After the hype of One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns, I knew I needed to keep my eye out for more Rachel Gillig works. Fortunately, time has come for another astounding duology from her and The Knight and The Moth is as atmospheric, dark, and intriguing as promised. It is currently taking bookish social media by storm, collecting many fans and praise. But what did I think of it?

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams. Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she’d rather avoid Rodrick’s dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.

Like the Shepherd King duology, the kingdom of Stonewater is immersive, with shadows in the corners and a dark unease about it that is captivating yet cold. There are uncertainties, restrictions, and dire consequences, but there are also moments of fun, moments away from the expectations and demands of others, and moments of living. It is befitting that we have a female protagonist who is naive, sheltered from the outside world and knows very little about what goes on beyond the stone walls of the cathedral. Despite this naivety though, she is strong and smart and flawed by her loyalty and duty to serve. She is a compelling character, and following her throughout the novel felt nothing short of easy as I found no qualms with her perspective or reasoning. Nothing annoyed me about her, so she is pretty high in favour with me.

The story world contains little pockets of interest, and while they are full of characters I found that I was wishing for a little more detail. What there is works really well and helps hook the reader in, but just a little more would have made the tone and presence of the novel feel all the more intense. Keep in mind I wouldn’t be talking about this if I didn’t really like the novel – I am nitpicking at this point because while I enjoyed it alot it hasn’t hit the top marks for me. It sits comfortably in the realm of a great read, but not an absolute favourite.

I do like our male main character, but his name sends me whenever I read it. I can’t even type it without wanting to backspace it all. I understand that one of the ways characters can stand out in fantasy these days is their name and when there is so much fantasy out there sometimes you gotta be bold. But that name is something else. I don’t even know if his nickname of Rody can save him.

Nevertheless, I highly encourage you to pick up The Knight and the Moth if you are a gothic dark fantasy fan, a romantasy fan, or a fan of the tall, dark, and brooding male character trope. If you want to wait until the hype dies down, I can totally support that as I have needed to do that with hyped social media books in the past. I hope that, when you do get around to reading it, The Knight and The Moth will be a rewarding read for you.