Review
I loved One Dark Window so much (it’s up there with my favourite books) so I was very excited to read this ARC for Two Twisted Crowns.

It was definitely worth the wait! The same gothic atmosphere and beautiful writing sucks you in again from the start. I really enjoyed that we got more insight into Elm from his POV, and that his character gets chance to grow throughout the book. I did also enjoy learning more about Ione and how the events of the first book had shaped and affected her. It was really clever how, as we learnt about the shepherd king’s history this was mirrored throughout the events of the main narrative.

I did miss Elspeth and Rayvn’s relationship in this book. I feel like I could have done with a few more chapters or another half of a book once Elspeth had returned to herself. That said, the ending does tie everything up nicely, I think I just didn’t want it to end!

All in all, I love the world building, the magic system, the gothic feeling of this book, along with the fairy tale atmosphere that comes from all of the secrets and riddles. An amazing duology that I wish we had more of!

I already loved the first book in this series and ended up loving the second book even more! We get introduced to multiple POVs and every time one POV ended I was sad because I wanted to see what happened next, but also super excited to read another POV. There's also a larger focus on Elm and Ione, which I wasn't sure about at first but they really have my heart now. I did miss Elspeth (and her interactions with The Nightmare) and would've loved to see more of it in the book, but it's fully understandable why that did not fit into this story. The whole story is a lot more action-packed than the first book and it is very fast-paced, especially parts two and three. The book has a beautiful, albeit bittersweet, ending. I'm actually sad this didn't turn into a trilogy because I want more of this story!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me this arc in exchange of an honest review!

After reading One Dark Window my expectations for this one was sky high. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

What I liked:
- I loved the new POVs in this book!! Ravyn, Elm and Ione's chapters was such a good expansion to the book. Elm was one of my favorites in the first book and I was very happy seing his name.
- There’s no hiding that I absolutely love The Nightmare. I usually always love the elder grumpy character in books, and this is no exception! After the ending of book 1 you probably know we get to see a lot more of The Nightmare and his interactions with others, which I loved reading!! The nightmare is such a funny character.
- It was nice reading more about Ione, she was a character I was interested in throughout book 1.
- The world building is amazing!!! I remember loving the original concept of the first book and I loved it even more in this one.
- The long awaited twist which all books tend to have was very good and it was executed so so well. I did however have a slight feeling of what was coming, but it was a lot more complex than I had thought.

Things I disliked:
- Because of the whole The Nightmare/Elspeth situation we didn’t get a lot of Ravyn and Elspeth, which made me sad. I loved reading from Elspeth’s POV in book 1 and I missed her a lot reading this.
- The ending wasn’t as good as I had hoped?? I was reading on my kindle and I was expecting a lot more chapters and then suddenly it was over and The Epilog was next up. It felt a little unfinished, but at the same time it wrapped everything up nicely.

If you loved One Dark Window you should definitely read this one!! I am very sad that it’s over already so I’ll probably re-read a couple of times!

I'm so sad, since I was anticipating this book since loving the first one last year, but this was so disappointing.

The things that I loved in the last book, the atmosphere and Elspeth's character, felt like they were missing here. I understand why to an extent considering the events at the end of the last book. And I'm glad Ravyn got his own chapters, that definitely saved this book for me. I also really liked the dynamic between Elspeth and the nightmare.

However, Elm's chapters were very boring for the first half of the book. The pacing felt very weird and slow. I didn't feel connected to his and Ione's romance because it felt like they were taking away from Ravyn and Elspeth, aka the characters we grew to love in the first book. Also, since Ione isn't really her true self for most of thi novel, the romance just felt lacking in emotion for me.

I felt as well that since we had such a large focus on the secondary romance, Ravyn and Elspeth didn't get any actual time together when we were literally waiting the whole book for it, and the ending just felt rushed.

Thank you so much to little brown book group UK for sending me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review! So here we go!

Rating: 5/5⭐️

A lot can go wrong with sequels. But a lot can go right and Two Twisted Crowns was an absolutely extraordinary journey from the beginning to the end! We follow Ravyn, Elspeth and the Nightmare on their quest to unite the Sherphen King’s deck and at the same time, we follow Elms and Ione - who were left behind.

The writing continues to be amazing, pulling your attention with every word and you’ll find yourself wanting to just keep reading until there’s nothing else left! All characters are so rich and interesting that you’ll want them to thrive (and to perish badly). I must confess tho, I loved the romance on this one a lot more! It was absolutely on point!

If you enjoyed A Dark Window, you’ll for sure love the sequel!

Keep an eye out for my bookstagram post closer to the publication date! @maria_bookshelf

What an outstanding conclusion to a duology. I thought nothing could top One Dark Window but boy was I was proved wrong. This book was phenomenal, Rachel Gillig just has a way with writing, it quite literally sucks you into the story. The riddles, the rhymes, the mysteries, the romance, everything about this book was just perfect.

