The Knight and The Moth
by Rachel Gillig
“A muscle mommy with visions recruits a knight with no religion to save her friends (but the real main character is our gargoyle.)”
Meter Ratings
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Meter Ratings 〰️
Cozy Meter: 2/5
Spicy Meter: 3/5
Epic Meter: 4/4
Ew Meter: 2/5
Re-Readability Meter: 5/5
Feelings Meter: 5/5
Overall Book Vibes:
Immaculate
Trigger Warnings:
blood, violence, murder, death, religious trauma, body horror, sexual content (consensual)
Summary
〰️
Summary 〰️
She’s known as Six in the cathedral where she has visions of the gods. For ten years, Sybil has been a Diviner in Aisling cathedral (staffed by one old lady and a bunch of gargoyles,) where she and five other girls are repeatedly drowned so they can see the future. It’s not initially as horrific as it sounds – these girls were brought in as foundlings and given a home, comfort, friendship, and love. The cathedral itself stands on the outskirts of Traum, whose citizens visit to utilize the Diviners’ unique abilities.
The passing of ten years means that the girls are on the precipice of being released from service. That’s the deal – ten years of repeated drowning, then the freedom to live their lives. And they’re almost there when the cathedral gets a visit from Traum’s unconventional boy king and his band of knights. It is only after this arrival that Sybil’s fellow Diviners start disappearing one by one.
In her stalwart desire to find her sisters, our heroine enlists the help of the prince and his knights, one of whom is Roderick Myndacious, a roguish sort who is anything but heroic. Together, they set off on an adventure to find the other Diviners, where Sybil will learn the real cost of her abilities, the truth of the gods, and what it really means to be a knight.
Oh, and of course they have a cheeky, sensitive gargoyle in tow.
My Review
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My Review 〰️
**I was lucky enough to be gifted this ARC when I met the author at Barnes and Noble Union Square. Thank you so much to Orbit Books for the ARC and to Rachel for writing such a captivating tale.
Rachel Gillig has the unique ability to write romantasies that are complex, magical, heart-wrenching, and comical at the same time. ‘The Knight and the Moth’ is no different. It has already taken up residence on my shelf of ‘Top Books of 2025.’ Yes, it is that good.
The world and its lore, to start, is so well thought out and complex. The story of the Omens (the gods in this world) is richly complex without being overwhelming. I loved that each Omen has a physical symbol depicting their power. I was enchanted at how the world all fits together in a way that makes it beautiful, but in a dark and horrifying way. Each scene that stuck with me is set in a lush abundance of nature with something rotting underneath, and to me that calls on the greater themes of how our interpretations of our reality (religion, scenery, etc) can be skewed by what’s on the surface. Gillig’s scenery descriptions are always intense and lyrical, and she perfectly captures that feeling of something being ‘off’ without saying it outright.
And the CHARACTERS! These are some of my favorite characters in all of romantasy, not just because of who they are individually, but because of how they interact with each other and their world. They each have their own unique personalities that seamlessly blend with one another, creating a light, found family type atmosphere in a world that is, well, pretty scary. And everyone’s purpose in the larger tale comes out at different, appropriate intervals.
I most enjoyed watching Sybil’s character arc the further she ventured from Aisling cathedral, and imagine my EXCITEMENT to read that the girl is Strong AF. Her trade at the abbey gave her muscle, it gave her girth, and I know it would have been so easy to write the Diviners as willowy and helpless.
Also an absolute delight of a character is our resident over-emotional gargoyle, Bartholomew, who brings a necessary dose of levity to our adventure. His over the top personality, clingy nature, and desperate desire to help (is he always helpful? Erm…) is so charming. 10/10 would travel the world with him. And the way his story comes to light? Holy shit.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our infamous knight. The tension? Insane. The banter? Top tier. The amount of times I wanted to screech? Infinite. Those who enjoy a slow burn romance will not be disappointed, nosiree.
This novel is the most magically-written gothic romance I have ever read. It brings to question the idea of power. It takes on the task of what it means to dismantle cycles. It brings all the seemingly broken threads together by the end. It emotionally gut-punched me, with its characters that I never want to leave and a world that I crave to read more about.
Whatever hype you’ve heard about this book is not nearly enough. Waiting for the next installment of this series is already absolute torture, and I cannot wait to be back with our gargoyle, our ‘gods’, and our knights.
Overall Rating on my shelf: 5/5
Favorite Quotes
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Favorite Quotes 〰️
“‘Bartholomew is a daughter of Aisling, a harbinger of gods — the most dedicated dreamer I know.’ He patted my shoulder. ‘But no, I’m sorry to say she is not especially useful...’”
“‘Contentedness. Truth and honesty and virtue. Omens. They are all stories, and we’ — he gestured to the Seacht’s climbing walls — ‘tread the pages within them.’”
“He made a crude sound of flatulence and did not get up.”
“Large as his hand was, it didn’t fit around my bicep”
The Workout
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The Workout 〰️
The Warmup
aka prepping to go on a Diviner-finding ADVENTURE!
1x Through
Reverse Lunge Knee Hug - 6 per side
Walkout Scapular Pushups - 5 per side
Wall Angels - 10
Jumping Jacks - 30 seconds
Cat Cow - 40 seconds
Quadruped Hip CARS - 5 per side
Spider Lunge Twists - 6 per side
Squat to Side Lunges - 5 per side
Strength
Do one set of moves right after the other, then repeat the entire thing 3x
10 Banded Superhumans (Let’s get our back muscles ready for a swim, hmm?)
30 seconds Situp Jab Cross (spar spar spar)
6 per side Wood Chops (swing that hammer, girlie)
6 Forward and Back Squat Jumps (to jump off the dang wall)
10 Med Ball Slams (SLAM THAT KNIGHT INTO THE GROUND)
10 Pushups (I said it once and I’ll say it again - MUSCLE MOMMY)
Accessory
This is going to be our little adventurer traveling MOMENT
You guessed it - walking. Uphill? Great. Uneven terrain? Even better. Just get in 30-40 minutes, depending on how you feel and the time you have available.
Cooldown (aka what happens when we take the armor off)
20s per side Piriformis Stretch
30s Windshield Wipers
30s Corpse Pose
10 S Arms per side
20s Prying Squat
20s per side Hip Flexor Stretch
