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Gilded (Gilded, #1)

Marissa Meyer

Start date: November 1, 2021

Finish date: November 30, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Dec 08, 2021 Jenn rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, 3-star-reads, read-in-2021, fantasy, retellings, young-adult, read-in-2023, signed-copies

3.5 Stars

I absolutely LOVED the Cinder series from Meyer. But sadly, I haven't really loved anything she's written since. I went into Gilded hoping that would change, and it did...kinda. While I didn't love it as much as I wanted to, I really did enjoy the story but it also had some issues.

Gilded is a retelling of the classic Rumpelstiltskin tale. A girl makes a deal with a magical creature to spin straw into gold. But in the classic Meyer twist, girl falls in love with said magical being and c 3.5 Stars

I absolutely LOVED the Cinder series from Meyer. But sadly, I haven't really loved anything she's written since. I went into Gilded hoping that would change, and it did...kinda. While I didn't love it as much as I wanted to, I really did enjoy the story but it also had some issues.

Gilded is a retelling of the classic Rumpelstiltskin tale. A girl makes a deal with a magical creature to spin straw into gold. But in the classic Meyer twist, girl falls in love with said magical being and chaos ensues because obviously this would never work out.

What I really liked about this book was how dark Meyer was willing to go. Her previous works have always just skirted the side of darkness but never really fully committed. That was not the case her. There were very vivid descriptions of death that included children. It felt very real to the story and not thrown in for just shock value, which I appreciated. I also really enjoyed most of the side characters. The school children from Serilda's hometown were a delight and I loved the mother/daughter duo who owned the tavern. This book was full of fun characters that just added to the overall plot.

I also 100% like that she didn't romanticize the Erlking and go that route with the love story.

But on the other hand, the romance in this book really fell flat. It went from 0 to 100 just like that and, to me, there wasn't really any major chemistry between Serilda and Gild. Not gonna lie, (view spoiler). It was really hard to root for them when I just didn't feel it. Gild felt like a child or a lost puppy, and not in a good way.

Another major issue of the story was the pacing. This book was loooonnnnggggg. It took me so long to read it because there were just chunks of time where nothing happened and my mind just feel out of the story. I also thought this was a standalone so that didn't help.

But overall, I did like the overarching story and want to know how it concludes. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Sep 10, 2022 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it really liked it

Shelves: pregnancy-baby-child, royalty-and-nobility, fairytales, mythology, young-adult, romance, own-ebook-read, reviewed, fantasy, forced-proximity

I am not quite sure what to make of my feelings since finishing this book. This book was surprising in a lot of ways.

I have loved every single book that I have read from this author so far but this one felt different to me. While the storytelling was the familiar relatable style that I have come to expect and love from this author, the book had a feeling of otherness that stood out to me. That's not to say that is a bad thing. It's just different. The plot of the story was a little hard to foll I am not quite sure what to make of my feelings since finishing this book. This book was surprising in a lot of ways.

I have loved every single book that I have read from this author so far but this one felt different to me. While the storytelling was the familiar relatable style that I have come to expect and love from this author, the book had a feeling of otherness that stood out to me. That's not to say that is a bad thing. It's just different. The plot of the story was a little hard to follow at first. I wasn't quite sure what I was reading in the beginning. This book is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and I was able to draw the parallels by the end of the book. I felt that the world-building was vivid and had an atmospheric air to it. The plot was very mysterious and I felt myself drawn to the story and wanting to know more.

The characters were very intriguing. I found myself wanting to know more about them as I read their story. I loved Serilda's personality. She was a straightforward person and had a bit of spunk. She was imaginative and had a good heart. The Erlking was the villain of the story and I didn't know what to make of him at first. I ended up really liking him as the villain. Once you learn his backstory you can really appreciate his role in the story. Gild was the most mysterious character. I'm not going to say much about him because of spoilers but his character is one that I really felt for. Each character had a distinct personality and had their own character growth. I also loved all of the secondary characters and the parts that they played in the story.