The book picks up from where we left off in One Dark Window, Elspeth has been lost to the nightmare and the mist is continuing to infect. Much like the first book, the storyline was just superb, nothing felt rushed, yet nothing felt slow or lacking. I felt thoroughly immersed for the entirety of the book.

Not only was the storyline brilliant, but the slow burn romance was just to die for. Every time I read any of Elm and Iones chapters I couldn’t help smiling to myself. Their Chemistry was Infallible, to the point that I think I actually adore them as a couple more than Elspeth and Ravyn.

Overall this was a fantastic conclusion to the duology, I am wholly satisfied with the ending, unlike other duologies/series that I’ve read I actually feel like the story was wrapped up perfectly. This has quickly become one of, if not my favourite duology ever written.

I am sad that the story is over but as the saying goes all good things must come to an end. I am so excited to see what else Rachel Gillig has to offer, because I most certainly will be reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be posted via aaliyahsbookshelf._ on Instagram on 05/10/23

What an ending. This duology was so much fun to read. I found this conclusion to be very atmospheric and great to read. I am definitely interested in and looking forward to reading more. This was utterly amazing

An atmospheric conclusion to the duology, it picks up right where we left off in Book 1 and follows Raven, Elspeth & Elm on their adventures to stop the king.

I don’t know what it is about this authors writing but I just can gel with it. I thinks it’s a unique concept and the magic system is very interesting but I just couldn’t get sucked into the story. I also liked Elm & Iones story.

Ps, don’t look up Taxus unless you basically wanna spoil the ‘twist’

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the digital ARC! One Dark Window was one of my favourite reads of last year, so I'm so happy to have been able to read the sequel early!

Thankfully, this lived up to expectations. We're back in the world of the Shepherd King, following on immediately from book one. One of the things I kept thinking during this was 'how did she come up with all these cool rhymes?', which I'm probably not meant to think, but still.

If you read the first book, you'll know that this follows on with trying to unite the Providence Deck to get rid of the mists and the infection. There are 4 distinct POV's in this book, and I'll keep who they are secret so you can enjoy them yourselves. The characters are all fleshed out, which is impressive as there is a large list of them we have to remember. Ravyn was still as enticingly broody and handsome, and his slow learning that he doesn't have to be perfect all the time was great to read. At the same time, I felt a little sad about Elspeth as I feel she was under utilised in this book. Without spoiling anything, I'm a little disappointed with the ending and I'd love to see a novella or something.

On the other hand, I really liked the Nightmare. He's old and grumpy and bitey but he's also sweet, deep underneath all that. He was easily my favourite character, and I'm not sure if he was meant to be or not...but he was. I loved how the story panned out for him.

I did see the twist coming, but it was still explained fantastically and the overall writing of this book was excellent. I'm excited to see what Rachel Gillig writes in the future, as this duology was such an enjoyable read!

Wow what can I say! This book was amazing! The atmosphere, the characters the story, everything was spot on. It wrapped the story up perfectly, I loved the plot twists and how the information was only released through the book, that kept you wanting more.!

Let me take a deep breath…

That. Was. Phenomenall.

Dark, mysterious, bloody, yet, I couldn’t put that book down, every time I did, I had to get back to reading, almost immidietly.

Firstly I wanted to thank NetGalley for giving me that opportunity and provided me with advanced reading copy of Two Twisted Crown written by Rachel Gillig. Review I am about to write is mine, and mine only, no one and nothing could affect it.

Secondly I wanted to thank Rachel for providing us with that story. When I have read One Dark Window few weeks ago I never would have imagine I will come back to Blunder so soon. Yet, here I am, devouring page by page, thrilled by what fate prepared for our dear Elspeth Spindle. I am not dissapointed, trust me, you won’t be either.

Everything written in that book made so much sense, EVERYTHING.

While reading TTC we get to know not only Ravyn and Elspeth point of view, but also we get a better look at Elm - or should I say Prince Renelm Rowan- second Heir to Blunders Throne, and to be honest his story got me more hooked than main characters storyline. Of course I craved to know what is going on with Elspeth and what yet is about to happen to both she and Ravyn, but I became so fond of Elm and Ione’s storyline that each time I saw Elm’s name in chapters title I was getting more and more excited.

Storyline is wrapping very well, characters development is amazing and I couldn’t be thinking about better ending of that story that Rachel has got us. The goodbyes we have to face got me sobbing so hard but yet they were neccesery. I just had one problem with that book - time lines are missing. I mean, we all knew that to combine Deck they had to do that at Winter Solstice and only then, but I never knew how much time do they have left, so I was kinda feeling like I was missing major information. Later, it wasn’t that important, but at the begining I was struggling with that missing knowledge.

Still it was 5/5 ⭐️ read and I will always recommend those books to anyone that wants to listen to me.

I had been eagerly awaiting this sequel and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. There is no gap between the books, and you definitely need to have read 'oneDark window' to read Twoo Twisted Crowns. I really liked how this book was written and all the characters were cleveroped beautifully in it. The magic system is a little confusing but it is fresh and this dualogy is definitely one I recommend to all fantasy Fans.