Oh man. Okay. I have no words for how much I love this book, and just this duology as a whole. Two Twisted Crowns will make you feel all the things. I laughed, I squealed, I shuddered, I sobbed. Rachel Gillig is brilliant. How did she come up with this story, and wrap it all up so freaking beautifully? The prose, the imagery, the atmosphere she creates. It's EVERYTHING. I want to climb into this book and live there. I can feel what the characters are feeling, see what the characters are seeing. This book and these characters will stay with me forever. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Rachel Gillig for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Two Twisted Crowns is an incredible conclusion to The Shepherd King Duology!! This book starts right where One Dark Window ended and introduces new perspectives.
I can’t say anything about the plot because it would include spoilers, especially if you haven’t read the first book, but I love everything about this!
I love the new perspectives and think they round out the story so well. One of them also introduces a second romance that’s adorable and endearing.
I have to say the Nightmare is still my favourite! He’s so serious yet sarcastic and I love his relationship with Elspeth. He cares about her so he reluctantly cares about the people she loves. Honestly, the Nightmare and Elspeth’s conversations are a highlight for me. We also learn more about him and his past, which I throughly enjoyed.
This book is very atmospheric and I absolutely love the plot that I didn’t want to stop reading. There’s action, shocking twists, romance, and magic. The found family, or actual family, is amazing in this book too. I adore everyone’s relationships and how hard they fight for each other!
This has a great ending but it’s also bittersweet for me. For some reasons I can’t say, but overall, because I’m going to miss these characters and this world so much!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for sending me the eARC!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this ARC.

Endless stars for this beautifully haunting duology ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1 🌶

The gothic romance, dark forest vibes, and unique magical card system in this final installment had me entranced, then sobbing when it was over.

These characters have my heart, and I am devastated to say goodbye to this world.

Be wary. Be clever. Be good.

I loved ODW and this was great as well! The pacing was a little slow at the beginning and was disappointed the story shifted away from Elsp/Ravyn to Ione/Elm but that's ok. I think I would have preferred it as an audiobook just because the narrator for ODW was so good! This is a dark moody read prefect for fall and a cup of tea with it! Thank you for letting me review it

"There once was a girl, clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King -- a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book.. The two were together, so the two were the same: The girl, the King, and the monster they became."

-Rachel Gillig, Two Twisted Crowns

Another captivating novel from the first page, Two Twisted Crowns is the second book in her first Duology for Rachel Gillig. It picks up right where One Dark Window left off at, with the Nightmare taking over Elspeth's mind. One of my favorite things about this book is that it has multiple POV's. Readers get travel with Elspeth, Rayvn, and Elm on their wild adventure to collect all 12 cards and save the people of Blunder. In this book, only the last card is left, the Twin Alders Card where Rayvn, Elspeth unknowingly, and the Nightmare must travel into the mist ridden woods to find it. Where is Elm? We'll get to that in a minute.

The same lovable bastard as always, nightmare has total control of Elspeth's mind, but a new side of him emerges that we didn't get the chance to see. A side I guarantee you will love even more than the first book. We then learn the truth about the Providence Cards, the prices that were paid for them, and what really happened to the Shepherd king. To avoid any and all spoilers, all I will say is that, while so much is revealed in the second book, I am desperately begging Rachel Gillig to write a third book and make it a prequel all on it's own so I can finally get the answers to so many questions.

Where is Elspeth on this journey? Don't worry she's still in there, somewhere. Elspeth gets to learn the truth behind the nightmare. She takes a back seat for a good portion of the book, but don't worry, we get to see everything through Rayvn's eyes. That's one of my favorite things I love about this book, the multiple POV's. Rayvn is trying desperately to get Elspeth back into her mind and free her from the Nightmare's clutches. I actually love how Gillig put Elspeth into the background, because there's a purpose for it, Elspeth will grow into herself more and more as she learns about the nightmare. This is such a wonderful way to build Elspeth up as a character, and it gives us insight to who the nightmare is and who Elspeth is becoming.

