Gilded - Review

Gilded

By: Marissa Meyer

Publication: November 2nd 2021 by Feiwel & Friends

512 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times-bestselling author, returns to the fairytale world with this haunting retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.

Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn't meant to be part of the bargain.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.

Marissa Meyer has blown me away time and time again with her retellings. And I wondered how in the world she would be able to make Rumplestilskin into something modern, believable, and yet remain true to the original fairy tale. But as usual, she's blown me away. But what will I be able to tell you about the story without spoiling any of it?

Gilded took about 10% for me to feel hooked into the story. While that might not seem very long, at 502 pages 10% is 50 pages. But once I was hooked, I wanted to keep reading. Even though I often found the fantasy descriptions a little long-winded. I suppose so much of the world was unique enough to need these descriptions, but I skimmed a little if I'm honest. Another issue I had was the words I had no reference for pronunciation. I don't mind unique words, but so many of them I just have no clue how to go about pronouncing correctly. And my last major complaint was the brief PC push on gender limitations.

I'm not sure I could say that Serilda was the most likable character. Of course, I still rooted for her, but something just kept me from loving her to her core. I did love her love of stories even though I also wanted to skim some of the stories that she told. Those became more important as the overall story moved along.

I liked the ghost story and darker elements brought to the fairytale. This couldn't just be about a king wanting earthly wealth and a poor girl who falls in love with the greedy king.

Favorite quotes:

-She was met with eager curiosity, the children leaning closer with bright eyes and growing smiles. Despite the cold, Serilda flushed with her own excitement. There was a shiver of anticipation, for even she rarely knew what twists and turns her stories would take before the words slipped from her tongue. Half the time, she was as surprised by the revelations as her listeners. It was part of what drew her to storytelling— not knowing the end, not knowing what would happen next. She was on the adventure every bit as much as the children were.

-full-hearted commitment was the only way to persuade someone of an untruth.

-After all, why be accommodating when one can be difficult?”

-“You’re saying the story made you feel something then?” “Of course it made me feel something. And that something is awful!”

-“Oh no. Not until you tell me what happens next.” She huffed. “I don’t know what happens next.” His expression was priceless. A little dismayed, a little horrified. “How can you not know? It’s your story.” “Not every story is willing to reveal itself right away. Some of them are bashful.”

-This was the worst part of Serilda’s terrible habit. It was so easy to forget what lies one had told, and in what detail.

-It’s hard to be close to someone when you can’t trust them.

My review copy did have a few corrections needed, specifically the very last sentence of the book. But I'm sure those have long been corrected for the final release.

Gilded ends in what is supposed to be a cliffhanger. I have a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers, but this was my favorite kind...one that gives the character and the reader hope. Of course, there's much more of the story to come, but I enjoyed Marissa Meyer's unique retelling of Rumplestilskin. Gilded gets 4 Stars. Have you read Gilded? What did you think? Let me know!