Review - Gilded (Gilded, #1) by Marissa Meyer

 

 

Title: Gilded (Gilded, #1)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Pages: 435

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Release Date: 2nd November 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 All magic comes at a price, but love was never part of the bargain . . .

The look he was giving her. Serilda had never been looked at like that before . . . The intensity.
The heat. The raw astonishment. He was going to kiss her.

Cursed by the god of lies, a miller's daughter has developed a talent for storytelling - but are all of her tales as false as they appear?

When one of Serilda's stories draws the attention of the devastating Erlking, she finds herself swept away into a world of enchantment, where ghouls prowl the earth, and ravens track her every move. The king locks Serilda in a castle dungeon and orders her to spin straw into gold, or be killed for lying. In despair, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious young man to her aid. And he agrees to help her, for a price. But love wasn't meant to be part of the bargain.

A compulsive read, and as bewitchingly good as you'd expect from a YA bestselling author. You will stay up all night reading this.

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

 

 

 

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Faber & Faber and NetGalley*

Serilda is a miller's daughter and lives in a small town where her unusual eyes have always marked her as something other, something to be wary of.

When Serilda crosses paths with the ruthless Erlking, she is drawn into a dangerous world of ghosts and dark creatures.

The Erlking orders Serilda to spin straw into gold - an ability she told the Erlking she has, but lied about. If Serilda fails, she will die. Luckily, a young man appears, able to help, but he needs something from Serilda in return.

Can Serilda escape from the Erlking?

As a fan of the author's previous novels, and being intrigued by the Rumpelstiltskin-retelling aspect of this book, I was intrigued to read it.

Serilda was a likeable and relatable protagonist. As someone who was treated like a curse because of her eyes, Serilda didn't really have any friends, and I felt sorry for her. I liked her relationship with the school children she told stories to.

Gild and the Erlking were were both interesting characters.

The setting and lore in the book were interesting and I liked finding out more about them.

The plot was enjoyable to begin with, and the author did a good job of setting the story up, but after a while the plot became a bit repetitive and dragged for me. I felt that the book could have been a lot

shorter, and because I did lose interest and was not very invested in what happened, I was not shocked by certain events that happened.

At the moment, I am not planning to read the sequel, and am disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall, this was a mixed read.