And Rayvn? Our dear boy is working with the lovable bastard himself, except he's wearing Elspeth's skin. Having taken over her body, Ravyn vows to protect Elspeth because he believes she is still in there. The chemistry between the two along with the banter from the Nightmare is like nothing I've ever read.

You might be asking, "Well you said Elm has a POV too! Where is he?". We're getting to that. In the first POV for Elm, we see him going into the Hawthorne house looking to see if anyone in the Hawthorne family is still there. We get to see another love story blossom before our eyes and between the different POV's, creates a beautiful story of two couples in love, fighting to save Blunder. But there's a reason for it, and I don't think most readers will object to this when they see how the others are moving the plot forward. The two sets of POVs, a pair showing us one side whilst the other two POVs show us the other side is a brilliant play; I believe a few will be huge Elm fans by the end, if they weren't already.

One nitpick I will say is that the bigger part, one thing I loved about this story is that magic has a price in this world. Magic costs you, comes with degeneration, and is isn't free. But with this resolution, I feel like the cost has been lifted. It's almost as if everything has been wrapped up into a nice and pretty box. Neat and tidy for all. But for me, there should've been some burden for someone to bear, some scar that never goes away. Something should've paid the price. I guess someone did, but only Elspeth seems to feel it, and it didn't go into as much detail as I would've preferred.

Is Two Twisted Crowns enough to sate my happiness with this second book? Absolutely not. I'm extremely happy with the Elm ARC, I'm pleasantly surprised by the Ravyn ARC, I'm satisfied with the Shepherd King story, I've noticed the little Beauty & Beast Imagery throughout both books, I'm amused that I got most of my crackpot theories confirmed. Overall, this second installment to One Dark Window was an amazing read and I an very happy. No nitpicking or sunken ships could measure up to the deep satisfaction I felt when I finished, even if I was left with some questions about the origin of some people. And, if Rachel Gillig were to ever write a prequel, my life will be complete.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rachel Gillig, and Orbit for giving me an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so happy to receive an ARC of Two Twisted Crowns! This was one of those rare occurrences where the sequel was just as good if not better than the first book. I really enjoyed all of the characters growth and development!

I wanted to like this book more than the first one, The writing is beautiful, but it was lacking in some departments. The multi POV was disappointing along with the lack of Elspeth. It’s her book and she’s barely in it.

I didn’t have as much of a connection with Elm and Ione, I really wanted more Elspeth and Rayvn.
The banter and nightmare’s character is what saved the book for me. The book wrapped up nicely and I will miss Elspeth, Rayvn and Nightmare.

Are sequels ever as really good as the first when you're already in love with it? Yes. The answer is yes. This sequel was everything.

Elspeth isn't a main POV in this one. Which might sound daunting. But we are given other POVs to fill in the story line. Don't get me wrong though, she's still heard and the author does a great job with what she did with Elspeth/Nightmare.

I've had an inkling about a plot point since One Dark Crown and was glad to see it confirmed. I don't think it was super obvious and it was well planned IMO.

I loved Ione and Elm's characters. I can't even say development because their POVs gave us a real look at who they were as characters when we only saw outside perspectives really in book one.

While major things are going on, nothing about this sequel felt rushed. This was such an interesting world to delve into and honestly, I enjoy the fact that it wrapped up the way it did. Can we see spin offs? Sure. But if not, this was a perfect duology.

This was the perfect follow-up to One Dark Window and the exact spooky fall vibes I've been looking for.
Without spoiling anything, we pick up where the first book left off and it is all intrigue, heartbreak, perseverance and courage. I enjoyed getting to know more about the Monster's back story, and having both Ravyn and Elm's POVs added was fantastic. At first I didn't like one of the couple pairings but the way they grew together throughout the book I was definitely on their team by the end. And the end? I was absolutely terrified as to what was going to happen the last quarter of the book!
So, if you want a dark, magical, spooky book, this is an absolutely perfect fall read! (And if you haven't read the first one yet, what are you waiting for?!)

