As the spooky season has fully started, this is the best time to read a spooky book, even a bit of horror. Not a lot of horror, but just enough to make it perfect for the fall. I bought this book in the summer and have longed to read it since the day it came home with me.

One Dark Window is about a girl named Elspeth. In their village, there is an evil mist, and everyone who gets into the fog gets sick with a fever. It turns your veins black, and if you survive, you get magic. Getting magic sounds fun and memorable, but getting magic means getting sentenced to death by the king. Elspeth got infected when she was still a little girl, but her parents and uncle, where she lives, kept it hidden for many years. They think she didn’t develop any magic, but the fog gave her Nightmare, the monster talking in her head. One night on the forest road, she gets ambushed by the highwaymen, and this will change everything.

Nothing is free, Nothing is safe. Magic is love, but also, it’s hate. It comes at a cost. You’re found and you’re lost.

Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

This book was even better than I thought it would be. I read it fast and took the book everywhere to be able to keep reading. I have quite a busy work schedule, so most of the time, I only read around 20 pages a day, but with this one, there were multiple days I read a hundred or more. The story is very thought out, and the romance is written perfectly. I found the magic something very creative, as I have never read about such a magic system. The ending was something I didn’t expect at all, as there is a second book, but now I am even more intrigued to start reading the next one.

What creature is he, with mask made of stone? the Nightmare said once more. Captain? Highwayman? Or beast yet unknown?

Rachel Gillig, One Dark Window

I can’t think of anything I didn’t enjoy about this book. There probably are a few, but the rest of the book was so perfectly written that it didn’t matter enough to remember. Even more impressive is that this book is Rachel’s debut novel.

This is definitely a 5-star read!