Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Rachel Gillig for the opportunity to listen to an early copy of The Knight and The Moth.

Let’s start with the obvious: the cover of this novel is absolutely gorgeous. Working in a library, I’ve seen firsthand how often eye-catching covers draw attention—and this one certainly did. Fortunately, what lies beyond the cover is just as captivating.

The story centers around Sybil, more commonly referred to as Six, a foundling who has spent the last nine years as a Diviner living among her sisters in a grand cathedral. These women don’t just dream—they prophesy, offering glimpses of the future to those who seek them out.

When her fellow Diviners begin to disappear, Six embarks on a quest for answers. Along the way, she joins forces with a young prince and his retinue as he attempts to claim his rightful crown.

Without giving too much away, expect a blend of romance, tense and genuinely chilling moments, a strong sense of found family, and yes—a delightfully sassy gargoyle.

As the first installment in The Stonewater Kingdom series, this book lays a compelling foundation, and I’m eager to see where the story goes next.

Rating: 4/5

Wow, what a story!!!! The world building is so unique without being confusing. I love the quest, the growth of the characters, the amazing romance, and how the ending had my jaw on the floor and screaming without anything annoying bothering me. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was so amazing and really drew me into the story! I can’t wait until the second book comes out, this is a rare five star read for me! I never thought I would fall in love with a gargoyle who kept me laughing and then sobbing the entire book!

The Knight and the Moth is an incredible book with magic, twists, and turns. The relatable main character is easy to love, and Samantha Hudson’s narration brings the characters to life with humor. I devoured it in 24 hours, unable to put it down. Rachel Gillig’s creativity and imagination are unmatched, and the fantasy building is phenomenal.

That final chapter has my head spinning🤯. Gargoyle animal friend sidekick, FTW! This story is so beautifully written. This was my first Rachel Gillig book (despite owning The Shepherd King duology🫣), and now I see why she is an auto-buy author. She paints such a vivid picture of a unique religion that Sybil the Diviner must seek the truth about. There is a slow burn between the Knight and the Diviner but the path of Diviner to Knight is one that I enjoyed. The more Sybil learns about the life she has led the more her rage grows. I can't wait to see how this story goes in the next book.

Thank you for the ARC! The gothic atmosphere and the super interesting objective were my favorite parts of this book.

This book has made it very obvious that Gillig’s way of storytelling is not my cup of tea. She held my hand the entire book, which was unnecessary. Maybe because she subconsciously realizes that the characters and the relationships are distinctly dry. The gargoyle was the best character out of all of them, and even then, the gargoyle reminded me of so many notable characters of his kind, that I had a hard time finding him special.

I think the idea of this book was there. There are a lot of themes to explore with this story, but none of them really stand out enough to care about… For me, the FMC’s ultimate deconstruction of her beliefs was what I was looking forward to. Unfortunately, it was anti-climatic. The romance was also dull and more of a side-plot, which makes the book’s summary very misleading in my opinion. The ending was predictable and nothing new. Sigh.

The abundance of em dashes was wild. Maybe it just needs more editing… But as it stands? I wouldn’t recommend this. I can absolutely look past less-than-great writing/overly flowery prose if the story and plot are solid and if I’m left feeling SOMETHING at the end of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hatchett Audio for the ARC of The Knight and the Moth. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025, and it did not disappoint! There is a bit of a twist and cliff-hanger ending. I cannot wait to read the next installment and see where this story goes from here!

I loved the One Dark Window duology so I was really excited to receive this ARC. All I can really say is Rachel Gillig has done it again. It was refreshing to read a fantasy that actually had original plot and world building. I enjoyed the conversations surrounding religious trauma and finding yourself outside of an institution. The romance was top tier yearning and I appreciated that it wasn't insta love. The banter was great and the side characters were well fleshed out. I did see where the plot was going so I wasn't that surprised by the ending, but I am excited to read the second book in the duology.

This was my first Rachel Gillig and she has earned my loyalty forever. This was such an impressive book to me. I went in worried it might fall into the romantasy trope of not having great world building, but the world she's created here is so rich and lush and dark, I felt like I could see it. It reminded me of a Miyazaki (the Soulsborne one, not the animated movie one) because the landscape was so rich. ALSO the plotting was excellent, and I found myself trying to figure out which twists were real. I loved the FMC so much and found myself really relating to her, I enjoyed that she was never helpless, and that when she felt that way she still found her strength. Rory, the man that you are. I'm obsessed. I'm not the type to giggle and kick my feet over a fictional character but if ever one deserved it it's this wonderful, ignoble, earrings wearing, eyeliner loving knight. I need the next book STAT.

I was lucky enough to get the eARC and truly became obsessed with Rachel Gillig’s writing. How I’ve never picked up her other duology, I don’t even know. So being able to revisit this book in the audio format was phenomenal. Everyone needs to read/listen to this book, immediately.

Already read the book and this was fantastic!! Listening to it in audiobook brought it to life even MORE. god I can’t wait for everyone to read this. The ending literally killed me five times over. Would kill for a paperback arc of this 😭

Thank You. THANK YOU. THANK YOU!!!!

This book is very easily in my top three most highly anticipated releases this year, (quite possibly #1 to be honest.) So it’s an enormous honor for me to get to review an early copy. My endless thanks to NetGalley and the team at Hachette Audio for an advanced recording of the Audiobook.

I’ve already read this book twice, once as a physical book and again with the audio, so I think you can guess that this will be an overwhelmingly positive review.

