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.
I can easily say that Rachel Gillig's Two Twisted Crowns was better than the first book! After an intense struggle to understand the Providence Cards and the magic they provided, I found this book to be easier to comprehend as there was not so much focus on the cards and their worth. They were still very much present but my mind didn't wander as much when they were talked about.
In this book we are treated to a surprise, with an additional two points of view per chapter! While we still get Elspeth's point of view from her entrapment in her own mind at the mercy of the Nightmare that has been hiding within her mind for years, we also get two other points of view.
The Nightmare is in full control of Elspeth, she is now the voice in his mind while he controls her body. Ravyn wants the Nightmare to lead him to the final Providence Card, The Twin Alders, so that he may have a full set and be able to "do what must be done." He and his sister along with a few others travel into the darkest parts of the forest, the most dangerous parts, in order to retrieve the card.
Meanwhile, Elm is trying to help Elspeth's cousin, Ione, find her missing Maiden Card. And I have to say, these were the moments I looked forward to! Elm is one of the new points of view we get and I positively loved his interactions with Ione. Meant to be his sister-in-law whenever his evil older brother marries her, the two are constantly thrust together as Ione is something of prisoner in the castle because of what Elspeth did to Hauth at the end of One Dark Window. I almost wished we could've gotten her point of view as well, as Ione was quite the character! I loved her! She comes off as a quiet, shy, and "dainty" sort, but she's a force to be reckoned with and I loved her quiet strength!
Then we are also seeing Elspeth in her sort of imprisonment of her mind, but it's now really the Nightmare's mind and she is learning just who it really is and how it became what it is today. These were interesting moments, but I will admit sometimes the memories began to bleed together and it was hard to tell one from another or if it was something more from Elspeth's mind.
The ending to this one was pretty epic! I was expecting a battle to end all battles and we get that in a sense! There were many vile characters I was hoping would meet their just ends and I can say I was not disappointed with the results. We'll just leave it at that.
Pacing wise, I felt like this book went better than the first as well. With less time focused on the magic system that wasn't really built up in an easy to understand way, we were able to focus more on the characters and plot. Or at least I was. The story flowed a little better in my opinion. I don't know if it was because we got to be in more places at once with the multiple points of view and were not constricted to Elspeth's comings and goings--which were a little stilted this time around. Needless to say, I felt like the story flowed better at a better pace.
Since Elspeth and Ravyn were separated this time around, we got our romance elements from Elm and Ione as previously mentioned. They had a slow-building relationship and I adored it! It wasn't quite an enemies to lovers situation but still something like it, I feel like "enemies" is too strong of a word and "adversaries" doesn't quite fit either. They were basically not friends who turned into allies into something more and I adored every moment of it!
The ending was very satisfactory as well for a series ender! Gotta love a quick and (somewhat) easy duology as the series begins and ends so quickly when read back to back! Truly the best way to handle duologies in my opinion, do I always take my own advice? Of course not! Lol. I try to, but there are times I don't realize I am starting a duology, I'll think it's a trilogy or maybe longer...only to learn it's a duology and I just read the first book. Yeah, hate it when that happens! Oh well.
If you're a fan of fantasy reads with a little romance on the side--note, not a full blown out "romantasy" read as I feel like the romance is very, very side element here--then The Shepherd King duology might be the series for you! The magic system was a little complicated for me to get used to in the first book but I felt more comfortable with it by this second installment! We all get those hiccups every once in awhile with a series and this just happened to be mine. Still, I did find it to be an enjoyable read with a great cast of characters who kept me going the entire time!
Overall Rating 4/5 stars
