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Gilded by Marissa Meyer Series: Gilded #1
Also by this author: Scarlet, Cress, Winter
Published by Feiwel & Friends on November 2, 2021
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Fairy Tales & Folklore / Adaptations, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / General
Pages: 512
Format: eARC, Hardcover
Source: Library, Publisher
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In Gilded, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer returns to the fairytale world with this haunting tale.
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. Love isn't meant to be part of the bargain.
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.
When it comes to fairy tale retellings, I know that I am in a good place picking up Marissa Meyer’s books. Gilded is a return to fairy tale retellings for Meyer and I AM HERE FOR IT. I felt like this was such a good book to really sink my teeth into. As I read, I felt transported into the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin – with some very clear Germanic elements.
Serilda has been either blessed or cursed by the Storytelling God – depending upon how you look at it. You see, her eyes featuring a spinning wheel on them. When Serilda opens her mouth, she weaves these fantastic tales. Those in her village don’t know whether to believe her or to assume she’s lying. At this point, only the children listen to her stories. No one else really wants anything to do with her. Serilda lives with her father — her mother having disappeared when she was two. One night Serilda is late getting home from work at the school. Through a series of events, she helps two moss maidens escape the Erlking who conducts hunts.
Unfortunately, helping the moss maidens places Serilda under the Erlking’s notice. He kidnaps Serilda with the expectation that she will spin straw into gold. Serilda is unable to do this — it is one of the tales she weaves. However, she is helped out one night by a young poltergeist, simply called Gild. There is an undeniable attraction between Serilda and Gild, but Gild has got some secrets and a mystery about him. Also — Serilda’s luck against the Erlking who is absolutely a terrible, bad guy is about to run out.
@realbooksandwine #Inverted Gilded by Marissa Meyer @fiercereads
I really enjoyed Gilded. It felt like a good return to Meyer’s roots. While it didn’t captivate me quite as much as Cinder per se, it was still attention grabbing. I really enjoyed the sense of setting that Meyer infused the story with. The inspirations were so clear. I also liked the chemistry between Serilda and Gild. However, I did also really feel the length of this book at different moments where it felt overlong. This is more of a me problem than a this book problem. I absolutely would say give this one a shot if you are a long time fan of Meyer.
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