4.5 stars!
A fantastical conclusion to a magical duology.

One Dark Window took me by surprise. When I first started reading it, I didn't know what I was in for, and quickly fell head over heels.
What I've always liked best about this was the magic cards, which Rachel Gillig greatly expands upon in Two Twisted Crowns. The first 20/30% were a punch in the gut. The last 20% had my heart in knots of barbed wire.
Weaved in beautiful prose and lush imagery, Two Twisted Crowns tells a tale of pain, hope, love, and forgiveness.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for providing me with a copy.

What a nicely written and nicely developed duology! And what an original magic system ! I truly enjoyed both books, and hope to read more stories by this author in the future !

My favorite book of the year! Rachel, I swear I didn't think anything could top One Dark Window, but here you are, shepherding us into another dark masterpiece.
In Two Twisted Crowns, the switch between who we consider the main characters is seamless and simply makes sense. And dare I say, I love them even more?

If you take a second and reread the pages, you'll notice that the magical nooks Gillig conjures are nothing like we've read before.
A refreshing, original story that transports you into the most desirable gothic fantasy world in literature.

As much as I am heartbroken about this story coming to an end, what a satisfying ending it was.
Tears were shed.
Hearts were mended.

♾️⭐️

𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘈 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦. 𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚.

This book. This book, right here. Books like this.

IS WHY I READ 👏🏻🥹💫

And they don’t come round often. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ever bawled my eyes out over a book being GOOD. No not good. Phenomenal🧎🏽‍♀️🧎🏽‍♀️🧎🏽‍♀️

IM TOO BLOWN AWAY TO ACT NORMAL 😭

If you loved ODW you will not be disappointed with this 🙏🏻 it’s difficult for me to review without giving spoilers buuuut…

TTC picks up directly where ODW left off. I still can’t find the shoe I threw after THAT dirty great cliffhanger 💆🏽‍♀️

TTC is definitely darker than ODW. It’s creepier, the mood deadlier. Naturally because the stakes have risen, the future of Blunder hung in the balance. And essentially the book follows two separate plots and three POVS, all coming together magnificently at the end.

We learn a lot more about the Shepherd King. I LOVED THE NIGHTMARE SO HARD 😭 the banter, the camaraderie 😪😪 I can’t COPE!!
We learn more about Elspeth. Ravyn. Elm. Ionne.
And a new romantic subplot is introduced which is foreshadowed in ODW 🫠 Never thought I’d simp over a man named after a tree but I’d climb him like one 🤣🤣

I loved everything about it 🥹🥹🥹🥹 this story is so god damn clever. I am so fascinated by this world, its characters and their idiosyncrasies. And EVERY single one had a motive, a desire, driving their part in this story which led to an epic conclusion 🙏🏻

I’d give anything for this to be a longer series 😩

I’m so sad that it’s over but I can’t WAIT to see what RG does next!!!!!

Wow this book exceeded all my expectations. I absolutely loved One Dark Window so Two Twisted Crowns was one of my highly anticipated reads this year and I was just hoping it would live up to everything and more.

Picking straight up from where One Dark Window ended it instantly pulled me in, Rachel’s writing is beautiful and so beautifully descriptive that it brings so much more to the story. We have three POVs in this book and it worked so well developing and moving the plot along to a well thought out conclusion. I loved how we went on the journey with Ravyn to locate and unite the last providence card and the added world building was gothic and hauntingly vivid. We also had Elms PoV as he was left behind with Ione and this greatly improved the plot and storytelling to keep it moving and bring it full circle for the ending.

This has become one of my favourite duology’s and this was a perfect conclusion to the the shepherds king story, from the characters, to the writing to the added world building to the vivid and intricate details and especially the emotions that you feel as you find out the backstory to the Nightmares past.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another five star read. I wasn’t a lover of the first book, however did it enjoy it. This one however I loved. The story is well written the character building is good. So glad I have this a chance.

I loved it!one dark window was one of my favourite books I’ve read so I was overjoyed to receive an advanced copy of the sequel and it did not disappoint at all! I could not stop reading and I was so sad when I finished! The characters are so well written and the story!!! Ah I just loved the book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this!