The romance was swoony and that is sadly all I can say because of spoilers. You're welcome.

Overall, this was a well-crafted story with characters that really stood out. I was impressed with the plot and the way that the author incorporated folklore and myth into her retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. The ending of the story definitely left me wanting to read the next book.

BLOG FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM GOODREADS TIKTOK TWITTER BOOKBUB AMAZON PINTEREST ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 04, 2021 Elizabeth Aguilar rated it really liked it

RTC

Imo it could have been trimmed a bit by tightening some some prose and reducing some details. I understand that each scene added something (although I'd argue that her trying to offer food to the head in the carriage on her first visit to the Erlking could have been cut completely.) Thankfully, I listened to it at 1.75x speed so it didn't take me the full 15 hrs to finish.

I was a little confused around the first 50-100 pgs bc I wasn't sure what direction Meyer would take this Rumpelstiltskin ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2024 Susan rated it really liked it

I loved this book. I haven't read one book from Marissa Meyer that I haven't loved. She writes such a great storyline that hooks you until the very end.

I'm not sure what retelling this is. It's a Rumpelstiltskin retelling. I love Rumpelstiltskin as a character in general so I knew this would be a story I would love.

I loved the stories that Serilda told all the children she taught and how she thought they were made up stories only to find out they were the truth. Serilda was blessed by a God and ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 24, 2024 Kayleigh {K-Books} rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-physical, retellings

Gilded Review on K-Books

I’ve been a huge fan of Marissa Meyer for a long while, ever since I read and adored The Lunar Chronicles years ago. Since then, I’ve bought her books as soon as they released but for some reason Gilded sat there unread for a number of years. While trying to clear out some of my audiobooks, I decided to read the audio edition of this one. I am so glad that I finally picked this up as I absolutely loved every moment of it.

Gilded follows the story of Serilda, a poor miller’ Gilded Review on K-Books

I’ve been a huge fan of Marissa Meyer for a long while, ever since I read and adored The Lunar Chronicles years ago. Since then, I’ve bought her books as soon as they released but for some reason Gilded sat there unread for a number of years. While trying to clear out some of my audiobooks, I decided to read the audio edition of this one. I am so glad that I finally picked this up as I absolutely loved every moment of it.

Gilded follows the story of Serilda, a poor miller’s daughter with a penchant for telling stories. She is favoured in her village by the children as they love hearing her stories. However, when one of her particularly tall tales, catches the attention of the evil Erlking, he kidnaps her expecting her to spin straw into gold. If she doesn’t… he will kill her. Enter, Gild. A handsome poltergeist who just so happens to be able to spin straw into god and… well… you know the tale! This is a super faithful adaptation of the Rumplstiltskin tale… only add up the sinister evil characters and the creep factor. I remember absolutely loving the Rumplestiltskin tale as a kid and so to see this retelling sticking really close to the tale was a definite plus for me. I love retellings but 99% of retellings stray away from the source material significantly, whereas with this one I found that Marissa stayed true to every aspect of the original fairytale, while adding more backstory and lore around that. That’s what has made this one of my favourite retellings of all time.

Marissa Meyer’s writing is super addictive. Right from the very first word, I was completely obsessed and taken away on a journey by this book. I couldn’t stop reading (or in my case listening). I was loving every word and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen. I love how she added a ghostly twist to this tale, which made it even more high stakes than the original fairytale. She has just cemented herself as one of my favourite authors, and I will pick up anything that this woman writes.

Gilded was such a fantastic book. It was fun, action packed and had a hint of romance along the way. I feel like this book was really overshadowed by another similar titled book that released at a similar time, and it is honestly a shame because this book is everything! It’s absolutely fantastic and despite me not being a binge reader of series, I will be going straight into the next book of this duology as I cannot wait to see what happens. If you’re a fan of some good fairytale retellings then I urge you not to miss out on this one. I loved every single moment. Fantastic start to what I’m sure is going to be a phenomenal series.