One Dark Window - Rachel Gillig - Review & Summary

Instagram made me buy it - NO SPOILERS & SPOILERS VERSION!

Apr 08, 2025

“I'm just the wind in the trees, the shadow, and the fright. The echo in the leaves...the nightmare in the night.”

One Dark Window is one of the books I got to know about thanks to Instagram. I guess the factors that made me “get it” were: fantasy, dark, gothic, demons, cards.

You know, the usual…

Demon in someone’s head? SOUNDS AMAZING!

And… In some ways I was not disappointed. In others - I kind of was.

To the review though… NO SPOILERS

The One Dark Window is a story of what seems to be a small kingdom that has been separated from the world for the last *checks notes* 500 years. What separates them from the outside world? A forest full of “fog” that makes people go crazy.

What is interesting is that they seem to have magical trinkets that stop this process, yet none of them ventures too far into the fog… for… I don’t know… contact? Help? Foods? Materials? Anyway, seems that the kingdom is self-sufficient.

There’s also a plague, that is called “an infection”. What’s the infection all about? It’s magic entering people’s bodies and making their veins black. Some of them don’t survive the fever, and even if they do - they will be killed for their infection and magic. One of such feverish and infected people was Elspeth, at the really young age of 8? The fever gave her a power that literally got her a furry, demonic friend that talks to her in her mind.

Poor guy had to go through puberty with her, I bet he wasn’t talking much. He also seems angry, I wonder why.
Anyway…

The magic system is based on “infection” which seems to give random powers, and magic cards that resemble some tarot ideas. The issue? Cards hurt people, that use them “too much”. Just as using too much magic as an infected person leads to “degradation” because… nothing comes free. I mean… I can get that.

What about the fog? Well, it can be lifted if one collects one card each for the deck. The problem? No one has seen one of the cards for the last *checks notes* 500 years.

So… that will obviously go well.

Elspeth meets a guy with a stupid name I cannot pronounce (Ravyn), and things go downhill… and keep rolling.

SPOILERS REVIEW BELOW THE PIC

Star review

Fantasy: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Easy to read)
Storyline: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I have Indiana Jones problem here*)
World-building: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (not really deep)
Ease of reading: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I read it in 3 days)
Plot twist: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Saw it coming)
Romance: ⭐️⭐️ (This was… bizarre?)

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.4/5

Is the One Dark Window on your TBR list? Or have you finished it already? Share your thoughts!

SPOILERS REVIEW

Ok, since we are in the safe bottom of a review - let’s talk spoilers and discuss this book. Starting with:

*MY INDIANA JONES PROBLEM

Hear me out - I have a problem with this book for one reason only: If Elspeth wouldn’t meet Ravyn - and kept to herself - none of this would happen. If she listened to “he nightmare” - NONE OF IT WOULD HAPPEN. It’s kind of… foreshadowing… self-fulfilling… And if they just COMMUNICATED - this wouldn’t go downhill like that.

My laughter was hollow. “Better distrustful than delusional.”

What I liked:

Nice world building,
The magic system was clear to understand,
Gothic and nice fantasy to be fair,
Dark motives,
The Nightmare was absolutely my fav character,

What I found… Weird (or not good):

The kingdom in question seems oddly Self Sufficient for a kingdom cut out of the world (and it’s shrinking).
It’s a bit… predictable? In a way? I knew stuff will go downhill, seemed like everyone knew. Except for the characters in the book.
Some of the stuff lacked logic. Like… There are X cards. But the “deck” is one card each(?).
The pink card of the maiden making women beautiful (*rolls eyes so loud you can hear it*)

All in all - I enjoyed the book, read it in 3 days (and I’m a slow reader), and I liked how it grew. Despite the things that kind of grind my gears. I am getting the book 2 immediately to my TBR list.

What are your thoughts about One Dark Window?

Crown Of Shadows

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