Following on from the events of One Dark Window, this book picks up almost immediately where the first one left off. This time round we get the added benefit of multiple POVs.

In Two Twisted Crowns we get to see and understand the world from Raven and Elm’s perspectives as well as Elspeth/the nightmares. I really enjoyed getting to know Elm and Ravyn better and was surprised by how much I came to like Elm’s character. There was so much more to him that I was excited to discover.

While each of these three must all fight there own battles to reach the same goal - to unite the providence cards and lift the mist - there are many things standing in their way. Elspeth is lost in the mind of the nightmare and he is determined to keep her safe and hidden. Ravyn and Elm are trapped in the pretence of their courtly roles while they continue to try to deceive everyone around them, but the edges of their ruse are starting to pull apart at the seems.

Ultimately, time is running out for everyone and while the elite of blunder seem content to live and be ruled by fear there are those who must fight against everything in their path to try and create a better blunder.

A fantastic gothic fantasy, and great for a spooky read this time of year!

the anticipation for this book was killing me !!!! rachel literally killed it with this book — not only did she do justice with ravyn and elspeth BUT ALSO elm and ione ???? i cannot tell you who my favourite couple was because i love them both SO MUCH.

the shepherd king — i have such a love/hate relationship with him tbh but his banter with ravyn was TOP TIER and don’t even get me started on his relationship with elspeth … their ending broke me </3

the plot’s continuation from the first book was SO GOOD. it felt right and flowed SO SO beautifully. rachel quite literally killed it with this book. i have literally nothing to complain about (which is so rare for me) — every character was versatile and complex and i COULD NOT put this book down. rachel gillig can officially take my money because i will buy ANYTHING she puts out !!!!

An absolute 5 star read for me.

I seriously love Rachel's writing style; this duology truly is an 'I forgot I was reading' kind of vibe.

After finishing One Dark Window, I honestly thought it would be difficult to follow up with a book as incredible. However, this was the perfect ending to the duology.

I thoroughly enjoyed the fast-paced plot that was present through most of this book, especially the lead up to the final chapters. The multiple points of view were also a really enjoyable aspect that we didn't see in the first.

Whilst the romance we see blossom in this book was wonderful, I do wish we had some more focus on Elspeth and Ravyn, especially towards the ending of the book. This would be my only gripe!

I'd be so happy to see more from the world of Blunder in the future!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for sharing this book with me.

4,5/5 stars! This is the second book in the Shepherd King series by author Rachel Gillig. This is gothic romance at its finest. Elspeth is a pleasure to read and watching the play out of dark forces against her was heart-wrenching and exhilarating at the same time.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I tore through the first book at a break neck speed, so going into the second book in the duology - it felt slow to get started, however, I really enjoyed the foreshadowing and multiple POV's used in this book. It managed to still maintain an element of secrecy even though you got to enjoy so many POV's. It didn't become a thing where we just waited for the series to end, already knowing how everything was going to come into play. Really enjoyable read and another smash hit from the publisher. Love the gothic vibes and can not wait to get my hands on a printed copy. Thank you again.

WOW, I loved this book. It was a perfect ending for this duology and everything I would hope for. Normally, I get disappointed by sequels or second books, however Two Twisted Crowns was not that case at all.

Without giving away too much nor any spoilers, I just want to add that even though I spent almost the entirety of this book suffering and stressing about everything, I loved every second of it. It hurts in the best way possible, the characters go through so much but everything makes sense and actually advances the story itself, it isn't a story with easy paths or answers. Magic has a price in this world, magic isn't free, it costs you something.

I think my only critic to this book, is that we didn't get more of Ravyn and Elspeth, I kinda felt robbed. Although, we did get another romance and it was amazing, I still missed them. Everything else was perfection, this book has everything you need, intricate relationships, amazing writing, engaging mystery, unique magic system and endless action.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves dark gothic fantasy and romance. Also, it is a story about love and its many forms and how despite the horrible things that we go through and the mistakes we make throughout our lives, it doesn't mean we shouldn't get a chance to make it right.


Lastly, I would like to thank NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK (Orbit) for sharing a digital copy of this amazing book in exchange of my honest review.

