Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Two Twisted Crowns

Phenomenal.
This is surely in my top 3 favorite reads of of 2023. A sequel that outdoes the first book? We LOVE that. Gillig’s compelling gothic imagery intertwined with a riveting plot line keeps you on your toes. She is officially on my auto-read radar. If she writes it, I’m reading it 👀😮‍💨🤩

The Shepherd King duology felt like a movie. I received an advanced copy of this book through netgalley but once I finished the first one, I went ahead and bought the physical copy because I knew I needed it in on my forever shelf. An instant favorite. Checked every box for me.

Read this if you love suspenseful fantasy plots, unique dark magic systems, & a touch of romance.

Content Warnings

noellelovesbooks's review

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5.0

Content Warnings: violence, blood, gore, murder, brutality, toxic relationships, confinement, loss of body autonomy, sexual content, sexual harassment, and death of a child.

Fuuuuuuuu...I was not prepared for how gutted I would be after finishing this book.

This duology was so freakin good and I will definitely be rereading again and again. 🥰

Also, how DARE you Rachel...there were people in book one I decided to never like and you just had to redeem them in my eyes didn't you?!

Anyways, if you've yet to read this PHENOMENAL duology...please please please dive into this magical world that has found family, fighting for what's right, love, a deep and connected history, and so much more 😭

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wildflower_magic's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This duology is definitely in my top 5 reads of the year. So captivating. The characters are so lovable and have you rooting for them even through their mistakes. The magic system is so intriguing and I loved learning more and more as the story progressed.

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eabecker05's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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tired_cicada's review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Two Twisted crowns was one of my most anticipated releases this year and let me tell you it absolutely lived up to my expectations! Gillis has managed to hit that perfect duology sweet spot for me where all of the story lines are wrapped up in a satisfactory way without it having to be dragged out with superfluous information. We get so much out of this book, from exploring the magic system, to new povs, to expanding on the culture of the world, and explaining the histories behind it. I am such a fantasy history girlie so anytime we are getting flashbacks, or we're getting lore drops I am giddy!

No going forward there are going to be several spoilers throughout this review! The bigger ones all kind of separate off, but I am going to be discussing plot points, and character decisions. So be aware!

New povs
One thing that I was obsessed with in one dark window was the incredibly brave thing that Gillig does and essentially destroying her main character. At the end of book one the POV character essentially does not exist anymore. That is an incredibly brave thing to do, both narratively and as a debut author. So often it's characters that we connect with so to have the character who's story we've been following the entire time be gone is a risky business. That said it's handled so well. The one thing I can see some people having issue with is that we are going from a first person point of view with a singular narrator, into a book that has third person multiple povs. It didn't bother me but I know that can be something that other people find issue with.

That said I was obsessed with each of the new povs we got. Each character feels distinct from the others. There isn't a flat narrator voice simply telling you what different characters are doing it actually felt like each character had their own voice to tell their own story. Now let's get into it... We get three povs in this novel Rayen who is struggling with the fact that he is stuck traveling with the monster that is taken over the body of the woman he's fallen in love with, then we have Elm who is dealing with the ramifications of his father's brutal court, and his brother's blatant abuse without the protection of his cousin that he's come to rely on. Finally we have

what remains of Elseph as she is locked within the memories of the shepherd King and we're seeing the ramifications of years gone by while she is struggling bit by bit to claw herself back into consciousness.

One thing that you should know about me is that my favorite character in any piece of media is always going to be the saddest boy available. There is something about a fictional man who is sad and expressing emotions that hit just right. So Elm was next level. We have childhood trauma, we have feelings of inadequacy, we have mutual pining, we have abandonment issues! I was being fed here!
With elms story we are largely watching a cinderella-like story play out juxtaposed against Ravyn's race against Time to save the lives of those he loves... And lo -key I was more stressed out about the Cinderella story. The way Elm and Ione interact was so entertaining. The way they clash heads, and the way they work together toward a common goal was rippled with tension. Now I had the vaugest inklings in book one, and I was fully prepared for this to be a crack ship I was RIGHT! Don't you ever doubt my ability to sniff out a romance! Where as last time we got the delightful fake dating trope this time we are having a delightful time with this forbidden Love. I was having a stellar time thank you very much!

