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A review by jitterbugwhimsy
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Elspeth is the daughter of a man who should have turned her in as a child for having a magic infection. Her infection she calls the Nightmare who helps her when she is too weak to take care of herself. She lives with her maternal aunt, her uncle who is unscrupulous, cousin Ione who is like a sister to her, and two ruffian boys. Her stepmother is unpleasant, her younger sisters sound like teeny boppers, her father is absent at best.
The magic system is different, based on Providence Cards, which sound like tarot cards. Tapping a Providence Card three times will enact its magic for the bearer, and three times again will end the magic, and all the magic comes with a price. If anyone steals the card, they own the magic. Meanwhile there is old vengeful magic in the mist that is ticked for being forgotten in favor of the magic in the Providence Cards.
At the beginning of the book Elspeth is held up by highway men in the forest near her home searching for a card. The highway men turn out to be the prince, Elm Rowan, and his cousin and captain of the king's guard (called Destriers) Ravyn Yew and what they're doing - collecting cards - is high treason. So of course she joins the search for the Providence Cards while also trying to remain under the radar of the Destriers with her magical infection, evade high prince Hauth Roan (who Elspeth maimed during a bid to retrieve another Providence Card), and fight her literal inner demon the Nightmare and her deterioration.
It was fun to hate the antagonists, so many of my notes were "Hauth needs to die." Elspeth was frustrating in her inability to open up to Ravyn, and really anyone else, about her magic until it was literally too late to save her. I really enjoyed this book though I hate to end on a cliff hanger.
The magic system is different, based on Providence Cards, which sound like tarot cards. Tapping a Providence Card three times will enact its magic for the bearer, and three times again will end the magic, and all the magic comes with a price. If anyone steals the card, they own the magic. Meanwhile there is old vengeful magic in the mist that is ticked for being forgotten in favor of the magic in the Providence Cards.
At the beginning of the book Elspeth is held up by highway men in the forest near her home searching for a card. The highway men turn out to be the prince, Elm Rowan, and his cousin and captain of the king's guard (called Destriers) Ravyn Yew and what they're doing - collecting cards - is high treason. So of course she joins the search for the Providence Cards while also trying to remain under the radar of the Destriers with her magical infection, evade high prince Hauth Roan (who Elspeth maimed during a bid to retrieve another Providence Card), and fight her literal inner demon the Nightmare and her deterioration.
It was fun to hate the antagonists, so many of my notes were "Hauth needs to die." Elspeth was frustrating in her inability to open up to Ravyn, and really anyone else, about her magic until it was literally too late to save her. I really enjoyed this book though I hate to end on a cliff hanger.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization
Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment