Two Twisted Crowns
RACHEL GILLIG
(Book 2 of the The Shepherd King duology)
Synopsis:
In the luscious, dark sequel to One Dark Window, Elspeth must face the consequences of what she's wrought - perfect for readers of Hannah Whitten's For the Wolf and Alexis Henderson's The Year of the Witching.
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.
If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom.
And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth's head. The Nightmare. And he's not eager to share any longer.
Content:
Language: Instances of mild and strong swearing.
Violence: Depictions of blood and violence, fighting with both magic and swords/weaponry/fists, discussions of possession and insanity, self-harm as a result of using magic, and scenes of children in danger. There is a flash back to a family's murder (including the children). Other violence includes poison, physical and emotional abuse in an arranged engagement, stabbings, a drug that becomes the indirect cause of a man killing another, and discussion of the cruelty that takes place against the infected.
Sex: Allusions to sex, discussions of a man's popularity with women and his sex life, kisses, cheating, and a semi-explicit scene. It is more detailed than the scene in book 1, but still fairly vague with a focus on feelings and sensations.
LGBTQ: Not present
My Review:
PROS:
- The Nightmare absolutely carried this book. Elpseth—the main character of book 1—was a nice addition in the forty or so pages we actually got to read about her.
- Once again, I love the idea of the Providence Cards. Learning more about them and the Nightmare's past were the only things keeping me from DNFing this one.
- Ravyn and Elm are both good characters too (but that doesn't mean I want Elm as a main character!).
- The writing style was just as immersive and atmospheric as book 1.
CONS:
- I am honestly so disappointed in this book. I'm not sure how everyone is rating it so highly. It's completely different from book 1.
- Gillig abandoned Ravyn and Elpseth (especially Elpseth) for Elm and Ione, neither of whom I cared about much as a couple. Ione was just an irritating character all around.
- It's very repetitive and boring. Every scene with Elm and Ione was the exact same. While they received the majority of the attention in book 2, I still don't really know why he would ever like Ione, especially since she was pretty much cursed for the entire book.
- I needed a Ravyn and Elpseth reunion. We were literally robbed.
- The plot was so strange. Gillig must've realized she didn't have enough story for another whole book following the main plot, so she threw in a distracting and poorly paced new plot to drag out the rest of it.
- I wish this duology had been compacted into a really strong standalone.
- Again, it was also a bit predictable. I was less forgiving this time because I didn't enjoy the story.