My Rating: ★★★.5
Blurb:
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.
**Spoiler-Free Review**
I was sent a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an
honest review.
I absolutely loved Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles so I was very
excited to read the first book in her newest series, Gilded. This is a
Rumpelstiltskin retelling but with the addition of more mythology and
fairy tales.
The book follows the wonderful Serilda, who is shunned by her
village, who believe her black and gold eyes to be a sign of bad luck.
When her lies get her into trouble and she is taken by the Erlking and
asked to spin gold, she meets the mysterious Gild who offers to help
her in exchange for something...
I really enjoyed this book overall. The characters were all so
realistic and I absolutely loved Serilda's relationship to the
children in her village; Gild was funny and intriguing; and the
mystery behind everything kept me turning the page. I did guess the
mystery pretty early on and some story beats were predictable but that
was partly due to the nature of having heard the original tale so many
times before.
Serilda was such a strong character and I actually really loved her
ability to lie herself out of dangerous situations, and it was done
without making the character feel unlikable.
I'm definitely interested in picking up the sequel which I feel will
be more interesting since it will be less of a retelling and more of a
conclusion to the story!
