Tag: gothic fantasy

Book Review: One Dark Window (The Shepherd King #1) by Rachel Gillig

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Gothic Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Author: Rachel Gillig
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: September 27th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

GREAT READ.

This wasn’t on my radar until a few friends gave it glowing reviews and I’m here to add mine to the bunch. I thought everything got progressively better over the course of the book and now I’m definitely wanting the sequel.

I loved the fairytale vibes with a good dash of darkness (always here for some darkness). There was a magical quality to the writing that created a well formed story that I understood with ease. I loved the magic system with the cards!! It worked really well and was intriguing.

The romance grew on me. I thought the fake dating and tension worked well between them and I’m excited to see where that continues. It’s more of a well place sub-plot and the chemistry and dynamic is certainly there.

There’s some quirky demons who think they know best and a magical king missing from the game board. I thought the ending was WILD and can’t wait for more.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy + Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: one open door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: possession, physical and magical violence

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ARC Book Review: Lakesedge (World at Lake’s Edge #1) by Lyndall Clipstone

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Gothic Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Author: Lyndall Clipstone
Publisher: Henry Holt
Release Date: September 28th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A lush gothic fantasy about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake. Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer.

There are monsters in the world.

When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.

There are monsters in the woods.

As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…

There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name.

Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

WELL, THE COVER IS GORGEOUS.

And that little fact drew me in before I was let down by a meh story.

Much potential wasted. That summary gave me all the good vibes of a great gothic fantasy duology intro. I was ready for it. And this was not it.

There is magic in this world, but absolutely no explanation or rundown of what that system is about. I don’t know why certain people got magic and why others don’t. No idea what the limitations are or why it works the way that it does. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Along those same lines are the complete lack of world-building. I got the Gothic vibes and that was it. It all practically took place at one location and that’s all I’ve got. I’m so confused still as to where I was supposed to be that entire time.

Our dear main character wanted me to give up this book at 25%. She was that girl you’re waiting to see die in a horror movie because they run straight to danger rather than taking one moment to logically think. This did get better in the second half.

The story also did improve in the second half. Unfortunately since I was already over it by then because of the weak start I didn’t feel emotionally attached to anything happening. The romance was kind of sweet? It burned pretty well, the spice felt forced, and I’m in mixed thoughts about it all. I’m realizing I’m confused about Lord Under’s place in all of this too. Am I supposed to like him? Is he a morally gray character that has more to him? Remains to be seen.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Gothic Fantasy
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses to one brief open door scene
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: self-harm, loss of loved ones, drowning, poison, magical attacks, creature attacks