Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC.
Rating: ★★★★☆

Have you ever felt the magnetic pull of a story that refuses to let go of your heart and mind, even long after you’ve turned the last page? "Two Twisted Crowns," the dark and enchanting sequel to "One Dark Window," is precisely that kind of spellbinding tale. It’s a narrative that wraps you in its misty embrace and never relents, pulling you into a world where every shadow holds a secret, and every whispered word could alter destinies.

I found myself captivated by the story’s dark allure, rating it 4 out of 5 stars. While the pacing occasionally felt hurried, the rich expansion of the world and the deepening of the story more than compensated for this minor flaw. This book is a must-read for anyone who revels in dark, magical adventures—a journey you’ll be reluctant to leave, even as you yearn for the light.

This series is such an interesting read. I loved the atmosphere so much and the characters have your heart in a grasp so tight it feels like you can’t breathe. I can’t really say much plot wise since it’s hard not to get into spoiler territory, but i will say it was really well done, wrapped up in a way that is satisfying but also not too satisfying if you know what I mean. I also loved the choice of the added perspective from Elm, his voice really added so much, and made me love this book so much more! Gillig’s writing is a new favourite of mine and I can’t wait to read whatever she puts out next.

4 ⭐️

The magic system here truly is unique. I love both the cards and the "infection." I really enjoyed learning more about how certain cards worked, especially the maiden.

The switch from having elspeth and ravyn as the main characters to having ravyn, Elm, and elspeth was a good choice. Elspeth still has a POV but takes a backseat following the events at the end of book 1, and it is shared with the nightmare. I would have liked an Ione POV. It would have been interesting to see what it was like in her head under the maidens' influence

Elm. Sweet Elm, my new favourite character in the series. We definitely needed his POV to get to know him better, and you can't help but love him once you do. Plus, his romance is so sweet. I love them together, and their individual storylines coming together was well done.

To have a character called the nightmare make me emotional, is a testament to the writing and plot choices. The moment where he refuses to let history repeat itself in the woods and then the scenes at the end of the book were very well done.

It did get a little slow at some points and the parts where elspeth is in the memories got confusing but that may be due to the formatting in the ARC making it difficult to tell when the memory started.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, Rachel Gillig, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for this review.

Apologies for my delay, I’ve had a very hectic few months.

Rachel Gillig has some of the best prose I’ve read to date. I loved the first book, wasn’t surprised that I loved this as well given the plot and the characters intrigued me already. But I feel like not enough people talk about how good her prose is.

This was a disappointing sequel, I loves the first book so much, and really wanted this one to be as good. It was slower, and didn't keep me grippesd in the storyline and I found myself not wanting to pick it up at points. It was a good read, I just wish I had loved it.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, but honestly didn’t overly love it. I think this duology has been hyped up so much, that it has swayed my opinion a little bit.

As the second book in the duology I found I enjoyed finding out more about the nightmare and his past. The banter between elm & ione was great, as well as all the other characters. I think the ending wrapped up quite well, leaving no questions.

However, I was a little confused by Elspeth not being overly present in this book & elm & ione became the main characters (or that’s what it felt like) although I did enjoy there banter just seemed out of place. Because of this I think the pacing was a little bit off, any time something exciting happened with ravyn or the nightmare it bounced back to elm in a different place and it would slow down the excitement.

Overall, this was an incredibly written book & I can see why this duology is so well liked. But unfortunately wasn’t for me!

Thank you NetGalley & Little, Brown Book Group UK for this arc 💖

the world building here is amazing. The magic system intertwined throughout it made for a nice read. I enjoyed the gothic vibes I got from the book. It was a nice easy read. 3 stars.

"Be wary, be clever be good"

This picked up right where book 1 left off, and it just got right down to business. This was an amazing sequel I could not out it down!

I loved that this book focused on the side characters blooming romance aswell as Elspeth and Raven, the characters development was pure perfection. I've never been so invested in a side character before.

Nightmare was his perfect sparky self, and I loved learning more about his background and the lore behind the cards.

Enchantmenting atmosphere, a unique magic system and swoon worthy romance, this book was perfection.

I liked the idea of this series, but I just didn’t connect with it. I think I’m going to try again in October ish, and have bought copies, but right now, I didn’t love it.

This book was SO GOOD and exactly what I wanted / needed for the ending of this duology!!!! I’m going to be thinking about this for WEEKS I can guarantee it

Side note;
ELM I LOVE YEWWWW (haha lol)

"The two were together, so the two were the same. The girl, the King, and the monster they became."


