--- product_id: 450948319 title: "One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, 1)" price: "AED 88" currency: AED in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.ae/products/450948319-one-dark-window-the-shepherd-king-1 store_origin: AE region: United Arab Emirates --- # One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, 1) **Price:** AED 88 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, 1) - **How much does it cost?** AED 88 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.ae](https://www.desertcart.ae/products/450948319-one-dark-window-the-shepherd-king-1) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description THE FANTASY BOOKTOK SENSATION! For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom—but the monster in her head isn't the only threat lurking. Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her. Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic. When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason. He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him. Review: Great read! - I read a lot of books, all genres, and have for a long time. This book I could tell was different than its counterparts at the start. It's still magic and fantasy with a dash (tiny) of romance. The spice level is half a pepper at best. Magic has always been something I've loved I'm 39 now but I've always loved the idea of it. And Rachel writes it by using what we know of magic but making it her own. In this case the magic is stored in cards and even those who are infected with magic, all of it comes at a price. And you slowly get fed the story of what happened through the voice that lived in the main characters head. The main character is female and a badass in her own right, but with words and not fighting. That alone was a nice change since every book Ive read for the last 20 years, if the lead is female, she's also capable of everything. And tho I am a solo human and enjoy my own company more often than not and am also a runner, I am not at all going to win a fight. So Elspeth, the main character, was more relatable rather than a true fantasy. And neither is wrong, I enjoy both tropes, but it was every nice to have a change of pace. Gillig does a good job of character development, it's probably why I kept reading. The story was very slow at first. I almost put it down and I'm really glad I didn't. I am tired of authors alluding to things but never giving you the full story. And that did get old quick. Fortunately as the story develops, Rachel stopped "hiding" things from the reader and the story started moving quicker, giving you more detail to help you stay invested. She is pretty detailed, but not overly so, which may be why the first part dragged until the action kicked in. Obviously you need to hide somethings, you have a plot to build. It was more of that foreshadowing or just not fully detailing it out or alluding to something more that would get in the way of my enjoyment. Rachel isn't alone in this, it's an overly used writing technique right now, which may be why I noticed it more. All in all, the writing was beautiful, different from anything I've read lately, took me a minute to get used to and I thoroughly enjoyed a shift from my normal pace. I loved that the story was familiar but also so different. And I am left ready to dive into book 2 and cannot wait. If that's what you're looking for, and are also a fan of magical fantasy, try out One Dark Window, I don't think youll regret it. If you are looking for that, Review: gothic romance and sassy monsters - m going to finish this review after i sleep on it for a while because I think, after reading knight and the moth, i had such different expectations and im honestly not totally sure how i felt about the book. I LIKED it, but the entire time i just kept waiting for there to be.. something more? like it was good but it felt like something was missing and i can't put my finger on it. --- okay, at this point it's been a few months and I'm still not sure how I felt. I still haven't read book two but these are my thoughts—the underlying story was really, really good. I guessed the plot twist almost immediately and im not sure if it was really meant to be secret or not, but it didn't affect my enjoyment any. I absolutely loved the nightmare, I loved the way, as a reader, we are constantly questioning motives and whether or not someone can be trusted because it kept me on my toes. I loved the MMC and his yearning devotion and I loved the FMC, though I sometimes felt she was a little wishy washy and weak—and after thinking about it, I think that was on purpose, because she does get her moment of "holy, okay, heck yeah" eventually and I loved that for her. the world was really interesting, and I loved the magic system though it wasn't what I was expecting it to be. this isn't a magic system where there are tons of cards to hand out, there are only a handful and the king gives them to his most trusted. the people who protect him, his closest nobles etc. I was expecting the magic to be more prevalent in the world and it's really just about ten or so people. again, this didn't make me not enjoy the book, but it did vastly narrow down the world from what I had thought it was. anyway i did very much enjoy it. I have every intention of reading book two. