Thank you orbit books and netgally for gifting me this arc! It was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and Rachel did not disappoint.

Rachel Gillig does it again! After experiencing the shepherd king duology, (because that’s what it is, and experience!!) I had really high expectations for the knight and the moth. And gosh did Rachel deliver!

From the first page, I was swept into Stonewater Kingdom and the interesting lives of Sybil and co.

This book gave serious quest vibes, strange magic, dangerous paths, and a story that feels mythic yet totally original. Rachel can build a magic systems like no one else, and this one is both emotionally rich and entirely her own. A fresh, heartfelt fantasy that’s unlike anything else I’ve read. The knight and the moth is an absolute must read!

I waited for this boom for so long and it was so so worth it!!!!!


I just love how Rachel Gillig creates her world. It always feels so real and unique and beautiful. Now I can’t wait for the second book in the series!!!

One line review – all the stars for this gothic masterpiece, also where can I get a pet gargoyle?

It’s official! I will read anything Rachel Gillig writes. After loving The Shepherd King duology, I wasn’t sure she could top it, but she has. This book is a gothic fantasy dream, filled with a rich, unique magic system, stunning atmosphere, and yes… absolutely unforgettable gargoyle vibes. I’m obsessed.

The story is packed with action, but still gives you space to breathe between the intensity. The slow-burn romance was perfection, and the banter? Chef’s kiss. I highlighted nearly every line the gargoyle said, funny, clever, and sometimes surprisingly profound.

While some parts were ultimately predictable, they didn’t unfold in the way I expected. There were red herrings throughout that kept me guessing right to the end. And that ending? I’m still reeling Rachel, how could you?

Beyond the twists and aesthetics, this book delivers meaningful themes and beautiful lessons, all wrapped in a captivating narrative with a total green-flag male lead. I loved every second of it.

<blockquote>No is a sufficient answer</blockquote>
➼ Gothic Fantasy
➼ Green flag MMC
➼ Haunted Abbeys
➼ Slow Burn/Tension
➼ Gargoyle Bestie
➼ Divinities
➼ Omens x Prophecies

Once again an amazing book from Rachel. This was a stunning story and I will wait eagerly for the next book on the series.

I'll always enjoy a Rachel gillig book. Her writing style catapults you into these dark gothic atmospheric worlds and doesn't let you of you. Having previously loved one dark window I was sure I'd love this one as well.

OK, so I think this book was good. I definitely liked the Shepherd King duology more, but it was still a fun read. The gothic atmosphere, darker themes, and the concept of the Omens turned gods were really compelling—plus, the gargoyle? Iconic.

It’s definitely more plot-driven than romance-heavy, so if you’re expecting a sweeping romantasy, just keep in mind the romantic subplot is subtle. That said, I really enjoyed Sybil’s journey and the dynamic between the Diviners overall. Rory and Maude added depth and heart to the story, and I loved how their relationships pushed the plot forward in meaningful ways.

While the characters didn’t grab me the way some others have in similar books, the unique worldbuilding and darker tone kept me engaged. I’m definitely picking up the sequel when it drops.

This book is my new favourite of all time. Absolutely no notes. Perfection. It has everything. The character focused plot in the gothic atmospheric world that Rachel always delivers on. I could not fault it. I can’t wait for book two 💗

This is truly one gem of a book. Rachel Gilligs writing is mesmerising, she’s talented at setting the atmosphere and making you feel wrapped in the story as much as the characters. Just like One Dark Window, this book is gothic and whimsical and I adored every second with our main character and her truly memorable sidekick, who absolutely steals the show sometimes and I loved it.

This is the first of her books that I have read and I have been so excited to get into her books. I absolutely loved the journeys to the gods and the romance within the book as well as the ending. I mean, I felt like something was coming but not that!! I would 100% recommend this book to everyone and I will definitely be reading her other books.

4.5 stars 🌟 rachel’s writing is so beautiful i will forever be in awe of how naturally the poetic and whimsical words flow from her pen, this was slow for me in parts (hence why it wasn’t quite 5 stars for me) HOWEVER this plot was so intriguing, the world was atmospheric, the belief & magic system was unique and the romance subplot was so fun. ALSO i will be calling everyone Bartholomew for the foreseeable 🙂‍↕️.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
The Knight and the Moth is a brand-new fantasy book of Rachel Gillig, about Sybil, one of the six Diviners who reads the signs six Omens when she dreams. After dreaming for knight Roderick, her diviner sisters start disappearing one by one.

