A review by kaitrates
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

adventurous tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Overall, I enjoyed this! It has an interesting premise, cool card-based magic system, and (mostly) well fleshed out characters. I loved and understood Elspeth and the decisions she made (including the questionable ones) and enjoyed many of the side characters. This was also a fairly quick read–i'd sit down for a little bit and gobble up 50 pages without realising it.

That being said, there were several points where this didn't work for me (besides that I thought this was a monster romance and spent the whole book simping for the Nightmare).

  • The romance. This is marketed as a romantasy so I expect the romance to be well fleshed out. Yet, I could not for the life of me tell you why these two fall for each other. That's not to say there wasn't the occasional swoon worthy moment between them, but I giggled a lot more for DaddyNightmare being all protective and stern (and giving her a choice). 🤷🏻‍♀️ It also was insta-lovey, especially since he's supposed to be one of the people she fears the most! Give me the tension pls.
  • Narrative inconsistencies. For example, Elspeth has a broken wrist but this is completed disregarded at times (wdym she was braiding her own hair?!) and then brought back up when its necessary for the plot.
  • Ravyn's characterisation. He's the head of this brutal killing squad and yet we barely see him be brutal. The one time we did was hot AF—and I enjoyed learning his other secrets!—but overall he was kind of bland to me.
  • Somewhat predictable. Listen, I am a top tier passenger princess when I read. I am not theorising or picking up on foreshadowing on an initial read through. I'm here for the journey! And I enjoy that tbqh. However, it means that when I do predict a twist...🥴 And while there were surprises, some were so so very obvius.
  • The vibes. I know this is supposed to be moody, spooky, and gothic but I really didn't feel that the setting was well fleshed out (would've really appreciated a map). I was more afraid of the men than the mist especially since there were so many ways around the mist taking you? But maybe that was the point.

This is comped to Uprooted which was one of my favorite books of 2024 and one that I think does the monstrous (but human) love interest, creepy wood, and gothic vibes much better.

I'm glad I read this. I do think its overhyped. But onto the next! I'm excited for Elm and Ione, especially since their connection was setup perfectly in this one.

Initial Review
I still maintain the nightmare would’ve been the better love interest. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Full RTC (maybe)


Expand filter menu Content Warnings