Can I read it again for the first time? Is that possible? Because after finishing it, I really want to read it for the first time again. The tension starts high and it never lets up. You'll be flipping pages so fast. And yet with all that drama, the pacing never feels rushed and the characters get room to breathe. I was smitten with the magic system in One Dark Window, and here we get to dive into it, learn more about it's origins. Just, stop reading this and go buy this okay. Let's all do that together.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been looking forward to reading this book since finishing One Dark Window and the ending was well worth the wait!

It was a little slow going at the beginning. But that also might have been because it had been a while since reading the first book. I would recommend giving ODW a quick re-read before starting Two Twisted Crowns.

I loved all the lore associated with the unique magic system that we learn in this book. As well as learning what Blunder was like in the past. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives given by multiple characters and learning more about everyone.

I laughed, I cried, and a few times I wanted to throw my Kindle at the wall. It was a great ending to this duology. Highly recommend!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this early. I enjoyed One Dark Window and was very much looking forward to the conclusion of the story. This book was exactly what I needed to finish out the duology. I loved the different points of view. I loved how intense it was and edge of your seat. The nightmare is one of my favorite characters of all time. Seeing he spend hundreds of years regretting his mistakes and given the chance to try to rectify them was wonderful. You think he is this evil creature, but over the two books you see how he truly cares for Elspeth as if she was one of his own children. The writing got even better in this installment. It was very clever and smart and kept me interested the whole way through. The mythology she wove in, and the riddles were just *chefs kiss*. Special note: Prince Hauth is easily one of my top hated characters of all time. Still several pegs below Ixion from Fireborne, but close. He is wicked incarnate. This installment turned the series from a 3 star to a 4 star for me. I really enjoyed it, and I am looking forward to what Rachel has to for us next.

I enjoyed many parts of this sequel to One Dark Window. However, I was also disappointed by the author's decision to focus the story and the majority of the romance on two characters other than Elspeth and Ravyn. As much as I love Elm, like Ione, and am happy for them, I can't understand why Rachel Gillig would neglect her original two main characters (Elspeth and Ravyn) since they are the reasons readers fell in love with book 1 in the first place. Because of the way book 1 ended, I expected Ravyn and Elspeth to be separated for a while and have to face some major obstacles in order to reconnect, but I was not expecting them to barely communicate and barely get any time together until almost the end of the book! The author set up certain plot points and expectations in One Dark Window that she sadly did not deliver fully on in this sequel; It felt like too little pay off by the end of Two Twisted Crowns. I wish the author would have written a different duology that focused on Elm and Ione, and I wish the author would have given readers more time with Ravyn and Elspeth in this sequel. The writing style is still beautiful and atmospheric, the Nightmare is still amazing (I love him), Emory and Jesper are fantastic supporting characters, and I do appreciate the word building and background information that were somewhat seamlessly tied into the plot. Overall, this was not what I hoped for and I'm sad that Ravyn and Elspeth did not get as much page time as they deserve, but I'm glad I read it. At the end of the day, a happy ending for the characters I adore will always make me happy.

I had high expectations for this book and was not disappointed. I didn't want it to end, the plot progressed at a nice steady pace, questions were answered that were asked in the first book. I love that we find out more about the Sheppard King in this book. Such an incredible Rollercoaster of emotions while reading this book. I wish the epilogue was a little longer but still a great wrap up to this amazing duology. Rachel Gillig really delivered and I'm so thankful to have read these incredible books.

3.5/5 ⭐️

“Be wary. Be clever. Be good”

One Dark Window was one of my favorite reads this year, so Two Twisted Crowns definitely had some big shoes to fill.

I think perhaps my expectations were too high because this sequel fell a bit flat for me.

I missed the high stakes and especially the relationship between the “Nightmare” and Elspeth that was present in the first book. The inversion of their dynamic just didn’t work for me.

In fact, if I’m being completely honest, I found Elspeth chapters to be worst out of all the POVs in this book.

I did really enjoy Elm’s chapters and found myself looking forward to his the most. The background on his trauma and his own evolving relationship were some of the best parts.

This was very much still a solid read but ultimately not as good as One Dark Window for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit books for this ARC!

