I’m so sad this series was only a duet because I want more time in this universe and with these characters. This book wrapped up so perfectly.

5 stars

What an amazing conclusion to this wonderful duology! I'm so sad it's over but I'm so happy that this met all of my expectations!

This picks up a little bit after the first book and we're treated to multiple povs. The plot is great with all its moving pieces and the characters really come to life in this one, and I loved them in the first one! An absolutely stunning sequel. I will now be staring at the ceiling wondering what I'm going to do with my life now that this is over.

ok what???? what was that ending??
i was enjoying this book so much more than One Dark Window, and i loooooveeeee how much of Elm we got. and i love love love Ione. and the ending with Shepherd King was so sweet. but that ending for Ravyn and Elspeth??? I do not feel like I got the closure I needed regarding her infection and their love life.

this was an amazing duology with a unique story line and for me, book 2 was better than book 1! The execution in book 2 just made more sense to me... would've been 5 stars but again that ending was so disappointing

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers from Orbit Books for this free arc copy in exchange for an honest review <3

Definitely loved book 1 much better than book 2. I requested this one because I just had to know what happened to Elspeth and the Nightmare.

Top Tier Fantasy! This is how you write a sequel, l didn’t want it to end! The Characters, The Story, the unique magic system AMAZING. When I started I was bummed this was the end of the series but I feel completely satisfied with the ending. Rachel Gillig books will be an automatic add to cart going forward.

Better than book one, dare I say. I felt all of the things while reading this book. I’ve never been more impressed with a debut duology as I have with this one. I will carry Elspeth and her found family with me for a while.

I didn’t know this was the sequel to the first book. I had to wait to read the first one. Wow both of the books in this series are absolutely fantastic!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

The second book in this increidble duology I was just sucked in after that cliffhanger. I won't say much but I was just enthralled to figure out how this story would end, how a HEA would be possible. The glimpses of how the past all led to this moment, of fighting for freedom, and political intrigue. The prose was beautiful and haunting, and the fairytale vibes of it all. Incredible.

I adored the first book in this duology, and was pleasantly surprised with how well this one wrapped up the story. The threads that were spun in the first novel are perfectly woven together in this book, with some more seemingly secondary characters stepping up into roles of primacy in this book. Elm receiving main character treatment here was an unexpected but incredibly successful move, and his romance was absolutely perfect.
While I have said before that I adored the magic system of the first book, I think that this book definitely stepped up the world-building and brought about a satisfying end. The mechanism used to allow Elspeth to explore the backstory of the Sheppard King was executed really cleverly, and I quite enjoyed it.
I would also like to note that this book explored a lot of themes of identity and trauma masterfully and made me feel a whole lot of things. Well done, Rachel Gillig. Well done.

This book was not what I expected. I absolutely loved the magic system. The use of cards and not everyone having magic was very unique and I loved that. I loved the idea of the mist and the history of the Shepherd King. However I felt like there was to much going on with the characters. I ultimately understand that they were all needed but it was hard to keep track of the different story lines going on. I found each time that the pov switched it took away from their story. I was really excited for all the povs we were going to get, but it just missed something for me. I really liked Elms character arc and where it went. And I really enjoyed getting to learn more of the Shepherd King and how things came to be. This book had so much potential. It was still good...just not what it xould have been

Two Twisted Crowns is Rachel Gillig’s conclusion of The Shepherd King duology. One Dark Window swept readers away with its unique magic system and enemies to lovers romance. For book two, Gillig takes a huge risk, significantly sidelining Elspeth Spindle - the main character - and giving the Nightmare a much larger role.

Two Twisted Crowns uses a dual timeline to tell the story of the Shepherd King and how the Providence Cards were created. The story alternates between the Nightmare’s memories and Ravyn’s quest to locate the Twin Alders Card.

I loved this story even more than One Dark Window. I am a sucker for a quest, and this one - full of magic, danger, and banter - did not disappoint. Two Twisted Crowns also further developed supporting characters from book one, providing greater depth to both Elm and Ione. Surprisingly, the relationship between Elspeth and the Nightmare provides the heart in this story. Their connection evolves from the simplistic monster and maiden narrative.

The writing in Two Twisted Crowns is just so smart. Not only does Gillig take a risk with her main character, the storytelling feels more intricate than book one. All-in-all, this was a very enjoyable and satisfying conclusion to the duology.

Wow what a fantastic end to this duology! I’ve found in the past that I tend to get tired of the same POV continuously and I truly appreciate that Rachel included both Elm and Ravyn’s POVs in addition to Elspeth’s. I definitely liked this one better than the first and I flew through it. There were so many good aspects to this one with the magic and the ongoing war between Hauth and literally everyone else. This was an awesome book and I highly recommend this duology!

