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A review by mariannamoore
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
3.0
I wanted to love this book SO BAD! I definitely went in with my expectations way too high, booktok will do that to ya, but it was still good, just nothing special! I honestly can’t decide if I even want to read the second book, which is telling seeing as this book left on a cliff hanger.
I just felt zero emotional connection to this book. This is mainly due to the lack of character development and depth. I feel like there was so much potential from the side characters, but we got none of there backstories (which may have been intentional). We also got NOTHING from the MMC, his character fell extremely flat, along with the main romance. Usually I don’t mind if the romantic relationships are lacking, but because this took up a larger part of the book, I expected more from them and I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunities. Definitely insta-love.
The FMC also fell really flat to me, she seemed very clueless to the hints dropped around her and needed someone to hold her hand and guide her, and didn’t give any hints of coming into her own. just not really my favorite type of female lead!
The nightmare. He absolutely held this story together and kept me holding on! He is the sole reason why I’m considering reading book two!
The magic system… okay at first I was SO excited and fascinated by it. But again, it just fell flat. I feel like we got so little information on it that it didn’t seem like it played such an integral role in the plot WHEN IT ACTUALLY DOES. I think the lack of world building really didn’t do the magic system justice. Cool, but lackluster. And a personal pet peeve of mine is when anyone can wield magic, I really didn’t like how anyone could use the cards. Yes that comes at a cost, but again, just a personal pet peeve.
I can see why people loved this, but just not for me!
I just felt zero emotional connection to this book. This is mainly due to the lack of character development and depth. I feel like there was so much potential from the side characters, but we got none of there backstories (which may have been intentional). We also got NOTHING from the MMC, his character fell extremely flat, along with the main romance. Usually I don’t mind if the romantic relationships are lacking, but because this took up a larger part of the book, I expected more from them and I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunities. Definitely insta-love.
The FMC also fell really flat to me, she seemed very clueless to the hints dropped around her and needed someone to hold her hand and guide her, and didn’t give any hints of coming into her own. just not really my favorite type of female lead!
The nightmare. He absolutely held this story together and kept me holding on! He is the sole reason why I’m considering reading book two!
The magic system… okay at first I was SO excited and fascinated by it. But again, it just fell flat. I feel like we got so little information on it that it didn’t seem like it played such an integral role in the plot WHEN IT ACTUALLY DOES. I think the lack of world building really didn’t do the magic system justice. Cool, but lackluster. And a personal pet peeve of mine is when anyone can wield magic, I really didn’t like how anyone could use the cards. Yes that comes at a cost, but again, just a personal pet peeve.
I can see why people loved this, but just not for me!