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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very slow beginning and I didn’t buy into all the relationships. There were some darker moments as well that I was a little surprised by - I suspect it had to be extreme to give motivation. Overall, the ending was interesting enough that I’ll read the sequel but I’m not sure I’d recommend it?
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This series was sooo good Marissa Meyer did not disappoint!! But it needs more recognition the plot is actually crazy good
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the writing was decent, and while the story had its moments, i kind of saw the “serilda can bend lies into truth” twist coming. from the start, her gift with storytelling felt too emphasized to just be a surface-level trait, so it wasn’t super shocking when it turned out her words had actual power. still, i thought the idea itself was pretty cool. it fits the fairytale vibe and adds an interesting layer to the whole “cursed by lies” thing.
what surprised me most, though, was how dark this book got. way darker than i expected going in. it leaned a lot more into horror and tragedy than the whimsical retelling i thought i was picking up.
as for the romance, that’s where i struggled. gild and serilda’s relationship felt way too fast, like it skipped the whole buildup stage. i know the pregnancy trope is part of rumpelstiltskin, so i was expecting it, but the way it played out still felt icky and rushed. i kept wishing it had been more of a slow burn. that would’ve made the payoff so much more satisfying.
and honestly, outside of serilda, the characters didn’t feel that fleshed out. the erlking especially stood out to me. he’s supposed to be one of the most important figures in the story, but i felt like we barely scratched the surface with him. if he had been given more depth, the whole conflict could’ve hit harder.
overall, i’d call it a mid book. it didn’t blow me away, but it kept me intrigued enough that i’ll still check out the sequel.
what surprised me most, though, was how dark this book got. way darker than i expected going in. it leaned a lot more into horror and tragedy than the whimsical retelling i thought i was picking up.
as for the romance, that’s where i struggled. gild and serilda’s relationship felt way too fast, like it skipped the whole buildup stage. i know the pregnancy trope is part of rumpelstiltskin, so i was expecting it, but the way it played out still felt icky and rushed. i kept wishing it had been more of a slow burn. that would’ve made the payoff so much more satisfying.
and honestly, outside of serilda, the characters didn’t feel that fleshed out. the erlking especially stood out to me. he’s supposed to be one of the most important figures in the story, but i felt like we barely scratched the surface with him. if he had been given more depth, the whole conflict could’ve hit harder.
overall, i’d call it a mid book. it didn’t blow me away, but it kept me intrigued enough that i’ll still check out the sequel.
I thought I was going to love this book, Rumpelstiltskin retellings are one of my favs. 50% into the book it was interesting and I was loving the world building but the last half got so repetitive and boring I couldn’t finish it. I think more could of been done and there was too much mystery going into play. It didn’t peak my interest it just made me irritated we weren’t getting to the point yet.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Omg, Marissa! Why was this not one book? I fell asleep listening for an hour and we still hadn't had the big reveal. A great story but I will not bother listening to the next one. It could've been wrapped up in 1!
Gilded was an interesting read for me. I found this book challenging, disappointing, and eventually enjoyable. I was incredibly eager to start this book. As I began reading this novel I found myself falling into a reading slump but did my best to push through it. However, I did need to take a break from reading for a few weeks and only managed the first 50 pages. I was excited to return to the book as I felt there was going to be a lot to this story and I was very excited for a Rumpelstiltskin retelling. Once I picked up the novel again I found many positives and negatives to it. My biggest issue with the book is that it was far too long, I found that there wasn't enough of a story to have this book 500 pages.
Personally, I gave Gilded a 3.5 star rating. However, I think other readers may find this novel more enjoyable than I did and may find it to be 4 stars. I will definitely be picking up the sequel, the last 100 pages of Gilded were very enjoyable and has made me excited to read more of this story.
A full review can be found here on my blog:
https://lindseyreadsya.blogspot.com/2021/12/gilded-marissa-meyer-review.html
Personally, I gave Gilded a 3.5 star rating. However, I think other readers may find this novel more enjoyable than I did and may find it to be 4 stars. I will definitely be picking up the sequel, the last 100 pages of Gilded were very enjoyable and has made me excited to read more of this story.
A full review can be found here on my blog:
https://lindseyreadsya.blogspot.com/2021/12/gilded-marissa-meyer-review.html
Wow. This book was GOOD.
Often when I read a novel that is filled with lore I am always wanting more information...I want more to the story...the why behind the what. Marissa Meyer delivers this in Gilded. She weaves tales within her tale to not only give insight to the lore of the land, but to give us more information about our main characters. As Serilda weaves her own tales we learn what she can do, the power within her, and her strength. I would of course love to learn more of the magical gods and beasts, but not because the story was lacking...instead it was so good that I was immersed and simply want to learn everything I can.
The relationships were endearing and felt real to me. The children who loved to listen to Serilda's stories, her discord with the head teacher, her love for her father...it was all beautiful. I also really fell for the romance. The way in which the characters meet and fall in love was realistic and while lovely, it was also rather sad. I fell for it and was rooting for them all along. Honestly even the relationship with the villain and his people was intriguing to me. I hope we get more scenes with his "court" and followers.
I will say that Gilded was a little bit darker than I had anticipated. I loved that. I loved that Meyer does not shy away from some really heart wrenching aspects. It truly made the story more real to me. The heartbreak our characters experience is truly heartbreaking. Meyer writes the losses in such a way that you are unable to simply continue on. You feel with the characters and it just immerses you more in the story.
The one thing I can say that I hated? I had no idea that Gilded was the beginning of a series. I researched prior to reading it because I am one of those people who always waits to read a series when it is complete. I was frustrated at the end of the novel because it was truly left in a way that leaves no question there is more to come. On one hand, I am thrilled because I loved everything about this novel...on the other hand, I hate waiting.
All in all highly recommended. I loved it.
Often when I read a novel that is filled with lore I am always wanting more information...I want more to the story...the why behind the what. Marissa Meyer delivers this in Gilded. She weaves tales within her tale to not only give insight to the lore of the land, but to give us more information about our main characters. As Serilda weaves her own tales we learn what she can do, the power within her, and her strength. I would of course love to learn more of the magical gods and beasts, but not because the story was lacking...instead it was so good that I was immersed and simply want to learn everything I can.
The relationships were endearing and felt real to me. The children who loved to listen to Serilda's stories, her discord with the head teacher, her love for her father...it was all beautiful. I also really fell for the romance. The way in which the characters meet and fall in love was realistic and while lovely, it was also rather sad. I fell for it and was rooting for them all along. Honestly even the relationship with the villain and his people was intriguing to me. I hope we get more scenes with his "court" and followers.
I will say that Gilded was a little bit darker than I had anticipated. I loved that. I loved that Meyer does not shy away from some really heart wrenching aspects. It truly made the story more real to me. The heartbreak our characters experience is truly heartbreaking. Meyer writes the losses in such a way that you are unable to simply continue on. You feel with the characters and it just immerses you more in the story.
The one thing I can say that I hated? I had no idea that Gilded was the beginning of a series. I researched prior to reading it because I am one of those people who always waits to read a series when it is complete. I was frustrated at the end of the novel because it was truly left in a way that leaves no question there is more to come. On one hand, I am thrilled because I loved everything about this novel...on the other hand, I hate waiting.
All in all highly recommended. I loved it.