This book... 5/5 10/10 loved it!
I will admit this book was a little difficult to get back into (I just finished Kingdom of Ash, if you know you know).
However, once your back in this world it is amazing. I am grateful this book was gifted to me during the beginning of fall - it fits the story so well.
ELM!!!!! I knew he has an interesting character in book one but Two Twisted Crowns Elm? Perfection. Ione may just be my new favorite character; I adore characters that feel alive and kind. Overall I am excited for more of Rachel Gillig's writing and wish her the best!

thank you orbit books for the arc.


REVIEW:

RACHEL!! First of all, how dare you? Second of all, thank you.

This was my most anticipated read of 2023 and it delivered in EVERY. SINGLE. WAY. I truly can say with the utmost confidence that ODW and TTC are my two favorite books.

Just like in ODW you are transported to the town of Blunder, the eerie, gothic, dark atmosphere is everything I love and could ever ask for and I was so thrilled to be back.

The romance, political scheming, magic, are all woven together SO perfectly and really just made this the most amazing wrap up possible.

It was an absolute blessing getting Ravyn and Elm’s POV. SPECIFICALLY, Elm’s!! I was missing Ravyn and Elspeth’s relationship for a bit in the beginning but quickly realized it wasn’t even necessary because Ione and Elm?? 🥵 they really stole the show and gave EVERYTHING.

Also, THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY BUT I THINK ABOUT IT AND ALL I CAN DO IS SMILE AND SCREAM BECAUSE HOW?? IN ALL THE BOOKS I’VE EVER READ NOTHING COMPARES.

I e joyed coming back to this story. It continues to evoke the best of the sweeping, dark, alluring fall vibes, while also leveraging a magic system that feels refreshing and new, but also accessible. The tent poles and rules of the world were clearly laid out in One Dark Window, so while there isn’t a lot of time spent providing a quick recap of the events of book 1, I also didn’t feel like it was hard to fall back into the world.

Like book 1, this is certainly not meant to be an action packed fantasy series, instead, this is a restrained, lyrical fantasy with writing that envelops you. I loved that and felt that so many passages were elegant in weaving both plot and poetic prose, without feeling like it’s trying too hard.

However, what held this back and certainly took me aback, was the lack of focus on One Dark Window’s FMC, Elspeth. She is nearly nowhere to be found here, and as a result, there’s really no character growth. Where One Dark Window kept us firmly in the confines of her mind and how it grapples with The Nightmare, this nearly shuts her out entirely, making her feel very forgotten and only perfunctory as a motivation for Rayvin.

Add to those the side romance plot (between side characters, not a love triangle!) and the focus of this felt confusing. The side romance and those characters very often felt like the new main characters, and like we were supposed to be more invested in them than Elspeth, The Nightmare, and Rayvin. While the side romance was well executed, perhaps much better than Elspeth and Rayvin’s actually, with a lot more character depth to both those romance leads, the fact it came at the expense of the main plot of finding the cards and getting the twin alder card, along with Elspeth and Rayvin, made this feel like a tug of war.

Even the ending, I feel there’s a lot satisfying and meaningful ending to the side romance than Rayvin and Elspeth which felt scant and barely there. Had the side romance been the main romance and characters in One Dark Window, or had we spent more time with Elspeth in this follow up, I think the balance and voice would have been more clear.

Overall, entertaining and well written, though felt a bit confused as to the main plot.

Okay I absolutely adored the first book One dark Window! I was super excited to receive this book to review! This was a such a good sequel to the first. I loved the tension in this book! The nightmare story was revealed and it was very eye opening. Ione and Elm 🥰 I loved this interactions and how they understood each other. Hauth stinks! The twist in the middle I was not expecting! Ravyn is still swoon! Overall this was an excellent book. It was engaging and stayed interesting throughout! I definitely couldn’t put it down. This duet is an awesome read! I highly recommend checking it out. The only thing I was not a fan about was the ending and just because I didn’t really get a sense for the ending for Elspeth and Ravyn. I think it could of been closed up more.

Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Length: 368 pages

“I’ve wanted to know you since I saw you all those years ago, riding in the wood, mud on your ankles.”

Thank you to Netgalley, Rachel Gillig, and Orbit Books for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

✨Read this book if you enjoy: ✨
🖤Romantasy
🃏Unique Magic Systems
🗡️ Action & Adventure

❗️ This book cannot be read as a standalone, you need to read One Dark Window before picking up this book.

