'm being honest. The first few chapters of world-building and describing the magic and starting character development felt a little flat, with some very real unclarity. But the writing settled in, and I settled in, reasonably quickly after we got past those "introductory" chapters. ...then, the world-building and development really found its pacing and stride! As a specific example of that transition, the intro of the magical cards, in number and format that lines up to the "12 Days" holiday song, made me snort pretty derisively to start, BUT as we got more development of how they were formed, the way they carry/imbue power, and the associated costs for using them, really grew on me. Similarly, I was confused to start by how the cards had magic, and then there was a magic-causing infection too (that causes a person to "degenerate" over time)?, but that cleared for me over the course of reading as well. And now having finished, I am very interested to see how the remaining mysteries of that process will be addressed in the second book, and how that affects the culmination of the story as well! So, overall, solid writing, if at times it could have used a little more polishing/clarity.

As far as the romance piece - big yes. This is a really well done enemies-to-lovers development for Elspeth and Ravyn. The softening started pretty quickly (which is par for the course for this genre, in all fairness), but other than that, I was totally into it. It was a really well done slower (but not too slow) burn, and there's a really believable connection and pull. I was bought into them from the start and was *very* happy when they finally happened. I also deeply appreciated that after they chose to be together, they handled secrets/disagreements in a pretty mature way. There was no third-act-breakup-over-a-miscommunication situation. And that's a huge win for me. The rest of the characters, and their interrelated relationships, were similarly well-developed as the novel progressed - there was some depth, and still some mysteries left to be uncovered in the second book.

Last two comments. First, as always, I am a sucker for a blurb to open a chapter. So, I really enjoyed the little song-songy rhymes about each type of magic/the history of the world that opened each chapter. Second, there were some really unique elements to this plot, especially in the final chapter(s) with what happens with Elspeth's character. I’m not sure I can see how it'll all unfold, which is awesome, and I am so curious for what's coming in the second half of this story.

“My magic moves, he said. My magic bites. My magic soothes. My magic frights.”

“Practice restraint, and know it by touch. Use Cards when they’re needed, and never too much. For too much of fire, our swords would all break. Too much of wine a poison doth make. Excess is grievous, be knave, maid, or crown. Too much of water, how easy we drown.”

“Something ancient—born of salt. We were the same, he and I. Gifted with ancient, terrible magic. Woven in secret, hidden in half-truths. We were the darkness in Blunder, the reminder that magic—wild and unfettered—prevailed, no matter how desperately the Rowans tried to stamp it out. We were the thing to be feared. We were the balance.”

“The girl, the King… and the monster they became.”

“I am the shepherd of shadow. The phantom of the fright. The demon in the daydream.” Her yellow eyes flickered to Ravyn. “The nightmare in the night.”

Content Warnings

steviiee's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

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