Rachel Gillig’s The Knight and The Moth: A Book Review Full of Intrigue
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The Queen has returned with the next big romantasy sensation, The Knight and The Moth! There is no doubt that author Rachel Gillig is one of the finest fantasy writers of our age.
Deep with the wall of the kingdom of Traum, where the windswept moors whisper the secrets of the land. And the darkness of haunted abbeys shun the foolish, a prophecy stirs. Sybil Delling, a foundling girl bound to the Cathedral’s cloister, has spent a decade of service unraveling the cryptic threads of fate.
But when her visions speak of an impossible quest and a mysterious knight with dark eyes shows, terrible things start to happen. And the safety of her cloister shatters. Enter Rodrick. A handsome knight with a sharp tongue, secrets buried more profound than the depthless waters of the sea, and a fate bound to Sybil’s. What follows is a beautifully dark fairy tale of blood, the fate of destiny, and a slow-burn romance laced with the tension of choices you never wanted to make.
Title: The Knight and The Moth
Author: Rachel Gillig
Publisher: Orbit Books
Genre: Fantasy, Fantasy Romance
Release Date: May 20, 2025
Pages: 400
Star Rating: 5 stars
Spice Rating: 1
Sybil’s Visions and the Headiness of Dreams Yet Told…
Diviners, the Daughters of Aisling, ethereal and nameless. Only foundling girls are used as Diviners. With their gossamer delicacy, a whisper in the dark. They do not know each other’s names nor the color of their eyes. Nuns, in a sense, but something more. Something worse. Swords and armor mean nothing within the walls as if the magic within is a formidable adversary. Their only task is a murky lavender-drenched dream, something none want to commit themselves to. Drawing straws with Sybil’s fellow diviners to see which one has to do it, round and round, until the winner, no, the loser, is chosen.
Rachel Gillig’s writing style is airy. Within the pages is dreamy prose, a romantic fairy tale that reads like a medieval Pan’s Labyrinth, drenched in twisty parables and shadowed by the deadly cost of truth. Though it takes a moment to find its flow, the story unfolds like mist swirling in the air. Slow, immersive, inescapable, and atmospheric, it captures you with its clutches, sinking you into the swell of the narrative and enrapturing you… and then ruining you for all other stories.
“Nothing but ink and the persuasive quill can devise what is true. “
There’s a weight to the Aisling Cathedral, haunting in the way it lingers. The water is slick and oily yet fragrant, smelling of rotting flowers. It is looming and oppressive, settling in your psyche like a hushed whisper. Oftentimes, I am not one for long chapters; I crave the gratification that comes when you start the next page. But The Knight and the Moth is different. Its longer chapters allow me to sink into the story. Luxuriating in the prose, letting the feel of them slip across my mind like something dark and decadent.
At the end of their service they are due to create new lives for themselves. But with the press of the Cathedral, a trick lies in wait. The Gowan flowers underfoot suggest a sense of safety with their underlying meaning, hinting that the Aisling is not a nefarious place, but it’s all but safe. The white and yellow blooms are meant to lull you into a false sense of security, a delicate distraction from what truly lies beneath.
A Dangerous Magical World…
Threaded through all of the unraveling is the mystery of the Diviners. Slowly disappearing into the abyss. Throughout this mist-cloaked tale of a young prophetess, questions arise. Like why is the King drinking the water? A force meant to awaken the magic in the foundlings with the magic within should have no effect on him. Right?
Where One Dark Window was Tarot, this itself is the Universe, whispering through synchronicities, nudging you along your path. At the heart of all are the Omens, unearthly figures once human now made of living stone. A good portent is more than fortune; it’s recognition, a mark of respect, a name spoken in reverence. But when those portents turn dark, it’s bad luck. The world tilts on its axis—everything fractures. And you are left grasping for a way to right a wrong you were never meant to see.
The pacing may be slow, but it carries a weightless allure, siphoning away your thoughts bit by bit. It’s ethereal, like the glow of lights in space, dancing upon the pages, casting an otherwordly beauty to the plot.
“I was wondering what it would be like. Watching you Unravel.”
Above all, it’s a dazzling, transportive tale of love of oneself and a serious examination of faith. The Knight and the Moth is about becoming—shedding the weight of expectations and defying the narratives others have written for you. It is about claiming yourself, even when the cost is steep. It is a new life paid for in penance, a soul rewritten in defiance of the past.
Reading The Knight and The Moth has chills tracing my spine. And in this, it is not lost on me that this has the potential to be the next big romantasy phenomenon of 2025. It’s pure joy, a book you get lost in. One you won’t want to put down. Losing time as you turn page after page long into the night.
Fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout, Leigh Bardugo, Hannah Whitten, and Alix E. Harrow will find themselves lost in its spellbinding world, where faith is tested, fate is cruel, and the pull between Sybil and Knight Rodrick and their slow burn romance is as inevitable as nightfall. Could this be the next big romantasy phenomenon? Only time will tell, but I have a feeling this dark gem of a book might be your next obsession.
Thank you to Orbit for sending me an ARC of this book. When I pulled it out of the envelope, I screamed and ran around my house to show my kids, but I only got a “Yeah, mom, great.” They don’t appreciate good books. Pre-order The Knight and The Moth now at your local indie bookstore.
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Ok. I’m convinced. I’m going to go buy it. 🙂
I am glad I can convince you! I am a Rachel Gillig STAN!