this is a very atmospheric book , taking a different approach to the telling of the tradition fairy tail. a great gothic fairy tail. i loved the style of writing and found this a creepy read. The middle was longer then necessary but a enjoyable read with a little bit of a love story to balance the story.

📚 200: #gilded by #marissameyer

⭐⭐⭐

I really wish I could say I loved this book, especially with it being over 500 pages long. I felt like it could have been A LOT shorter and I didn't really follow the sense of the plot a lot of the time. I though Serilda's character wasn't as strong as Meyer's other leading characters. It just left me feeling a little flat. This is probably why it took me a good 4 days to read it. It just wasn't encouraging me to pick it up.

Thank you @netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Gilded is out now.

TL;DR:

Rumpelstiltskin retelling with a bad guy you can actually hate. And that’s something I can get behind.

Oh ho ho ho hooooo. This book was quite something. Never read any of Marissa Meyer’s work before so I was diving in with no history of her books and my brain has been BLESSED with a motherfucking story and a half. This is what you’re in for:

✨ Cursed by the God of Lies
✨ A VERY MEAN KING
✨ Spinning gold from straw
✨ All magic comes with a price

Serilda (top lass and a wee scamp) is bangin’ at telling stories that give kids the heebie-jeebies. Now, this might be because she was cursed by the God of Lies but if that’s the benefit, then sign me up. Whilst she’s real good at spinning tale, it also lands her in a wee bit of a pickle – she tells a fib to The Erlking to save two Moss Maidens from the Wild Hunt.

Normally saving two little fairy-like creatures would do you a solid HOWEVER the lie comes back to bite her in the ass when The Erlking expects her to make good on her ‘talents’ and weave a dungeon of straw into gold thread. With not an ounce of magic wiggling at her fingertips, she’s absolutely fucked until a wee cutie pie of a poltergeist pops his head in.


I always thought Rumpelstiltskin was a bit of a shite and this book yoinks elements out of it and works them into a wonderful story.

Did I fall head over heels with it? No
Could some bits perhaps been a wee bit shorter? 100%
Was the romance a little weird? Yes (I would love to talk to someone about the logistics of that)
Will I be all over the next book? Absolutely

Oh and I’m a big fan that the bad guy was an actual prick. Please don’t throw him through some redemption story in book 2. I need a baddy.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd and Faber & Faber, for the chance to read and review this book in exchange of an honest review.

Serilda is the miller's daughter, cursed by the god of lies and she developed a talent for storytelling. When one of her stories draws the attention od the Erkling, Serilda's life changes and she finds herself in a new world made of magic and enchantments. Locked in a dungeon by the king, forced to spin straw into gold or killed, she unwittingly summons a young man to help her, but everything has a price. Even though love wasn't in the plans.

I loved reading this book! I've never read anything by Marissa Meyer (shame on me, I know!), but I will definitely after this fantastic read! Inspired by Rumpelstiltskin, this book is brilliant, full of amazing characters, wonderfully written and well rounded, a plot full of twists, an enchanting tale. I loved reading this book, I was captivated since the beginning and I love Serilda as main character. The worldbuilding is fascinating and magical, such a pleasure to read about it and being immersed in it. I can't wait to know more!

In Gilded, Marissa Meyer spins elements of German folklore and fairytales into a dark and magical new tale. Having previously enjoyed The Lunar Chronicles and loved Marissa Meyer's writing style, I expected Gilded to be an engrossing read, and it definitely delivered.

