Book Review: One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Publisher: Orbit 
Publication date: September 27, 2022
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—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 the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason.

He and Elspeth have until Solstice to 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, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

In Blunder, people who get “the infection” also gain a magical power. It differs from person to person. The problem is that magic is illegal so those who are infected are put to death. There’s one exception – if you hold a Providence card. The cards contain magic that the holder can use. There are twelve different cards and there are multiples of each card, the number varying depending on the card. If someone collects one of each card, then the infection will be cured. Two rival groups are trying to collect all of the cards.

Elspeth was infected several years ago as a child, but her family kept it a secret. A few of the infected do not get a magical power and everyone thinks that Elspeth is one of them. However, she secretly does have a power – a being that lives inside her head that can help her when she gets into trouble. However, he can also be troublesome, and she has an adversarial relationship with him.

I normally don’t read fantasy, but this book was my neighborhood book club’s February selection, so I stepped outside my comfort zone and gave it a try. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. One of the reasons I struggle with fantasy is that I often find the world building and/or magic system confusing. I didn’t fully understand it here but that’s okay. I understood enough to be invested in the story. I think regular fantasy readers won’t have a problem understanding it.

There is a sequel called Two Twisted Crowns, and I plan on reading it as well.

Recommended.