story craft

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Genre: YA Fantasy

Format: audiobook

Cautions: language: infrequent severe cursing (a few uses of the f-word and at least one use of g-d . . . I didn’t do a great job of keeping track of less severe cursing in this one; romance: Chapter 27 contains one open-door scene, you can tell what’s happening, but there’s no explicit naming of body parts, etc.; content: frequent graphic violence, mentions of emotional and physical abuse.

Main themes: found family, vulnerability, good vs. evil

Main characters: Elspeth Spindle, Ravyn Yew, Jespyr Yew, Emory Yew, Elm Rowan, The Nightmare, Hauth Rowan, Ione Hawthorn

Favorite quote: “Be wary. Be Clever. Be good.”

Review:
Before I even heard the first word of the story, Rachel Gillig’s dedication poured into me a deep sense of feeling seen and known: “To the quiet girls with stories in their heads. To their dreams—and their nightmares.” Before I ever met a single character or heard a single word of the story, I knew I was in the right place.

And then there’s Elspeth. I see so much of my younger self in her quiet, gentle soul; in the way she wants to be so much more, but circumstances beyond her control make her feel less than, incapable. As the plot grows more intricate, so does her connection to the people around her, specifically Ravyn. Oh, how I love him. Yes, dark and mysterious is kind of my thing, but his gentleness with Elspeth is something I’m so grateful to feel in my relationship with my husband. These two show us that to be in love is just that: love means we get to just be. It’s a safe place to land when the world around us—or inside our heads is dark.

Elspeth, Ravyn, and the others were so real and so easy to relate to, even if my daily life isn’t riddled with life-and-death deception. Rachel’s ensemble cast is phenomenal: We’ve got sweet, tomboyish Jes; precious, haunted Emory; snarky, broken Elm; insecure, innocent Ione; brutal, cruel Hauth; and the terrifying, misunderstood Nightmare. Each character, except Hauth, wrecks us with moments of softness, compassion, honesty, companionship, and even unexpected sacrifice. Their loyalty to one another and the kingdom of Blunder, the desire for a better blunder and life for the infected, runs like blood through their veins.

Rachel’s storytelling feels effortlessly smooth, and Blunder’s history feels so accurate to its name. Every detail within the story serves a purpose, and I enjoyed fitting those puzzle pieces together along with the characters throughout this story and into the second book Two Twisted Crowns.

The answers given through the Nightmare’s lens with the rhyming riddles just add to the richness of the story and piqued my curiosity time and again. And the repetition of certain phrases brought so many moving parts to stillness and so many wayward strands of truth full circle.

When I heard the credit music begin to play, I ground out a devastated noooo. Because how could you leave things like that, Rachel? How? But then I found out Audible had a three-month free trial, and I used my first credit on Two Twisted Crowns. So, for me, just like the characters in this tale, hope was not lost.


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