“Sword and armor are nothing to stone.”


I’ve fallen in love with Rachel’s writing ever since reading One Dark Window and saying I was beyond excited for this brand-new book is putting it lightly. At the same time, it was also scary to jump into this book with high expectations, but I can only say this book delivered!!

The opening for this book is amazingly done, painting the eerie vibe fitting of the story and also showing the brutality of what dreaming does to Sybil. It helped me with connecting to her from the start.

The writing is really well balanced in telling this story in an addicting way. The pacing slows and fastens in all the right places, making it hard to put the book down and helping me get emerged in the story! Especially once the plot really takes off as Sybil goes to try and find her missing sisters with the help or Roderick.

The world-building and the lore!!! Honestly, how does she come up with such unique ideas!! I loved the setting, the haunting atmosphere created and the bits of magic that we see!!

Sybil is such a strong character. Fierce and loyal, but also sheltered in the way she grew up. But I loved how curious she is and how strong-willed she is. I loved how much of a spine she had and how scarp! Rory as a character is a great balance to Sybil and I loved the difference between them, but honestly my favourite character is by far the gargoyle!! Calling everyone Bartholomew and getting all expressions wrong was amazing!! He is soooo funny and had me laughing out loud quite sometimes!

The romance was swoon-worthy, and I loved the slow-burn of it, but I think I loved the banter between them even more!! They made me squeal and kick my legs and smile in their interactions!! They are just perfect for each other!!

The ending holy damn!! I knew something big was coming with the events leading up to the ending, but I didn’t see this one!! Heart breaking to the max, but not as utterly devastating as some other books are hahaha. I can’t wait to see what the next book in the duology will have in stored for these characters!!

Overall, The Knight and the Moth is an amazing atmospheric fantasy with a world that drew me in and characters that made me fall in love with them.

"And no one says they need recognition or praise or love, but we all hunger for it. We all want to be special"

Let's be honest, we all knew I was going to love The Knight and The Moth for Rachel Gillig's writing is pure poetry for my soul. This has left such an imprint on my heart and my mind that I am honestly a little lost for words. This story and journey made me feel as strong as stone and as gentle as gossamer.

Rachel has an extraordinary skill of writing such beautiful sweeping sentences that feel as if they are a gentle breeze on a sky that is full of pastel kaleidoscope shades. Teeming and dripping with gothic atmosphere without ever feeling as if you are being pulled asunder nor overburden with descriptions and words. The elements of drowning and divinity are at such odds with each other that somehow the drowning felt peaceful and holy and the divinity and reverence felt raw and rough.

This is absolutely a gothic fantasy with a love subplot, however I will say that the elements of love in this story are not purely romantic. There is a beautiful familial love between the diviners, a sisterhood of reverence and soul bonding; a romantic reckoning between the ignoble and the noble, the revered and the reviled, the knight and his undoing, and there is the love between human and gargoyle, friend and friend, a becoming of found family.

The Gargoyle is absolutely a stand out character in TKATM, and without a doubt, such a beautiful way to bring such excellent humour, child-like wonder and incredible mechanism for such thought-provoking, soul-defining one liners. Bartholomew, he is dreamy. Just as The Nightmare was an entity in One Dark Window, the transition to a corporeal although not human being character in TKATM was perfect.

This story is a love letter to human growth and human sacrifice and how we mistake blind faith for love and love for blind faith. Rory, The Knight, challenges those ideals, although "ignoble", and shows us that faith isn't all you need to feel heard, and that growing and admitting your mistakes and ideals that no longer hold weight for us is how we progress.

I am so incredibly happy that I have now read this story, and I cannot explain the bone-shattering pain I feel waiting for the conclusion to this duology

Oh, Bartholomew, where do I start? This book was lovely. atmospheric, gothic and magical at the same time. I always like a book about a king and his knight, and Rachel gives me the most unruly, charming thief/knight/godkiller man. I think I'm in love with him. The whole concept of the omens and the diviners and the way they get their predictions hooked me from the start, and of course, seeing it through our protagonist's eyes? Six is the perfect heroine, and I love how the author tackled themes like divinity, religion, power and ambition through her story. The shroud becomes not just the physical tool of concealing the diviner's eyes, but the metaphorical one, one that is common to us all. I can't wait to read the next, especially after that ending.

ps protect the gargoyle.

