Gilded

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

Gilded is the first book in Marissa Meyer’s Gilded Duet, and I was thrilled to read another work by this author. I’ve enjoyed some of her other fairy tale retellings, so I was particularly excited to see her take on Rumpelstiltskin. I have to admit that I never cared for the original story, but I trust Marissa to put her own unique spin on this fairy tale. 

The story is told solely through the FMC’s POV, Serilda, and she’s not your average girl because she’s actually cursed by the God of Lies, which means she has the talent to lie. When she crosses the path of the Erlking and his undead hunters, she ends up spinning a lie that gets her in trouble with the Erlking, where he forces her to spin straw into gold for him. The issue is she doesn’t have that ability, and if she doesn’t do what he asks, she’ll be killed. That’s when a mysterious boy appears in her prison cell; she’s being kept who can actually help her with her task. The more time she spends with the mysterious boy and in the Erlking’s castle, the more she learns that there are secrets in the castle that the Erlking is keeping, and she’s determined to find out the truth. 

This was definitely a more haunting tale that was full of twists and turns compared to the original story, but unfortunately, I found myself getting bored often and putting the book aside to pick up another book in the meantime. I was disappointed in myself that I wasn’t enjoying this book because I enjoyed the other fairytale retellings I’ve read from Marissa, but I had to remind myself that the original story of Rumpelstiltskin wasn’t my favorite to read as a kid. I did like some things about the book, though. I loved getting to know the FMC, Serilda, and how determined she was to find out the truth about the secrets of the Erlking’s castle, which actually wasn’t his castle. That whole part of the storyline is what kept me intrigued because Erlking was living up to being a horrible antagonist, especially with what he did at the end of the book. The mysterious boy who showed up to help Serilda intrigued me, too. His character was what was different from the original tale, and I knew he played a significant role in the book. The ending, though, through me for a loop, and I won’t spoil it for readers who haven’t read this book. I just wasn’t expecting it. 

Will I read the next book? I might, but not at the moment. I’m curious whether Serilda will defeat the Erlking, as he definitely needs to be taken down. Overall, I found this retelling to be an okay read, and I give it three stars; however, it won’t be one of my favorites by Marissa Meyer. I would still recommend it, as other readers may enjoy this tale of Rumpelstiltskin more than I did.

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FranJessca

Owner/Reviewer at A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog

I guess I should type a bio here. I'm FranJessca, or Fran for short. I'm the owner/reviewer behind A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog. I've been reading and reviewing books on my blog since leaving the Navy in 2011, and I will keep doing it as long as possible. My favorite genres will always be Romance & Fantasy, and I read every subgenre underneath those two genres. (Sorry, not a fan of nonfiction, so don't try to convince me to read it.)
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)

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