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In the mist-locked kingdom of Blunder, magic has a steep cost, and those who are infected must keep it a secret from the local authorities if they hope to live. Elspeth Spindle has narrowly escaped detection. It’s more than luck keeping her safe, though. There’s an ancient monster trapped in her head. She calls him the Nightmare. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But even his magic does not come for free.
When Elspeth meets a mystery highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Suddenly she’s thrust into a world of shadow and deception, partaking in a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic plaguing its people. And the highwayman? He happens to be the King’s nephew, captain of dangerous men who have been known to hunt her kind … and guilty of high treason.
Together, they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the hunt intensifies and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth must face her darkest secret yet. The Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
In the wake of the romantasy genre’s growing popularity, I’d heard a lot of online hype about the Shepherd King duology and decided to give it a try. One Dark Window is an atmospheric, gothic, fantasy romance. The premise of its unique magic system, creepy woodlands, and veiling mist had me hooked from the opening pages. However, there was one aspect of the story I was taken aback by.
The romance is slow-burn with one scene in particular that goes into more detail that I would expect from a YA book. That’s because this isn’t a young adult novel. While the characters are older teens and the overall tone reads like a YA, One Dark Window was published by Orbit, an adult fiction publishing company. Perhaps it would be best classified as New Adult. Either way, if you find this book on YA bookshelves, don’t let the mislabel fool you.
Overall, One Dark Window is a beautifully atmospheric story that explores the heavy cost of magic and the dark, mysterious lore that led it to infect a kingdom. And while its unique magic system was likely inspired by tarot cards, the plot couldn’t help but remind me of collecting Pokemon.
Rated: Moderate, for 6 uses of strong language, 4 uses of moderate language, 8 uses of mild language, and 14 uses of British profanity (bl-). There is a fair bit of violence and gore and the continual threat of execution for those with magic. Sexual content includes characters undressing, which leads to a sex scene, including oral sex, and eventually fades to black. (Details remain vague and body parts are not mentioned, but it leaves little to the imagination.) Characters kiss.
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