I’m still trying to process everything honestly. I’m so sad that my time with this world and these characters are over. I don’t feel like I had enough time with them.

I have to start by saying that I don’t think I’ve ever read a book before that has such an interesting and unique magic system.

In One Dark Window, I fell in love with Ravyn. But I have to say Elm stole the show in this book. Good lord, I wasn’t ready.

Do yourself a favor and read this duology.

I have always said that duologies work since you are able to neatly pack the series. BUT i loved these characters so much that i wanted more. the pacing was amazing and i can't even get over the amazing gothic setting that these two books have. Would recommend listening to dark piano music on the background!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book! This was my most anticipated ARC to receive since I started these reviews. One Dark Window (the 1st in the series) was a fantastic read that perfectly fit the early fall spooky vibes. Usually, I find the second book in a series to be a little paler in comparison to the first - but not this one! Two Twisted Crowns had me on my toes the entire time and threw so many twists that I never saw coming. Rachel's writing literally had me asking if she would ever let me be happy. The pacing was really well done and I breezed through this book!

I am utterly broken from this series

✨thank you @netgalley and @orbitbooks_us and @rmgillig for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

Being the sequel to One Dark Window, Two Twisted Crowns hits right where we left off in Blunder. All hope seems lost and no one has control over their current circumstances. The need to find a cure for the infection is at an all time high, and the lines of where to begin are sufficiently blurred and covered in mist.
The characters are back and this book divides into different POVs to carry the story along, and boy are we glad it does *cough cough* 😍 ELM 😍

With such high stakes, so much to risk, and so much more romance, this book had my heart pounding the entire time!

So far, this is my favorite duology of the year ✌🏼

Two Twisted Crowns captivates with intricate plots, rich characters, and a spellbinding narrative. Gillig's storytelling mastery shines.

It wasn't bad - but I had a lot of trouble getting back into the story and sticking with it. It felt like there were a lot of characters that I just didn't remember or care much about from the first book, and I read the first book not too long ago. I kept picking it up, reading a bit, and then putting it back down. Again, there was nothing in particular that seemed really wrong - it just didn't catch my interest the way the first one did.

It is with great honor that I am writing a review for this book. After devouring "One Dark Window", I was elated to receive a copy of this book to review.

I have to say, I may have loved this book a little more than the first because these secondary characters took center stage and I fell in love with them, including the Nightmare.

There were several themes to take away but one that stands out is to fight for what you believe in, and this book had me believing in Elm and Taxus, The Shepherd King. I don't want to spoil anything, but I screamed out loud when Hauth reared his ugly head again and all the pain Ione went through to get her happily ever after. 😪

I will certainly be shouting from the rooftops for people to read this duology because it's just...ah, refreshing.

#orbitbooks #TWINALDERS

One of my favorite reads this last spring was One Dark Window, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Two Twisted Crowns from @netgalley @orbitbooks_us thank you! This book will be released tomorrow in the US!

A consistent worry with second books is the so-called sophomore slump. Thankfully, Gilling successfully keeps up the pace, writing, and character development in this second in a duology! While I don't want to go into too many details for fear of spoiling the first book, here are some reasons I thoroughly enjoyed the duology and this second book:

If you are looking for a dark creepy forest atmosphere with a decrepit castle and dodgy royals, and monsters this has all the vibes. If you're a fan of romantasy but appreciate when the plot actually coincides with the romantic elements rather than being an after thought. Definitely some swoon worthy characters but they don't overshadow the plot. If you like unique magic systems that aren't overly complicated. The Providence cards are super interesting (but easy to grasp). This book ends with a satisfying ending so no worries about the series extending!

I highly recommend the duology! And if you've read the first one you know you need to pick up Two Twisted Crowns! Can't wait to read Gillig's future books!

I don’t know why I put off reading this. I should have started it the moment I received the arc.
This IS fantasy with romance, this is how you do it. The world building- amazing, the characters- phenomenal, the story- perfect. The only issue with this book is that it completes a duo-logy.

If you love fantasy please read this duology! This is the perfect ending to the story after reading One Dark Window, and I truly can’t wait to read more from this author!

If you haven’t picked this one up and have read One Dark Window, what are you waiting for?!

Thanks so much to the publisher for my ARC Imi exchange for my review!

