RACHEL GILLIG
(Book 1 of the The Shepherd King duology)
Synopsis:
Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.
Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.
But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.
Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
Content:
Language: Instances of mild and scattered uses of strong swearing.
Violence: The tone of the book is very dark and is listed as horror on Goodreads. There are occasionally gory depictions of blood and violence, fighting with both magic and swords/weaponry, discussions of possession and insanity, self-harm as a result of using magic, and scenes of children in danger. The start of a public execution of a child is shown. There are a few brief sequences of dreams/visions involving fire and fleeing children. Children are killed when they catch a magical infection. Allusions to physical abuse between characters who are engaged.
Sex: Allusions to sex, kisses, and one semi fade-to-black scene. It's not too explicit and mainly focuses on feelings and vague sensations, but it is not entirely skipped over. Other characters talk about/tease the FMC and MMC about their relationship.
LGBTQ: Nothing that I can recall, but there could be a side character who is alluded to being gay or bisexual.
My Review:
PROS:
- The characters were all fantastic! Elspeth and the Nightmare were my favorites.
- Ravyn was a good MMC too, and I appreciated his connection with Elspeth. He was very sweet.
- The magic system was really cool and unique (at least to me). The explanations of the cards were well done and I loved the way they were woven so tightly into the story.
- The beginnings of the chapters have little snippets from an in-world book—one of my favorite writing techniques!
- I already mentioned him, but the idea of the Nightmare and how he lived in Elspeth's head was an amazing concept to read about. It was handled extremely well, although I did wonder why Elpseth hadn't tried to find out more about him in eleven years he was in her head.
- The writing style was immersive and atmospheric, but it was also simple to read. By my slow standards, I flew through this one.
CONS:
- The pacing was odd in some places, but I did read it as an ebook (this sometimes affects how I view the pacing within the context of the story).
- The next book seems to focus on another relationship as well, and I don't particularly care for one half of the couple. I'm really hoping Ravyn and Elspeth still get lots of page-time in book 2!
- It was a bit predictable. Maybe we were supposed to know who the Nightmare was all along, but I think Elspeth should have realized sooner.