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #3,157 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Dark Fantasy #126 in Romantic Fantasy (Books) #166 in Epic Fantasy (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 98,901 Reviews | ## Images ![One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, 1) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91fXoFQwgCL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great read! *by O***N on August 1, 2024* I read a lot of books, all genres, and have for a long time. This book I could tell was different than its counterparts at the start. It's still magic and fantasy with a dash (tiny) of romance. The spice level is half a pepper at best. Magic has always been something I've loved I'm 39 now but I've always loved the idea of it. And Rachel writes it by using what we know of magic but making it her own. In this case the magic is stored in cards and even those who are infected with magic, all of it comes at a price. And you slowly get fed the story of what happened through the voice that lived in the main characters head. The main character is female and a badass in her own right, but with words and not fighting. That alone was a nice change since every book Ive read for the last 20 years, if the lead is female, she's also capable of everything. And tho I am a solo human and enjoy my own company more often than not and am also a runner, I am not at all going to win a fight. So Elspeth, the main character, was more relatable rather than a true fantasy. And neither is wrong, I enjoy both tropes, but it was every nice to have a change of pace. Gillig does a good job of character development, it's probably why I kept reading. The story was very slow at first. I almost put it down and I'm really glad I didn't. I am tired of authors alluding to things but never giving you the full story. And that did get old quick. Fortunately as the story develops, Rachel stopped "hiding" things from the reader and the story started moving quicker, giving you more detail to help you stay invested. She is pretty detailed, but not overly so, which may be why the first part dragged until the action kicked in. Obviously you need to hide somethings, you have a plot to build. It was more of that foreshadowing or just not fully detailing it out or alluding to something more that would get in the way of my enjoyment. Rachel isn't alone in this, it's an overly used writing technique right now, which may be why I noticed it more. All in all, the writing was beautiful, different from anything I've read lately, took me a minute to get used to and I thoroughly enjoyed a shift from my normal pace. I loved that the story was familiar but also so different. And I am left ready to dive into book 2 and cannot wait. If that's what you're looking for, and are also a fan of magical fantasy, try out One Dark Window, I don't think youll regret it. If you are looking for that, ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ gothic romance and sassy monsters *by R***Y on January 13, 2026* m going to finish this review after i sleep on it for a while because I think, after reading knight and the moth, i had such different expectations and im honestly not totally sure how i felt about the book. I LIKED it, but the entire time i just kept waiting for there to be.. something more? like it was good but it felt like something was missing and i can't put my finger on it. --- okay, at this point it's been a few months and I'm still not sure how I felt. I still haven't read book two but these are my thoughts—the underlying story was really, really good. I guessed the plot twist almost immediately and im not sure if it was really meant to be secret or not, but it didn't affect my enjoyment any. I absolutely loved the nightmare, I loved the way, as a reader, we are constantly questioning motives and whether or not someone can be trusted because it kept me on my toes. I loved the MMC and his yearning devotion and I loved the FMC, though I sometimes felt she was a little wishy washy and weak—and after thinking about it, I think that was on purpose, because she does get her moment of "holy, okay, heck yeah" eventually and I loved that for her. the world was really interesting, and I loved the magic system though it wasn't what I was expecting it to be. this isn't a magic system where there are tons of cards to hand out, there are only a handful and the king gives them to his most trusted. the people who protect him, his closest nobles etc. I was expecting the magic to be more prevalent in the world and it's really just about ten or so people. again, this didn't make me not enjoy the book, but it did vastly narrow down the world from what I had thought it was. anyway i did very much enjoy it. I have every intention of reading book two. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazing! *by A***R on December 10, 2025* One of the best YA books I’ve read in a long time! Although this book does not read like a young adult novel because her writing style is so lyrical and haunting it makes the tone and feel of her characters extremely unique. It’s still YA because it’s suitable for younger readers and I personally appreciate that the spice level is low which allows for a real story to unfold (I despise when authors use spice as a crutch to sell a book that doesn’t have much of a plot). The actual concept of the book feels very unique and interesting (think tarot cards with a twist along with dark ancient magic). I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it! Hopefully the second book will be just as good! ## Frequently Bought Together - One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, 1) - Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King, 2) - Quicksilver --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.ae/products/450948319-one-dark-window-the-shepherd-king-1](https://www.desertcart.ae/products/450948319-one-dark-window-the-shepherd-king-1) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Arab Emirates* *Store origin: AE* *Last updated: 2026-05-12*