Blessed by Wyrdith, the god of stories, lies and fate, the 18-year-old miller's daughter Serilda has a gift for story-telling, which makes her popular with the children in her village of Märchenfeld, but the golden wheel in her eyes makes most locals distrust her.
She grows up in an area rich in tales and superstitions, one of which is the story of how the Erlking and his wild hunt ride the lands each full moon; people belived to have been enticed to join the hunt are either found dead, or never seen again. One full moon, Serilda hides two moss maidens from the Erlking and his wild hunt, fibbing that she is collecting straw to spin into gold as part of her diversion.
The Erlking takes Serilda across the veil at the next full moon and expects her to complete the impossible task of spinning a dungeon full of straw into gold overnight, or forfeit her life. But Gild, the poltergeist, appears and strikes a bargain with her…

I thoroughly enjoyed Gilded, and am already looking forward to the sequel Cursed next year. Gilded has a darker feel to it than some of her previous work, and I really enjoyed the Germanic-inspired setting of the novel. Meyer took lots of elements from the traditional tales I grew up with, but managed to turn them into something entirely fresh and imaginative.
Thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for providing me with an electronic copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I have been an avid fan of Marissa Meyer for years, I think I have read everything she's put out so far. I was so so excited for Gilded!

It did not disappoint!! I think in 2021 I have discovered my favourite genre is a mix of dark and whimsical. The vibes of this are perfection.
With it being a retelling there is an amount of predictability when I went into it but the surrounding story before the Rumpelstiltskin elements were wonderful to me. I love the setting of this book, the descriptions Meyer writes transports me to each location with vivid imagery.

I was worried that this was going to drag the story out with it being a series and the original tale is so short but I am honestly so excited for the sequel. I could not put it down.

The magic system in this is wonderful. Serilda's ability developed in the perfect way, I had hoped it would go the way it did without giving anything away.

As always Marissa Meyer has written another smash hit of a book!!!
5 Stars

This story is a wonderful, enchanting retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

I found the story hard to get into; however, around the halfway point is where it hooked me. This story was incredibly magical and well-written. I love the characters and the world that Marissa created.
I did, however, feel the story was a little repetitive, and that wasn't the most exciting thing to read about.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC of Marissa Meyer. My opinion is purely my own.

This book was 1,000 pages. Yes, you heard me right. 1,000. Honestly I felt like I'd be trekking a mountain with this but it was the complete opposite. The story started off slow but as it continued, I adored the story and worldbuilding and quite honestly this might just be my favourite work by Meyer. As this isn't a standalone I was shocked by the page amount but I am excited to read book 2.

Thank you to NetGalley, Faber and Faber and Marissa Meyer for my arc of Gilded in exchange for an honest review.

Out now!

From the queen of retellings, author of Heartless and The Lunar Chronicles comes a brand new retelling based loosely on the story of Rumplestiltskin with a lot of German fairytale and folklore thrown in.

The story tells of Serilda a poor miller’s daughter god blessed by the god of fortune, lies and stories. All her life Serilda has spun stories but the townsfolk disbelieve her and call her a liar. Not only that, they openly despise her, viewing her as unlucky. But nothing could be as unlucky as attracting the attention of the dark and grim Erlking and the wild hunt. Serilda is drawn into a dark world, a despised castle and a story so dark and terrible it creates a mystery even she can’t solve. And right at the heart of it is the mysterious boy who is prepared to help her deceive the king and save her life, for a price.

Don’t get me wrong I expected to like this book having enjoyed Marissa’s other works but Gilded Seriously blew me away! It was so detailed, full of folklore and deliciously dark. It was exciting, romantic, interesting and just all round one of the best retellings I’ve read. Marissa Meyer is a true craftswoman. The only thing I was gutted about was reaching the end and realising I’ve got to wait a whole year for the sequel!

Full review on my blog 22/11/2021:

Content Warnings: death, grief, captivity, grief (parental), child death, pregnancy, abortion mention, torture.

I'm a big fan of Marissa Meyer’s writing style, so I was excited to get into this one. I chose the audiobook for this read because I got impatient waiting for my subscription box copy and the library had it available, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The narrator does Marissa Meyer’s writing style justice and it’s super listenable. In regards to the writing style, GILDED is just as easy to read as Meyer’s other books, but I particularly enjoyed quite how much like a fairytale this felt.

