This was a fantastic ending to an incredible duology. It delivered and built upon everything in One Dark Window, bringing in more delicious angst and pining. This is going down as one of my favourite duologies of all time, and I can’t wait to read more of Rachel Gillig’s books!

This is the sequel to One Dark Window and I couldn’t wait to dive into this book after falling in love with the first!

It goes deeper into the tale of the Shepard King. New characters come into play that change how you feel about the nightmare.

More enemies to lovers you can’t help but root for! It’s unexpected and wonderful!

Overall I loved this book! You learn more about these characters and the development and growth throughout the plot kept my interest.

Since I haven’t reviewed One Dark Window on my blog yet, I feel confident that I can keep this review completely spoiler free for those who haven’t yet read book one. This is such an incredible fantasy duology and it’s absolutely perfect to pick up during the Autumn season! The series takes place in a mist-locked kingdom called Blunder where magic is seen as an infection to be eradicated. We’re following Elspeth, a young woman touched by magic who has eluded the Physicians responsible for doing so for a number of years. Elspeth is harboring a secret infection which manifests in a monster she calls Nightmare inhabiting her consciousness from time to time. The mercurial spirit protects her and keeps her secrets but her life takes a drastic turn when she meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road. In Blunder, there is a renown deck of twelve cards, known as the Province Cards, which are the keys to curing the plague of mist. Each card exists in limited quantities between 1-12 with the rarest card being the sole Twin Alders card in all of existence. After their fateful encounter, Elspeth joins the King’s nephew Ravyn, Captain of the Destriers, in a dangerous quest to reunite the deck. As Elspeth is helping Ravyn, she’s slowly beginning to lose herself to the Nightmare. I really loved everything about this series from the fascinating and well developed worldbuilding of Blunder to the mysterious and fairytale-like lore behind the Provence Cards. We get to enjoy the drama-filled antics of the royal family and the chilling effects her cousin Ione faces after being exposed to the Maiden card. The story is set amongst the most atmospheric backdrop, a kingdom that’s been covered in mist and hasn’t seen the light of the sun for years. The Destriers and the Physicians instill fear in the general population as well as the reader, and best of all, the legend of how the Province deck came about will immediately enthrall you. As much as I enjoyed book one, it was book two that solidified this as a favorite series. We get additional perspectives, one from my favorite character in the book, and I love the romantic relationships that develop. I could not put Two Twisted Crowns down and to be totally honest, I’m pretty upset that it’s over! I would definitely re-read this series and I’m especially excited to pick up on more that I might have missed the first time around, now that I know the full story.

This was an amazing sequel. I might say I liked it even more than One Dark Window. There were multiple POVs again and the hunt for Two Alders card continues. Perfect conclusion of the duology and another 5 star read from Ms. Gillig!.

Top Ten Moments of 2023: Getting to read Two Twisted Crowns.

I absolutely loved One Dark Window when I first read it earlier this year, and the wait for this book to come out was dragging. I was so excited to see I got an early copy!

In the second installment of The Shepard King duology our favorite characters are continuing their search for the final Providence cards, and have to face some of their hardest trials yet. While we follow some familiar characters, we also get to see more into the lives of the younger Rowan prince (Elm) and Elspeth's cousin (Ione), which was an unexpected but delightful surprise! We also get a look deeper into the creation of the cards and the man behind the Nightmare.

Following One Dark Window, Two Twisted Crowns continued to use the elements that made book 1 in this duology so compelling. The riddles/prose that the Nightmare speaks in is one of my favorite parts of this book, partly because of how it both frustrates and unsettles the other characters. The Providence cards themselves are also very compelling because of the double edged sword they are, which we see thoroughly through Ione. Getting to understand what was given up to create these cards, and the utter chaos that came of it was very exciting! I enjoyed how the author gave her characters separate paths that lead to the same goal, and made them equally interesting. Sometimes when going between so many point's of view, especially when characters are going through different situations, one character tends to lag in action, and I'm very glad to say this wasn't the case!

My only complaint about the book is the lack of interaction between Ravyn and Elspeth. I know there was a god reason, but even at the end I felt a little robbed. Especially because of how their relationship ended off in the last book.

All in all I'm so happy I got to read this book, and I'm going to be stalking my door the day my paper copy finally ships out! I hope in the final version we get more of the cards beginning each chapter!

This is going to be such a hard review to write because I literally loved every single word. There was no wasted space in this book, and I truly love Rachel Gillig's writing and the world and characters she's created.

