A very interesting fantasy book different from a lot of other books I read in the genre has some gothic themes 

I really enjoyed this book -- the setting and lore felt very rich and fleshed out, which allowed me to become invested not only in the characters, but in the world itself!
There were a few moments that where tropy

enemies to lovers, and drama that could have been entirely avoided if characters could just TALK TO EACHOTHER!!!

But even they felt justified for the most part.
I'm looking forward to reading the second!

It was my year to read The Shepherd King duology and I enjoyed every bit of it! This is a story of dark magic, revenge, and a terrifying illness brutal enough to kill. Rachel Gillig’s writing is incredible and absolutely captivating. It is very descriptive, and captures a dark atmosphere ridden with magic. She smoothly laid out the world-building and the folklore that controls this story. She tells an amazing tale of retribution, balanced with a beautiful, slowburn romance in the background (and more :D). Elspeth and Ravyn are amazing characters, and their chemistry was through the roof! The tidbits of affection that they shared in this novel was perfect. Lastly, for fans of found family, we also have a prickly brute and an ice princess roaming the pages (this is a sign telling you to read it). 

I’m sorry to say this book/duology is overhyped. Things that annoyed me greatly were, among others, Elspeth’s entire personality (is she dumb or is she in denial - I’m not sure which is worse), the mention of the love interest’s title and eye colour the entire time (we get it, readers aren’t stupid) and the not so great writing. If you shake this book, you can hear the clichés jingling against one another.

However, I did like the eerie, gothic vibe and the magic system, and I’m delulu enough to believe the comic relief character/trustworthy sidekick will get more of the spotlight in the second instalment. Manifesting a love interest for him, because I choose to believe he’d be less insufferable if/when he falls in love.

A compelling read with interesting magic and imagery

This book ends on a cliffhanger

Dark and twisted story but goodness is resilient.  I appreciated that Ravyn asked for permission before he touched her. 

Absolutely unputdownable, laced with magic and an eerie atmosphere, One Dark Window was a delightful surprise to me. 

I loved this so much more than I thought. The tension, the plot, the pacing, the characters, the setting, the romance, the writing - I was absolutely captivated.

More things I loved:

♥ the fmc not being a complete pushover 

♥ the magic system

♥ the tree family names

♥ the action scenes

♥ the tension between Elspeth and Ravyn

♥ the Nightmare

♥ the eerie rhymes 

This really felt like a movie in my head, the narrator did such an incredible job bringing this story to life. The writing was so horrifically great that I felt queasy at times because I could just imagine someone living inside my head and feel the pain of all the injuries like it was happening to me.

I can‘t wait to see where this story goes.

One thing I noticed: Considering our fmc seemed quite bright, it took her painfully long to realize what I feel like was quite obvious to the reader from early on.

The Nightmare being the Shepherd King and slowly becoming stronger the more she asks for his help.

Pleasantly surprised by this book! 4.25/5 stars ~~
I thought this was gonna be like all the other YAs flooding Booktube/Booktok, but thankfully it was not! I enjoyed it a lot <3
Bonus points because we were not dealing with a cast of 17 years olds, the characters are young adults yay!
So, the less good (because I wouldn't say it was BAD, just some stuff I didn't enjoy as a reader) and the good!
- It started really slow and confusing (like a lot of fantasy books) because we are introduced to a world where magic is quite different from what we're used to, so getting the lore and everything else established was a bit tedious. (I'm not a patient person :'))
- After the first 15%, the action kicks in and it's really fun!
- At a certain point it was going too fast (certain characters were too trusting, agreeing to everything that was proposed to them, which made me go o.o), but the pace settled nicely after Equinox (a celebration in the book)
- I liked the characters and their flaws, but tbh Elspeth bothered me sometimes. I didn't like her thought process on a number of things, which made me want to tear my hair out. We got the very classic "I don't want to tell the guy I love about the

Nightmare in my head because he won't look at me the same way

" trope, which made me roll my eyes pretty hard and often... 
- I also think the romance could have developped later on; I don't think the characters had enough time together to really fall in love? I guess the stuff they go through together made their feelings progress faster? I don't really know, but to me it could have been a slower burn ;)
- The spice is pretty much non-existent, for those that this interests. No descriptions, barely 3 pages T-T I wish it was more, but thankfully it didn't prevent me from continuing the book, the story had its hooks in me, which is great :)
- Can't wait to start the next one and see where all of this goes!