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silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Most of my reading experience was *almost* as good as the first book. The main thing that made me drop the rating is the gender neutral 'gods' went from just showing up in reference to being actual supposedly gender neutral characters. I did also (trying to put this vaguely to be spoiler free) found parts of the ending to be emotional, and not in the good way, but in a stressful way that pulled me out of the story and made me resent story choices the author made.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual content
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Lengthier than a lot of Marissa Meyer's books, this sequel to Gilded tells the rest of a story woven from fairytales that might seem familiar to us. The structure is broad in scope but rumbles along at a good clip.
This fairytale retelling is quite different to Meyer's more futuristic Lunar Chronicles, as it keeps its roots firmly in the pseudomedieval past. It does have twists though. It's not set in OUR past. It is a distinct world with different (but similar) gods and monsters. I found myself well at home with griffons and basilisks (though I did go wandering to figure out whether it's a basilisk or a cockatrice, and found that in most literature the two names are interchangeable).
Having a character who is blessed/cursed to be a storyteller, prone to lying or withholding the truth, was agonising for me to read (as a compulsive blurt) but it was consistent and true to the character. It was good to run into some of the bit-characters that were in the first book too.
Having been grossly disappointed by the Stars Above short story collection and it's frustratingly boring weddings and heteronormative drivel, it was really refreshing for me to see how Meyer challenged that in this book. For starters the gods in her pantheon transcend gender. Each of them is referred to as They, rather than He or Her, and why not; these are powerful beings who can change their form at will. The other thing that made me smile was that two of the weddings in the story were gay marriages (not an eyelid batted nor an eyebrow raised thank goodness!). Having a huge celebration and joyous whimsy directly after a huge boss battle felt like a load off from the drear and tense parts of the story, and I enjoyed it despite myself. (Bring it in Marissa, all is forgiven).
This fairytale retelling is quite different to Meyer's more futuristic Lunar Chronicles, as it keeps its roots firmly in the pseudomedieval past. It does have twists though. It's not set in OUR past. It is a distinct world with different (but similar) gods and monsters. I found myself well at home with griffons and basilisks (though I did go wandering to figure out whether it's a basilisk or a cockatrice, and found that in most literature the two names are interchangeable).
Having a character who is blessed/cursed to be a storyteller, prone to lying or withholding the truth, was agonising for me to read (as a compulsive blurt) but it was consistent and true to the character. It was good to run into some of the bit-characters that were in the first book too.
Having been grossly disappointed by the Stars Above short story collection and it's frustratingly boring weddings and heteronormative drivel, it was really refreshing for me to see how Meyer challenged that in this book. For starters the gods in her pantheon transcend gender. Each of them is referred to as They, rather than He or Her, and why not; these are powerful beings who can change their form at will. The other thing that made me smile was that two of the weddings in the story were gay marriages (not an eyelid batted nor an eyebrow raised thank goodness!). Having a huge celebration and joyous whimsy directly after a huge boss battle felt like a load off from the drear and tense parts of the story, and I enjoyed it despite myself. (Bring it in Marissa, all is forgiven).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Animal cruelty, Death, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Torture
sylvia_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book went a lot darker than I thought, but I’d really recommend it to people who don’t have a problem with that.
Because it was really pretty good, there were some twists I saw coming and some I didn’t and overall it was just a very good mix that kept me on the edge of my seat. The story of rumpelstiltken was not as prominent anymore, but then we had most covered already in the first book.
Just. I really liked it. Read it.
Because it was really pretty good, there were some twists I saw coming and some I didn’t and overall it was just a very good mix that kept me on the edge of my seat. The story of rumpelstiltken was not as prominent anymore, but then we had most covered already in the first book.
Just. I really liked it. Read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Torture
k_galloway's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
An inclusive story with great lore and world building that’s completely clotheslined by cringy troupes and unnecessary violence against children.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Murder
uranaishi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Blood, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Violence, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
jjstallone's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, War, Child death, Death, Gore, Confinement, Pregnancy, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Slavery
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The vividly immersive and gorgeously woven sequel to Marissa Meyer’s spectacular reimagining of Rumplestiltskin continues where Gilded left off, returning us to Adalheid, the ErlKing and his malevolently dark court.
Following the shocking turn of events, Serilda now finds herself ensnared in a deadly game with the Erlking, who is determined to propel her deeper into the castle’s lies and secrets.