I loved all the POVs we got in this book and how we really got to know Elm, Ione, Ravyn, and the Nightmare. Elm was a surprise standout to me, I liked him in the first book but I absolutely adored him in this book. His POVs were my favorite and I loved how sassy he was. The only contender for sassier was The Nightmare, who's POVs I also loved to read. But really, I loved to read all of the POVs, it's really just splitting hairs at this point.

The conclusion to the story went in ways I didn't expect, but it felt organic and no plot point felt forced. I honestly did not think it possible for a book to be as good as One Dark Window, but Two Twisted Crowns was definitely as good and I might like it more than ODW.

This duology was phenomenal, and this ending was perfect. 10/10 will definitely read again because I already miss it.

This duology is such a beautiful gothic fantasy and I love it so much. If you enjoyed One Dark Window, Two Twisted Crowns will not let you down.

A little over a year ago I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of One Dark Window and was instantly spellbound. So when I received an ARC for Two Twisted Crowns I was absolutely ecstatic! And it did not disappoint!

Rachel Gillig does an amazing job of adding so much additional dimension to her characters throughout this book!
I loved the addition of multiple POVs. In book one I didn't particularly think of Elm or Ione as significant characters. I loved getting to know them both better in this book, and the addition of Elm's POV really helped me connect with his character more. I didn't expect to be as interested in his chapters as I was Elspeth or Ravyn's but I've never been happier to have been proven wrong.

Ravyn tugged on my heartstrings the whole time. His emotion was so well written that it was impossible to not connect to him.

I can't go too far into my adoring rant about the love I have for this book without revealing too much of the plot so I will leave you with an impassioned plea to give this duology a read! If you like tales of gothic magic, tormented love, girls in the misty woods, and highway men haunted by their own demons, then you will love this book!

Enjoyed this sequel so much! The story kept me on the edge of my seat, I couldn’t wait for the next thing to happen. The writing and building out of the world is very good. I really enjoy the deck of cards magic. I love, love, love this book.

4.5⭐️
Another captivating look into this unique world. This sequel absolutely delivered, and was just as good as book 1. Gillig’s writing and characters shine here - and the ending of this was perfection. A really great fantasy duology, perfect for fall!

I gave the first book in this series 4 stars - I absolutely loved the premise and the gothic vibes, as well as the magic system. I did not love the characters or the romance, but I did not hate them. With the particular twist the ending had, I was anticipating to like this book more.

I was wrong. I think One Dark Window, while advertised as an adult book, really straddled the line of "new adult." Elspeth was annoying, and her romance with Ravyn was a little too fast for me. But the gothic setting and the magic system were so cool to me, that I was not at all concerned about the aspects I didn't love. The things I loved about the first book were significantly less present in this one, which made the things I disliked feel more negative to me. There's more romance in this one, and I think this almost borders into romantasy territory. This is not a negative - just not for me. The magic system got a little confusing in this one, and things happened that I truly did not understand despite me reading this book significantly slower than the first book.

I think this duology is worth finishing, and you'll likely love it if you have different taste than me. It definitely wasn't bad, just not for me.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

You know how you can sometimes read a trilogy and think, "this really should have been a duology"? Well... it's the opposite with this. Two Twisted Crowns picks up right where One Dark Window ends so you will definitely want to read (or reread) One Dark Window immediately before picking up Two Twisted Crowns. Both books throw a lot of information at you, rapidly, and usually in the middle of an action sequence. There are A LOT of characters. A lot of action. A lot of villains with their own agendas. I wish that the story had been drawn out a little. I wish more time had been spent in the flashbacks and also in getting to know the characters. Two thirds of the way through this book I set it down to try to gather my feelings for a minute and thought, "I feel like I've just been dropped in the middle of chaos. I have only a faint idea of what's going on but am happy to be here anyway."

This duology has such a unique magic system and the dark, atmospheric vibes are pure perfection. It should be at the top of everyone's "spooky season" TBR. Just take your time and take notes if you have to!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am SO happy to have received an arc on NetGalley for Two Twisted Crowns. I devoured One Dark Window, and the same happened with the sequel.

This book blew me away. My biggest complaint about this genre is sequels often fall flat, the romance is either abandoned or annoyingly centered, the plot gets more confusing, etc. HOWEVER, that was NOT the case with this book. This was a wonderful read. I loved the addition of Elm and Ione’s stories and POVs, as well as the Shepherd King himself. I like that not everything was tidy during the plot — sometimes, characters were hard to figure out morally in the best way. This book balanced following up the plot and even romance from book one, but also added so much more depth in the follow-up. Even though we get more limited POV from Elspeth and almost no actual interaction between her and Ravyn, it worked out so well, and I honestly didn’t miss it the way I expected to.