Love, love, love!

Viewing the history & ghosts of the Sheppard King through this book was, in a way, sad. His children were murdered just as he was for his choice of magic by someone he trusted, and the deaths caused a curse upon the land and its people .. but also the Sheppard family. In a way, this was a book to give closure to them.

A star achievement of this book, which I HARDLY EVER see, is the success of writing side characters so well and with so much love in book 1. When they take on a more focused narrative in book 2, we, as readers, love it. The switch from 1 perspective to multiple within a series/duology can sometimes be a flop, but this proved that correct writing and the heart of the characters could make it a beautiful addition.

Oh, & was that other romance a surprise to me? yes
Did I love it and realize that I was unconsciously craving it? YES

This duology was incredible, I’m at a loss for words to describe how much I loved this story, the feelings these books evoked in me. The multiple POV kept me on my toes, perfectly switching between Elm, Ravyn, and Elspeth. The characters were amazing, all with their own complexities, excellent development on all fronts. There was just the right amount of spice, enough to feel incredibly invested in the romance(s) but not so much it took from the plot. It’s bittersweet, because I loved it so much I didn’t want it to end!

This duology is one of my top favorite reads, ever. I cannot wait to read more of Gillig’s work, and I’m honored to have been allowed to fall in love with her beautiful world.

This was better than the first book and I loved every second. I have one complaint, and that is that Elspeth’s story gets completely sidelined, but the story that overtakes it is so good that I can’t complain.

ELM AND IONE!! I love them so much, they were so good, I need more. They are peak romance and the way Elm is soft and hard at the same time is so incredible.

Ravyn’s journey was equally intriguing and he and the Nightmare were hilarious. There was suspense, there was mystery, there was tension, I loved it.

I do feel that it was tied a bit too neatly and it would’ve been more realistic for some type of big price to be paid, but all the characters get to be happy so I won’t complain too much.

OH MY GOD THIS WAS THE BEST DUOLOGY IVE READ IN A LONG TIME. I love the connections to the first book. The ending was so satisfying. I wish this was a series.

This was such a great sequel! I actually loved it more than the first book. It shifts focus a lot and I can see that bothering people who loved the characters from Book 1, but for me, it made the story and the world even more well-rounded and interesting.

I loved way the more in this book was further explained as well. The use of the Maiden card was top tier storytelling and the way Gillig reveals information at just the right time is so impressive.

Overall, if you enjoy a more gothic story, a unique magic system, and some lovely writing, this is a great duology to pick up.

I really wanted to love this book. There was so much potential here! But unfortunately I was disappointed and often bored by this sequel, which took me two and a half months to get through, as I kept putting it aside in favor of other books.

My main gripe is that we see hardly anything from the point of view of Elspeth, who was the main character in the first book. Her relationship with the Nightmare was one of the most interesting parts of book 1, but here her POV serves almost exclusively to serve up the Shepherd King’s backstory—which is important to the plot, but feels like a disservice to Elspeth, who is basically sidelined during the entirety of the book. Instead, we focus on Elm, who was a minor character in book 1, and Ravyn, Elspeth’s love interest. Switching between these very different points of view made the pacing a little weird.

I liked Elm. I thought he had some of the best character development in the book. But his story turned out to be almost entirely a romantic subplot that did nothing to further the main plot. (By the way, this book is definitely New Adult, not Young Adult—it had too much spice for my taste.) On the other hand, some exciting things happened in Ravyn’s chapters, but for the most part they wrapped up too neatly and didn’t have the impact on Ravyn’s character development that I hoped they would. His characterization in this book felt very stagnant to me, with not much depth.

This book also needed another pass by an editor so badly, as it’s laden with typos.

This feels like a really harsh review. Honestly, I like the world Rachel Gillig created in One Dark Window, so slogging through this book was a huge disappointment for me.

It’s very rare that I love the sequel of a book even more than I loved the first one but Two Twisted Crowns was a prime example.
This story was excellently told. The addition of Elms POV, his and Iones relationship, the quest for the Twin Alders, Elspeth and the Nightmares storyline and its resolution were absolute perfection in my eyes. I was enthralled by the magic system, there were several plot twists that blew me away and I was on the edge of my seat till the last page.
One of my favorite things about this duology was that it was told succinctly but at the same time, the readers were given time to fall in love with the characters and to root for their happy endings.
I hope that I can read even more Rachel Gillis in the years to come!

An amazing co continuation of the last book. It was also kind of refreshing to have new point of views rather than just centering around the mc of the last book.