Oh my sweet Bartholomew if you haven’t read this you need to drop everything and read it instantly.

The moment I started reading The Knight and The Moth it hooked its claws into me and would not let go! This has fully cemented Rachel Gillig as one of my favourite romantic gothic fantasy authors.

Like Rachel’s previous duology, the magic system was unique and mesmerising. The atmospheric world building was vibrantly decadent and yet hauntingly eerie. I fell head first into this fantasy, completely forgetting the world around me.

The found family vibes were strong with the moody, misfit group of a diviner questioning all she knows, a motherly knight, a brooding and roguish knight, a talking gargoyle and a teenage king. Each character had such a unique appeal to their stories and the wider world, you couldn’t help but root for them!

The romance could have been more slow-burn for me personally as the chemistry and yearning was just *chef’s kiss* but boy Rory is something - swoons.

Sybil’s own journey of self-discovery and strength was inspiring especially set against a backdrop of omens, her friends, and the world she knows being turned on its head.

But let’s talk about the gargoyle! I just adored him so much and let’s be very honest his sass and side remarks were probably one of my favourite things about this the whole story!

This book deserves all the hype it’s getting and I cannot stop raving about it! The writing is so moody and immersive; I laughed, I cried, I blushed and I gasped - this was everything I wanted and more and I cannot wait for the next instalment!

Oh my sweet Bartholemew, how am I supposed to review this? 🥹

The story follows Sybil Delling, also known as Six. Taken in as a foundling, she was brought to Aisling Cathedral to be a Diviner, where she receives visions from the Omens.

Submerged in the Enchanted Aisling Spring, Sybil and the other Diviners are put into a dream-like state to read the visions for the people of Traum. Her 10 years service is almost up, and as her fellow Diviners start to dissappear, she forms a reluctant alliance with a heretical Knight to try and find them.

This book surpassed my expectations, the gothic, haunting, dreamlike setting of Traum was perfection, the world-building was done so well🤌🏼 The plot draws you in slowly, the reveal of information as you go along on this journey keeps you intrigued at every turn. And before you know it, you care about the characters too much and fall in love with a limestone Gargoyle.

Sybil (Six) was amazing! Her growth from this naive, blindly loyal servant to a strong, fierce woman was everything.

Rory, the foulest Knight in all the land, challenged Sybil in the best way, I loved the slow burn of their relationship 🤌🏼

"𝓕𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓷𝓸𝓽, 𝓑𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓶𝓮𝔀! 𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓭𝓸𝓰."

Gargoyle is new my favourite character, he is beauty, he is grace, he is everything. His little quips and random comments throughout the book were hilarious, and so sweet and endearing at the same time. He must be protected at all costs.

As soon as I finished this book I wanted to reread it, it was wonderful and it is my new obsession. Also PITH! What was that ending, I need book 2 yesterday 🤣

Rachel Gillig has easily become one of my favourite authors, I don’t often re-read books but this one and her previous duology I definitely will.
The writing is beautiful, there is a unique magic system and the world is just so vivid. If you want to get completely lost in a book this is the one you should pick up.
I need book 2 now!
100% recommend and also I want a gargoyle!

“You know this story, Bartholomew, though you do not remember it. I'll tell it to you as best I can and promise to be honest in my talebearing. If I'm not, that's hardly my fault. To tell a story is in part to tell a lie, isn't it?”

I have always been fascinated by books that explore the power of stories and how words can both give and take away power over any living or non-living thing, even if they hold no relationship with truth. Rachel Gillig is a master at pulling back the layers of a story while commenting on storytelling as a craft, it was a theme I loved in The Shepherd King duology, but also believe really comes into its own in The Knight and the Moth. And Gillig demonstrates that a profound and provoking fantasy doesn’t need to be 800 pages to hit the mark exactly. This is a book that I expect to live rent-free in my head from now on.

In a cathedral on a tor, Diviners dream of Omens and from them divine the future. Six girls for six Omens, foundling girls with no memory of their lives before their first drowning, who spend ten years in service, drowning and drowning again so they can dream. Until, one by one, they disappear. Only Sybil, who was stripped of her name and given only a number, Six, remains. Determined to save her sisters, she must partner with a boy-king, a heretic and a veteran knight, and with only her loyal gargoyle beside her, she must leave the only home she has ever known.