Having had such sky high expectations after how much I adored the Shepherd King Duology - It’s huge for me to say that this didn’t leave me disappointed. In my mind, it’s firmly cemented Rachel Gillig as an auto-buy/must-read author for me. ‘The Knight and the Moth’ has all the atmospheric writing and unique magical premise that defined her previous books. The type of fantasy world that sets up the plot is absolutely in a similar vein, and it’s still a romantasy. It doesn’t, however, feel like the same story. The characters are distinct and the relationships within the main cast dynamic feel wholly different, though no less enjoyable. There’s a lot of energy to the pacing of the plot, though it’s somewhat dark. And the main romantic pairing adds such quippy banter throughout that the story never sloughs or lulls.

Avoiding details that may spoil the book- as the plot shapes and develops I will say that I saw some of the plot twists coming, and while the cliffhanger at the end hit me hard (yes, it does end in a cliffhanger) I was not wholly surprised given the similar structure to Gillig’s previous series. I expect ‘Stonewater Kingdom’ will be a lot like ‘Shepherd King’ in that the first book gets you easily invested and then the second absolutely shatters your expectations and blows you away. At least that’s certainly what I’m hoping for 🤞

Audio 5/5- The perfect choice of voice for the narrator. Samantha Hydeson sounds pretty much exactly how I expected Six/Sybil to sound. The voices done for other characters are non-obtrusive but still distinct enough to follow when the banter’s bantering!

Shoutout to Rachel Gillig for single-handedly helping my Author Trust Issues.

I’ve been so disappointed by so many of my most anticipated reads from some of my favorite authors over the past year that—I’ll admit it—I was nervous to pick up “The Knight and the Moth.” Gillig’s first duology “One Dark Window” and “Two Twisted Crowns” was just so damn good and so high on my Best Fantasy Books of All Time list that I lay awake at night worrying that the next book might not measure up. I’d been burned before—too many times to count—and in the middle of a reading rut, I didn’t know if I should risk it.

I’m so glad I did. “The Knight and the Moth” cemented Rachel Gillig’s Fantasy Crown. It hit every one of my fantasy book wishlist items: Phenomenally written prose that matches a multidimensional plot? Check. Banter that had me cackling one page and crying the next? Check. A unique magic system and well crafted world that has me so distracted at my 9-to-5 job? Check. An ending that was both satisfying and had me sitting straight up in bed, gasping in shock? CHECK.

“The Knight and the Moth” has all this, and more.

Gillig’s writing and characters just scratches my brain the perfect way. If someone asked me to show them the perfect fantasy book, I’d hold this up because it just nails everything while giving you the last thing you’d expect. My mind is already running amuck at all the possibilities of Book 2 and all the things I hope the characters get to accomplish. (Bartholomew, I’m your number one fan!) Instead of fearing for the next book, I’m going to take the faith Gillig has instilled in me and know that Book 2 is going to be even better.

Until then, I’m going to go re-read “One Dark Window” and then “Two Twisted Crowns” and then probably “The Knight and the Moth” again because no one quite compares to a Rachel Gillig book.

Sybil Delling is a Diviner - one of six young women trained to see the signs of the Omens. From kings to commoners, visitors come to Ashling Cathedral for a chance to look into their future. But as Sybil's time at the cathedral comes to a close, a new king visits and brings with him a brash knight who Sybil cannot stand. He gets under her skin by telling her she knows nothing of life outside her cathedral, confirming an unspoken fear. As Sybil readies to begin her new life, her sister Diviners start disappearing. Can she trust the knights to help her find her friends? Or is something so sinister at work it may be beyond them all?

Gillig's debut duology (The Shepherd King) was a BookTok hit with a unique magical system, and I was delighted to see that she's created another distinctly unique world for her second series. The Knight and the Moth follows a Diviner who receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. A mysterious and heretical knight shows up, and not long after that her fellow Diviners begin to go missing. Thus begins a quest as she leaves behind the cathedral to face the world for the first time.

It's a gothic story that's eerie and atmospheric, with some lighthearted moments to occasionally lighten the mood. The stakes are high and there's good tension between the main characters. The gargoyle was by far my favorite character! I enjoyed listening to the audiobook, though there were a few times I wished I had a print copy to cross-reference details about the worldbuilding and magical system.

Although this is being marketed as romantasy because that's what sells right now, it would be more accurate to describe TKATM as a gothic fantasy with a strong romance subplot. Fans of One Dark Window will love Gillig's new series.

This story started off a bit slow for me, but I found it to be a very unique and interesting read. The plot really picked up toward the end, and that’s when I became fully invested in the story. Overall, I’m glad I had the chance to read this before the official release. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity!

Rachel Gillig continues to outdo herself, This story is atmospheric and instantly engrossing while also having moments of humor and tenderness that you will continue to think about long after the book is done. The romance between Sybil and Rory is masterful and their tension and banter is next level.

“The Knight and the Moth” by Rachel Gillig was an outstanding audiobook experience. The narrator delivered a phenomenal performance, with her intonation, pacing, and accent beautifully enhancing the atmosphere and making the story feel even more immersive. As one of my most anticipated gothic romantasy releases of 2025, it did not disappoint. This novel marks the first installment in The Stonewater Kingdom series, and Gillig excels at crafting a richly detailed world. Sybil is a compelling and dynamic main character, and I found the divination-based magic system particularly fascinating. The story unfolds with the intrigue of a mystery, and I thoroughly enjoyed every step of the journey. This was my first introduction to Rachel Gillig's writing, and I am eager to explore more of her work.
Thank you to NetGallery and Hachette Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.