📖 Title: Two Twisted Crowns
✍ Author: Rachel Gillig
🌍 Country of Origin: USA 🇺🇸
🔖 Genre: Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Adventure, Romance 🪄💭⚔💕
👥 Favorite Character: Ione
💬 Favorite Quote: "Having hope does not make me delusional, Elspeth"


I received an eARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for this!

I'll start with something I MUST say otherwise I'll simply explode, due to anger, disappointment or both. This book is *NOT* a sequel.

Call it a duology all you want, this is not a sequel, this is not in the same style as the first one this, heck you'll even forget at times about the main character in the first book.

I'm not sure why this book is called like such because it simply doesn't work like it. I'm pretty sure Ms. Gillig is more than capable of writing much, much better stories than this convoluted mess, proof of it is the first book in the series.

I can't think that this was a rushed book maybe due to due dates or publishing contracts, but this book seems more like a collection of 3 different stories than a sequel and it would have worked so much better like so. A sequel and 2 spinoffs. I'm particularly interested in more of Ione and Elm although that seems a quite unpopular opinion and I can sort of see why as Elspeth is so freakin' awesome but still!

Her worldbuilding is there, here interesting magic system is there, so are the characters, but they're a husk of their former self. The characters lack a LOT of depth. I blame the POV switching on that plus the 3 different "stories" just being crammed in the same book. Elspeth didn't get enough time; Shepherd didn't get enough time. The Nightmare specifically didn't get enough time. You won't really like much Ione and Elm if you're not into adorkable/cringy romance and smaller scale side quests. Particularly I felt bait-and-switched into their story after the first chapter, but they grew on me, especially Ione, which you can guess and read was my favorite character.

Their story deserved their own book, but I think either the publisher or the author didn't think so, that's how they ended up just being majorly featured (like 50%) in a side quest that wouldn't matter to much. Yet I'd personally spend so much time and even more to get a maiden card.

More time with them would help them develop into better characters, the way the chapters were placed seemed deceitful I was wondering "When are we getting back to Elspeth?" most of the time but I eventually switched my view on it from "sequel" to "poorly planned spinoff"/"collection of short stories within the world.

I hope I'm not the only one who thinks this book deserves to be 2 or 3 books, so we get the actual sequel we wanted and 2 other great stories. Maybe in the future, maybe in another universe or timeline... hopefully.

I rate this book...

As a sequel: 2 out of 5 stars

As a spinoff: 3, maybeee 3.5 out of 5 stars.

We do need a remake on this... disappointed due to how 3 great stories got to waste but still happy we at least got them.

Toodles~!

Rydia ✨

This is such a fascinating expansion from the first book. There are secondary characters whose stories come to the forefront, and they are written in a way that's instantly engaging. I loved how we dove deep into the lore, and while I was a bit worried that we wouldn't get as much Elspeth due to the ending of the first book, I was really happy with how this was handled.

Overall, I really loved this duology and am excited to see what Gillig comes up with next!

Deeply absorbing. Two Twisted Crowns was everything I was counting on it to be. A satisfying, gratifying conclusion to this duology that left everything satisfyingly wrapped up without feeling like any sacrifices were made in the pursuit of a clean ending. I couldn't be happier.

I loved this duology so much. Two Twisted Crowns was a top read for me this year! Sometimes the second book falls flat after a hyped up first book but NOT this one. It follows almost immediately after book 1, so it was easy to be pulled back into this gothic fantasy book.

Clever. Creative. Captivating.

This is probably the quickest I’ve reached for my phone to give a book that I just finished 5 stars! Wow. If you are looking for a book that truly feels like an escape into another world, look no further. The magic in this story was beyond unique, while still managing to be both dark and alluring. I have yet to read another fantasy book that achieves its world-building as effortlessly as this one.

I absolutely devoured this two-book series! As in, I finished the first book (One Dark Window) in about 24 hours and immediately began Two Twisted Crowns, finishing it within a few days. After reading both, I’m not sure which I found more enjoyable. They flow right from one another (plot-wise) but were written in such entirely different POVs and manners — I don’t know which was better! It’s not often that an author (especially in the fantasy world) achieve what Gillig did in just two books and manage to wrap things up so effortlessly.

Highly recommend! Especially to all the Sarah J Maas and Fourth Wing fans out there — this duology deserves so much more hype than it’s received!

(Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!)

First five star read of the year! The writing of Two Twisted Crowns reads like prose. I am so obsssed with this world and this authors writing. The first book and this book are my top reads of 2023.