Elspeth survived the fever plaguing her kingdom, but she can’t escape the monster in her head. The monstrous voice is one of many secrets that Elspeth is keeping while hiding away at her aunt and uncle’s remote estate. She’s remained unnoticed for several years, but as her father welcomes her back into society, Elspeth’s secrets slowly unravel. Her abilities catch the interest of a secret resistance group dedicated to stopping the fever and the king’s tyranny once and for all. Elspeth will dance around the truth and reveal only what is necessary to help their cause and hopefully, expel the monster from her once and for all.
At first, I didn’t understand why One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig was flying under the radar. However, the farther I got into the story the more I understood. The story’s strong first act was quickly overshadowed by a tepid second and third act that grew too much too fast.
One Dark Window is deceiving because it starts strong. I was initially impressed by the world-building because Gillig does a great job establishing the Providence Cards’ lore and magical powers. This was made more impressive by the lyrical rhymes that began each chapter or the taunting verses spoken by the monster in Elspeth’s head. These poems expanded the magic system while also serving as actual entries in The Old Book of Alders which is the kingdom’s historical tome. I liked the mechanics of the cards, with characters activating and deactivating the power with three taps or losing their abilities if someone else intercepted the card. I also like that the cards were prized possessions that only a few were lucky enough to own whether the cards were birthrights or boons given by the king.
The magic system began to fall apart for me once the story arrived at the castle. A lot of warnings were shared about using the cards but this fear ultimately fell flat. There were specific repercussions to using each card too much, but not one character seemed to monitor or worry about using their cards. This immediately removed all my concerns about using the cards because the consequences were absent or minimal at best, like at one point a character has a bloody nose after drawing too much power. The longer I spent in Elspeth’s world, the more the holes began to show as well. Elspeth lives in a small, secluded kingdom but she’s able to stay anonymous in the groups of people who know her by donning a mask and someone else’s cape. There are a lot of little moments like these that took me out of the world and butted up against what seemed possible. At first glance, the story had a thoughtful and well-developed magic system in place; however, the rules of the world couldn’t keep up with where Gillig wanted the story to go and gaps were left in its wake.
Time moved strangely and too quickly for my taste in this story. The plot progression and relationship development take generous leaps forward, and I couldn’t suspend my belief while experiencing the events unfolding around me. Odd choices were also made to keep the plot moving, and the story relied on off-the-page conversations to remove any doubt or road bumps so it could keep putting whatever puzzle piece it wanted in place. Elspeth is supposed to attend an extended celebration at the palace, but no one questions her strange lie to leave immediately one night so Gillig can continue the story elsewhere. The romance is also lackluster and develops too quickly without much foundation or reasoning outside of “we are working together toward a common goal.”
I loved the Providence Cards concept in this story, but ultimately the execution was not there for me. The strong lore at the beginning got watered down as time went on, and the story struggled to manage the characters, their abilities, and the kingdom’s history. Even the monster in Elspeth’s head lost its appeal, and while it was an interesting voice at times, it too got lost in the chaos by the end.
Rating: One Dark Window – 5.0/10
-Brandee
