The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig Narrator: Samantha Hydeson
Series: Stonewater Kingdom #1
Published by Orbit on May 20, 2025
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Length: 13 hours, 51 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
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Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.
This should have been the end of her story . . . Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly-deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. She’s starving and freezing, and the only other human on the island is a grumpy gardener. To her surprise, he offers Terlu a place to sleep, clean clothes, and freshly baked honey cakes—at least until she’s ready to sail home.
But Terlu doesn’t want to return home, and as she grows closer with the unwittingly charming gardener, Yarrow, she learns that the magic that sustains the greenhouses is failing—causing the death of everything within them. Terlu knows she must help, even if that means breaking the law again.
This time, though, she isn’t alone. Assisted by Yarrow and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island—and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.
I absolutely fell in love with Rachel Gillig after reading her series The Shepard King. It had everything a new fantasy/fairytale/romance type of story should have. The Knight and the Moth, the first book in the new series The Stonewater Kingdom has that same magic to it. A story with a damsel in distress, a knight in shining armor, a funny gargoyle sidekick that calls everyone Bartholomew, a land steeped in magic and villains everywhere they go. This story captured my heart as we search the kingdom for it’s secrets and five missing girls, the pieces of Sybils heart that have gone missing.
“You know this story, Bartholomew, though you do not remember it. I’ll tell it to you as best I can and promise to be honest in my talebearing. If I’m not, that’s hardly my fault. To tell a story is in part to tell a lie, isn’t it?”
In a land ruled by six Omens, Sybil was the best of the diviners. She drowned and dreamed and told people of their futures. Sybil lived a sheltered life in a monastery of sorts, with her best friends and fellow diviners One through Five, she was Six and that was the name she used for almost a decade. Her life changed forever when the new boy king came for a reading, with his most trusted knight. She drowned for the King and saw all the bad signs for his reign, through ever Omen’s domain she walked there was a sign of bad portent. When her fellow diviners start disappearing, Six takes a risk and finds the Knight to ask for help in finding them.
The King is on a mission of his own. He wants to find all the Omens and take the magical talisman of each. If he can do that, then he will own all of the magic and can destroy it to free the people from depending on Omens for all of their decisions and fates. Six agrees to help in his quest in hopes of finding her fellow diviners and freeing all the foundling girls that are “saved” by the abbess, only to be drown over and over again.
Rory is the Kings most trusted Knight. He is handsome, rude, terrible and absolutely wonderful. I loved getting to know him past all the gruff exterior as he and Six bantered back and forth. Fighting until the attraction and flirtations take over. He saves Six in more ways than one as he coaxes her out from the shroud she hides behind and sees her transformation from Six to Sybil. The romance in this is absolutely fantastic, in that it doesn’t take over the story but is gently woven through it. The tension and longing is slowly stoked and there are tender moments earned but there is also an epic journey to take, Omens to find, magic tokens to win and five girls whose fates are a mystery to unravel.
The ending was a huge surprise, the betrayals and the fate of Sybil (at least for the time being), totally floored me. I am so desperate for the next book to see how the story all works out and can’t wait to see how Sybil turns the tides so to speak. She might have been a damsel in distress initially in this book, but Sybil, with the help of Rory and her trusty gargoyle, has been reforged into something new. I am sure she will find a way to save them all and I can’t wait for the betrayers to get their due.
Rory spoke as the abbess had–softly. Only his voice was coated in venom. “It’s true. There are terrible things in Traum. I may even be one of them. But she has asked to go, and I am bid by my code to gratify that wish. Let us leave. If you do not–” He pulled something from his pocket. “Well. I’d probably enjoy that.”
Narration:
Performance: ★★★★★
Character Separation: ★★★★★
Diction: ★★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★
Sound Effects: None
Samantha Hydeson is a new to me narrator. I think she was a lovely pick for this story. Her performance held the mystic and wonder of the magic of the land and also the depth of the characters in it. Her narration fit the fantasy feel of the story and I liked the way she portrayed Six/Sybil, Rory and the Gargoyle. I believe her performance made this story even better as she was able to bring all the vulnerabilities and strengths of the characters to life.
Listen to a clip: HERE
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Thank you to sharing your honest review! Even though I loved One Dark Window when I listened to it last year, I had no interest in Gillig’s newest book simply because of the title & cover. But after reading your review I am adding it to my TBR pile!
I saw this on Netgalley and didn’t even request it. I feel so silly about that now. I enjoyed it so much. I think that if you liked the other series than this should be a win for you too.
Everyone seems to be loving this! I need to make time to read it, plus I want to meet the gargoyle😁
He is so much fun. All of his misinterpretations of saying and calling everyone Bartholomew is the comic relief this book needed sometimes.
I love the sound of this fantasy adventure! Everyone else must love it too; there are 59 holds on this book already at my library. Guess I’ll be #60. ;D
Wow…well I think it is a really strong story. I’d check out her other series in the mean time if you haven’t read it already.
This sounds really good. I’m curious. I think I’ll add it to my TBR.
I have really enjoyed this author. She and Matt Dinniman are my favorite finds this year
This sounds really interesting, I’m going to add it to my Goodreads so maybe I can get around to it some day. Great review!