Serilda herself is an absolute delight. Her power is very weird, which makes her particularly interesting as it’s a bit of variety from the powers we usually see in fantasy. I liked that we got to see Serilda uncovering the depths of her power and how it works – I worked some of it out before she did and I enjoyed watching her put the clues together. She’s a brave and strong main character, but what I really liked was that she didn’t start the book a cookie-cutter ready to bake hero. She was not prepared to slay any kind of monster at the start, so we got to see her go through a real conflict as she weighed what she knew was right against what she wanted and what she believed she was capable of.

Another aspect of the book that made Serilda easy to love as a main character was her relationships with the other characters. I’ll get to Gild, but that wasn’t the relationship that made me love Serilda. Instead it was her relationship with the children she helps to teach. It’s so vivid in every interaction how much she adores the children and how much she delights in using her storytelling to bring them joy. Every interaction was so wholesome and sweet that I couldn’t help but love her.

And then there’s Gild. Damn. It’s very rare that I simp for a m/f pairing in a book (I’m just so gay) but if they don’t get a happily ever after in the sequel I might actually scream. Their relationship is definitely slow-burn in my opinion, and that made me adore them. The way that they grow to know each other, trust each other and eventually rely on each other felt so authentic in the way that it developed. It felt absolutely real and I love them.

The worldbuilding in this book is really curious to me. I know the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale but not much of the other monsters/myths included in this book and it definitely had be interested in googling more of them as they were pulled from all kinds of stories.

The ending of GILDED comes out of absolutely fucking nowhere. It ramps up a lot and had me staring open-mouthed for the last few chapters. I still haven’t quite decided if that was a good thing for me or not, and I probably won’t be able to make that decision until I’ve read the sequel. This book is very YA level the whole way through and then the ending has a huge increase in darkness and brutality and I’m not sure how much that was necessary. I’m curious to see if the sequel manages to maintain the fairytale tone with how dark I’m expecting it to be.

I have decided to withhold a star as hostage to the sequel whereby the duology as a whole will be rated- because THAT ending just won’t do! This is a very very dark retelling which was wonderfully written, rich in imagery and a highly creative take on the world of the Erlking and the Wild Hunt. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

I am a big fan of Marissa Meyer’s books and this just made me like them even more! Meyer sets up an intricate retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and I was hooked from beginning to end.

Serildahas been cursed by the god of lies since birth. Serilda’s favourite thing to do is to tell stories, all of which are entirely made up. She spends her days helping at the local school and constantly tells the children these tales. At every cycle of the moon, the Erlking and his hunters leave their veiled world and hunt. Serilda rescues two moss maidens and in doing so meets the Erlking. She tells him she can spin straw into gold, which is why she is out in the middle of the night. The Erlking takes an interest in her, takes her to his castle, and orders her to spin straw into gold. Whilst Serilda is figuring out how to survive the night, Gild, a poltergeist appears and offers to help.

‘I wish I could take you with me. I wish we could both be free of him. Run away from here…’

The plot, world and characters are so incredibly well written. Gild knows nothing about his previous life or why he is stuck in the castle, but he offers to help Serilda for a price. Whilst Gild spins, Serilda tells him stories. I loved the way they grew closer and became more curious about one another over the course of the novel. I was quite emotionally attached to these characters and their budding relationship. Serilda was a very headstrong character and despite being warned by many people, she continued to return to the castle. I was in awe of her bravery, and sometimes stupidity, but I found myself as desperate to learn the truth about the mysterious castle, and Gild, as she was.

‘”I know I’ve barely met you,” he said, his voice fighting to not tremble, “but I can tell that you’re worth all the bad luck in the world.”‘

The Erlking is feared by many, and Serilda begins to wonder what he wants all this spun gold for. Gilded has so many intricate plot lines and there were a few twists at the end that I did not see coming. I was obsessed with this book and am desperate for the sequel!

Really enjoyed this book and I love Rumpelstiltskin, so I was glad to finally have a retelling. The romance is a very....slow....burn....and that is something I usually really do not like. I didn't mind it here, but would have liked it to have happened a little quicker. The mystery surrounding the events in the story was greatly done and I always adore Marissa Meyers writing. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this one. Now I definitely need this in hardback somehow and also is this a series?? I honestly thought it was a standalone, so excited if it's a series!

