Review: The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

The Knight and the Moth

Rachel Gillig

(The Stonewater Kingdom #1)

Publication Date: May 20, 2025

Hardcover, 400 pages, Orbit

Genres: Adult, Fantasy

Goodreads

From BookTok sensation and NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig, comes the next big romantasy phenomenon: a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a prophetess who is forced beyond the safety of her cloister on an impossible quest to defeat the gods with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight.

 

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.

My Review

Oh, Bartholomew.

The Knight and the Moth is such a big deal. I'd be surprised if you haven't already heard of it and haven't already preordered at least one version of that gorgeous cover. But I still have thoughts, and those thoughts definitely need shared because I had a very good time with this book.

The Knight and the Moth's two main characters have similar dynamics to other popular romantasy books I love, like From Blood and Ash and Margaret Rogerson's Sorcery of Thorns. The main female character, Sybil, doesn't know her life is a lie and that the real world is very different from what she's been taught. She's extremely quick-witted and apparently can wield a hammer and chisel like a boss. Together, her and Rory Myndacious, our male main character, delivered some rather entertaining banter. The couples' antagonism felt very realistic for that flirtatious loathe-at-first-sight trope. And let me just say, Rory's last name—Myndacious—is superb. The way our main character can say it with such yearning contempt is absolute perfection. And Rory is that dangerous rake type. He's charming and witty and unexpecting with a side of sweet and mysterious.

The book itself does have an overall similar feel to the first From Blood and Ash book, for those that want more stories in that vein. There's a religion that focuses on veiling the main female character. There are secretive and untrustworthy religious leaders, major spooky vibes, and, of course, a love interest who knows how to use a...sword. Hee hee. The Knight and the Moth has sprites and gargoyles instead of vampires and werewolves, though.

 As for the plot, I think that was probably the weakest of the story elements for me personally, simply because, in the beginning, I was very disappointed that the main conflict was going to revolve around hunting for magical objects. I wasn't expecting that storyline. But, the last third of the book is where I truly got sucked in. It's when romantic relations intensify and the plot picks up since the hunt for objects slows down. Basically, there were enough kissing scenes and plot twists to move the story along for me. Towards the end, things did get a little twisty. I honestly wasn't sure why this book needed a sequel until those last few pages. Now, I'm excited to see what happens next.

 Oh, and I have to talk about a certain gargoyle. The bat gargoyle is the best part of the entire book! I laughed multiples times. And most of those laughs were out loud. I will never think of the name Bartholomew the same again. I also liked the creatures in this world, though it was sometimes sad when they did make an appearance. Ugh! Humans don't deserve to live in a world with fantasy creatures!

Besides From Blood and Ash and Margaret Rogerson, if you're a fan of Holly Black, the historical Shadowhunters prequels like The Infernal Devices, or Kerri Maniscalco's Kingdom of the Wicked series, I definitely think you should pick up The Knight and the Moth. It's dark, atmospheric, and hilarious in one quick and unexpected read.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.