Would highly recommend reading this as the follow-up to One Dark Window!

Two Twisted Crowns has been one of my most anticipated reads for 2023 and it absolutely did not disappoint
First I’d like to thank NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC read- I may have squealed at work from the excitement when I got the notification.
The Shepherd King duology instantly became a favorite for me because the creativeness of the plot and the characters. I was instantly captivated and couldn’t put either book down when reading them.
While One Dark Window focuses on Elspeth (and Nightmare), Two Twisted Crowns has multiple POVS- from Elspeth & Nightmare, Raven, and Elm. I almost enjoyed this even more than just having it from Elspeth’s perspective, especially because Elm’s commentary had me laughing most of the time.
This was an instant five star read, and I haven’t stopped thinking about this book since I finished it. I can’t wait to see what else Rachel Gillig writes.
Be wary, be clever, be good.

Thanks to NetGalley, Orbit Books, and Rachel Gillig for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so happy when I received my approval. I immediately stopped everything I was doing to dive into this world again. To say I was giddy and excited is an understatement. Two Twisted Crowns is the finale piece to The Shephard King duology. It picks up where we left off in "One Dark Window", and you're in for a ride.
Gillig did it again with her beautiful, timeless writing, character development, and overall plot. Not to mention the side characters; I loved them. The spice, the wit, the TWIST! I had so much fun reading this, and I'm sure Rachel had fun writing it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The way my heart broke and mended so. many. times! ugh! I'd do it all over again.

It's rare for me to love a second book just as much as the first. I am an emotional wreck, to say the least.

5 stars!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this eARC

i hadn't read the first one yet but it was in my tbr so when i got approved for this arc i quickly read it.
Immediately obsessed with this world! I absolutely love all the characters and the trials they all needed to overcome through the book. The growth that Elm had during his quest to help Ione made me very happy. I wanted to smack the Shepard king multiple times. However I get that they needed to make their own choices and figure things out on their own but come on,he could have given them some hints!! I was pleasantly surprised by Erik Spindles growth, that he did love her and felt guilty the whole time was a great conclusion to their relationship.

I do wish we had gotten more on the Shepard King, I'd definitely read a prequel about him and what happen in those 500years.

Ever since I finished One Dark Window, I've been so excited for this next book and couldn't believe I got a chance to read it early!

Two Twisted Crowns picks up right where One Dark Window left off. It has the same dark/gothic feel with some tension and urgency added in. There are multiple POV's which I'm not usually a fan of, but I was entertained by all of the characters and their storylines. A lot happens in this book, but it really picks up about halfway through. After that I didn't want to put it down and it felt like I was in there with them. The ending was great. Maybe a bit fast but I feel like everything wrapped up really well. You get to see the different sides of everyone and my love for The Nightmare grew stronger with every chapter. He will forever be one of my favorite characters.
I'm so sad to see this story end!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC opportunity.
This is definitely a young adult fantasy.
this finished all that I was looking forward to from the first book.
Loved it. Cried and the found family trope.

I will be thinking about this duology for a long time to come - I absolutely loved One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns! This gothic fantasy is deeply romantic and compelling. The atmospheric world-building pulls the reader into the story and keeps them trapped. The unique magic system and the layered characters add to the intrigue of the plot. I am already anticipating a re-read and the stories that Gillig may have coming next.

For those who love:
🕯️Multiple POV
🕯️Political Intrigue
🕯️Quest
🕯️Morally Gray
🕯️Slow Burn Romance
🕯️Dark Magic
🕯️Found Family

I cannot express enough gratitude to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This duology is the perfect read for spooky season!

A 500 year old monster trapped in the mind of a young woman and a mist filled forest that wants to eat you whole. The unique magic system, compelling mystery and complex characters had me hooked from the beginning. This lush, sensual and wonderfully arboreal sequel will stick with me for a while.

If you enjoyed the first book, you won't be able to put this one down. History is unearthed and secrets are revealed. Alternating POVs keep you on your toes while giving us a deeper look inside all the characters.

Beautiful, haunting and romantic. I loved every word.

Thank you, Netgalley and Orbit books, for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Rachel Gilling, you outdid yourself! I am so sad that this duology has come to an end. I loved every second if this and enjoyed the new POVs in this book. This book will have a spot in my favorite books I ever read!

I will be posting my full review soon @booksmarianreads