Determined to free herself—and Gild from the Erlking’s clutches, Serilda works with Gild to help him solve the mystery of his forgotten name and past. But the Erlking’s plans aren’t as clear cut as Serilda first thought, for he doesn’t just want to bring back his dark huntress lover… he also seeks vengeance against the seven gods who (long ago) trapped his court of Dark Ones behind the veil, in a effort to protect the mortal realm.
If the ErlKing succeeds (and Serilda and Gild cannot break the curse that tethers them to the castle, or learn to utilise their unique gifts before the Endless Moon) —then the mortal realm will be forever doomed…
I was absolutely enamoured of the rich and deliciously atmospheric world building we encountered in Gilded and loved how Meyer expands on it in Cursed. Although just as vividly detailed as the first, the tone definitely felt a little darker with it’s hauntingly bleak and slightly macabre imagery that was reminiscent of the Grimm’s original. Though what I loved the most was Meyer’s expansion of the lore, delving into the backstories of the ErlKing, Gild and the Gods he soo despises.
Our loveable protagonist and gifted storyteller, Serilda has really matured since the events in Gilded and watching her progression definitely highlighted her emotional development from her rash and impulsive tendencies.
Likewise, Gild’s roguish charm and mischievousness was offset by several nuanced and emotional scenes surrounding the loss of his memories and an unexplainable sense of guilt, which I felt brought new dimension to his character. The chemistry between the pair was still fairly swoon-worthy but their dynamics were certainly angstier this time around.
We do get to meet some new characters this time around, several of which were super interesting—not the mention all the secrets and intrigue that Serilda manages to stumble into.
I enjoyed getting to see more of the creatures within the menagerie and the inclusion of Serilda’s folktales really helped to flesh out the backstory of the
Gods, beasts and the ErlKing’s nefarious deeds without adding too much exposition to the plot.
Overall, Cursed is another fabulously refreshing, plot twisty and utterly addictive YA fantasy that fans of Marissa Meyer or dark fairytale retellings simply must read! And if you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out the first book in the series, Gilded.
I also wanted to say a massive thank you to Divya for the giveaway which allowed me to read one of my most anticipated reads of the year.
Following the shocking turn of events, Serilda now finds herself ensnared in a deadly game with the Erlking, who is determined to propel her deeper into the castle’s lies and secrets.
Determined to free herself—and Gild from the Erlking’s clutches, Serilda works with Gild to help him solve the mystery of his forgotten name and past. But the Erlking’s plans aren’t as clear cut as Serilda first thought, for he doesn’t just want to bring back his dark huntress lover… he also seeks vengeance against the seven gods who (long ago) trapped his court of Dark Ones behind the veil, in a effort to protect the mortal realm.
If the ErlKing succeeds (and Serilda and Gild cannot break the curse that tethers them to the castle, or learn to utilise their unique gifts before the Endless Moon) —then the mortal realm will be forever doomed…
I was absolutely enamoured of the rich and deliciously atmospheric world building we encountered in Gilded and loved how Meyer expands on it in Cursed. Although just as vividly detailed as the first, the tone definitely felt a little darker with it’s hauntingly bleak and slightly macabre imagery that was reminiscent of the Grimm’s original. Though what I loved the most was Meyer’s expansion of the lore, delving into the backstories of the ErlKing, Gild and the Gods he soo despises.
Our loveable protagonist and gifted storyteller, Serilda has really matured since the events in Gilded and watching her progression definitely highlighted her emotional development from her rash and impulsive tendencies.
Likewise, Gild’s roguish charm and mischievousness was offset by several nuanced and emotional scenes surrounding the loss of his memories and an unexplainable sense of guilt, which I felt brought new dimension to his character. The chemistry between the pair was still fairly swoon-worthy but their dynamics were certainly angstier this time around.
We do get to meet some new characters this time around, several of which were super interesting—not the mention all the secrets and intrigue that Serilda manages to stumble into.
I enjoyed getting to see more of the creatures within the menagerie and the inclusion of Serilda’s folktales really helped to flesh out the backstory of the
Gods, beasts and the ErlKing’s nefarious deeds without adding too much exposition to the plot.
Overall, Cursed is another fabulously refreshing, plot twisty and utterly addictive YA fantasy that fans of Marissa Meyer or dark fairytale retellings simply must read! And if you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out the first book in the series, Gilded.
I also wanted to say a massive thank you to Divya for the giveaway which allowed me to read one of my most anticipated reads of the year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy, Blood, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, and Confinement
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