Another brilliant fairytale retelling. The whole thing had me gripped from the get-go and was delightfully different from so many of the recent retellings.
The author brings in the wonderful threads of Rumplestiltskin’s tale to life, but also adds the German Folklore of the Erlking, Shrub Grandmother and Nachtkrapp and manages to make them all fit.
I adored the gothic descriptions of the castle as it fades from night to day and the underlying story of the Erlking's love.
I am honestly so blown away by the story and can't wait for the sequel.

First in a new series from Marissa Meyer, "Gilded" is a reasonably enjoyable fairytale loosely based around "Rumpelstiltskin", with lashings of German folklore. For me, the book was longer than it needed to be and I liked the concept more than the execution.

I loved this book, it was such a fun retelling of the original story. I fell in love with Gild, as I'm sure everyone who reads this book will. I can't wait for book two after that crazy ending!

Really enjoyed this retelling and found the difference in the castle when the veil was lifted fascinating. Marissa always manages to write such captivating stories and I am rooting for our main character so much! The end was so dark, Couldn't believe what was happening, and I can't wait for book two!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I thought this was a fairly clever retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale, overlooking some of the less savoury elements of the original story to give the girl more agency and the spinner more humanity. I guessed the twist about Gild fairly early on but it was still satisfying to see the narrative through and I'm intrigued to see how Meyer ends the story.

3.5 stars

Headlines:
This is a series...
Plot is golden
Story is long

I have mixed feelings coming out of Gilded and some of it is applause-worthy but other bits pulled this rating down. Firstly, the over-arching story and plot in this book are excellent. This was a Rumplestiltskin/Goblin King hybrid retelling with lots of woodland fable and magic thrown in. It was also incredibly raw narrative with gore and moments that seem to edge onto horror but retreat back quickly. I'd say this was older YA read because of some brief themes/triggers that emerge.

The characterisation in Gilded was also brilliant. Serilda was a morally grey heroine, prone to fabrication, occasional theft and somewhat unreliable as a friend and family member but in reality, she was just living out her legacy and god-given talents. She was incredibly likeable and moreso as the plot evolved. Erlking was not a nice character but he was so captivating to read about. He was evil to the core, lacking in any empathy and cruel. His court was also fascinating.

The other main character, I'm not going give a thing away about. Suffice it to say, I really liked this character, I like the connections made and I wanted more of this character. It ends in such a way that I'm dying to know what happens.

Now to my rating...why 3.5 stars? This book was incredibly long, it felt long, I had to push at times through long, descriptive narrative to get to the next plot theme. The pacing felt off and while I loved the story, the dragging of the narrative kept pulling me out of it. I wanted to be spun away like the gold bobbins on the tails of escapism but I wasn't.

I will definitely be reading on, in fact, I am quite a bundle of anticipation for what comes next in this complex, twisty plot. I do hope it's paced a little better.

If you want info on triggers, I'm happy to supply on DM.

Thank you to Faber & Faber for the review copy.

Omg!!

This is a Rumpelstiltskin re telling like no other!

Serilda is a lonely millers daughter who spends her whole life being outcast by the people around her who think she is cursed with bad luck; but she is not. She is a story teller. These stories are typically seen as lies; and it’s on a fateful night that one of these lies change her path forever.

On on of the Erlking’s wild hunts; he stumbles across Serilda where she spins the lie that she can spin gold. This lie puts Serilda on a path of hurt, heartbreak and possibly finding the one thing she has always wanted; love!

This book is everything! The writing, the characters, the arc of the story. I’ve gasped, laughed, been close to tears! Just amazing! There is a reason Marissa is one of my new favourite authors this year! I cannot believe I have to wait a whole year for book 2!

Gild has my whole heart; he is just the sweetest thing and I really hope there is a happy ending!