Then of course we have, as mentioned before, Ravyn embarking on a race against Time to find the twin alder card! He is balancing the line between staying just well enough inside of the king's good graces, well also committing blatant treason. All the while having to look into the eyes that no longer belong to the woman he loves knowing that anything goes wrong he will never get her back. The banter between all of the characters in this POV is delightful. We have the ivy twins back and I love them in the first book. They were so light-hearted and they gave an air of humor to everything. So I was delighted to have them back. And then I love how Gillig writes siblings. The interactions between Ravyn and his sister feel like interactions that actual siblings would have. It is so hard to write sibling Dynamics in a way that don't come off entirely cringy, so I enjoyed feeling like this was real. Like they actually had a relationship. And to watch the give and the take, to see the way that their sibling dynamic plays out to both their strengths and their detriments was done incredibly well. And blends so well against the backdrop of the historical information that is being sprinkled throughout. Showing that if history doesn't repeat it sure does rhyme.

Magic system

Now you cannot talk about this series without talking about the magic system. It is a stunningly done incredibly unique system, where we're dealing with two types of hard magics. We have the fever, which grants individual powers to different people seemingly involuntarily. And the more we learn about the fevers brought on by the mist, and how the spirit of the wood fit into the larger society the more we're starting to understand how the Rowans came to power and why.
Then of course there are the cards themselves. The whole point of the story is to get the final card out of the deck so that people can be cured of the sickness that comes from the mist. So that their magic will no longer be killing them. The way the different cards are handled is so beautiful. Taking simple cards that can largely be overlooked and showing that in the right circumstances they are phenomenally powerful was such a fun ride.

having the maiden card be regarded as nothing more than vain frivolity when in reality it is perhaps one of the most powerful cards in the deck... Just *chefs kiss* amazing no notes!

Also seeing the way that other users of the cards are affected by them, and showing the character's strengths by being able to push through the negative aspects of the cards when pushed to their limits. It showed off an inner strength to these characters that really sink in how much they've grown throughout the course of the story.

What we could have done without

Now just like any other story it wasn't perfect. There are a few things that I thought were just thrown in there to add extra pages. Like we meet a society of individuals who are living outside of the reaching hand of the Rowan Kings, who are surviving within the forest shrouded in mists... And we spend a whopping 10 minutes there. Like it had so much potential to be so interesting. It starts so many cool conversations to have, and then it's just brushed over and forgotten. It really could have been taken out of the book and not affected the plot in any substantial way. That might just be a me thing though, cuz I'm not a huge fan of travel books. Where the entire plot is just getting from point A to point b and, oh no unforeseen circumstance that slowed us down? However are we going to get there on time?
If I'm going to have to read about travel I want each moment to feel like it meant something, so unnecessary detours like that really take me out of the story.

In a similar vein to that I feel like Emery (I literally had to look up his name cuz I forgot what it was) was such a non-character given that the entire reason anyone is doing anything is to save him. Really all we know about Emery is that if he touches you he can see the future (kind of sort of) and that he's frail. But there's nothing in the story that really shows us the connection that they have to him, other than the text simply telling us that they do. I would have liked to see more interactions with his family, with Ravyn, really just something that made him feel like a character and less like a prop.

Those are really my only hang ups, otherwise I absolutely adored the story. I thought it wrapped everything up nicely. It lived up to my expectations, and it is something that I will definitely recommend to others. My one regret is that I didn't get to Buddy read it with my friend who I read one dark window with. But because of that I do have a list of spoilers without context for any of you who would like to enjoy those!

SPOILERS WITHOUT CONTEXT

So you know that one scene from bridgerton season 2 where Anthony falls in the lake? If you know you know....... Yeah that or something similar happens like four times. These men are getting dropped in lakes left and right, and I for one was here for it!

You know how in the first book (and this one too) people were constantly making comments about how distinctive Ravyn's nose is? Yeah that's plot relevant.

There are significantly less mentions of how warm Ravyn's hands are. (If you're looking for a drinking game then read one dark window and take a shot every time Elseph mentions how warm Ravyn's hands are, or someone mentions his nose)

Content Warnings

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