Rachel Gillig has easily made it to my top favorite authors list. The magic system is phenomenal. The past and present parallels were heartbreaking yet beautiful. I was so giddy reading all of Elm’s chapters. Sweet, sweet justice was served from so many angles. The last 100 or so pages had me going through an emotional roller coaster-as did the first book. This book had me laughing, screaming, crying (good and bad), and straight up talking to myself. Even my husband made several comments about how he could tell I was thoroughly enjoying this book by my reactions and how quickly I finished the duology.

My only notes are that I noticed a few editing issues such as extra words, wrong tenses, and contraction issues. I was easily able to figure out what was intended but it definitely wasn’t hard to miss.

Could not put down this book!!! Starting this book, I was a little worried that I wasn’t going to like it as much because Elspeth wasn’t going to be the sole character. However, I was pleasantly surprised, especially with all of the character development with some of the background characters from the first book. I did end up really loving the different view points of Nightmare, Ravyn, and especially Elm!

Although, I did find myself guessing certain things that were to come later on in the book, I still found myself gasping at the twist and turns! Fully satisfied with the ending, and definitely will be buying a physical copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Rachel Gillig for sending me this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh man oh man oh man. I thought the first book was good, but this one was GREAT. The addition of other POV’s made it so much more dynamic and I read it so much faster than the first one.

I felt so much more connected to the characters in this book, and the plot was fast-paced the whole time.

It was heart breaking and beautiful and exciting, and a perfect follow-up to One Dark Window.

“Be Wary, Be Clever, Be Good.”

No because GOOD golly did I scream and cry and lose my little baby mind for this book. I cannot lie and say this sequel is perfect or that it didn’t once or twice made me debate my star rating. There are scenes that are convenient and loose ends that don’t get tied up, etc etc.

Here’s the thing(s) though, and to follow are my disorganized thoughts :

I vividly remember reaching the 50% mark and actually screaming at how things were progressing. I couldn’t believe I was halfway through and had already learnt so much about this story had had so many more questions.

A very interesting development, in my opinion, is the choice
of perspectives we get in this book. Obviously we get Elspeth through the eyes of everyone’s favorite The Nightmare ™️

But we get SO much development in Ravyn’s perspective, which is mostly personal and emotional development. He comes to terms with so much of who he is and what of him is inherited.

More surprisingly, though, is Mr. Renelm himself.

Good lord, Elm is my favorite character. The arc that we see him through is spectacular and it’s developed impressively well. The abuse he suffered, his familial bonds with the Yews, all of it. So good. It was a masterclass in not using abuse as a crutch.

Ione is another surprising addition and I’m obsessed with her. Even in book one, I had a feeling that we would be seeing her again, ala Tella in Caraval vibes.

It’s definitely that.

I want it to be noted how I teared up when she dismissed Elm after the reign of her Maiden card is released and she needs the night to process the trauma. But in the morning when she finds him out front her door and carries him to bed? Oh I was gone.

The last 15% goes entirely too fast and I can’t even pin point certain elements I liked about the wrapping up of such a great story because all of the information I had been wanting was definitely tossed in at the end. And to that point, we don’t see the other characters and their respective reactions to these new developments *cough, the yews, cough*

This book made me MISS Elspeth, even though she’s supposed to be our mc. I understand that narratively, she wasn’t present for the book for good reason. She was quite literally a presence in a mind and nothing more. But still, I craved more of a satisfying ending for Elspeth. I wanted more happiness for her than just a snap of a finger and Ravyn ripping the nightmare card to heal her. Like ??? Alright I guess.

Forever will be heartbroken that I won’t get the chance to see a reunion between the two of them on page. What a glorious, heartbreaking experience it would have been… such a missed opportunity. It’s one one the lovers of the dynamic those two shared in the first book will definitely miss.

I stand by my criticisms, but the five star rating is deserved. This book is genuinely insane and I was spooked, creeped, and both gooped and gagged.


A huge thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

Without giving away the plot, here a a few reasons to read Two Twisted Crowns:

- Satisfying continuation from the first book and the pacing doesn’t lag.
- Unique magic system
- Wonderful familial ties
- Political intrigue
- Multiple romantic subplots to be invested in