I absolutely loved One Dark Window and couldn't wait for this one. It did not disappoint. Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders. They are trying to find it by Solstice and need all the help they can get. We learn the true story of the Providence Cards, the price paid for them, and what happened to and with the Shepherd King. I really loved the multiple points of view in this one as we see Ravyn and Elm's point of view also. Elspeth has been taken over by the nightmare so we see his point of view also. I loved Elm's point of view and we saw more from him and other side characters which was fantastic. Him and Ione have an interesting relationship that develops and grows as their characters do. It was such an action packed sequel, I'm sad the series is over but I thoroughly enjoyed both books.

A perfect ending to a 5 star duology.

In this gothic sequel, Elspeth and Raven have finally collected most twelve of the providence cards, with one exception: the Twin Alders card. The only one who can help the pair find the card is the nightmare living inside Elspeth’s head.

This was a glorious sequel to One Dark Window, full of the same gothic setting and incredible cast of characters.

In this sequel we also get to know side characters more in depth as we follow Elm and Ione on their journey. With an irresistible romance, this truly is a perfect book.

A deliciously dark and eldritch tale of monsters, vengeance, romance, and secrets. Fans of the first book will be very satisfied by this one. Elm gets his own POV chapters which elevates the story yet again due to his endearing nature. It's also fascinating to get to know Ione better as she's kept deliberately at a distance in the first book. A beautiful duology I can't wait to read again.

I had a lot of excitement for this one after how the first one ended but I struggled to get through this. Felt it was dragging on a bit and was getting confused. Not a terrible read but unfortunately would've rave.

This was such a great sequel to an amazing duology! I love the author’s beautiful, yet haunting writing. This world and magic system were so unique and refreshing. I can’t wait to read more books from the author!

I cannot believe it took me so long to get around to this book! I have been a firm Rachel Gillig fan since the release of One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns does not disappoint,

I appreciated that the book picked up more or less immediately from the conclusion of the first and loved the added insight into the characters, particularly the Shepard King.

The magic system in this duology is unique and rich - adding a cosiness to the writing, despite being a predominantly gothic fantasy romance.

I cannot recommend this book enough and will be recommending to everyone I know!

I read the first book in this duology, One Dark Window last year as part of my trying to clear a bit of my FairyLoot backlog and it was one of those books which made me think “Why didnt I read this earlier” it is a really good fantasy set in a world where power is granted through cards, but these cards are limited and they all have consequences of over use. So, when I saw Netgalley had the next in the series, I jumped at the chance. So, thanks Netgalley for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t go into the story too much for this in case you haven’t read the first book, but needless to say this one starts off where the last one ended (which was a pretty big cliffhanger) and we see the main protagonist, Elspeth continue her adventure to see out the full set in order to rid the world of the mist and cure the sickness.
I loved this sequel, it continued the story at the perfect pace, never leaving the reader bored and we were given more of an insight into many of the main characters including the main male character, Ravyn.
One of the best parts was learning of the origin story of the world and why it became such a dangerous place. I love to hear a character’s backstory but the hear a world’s backstory from the character who caused the world’s changes was fascinating.
If you have read the first book be prepared for more action, more excitement, more amazing world building and a thrilling, chaotic conclusion which will leave you racing to the end.
But, if you haven’t started this duology I would highly recommend it. The combination of superb world building with strong character arcs makes it an engaging, exciting series which I am quite sad has now finished.
If you are looking for a duology to escape with and be absorbed into look no further
***** - a superb conclusion to an exciting, emotional, fantasy duology.

I loved One Dark Window so was really looking forward to this, and it did not dissapoint. Continuing from where ODW left off with it's unique magic system. We get to learn more about other characters and the background of the Shepherd King. Really good sequel and definitely recommend the duology

I loved this sequel so much! I loved everything about this gothic romantasy, the characters, the magic system, the story it had me hooked from the start.

I absolutely adored book one of this duology & I was so nervous to read the conclusion to the story but this one did not disappoint.

I've knocked it down a star rating as I really struggle with 3rd person narrative and it was something that I noticed right from the beginning. That being said I couldn't get enough of all the characters POVs. They really helped set the mood and answer questions that were in the back of my mind.

It was a beautiful way to end the duology and everything was tied up and presented to you in a nice neat little package. I'm sad that the world has come to an end but I'm most definitely going to be picking up more of this authors books.


𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘
• duology
• found family
• gothic fantasy
• magic system
• dark and moody
• multiple POVs