Tropes/ Key Points:
✨Unique Magic System
✨Dark Secret
✨Political Subterfuge
✨Fake Dating
✨Slow Burn
✨(Slight) Enemies to Lovers
✨Gothic Fairytale Vibes (Grimm Brothers)
✨YA Fantasy/Romance
Spice:🌶️
Twelve Cards of Magic, gifted by the elusive Spirit of the Wood to the Shepherd King.
The Black Horse for mastering combat.
The Golden Egg for great wealth.
The Prophet to see the future.
The White Eagle for courage.
The Maiden for great beauty.
The Chalice for truth.
The Well to see one’s enemies.
The Iron Gate for peace, no matter the situation.
The Scythe for power over others actions.
The Mirror for invisibility.
The Nightmare for speaking into others minds.
The Twin Alders to speak to the Spirit.
But all magic comes with a cost, even these cards.
Elspeth caught the fever as a child. It gave her magic, but all magic comes with a price. Those who catch this disease are put to death, but Elspeth was hidden by her family and secretly allowed to live. She has a monster living in her head and he is growing stronger.
Blessed with the ability to see the cards of power, Elspeth is pulled into a treasonous plot against the king to gather all the cards to undo a blight on her kingdom.
What happens when she is a bigger monster than the threat they face?
This book turned about to be such a great read. I was a little hesitant going into it, kind of felt like it wasn’t going to be my thing. It seemed like I was going to be proven right as the first bit of this book is very slow to get into. This story is more mid-high fantasy so the author has to do a bit of info dump at the beginning to set up the world and fill us in on what’s going on. Once you read around chapter six though, prepare for it to take off.
Once I got into it I didn’t really want to put it down. It gives off strong political vibes but the romance comes into play later. I wouldn’t say this book is spicy by any means but it definitely gets steamy. It’s marketed as Adult but it feels more YA, and that’s not a reason to pass on this story.
The magic system is so unique, I honestly don’t know of another book that I can compare it to. I think it’s one of my favorite parts of the entire story. The author did such a great job at filling us in on how everything works, despite some of the gaps in logic. This applies more to the people within the world than a flaw in the magic system.
Part of the issue with the magic system again does not fall on the magic itself, but more on the people of this world. They talk about how you need to reunite one of each of the cards into a solid deck in order to cure the curse that this world is kind of facing. And yet all these people have these cards, and they know their king needs them, but none of them are turning over the cards willingly. They barter with the king, especially if the cards are more rare to get better statue for themselves, but instead of just giving him the cards to stop the curse, they hold onto them which is ultimately making things worse for them. That is a little bit of a plot hole that is introduced in the story, but I don’t feel personally that it takes away from it.
The Nightmare in Elspeth’s head is my favorite character in the book. He is so dark and blasé about things that it’s honestly hilarious. He comes in often to help Elspeth only to find out he could have earlier but didn’t cause she didn’t ask. I laughed so many times when he “came out to play.”
One of my complaints is with the main female character, Elspeth. She has had this magic for 11 years and had to hide and not really engage with people outside of her family because she felt they might discover that she is infected. It doesn’t make her interactions with other people are somewhat stilted and awkward, but personally, that part doesn’t bother me. The part that bothers me is how Naïve she really was and how she went back on what she said she was going to do repeatedly. As I mentioned above all magic comes with a price even the natural magic that she has and once she realizes her cost, she makes this vowel that she’s not going to engage with the magic so the cost. At least until the slightest bit of danger shows up and then she starts using it. Every single time.
One of my biggest applauds for this book, is the big twist and the ending. Don’t get me wrong. some of the twists throughout the book are so in your face that you can’t not see them coming. But there was one that I was 100% not expecting, and it was such a great moment in the story. I think that the ending of the book absolutely overwrites the few flaws that are present within the novel. I absolutely love the cliffhanger, and I am so eager for book 2. I read this with my book club and we are so frustrated that we have to wait a few months for the second one to come out. I would recommend this book to anybody.
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![One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1) by [Rachel Gillig]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Nbc+RdADL._SY346_.jpg)
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Popular Highlights in this book
The Black Horse made its beholder a master of combat. The Golden Egg granted great wealth.Highlighted by 207 Kindle readers- Twin Alders had the power to commune with Blunder’s ancient entity, the Spirit of the Wood.Highlighted by 203 Kindle readers
- The Shepherd King had made seventy-eight Providence Cards in descending order. There were twelve Black Horses, held exclusively by the King’s elite guard—the Destriers. Eleven Golden Eggs. Ten Prophets. Nine White Eagles. Eight Maidens. Seven Chalices. Six Wells. Five Iron Gates. Four Scythes. Three Mirrors. Two Nightmares. And one Twin Alders.Highlighted by 160 Kindle readers
- To the quiet girls with stories in their heads. To their dreams—and their nightmares.Highlighted by 142 Kindle readers
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🤩 WOW!!!I don’t know how I’m going to make it until the next book, but this book is going to live in my head rent free. It was truly enchanting, mysterious, and beautifully unique in the most amazing way. I’ve never read anything like this and it blew me away from the first page. I read it along with the audio book which I highly recommend, the narration is perfection. I don’t even know how to describe the book aside from a haunting fairytale with all the right amounts of mystique, romance, mystery, and magical charm. It would make for an amazing show or movie, hint hint out there! If you’re listening this needs to be adapted to screen!! I would love to see this world brought to life. This story and characters are lusciously rich and satisfying. This is my first book I read from this author after seeing lots of great reviews on bookstigram posts. It does not disappoint, please do your imagination and story loving mind a favor and read this book, you won’t regret it! I went and bought the book halfway through since I knew instantly it’s a all time favorite book that I will dive into again and again just to relive and experience every moment. I can’t explain it beyond this book was just so captivating and I’m hooked!!
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Top reviews from other countries
David Jebb
Some flashes of a dark fairytale, bogged down by a slow pace
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 24, 2023