This is going to be a NRN for me—I need to re-read book one and come back to this at a later date. The writing was lovely but I couldn’t get into it at the moment. This was a me problem!

4.5*

I love duologies, and this one gave me everything I wanted. Made me cry, had lots of magic, excellent romantic subplots, and a satisfying ending.

Excited to read what the author will write next!

♾️/5⭐

Y'ALL ARE NOT READY FOR THIS BOOK

It was thrilling, so fast paced, always something was happening, there wasn't a dull moment in this book, my heart was pounding, I couldn't put it down, THE ROMANCE!!! OMGGG THE ROMANCE!!! it had me in a chokehold, I had to stop reading at school, cus I was literally grinning so much and giggling and kicking my feet, and the plot ahhhhh, it was magical and so unique, the last 100 pages I was reading with bated breath from all the twists and turns

It's my top 2023 read, I absolutely love this book, it's even better than one dark window, which I also rated 5⭐

ELM MARRY ME PLS🛐
Don't get me wrong, still love Nightmare, but Elm had stolen the show and my heart🤭🤧

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

I really liked it! Both books are very nice, good pacing, interesting characters and magic system. It concludes very nicely, leaves no questions open and it introduces story and the past at a very nice pace.

It's refreshing to read a series that wraps up so nicely, it's a very well rounded series.

The only thing I minded a bit, especially in first half of the book, is that chapters are very short and with perspective changing in each chapter, it felt too small spinets of the story at the time. It got better later.

I really like Nightmare as a character, and how poeticly he often talks. I really like how Book of Alders sounds.

And for some reason I really like name <spoiler>Taxus.</spoiler> :D

Oh. My. Gosh. This sequel!! The most enchanting nightmare that I’d gladly never wake from.

Two twisted crowns was so stunningly written, with the same dark gothic vibes as One Dark Window and a whole load of mystery and magic, I was completely enthralled. It has my favourite unique magic system I’ve ever read too!

Elm and Ione’s love story was so lovely, I adored them together and that they were endgame!!

I loved the multiple point of views from Elm, Rayvn and Elspeth. The fact that the Shepherd King was still a big main character was perfect, I loved how developed he became and how we saw that loving fatherly side of him as well as the nightmare king.

Honestly? Just stunning.

Ravyn, Elm and Jespyr continue the quest to gather the Providence Cards and free the kingdom of Blunder from the mysterious mist and the deadly infection that brings magical abilities for the price of horrible mental and physical degeneration. They are running out of time as Emory’s health deteriorates. Meanwhile, Elspeth is overwhelmed by the Nightmare’s power. While struggling to find a way out, she learns more about the beast living in her head and the man he used to be...

Two Twisted Crowns is a perfect sequel to One Dark Window. It is beautifully dark and gothic and full of exciting action. Perfect as an autumnal read. I loved how easy it was for me to return to the story, like I never left Blunder, as very little time passed between One Dark Window's ending and Two Twisted Crowns' beginning. I adored the dark fairytale atmosphere of this series and was captivated by the world created by the author. I was positively surprised by the multiple points of view narration. It was interesting to see the world through Ravyn’s eyes, but I was delighted to read Elm’s chapters. I always wanted to know more about his past and his relationship with his family and felt that it was missing from Book One. Rachel Gillig did not disappoint, bringing in more Elm in Two Twisted Crowns.
To sum up, I think this book is even better than One Dark Window, which does not always apply to sequels. I love this series.

This book definitely did not disappoint

Rachel has managed to make a villain into a character i started to like and even love in some parts. Nightmare was by far the funniest character in the book, but still a little creepy at times.

The rhymes were my absolute favorite part of the book.

I definitely started this book not feeling too sure about Nightmare and if he could be likeable. But after reading his story, i can't say i blame him for being so murderous.

Even after having to wait all this time for book 2, this book made me remember everything FAST, no need to do a reread of book 1.

The only thing i really really missed in this book was.. well.. The main character, Elspeth. Throughout the entire book, we barely hear from her, and even the ending lacks info, i feel like we might need another book just so Elspeth can really have her happy ending.

That last line from nightmare tho?? Dangggg that almost made me cry



Please Rachel, i need a book full of Nightmare's rhymes