At the end of summer, I finally read One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. Everyone kept gushing about it and since I’m quite sensitive to such influence, I wanted to find out for myself why this series was so popular. Unfortunately, I found myself not understanding the story pretty well. However, I was stubborn and started the sequel, Two Twisted Crowns, in hopes of getting a better understanding. In the meantime, the Dutch version of the first book got published. Am I able to agree on the hype for this duology or was this just not for me?

About the book

Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
Series: The Shepherd King #2
Published by Orbit on October 17, 2023
Pages: 465
Genres: Fantasy, New adult

In the luscious, dark sequel to One Dark Window, Elspeth must face the consequences of what she’s wrought – perfect for readers of Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf and Alexis Henderson’s The Year of the Witching.

Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.

If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom.

And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth’s head. The Nightmare. And he’s not eager to share any longer.

My review

Before reading

As I’ve stated before, I wasn’t the biggest fan of One Dark Window. I found myself having a hard time connecting to the story and I thought I didn’t understand it that well. In December, this entire duology was going to be published in Dutch, or so I thought. The first book indeed got published, but I already owned a copy of the sequel because I was a bit stubborn. I was hoping that this book would finally click with me and that I could move along with the hype train. I paused this book for a bit to reread the first one in my native language and I understood more of the story than I initially thought. The sequel didn’t get published at the same time unfortunately. However, my expectations for this sequel were non-existent because I just don’t know how to feel about the first book really.

Characters

At the end of the first book, The Nightmare took over Elspeth’s psyche and Ravyn had no choice than to lock her up in the dungeons. It’s therefore quite logical that we follow both Elspeth and Ravyn, even though we barely get to see the first one. New however, was Elm’s POV. He is one of the characters I couldn’t get much information about – and connection to – in the previous book. Now, we get to know more about him and how he has been influenced by his family against his will. He finally came more to live for me. I still don’t have much feelings towards him, but I finally understood his distrust towards Elspeth in the first book better. Iome also plays a bigger role now and she is definitely someone to take into account. I think she gets underestimated a lot, judging by her actions from the previous book. She actually feels like a silent force here. Present, seemingly unimportant, but actually very important in the end. Simultanuously to Elm’s storyline, Ravyn, Jespyr and Elspeth have a journey of their own to take. They are still looking for the missing Providence Cards to complete the deck at Solstice and cure Blunder from the mist, magic and infection. It’s very obvious that Ravyn still loves Elspeth and wants to do everything in his power to cure both her and his little brother from the infection. He goes to great lengths for them both, even if it gets dangerous. This is very admirable, but I still feel not much of a connection to this entire cast of characters. I think they’re fine, but forgettable.

Writing

One of the aspects that probably made it hard to connect to these characters is the writing style. It’s lyrical and all that, but the different POVs are confusing sometimes. Whereas Elspeth’s chapters are told vfrom first person’s POV, the other are written in third person’s POV. I prefer first person’s POV for this kind of story. I believe this makes it easier to get to know the characters’ thoughts and therefore connect to them. Elspeth getting a first person POV is logical since her entire character changed and she’s trying to find The Nightmare in her head. Despite the POV switching, it’s clear from whose POV you’re reading because this is indicated in every chapter. These chapters are relatively short, but the riddles and rhymes sometimes make it hard to get through them. Gillig includes necessary flashbacks in between the current story, these are also clearly indicated.

Plot

Unfortunately, I wasn’t blown away by this plot either. It’s a logical follow-up to the previous events, but I just wasn’t intrigued by it. It was fine and I wanted to find out what would happen next, but overall I was quite disappointed. It was barely gripping, which I didn’t expect to happen. The flashbacks to the Shepherd King’s past were a great addition nevertheless. Don’t get me wrong, it was fine, but not that exciting. If we’re talking about vibes however, this duology totally fits the autumnal and wintery season because of its dark and grimm atmosphere. The ending was quite satisfying, albeit predictable.

Final thoughts

I was hoping to be proven wrong for once, but Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig unfortunately didn’t change my mind about this very popular duology. I just can’t get into the hype and I have no understanding of why this series is so popular. It’s fine, but nothing more than that. I don’t regret reading it at all, but the popularity set the bars pretty high for me. If you’re looking for a dark and grimm read, this duology suits your needs perfectly though. I just couldn’t connect to both characters and plot, which is a pity.