One Dark Window was, for me, a bit of a rollercoaster. I liked Elspeth - not your typical “I live in society but don’t know anything about that and only hunt and sword fight” kind of main character. She is a product of her upbringing, she fits in with nobility and whilst she’s been a little removed from ritual, she understands it. The twist is actually that she’s trying so hard to be normal and fit in. Hiding the secret of a Nightmare card, made life, living inside her head. It makes her days necessarily quiet, ordinary, simple. I also enjoyed the magic system in principle. A tarot card like system, with finite cards and only authorised users of those cards able to wield magic freely. It levels the magical playing field - and is a neat allegory for magical power and position being intertwined, rather than down to any innate skills. 

However, if you look too closely you’re bound to start spotting holes, and as we went on I found myself doing just that. This did start to catch me out whenever the plot slowed down, wondering on how cards seemed to effortlessly change hands despite their value, how cards had been “missing” for so long in such a closed society. Every question was pulling me away from the story and the world. Similarly, Elspeth’s dependence on her Nightmare for every moment with the remotest chance of danger, despite the risk she comes to understand as the book progresses, only really worked for me at the very end of book one. 

Yet a swift bit of action and I was back in the midst of things - and ultimately that’s where One Dark Window shines. With a cast of really great supporting characters, a solid (and pretty sexy) main character romance and a good central story it’s when we clip along at a pace that I’m having the best time.