The world-building is beautiful, atmospheric, and rich without suffering from info-dumping or coming across as dense, it’s easy to read. With sometimes crude language juxtaposed against such lyrical writing. The characters were heart-wrenching, and I have never fallen in love with a gargoyle so quickly in my life. All of the characters were raw and real, and it feels as though you are on this journey with them, flawed and coming to terms with the baggage each character faces.

Seeing Sybil, a foundling who found her family in her fellow Diviners (with on-point, well-written sisterly/family bonds) reclaim her story, discover who she is outside her role as a Diviner and number was so powerful.

“If you only ever look up at something, can you ever see it clearly?”

Similarly, Rodrick (Rory), our MMC, our knight with heretical leanings and with his amour lying between him and the world, is quite honestly a sweetheart. And, like Sybil, he finds his views and assumptions challenged from the moment he meets our FMC. Crass and stubborn, with witty banter and a sweet, slow burn. This is what Romantasy is for me. It’s not about needing to be full of spice or one genre holding the other hostage. It’s the perfect blend of heart-filling romance and epic fantasy.

In conclusion, it was an intimate and wonderous experience (think Alice falling down a rabbit hole) to fall into this story, to follow our characters as they broke and remade themselves, again and again. At the end, feeling like I had too, and I need Book 2 to remake me because the cliffhanger in The Knight and the Moth has well and truly broken me.

“To the child in each of us, yearning to be special. Take my hand, you strange little creature, and together we shall walk beyond the wall.”

Many thanks to NetGalley Brown Book Group UK and Orbit Books for sharing this book's digital reviewer copy in exchange an honest reviews.

Gillig does it again! How does she come up with so unique worlds and magic, so complex characters and plots that make me gasp and scream at times? I didn’t think this book would be as good as two twisted crowns, but IT IS! I loved reading about Six and her journey, about the little group of them and the scary omens, her finding herself and the little romance that was going on. My fav character was easily BARTHOLOMEW <3 endlessly grateful for the arc, thank you so much!

Oh, to be a gargoyle. And oh, to have a glimpse inside Rachel Gillig’s mind.
Once again, she has completely enchanted me with her creativity and her ability to write such unique stories. I’m in love with her storytelling and the pictures she paints in my mind - every atmosphere she creates is dark and haunting, yet dreamy and beautiful.
The Knight and the Moth is a story about devotion - the kind that destroys you, and the kind that rebuilds you. It’s about what it means to be loved without having to earn it, about faith, and what happens when everything you’ve built your life around turns out to be a lie.
Sybil is the kind of character who buries herself in your heart and refuses to leave. She’s faithful, loyal, aching for love she was taught she had to earn. Watching her unravel everything she believed - shedding lies, breaking devotion and discovering that love and faith do not demand suffering in return - was both devastating and empowering.
Rory is her opposite in every way: guarded, irreverent and without faith. And yet, he looks at Sybil like she’s divine. His admiration for her strength, his devotion and the way he breaks through her walls with patience honestly made me cry. Their romance is full of tension and yearning and I couldn’t get enough.
And the gargoyle! Never in my life did I think I’d sob over a gargoyle, but here we are. Petty, funny, dramatic, emotional and absolutely unforgettable. He was truly the heart of the story and I loved him so much.
Every time I think of gothic fantasy now, I’ll think of Rachel Gillig. This book isn’t even out yet and I’m already losing my mind over the sequel! I really can't wait to see how this story continues.
～Thank you so much to Orbit Books UK for the ARC!

I absolutely adored the Shepherd King duology so The Knight and the Moth was one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

Rachel Gillig is a master of storytelling and I adored every moment of this gothic fantasy. I adored Sybil and her journey and how she slowly comes to terms with everything she learns. She suffered from so much religious trauma and it made my heart swell that she had so much support from her found family.

The romance was absolutely beautiful and Rory was such a patient and kind character, who complimented Sybil perfectly. I adored how his belief in her remained unfaltering throughout the book.

The Gargoyle, that sweet Gargoyle, is quite possibly one of my favourite characters of all time. He was such a sweetheart and his kindness and loyalty to Sybil brought tears to my eyes. When his backstory is revealed, I was full on sobbing and wanted to wrap my arms around him.

By the end of the book, I had already predicted the ending, but it was no less impactful. I am beyond excited for the sequel and to see how Sybil and Rory face the challenges brought by the events of the last chapter.