The Knight and the Moth Review

March Book of the Month: The Knight and the Moth

Reviewed by Jemma Green

Rating: ★★★★

The Knight and the Moth is the first installment of a new romantasy series by Rachel Gillig and when this book initially came out I could not stop hearing about how amazing it was. I had read Gillig’s debut series, One Dark Window and loved its gothic, atmospheric prose and unique tarot-esque magic system. But when I eventually picked up this new one, it took me six whole months to finish it—a fact which I’m sure the friend I borrowed my copy from found incredibly frustrating.

Spoiler warning for the rest of this review.

The story follows our main character Six, one of six girls called Diviniers trained to literally drown in a holy spring—once revived, they enter a state where they can read the signs and portents of their kingdom’s gods. I found this premise incredibly interesting; it was clear the worldbuilding in this story was founded upon clear rules and a level of religious fanaticism. Religion is one of those concepts I feel is wholly under-used in fantasy, always existing as a background element to lend legitimacy to a world, rather than as a central focus. To see a character and a plot wholly built around this unique worldbuilding concept was super cool.

But trying to get through those first few chapters was intimidating. As with many, this book definitely suffers from first-chapter-fantasy-syndrome. Trying to wrap my head around the names of places, characters, social norms, and general world-building was confusing at first—Gillig doesn’t hold your hand, she trusts you to pick things up quickly. And though I am a seasoned fantasy reader (and this was by no means the worst case of fantasy-world info-dump I’ve read) the fast-paced worldbuilding could definitely serve as a barrier to other readers new to the genre. 

My outset confusion was quickly over though, and once I sunk my teeth into the meat of this story, I was hooked. Things get interesting in this book when the other five Diviner sisters go missing, one by one. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that rather than waiting for someone to tell her what’s wrong, or offer her help, Six gets up off her ass and says ‘I’m gonna do it myself.’ She is active and motivated, and those are qualities I absolutely need in a protagonist. She even blackmails a knight to help her search, and in doing so winds up embroiled in a plot to kill the gods and take their power for the people. 

This sort of plot is very common in the genre: girl is living normal life, something awful happens, somehow girl ends up overthrowing a corrupt power system. But that’s something this book did really well: it took a formulaic plot we’ve all read a million times, and made it new. It also takes the cliche of a sheltered girl and turns it on its head, making Six experienced with lovers, able to hold her own in a fight, and often describing her as muscular, strong, and bulky—which felt like such a breath of fresh air in a genre that adheres to the Western beauty standard of a slim, short, physically weak woman in order to position her as desirable. 

Even though it took me six months  to push through the start, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Between this subversion of the genre, a strong FMC, cool worldbuilding, and a well-balanced plot of romance and fantasy, I give The Knight and the Moth 4 stars. 

---

Our April Book of the Month will be Honeyeater by Kathleen Jennings—an Australian gothic fantasy. We invite you to read along with us and DM us your thoughts on Instagram or TikTok to have them featured alongside our review in the next issue of Purple Prose. 

Subscribe here to read when it comes out. 

Jemma Green is an emerging writer and editor based in Magandjin/Brisbane. She has a BFA in Creative Writing from QUT, her work featured in multiple publications, and she currently works as both an intern with the publisher Riveted Press and as the Co-Head of Social Media and Marketing at Jacaranda Journal. Artistically, her focus lies in exploring humanness and connection. 

Tiktok: @jemmaawritess 

Instagram: @girlinhertwentiess

Check out more of her writing here.