Gilded

Wow!! This book is AMAZING!! The plot is very intricate, but the author weaves every part of the story together in a way that makes sense. The setting of a small village in a haunted area of Germany, surrounded by dark forests like the Aschen Wood really works great with this retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. Serilda is a great character you root for the entire book. Her relationship with Gild is sweet and romantic. This is a pretty dark story though, the Erlking is very evil. Not for kids under 13.

Marissa Meyer is the queen when it comes to fairytale retellings and Gilded is no exception. I absolutely LOVED the story and the plot twist at the end really had me jumping around and yelling silently at 4am (flashbacks to my experience reading Heartless). I'm so excited for the sequel to come out towards the end of the year..

This one was SO good! It hooked me from the very first page, and despite saying I'd take my time with it, I binged the first 400 pages in a day. I was slightly disappointed with the ending, but that's my fault. I totally thought this was a standalone, so the cliffhanger killed me. If I had to choose one thing to love about this, it would be the subtle developments. From the very beginning, ideas are repeated, but they seem so unimportant. You skim over them, thinking they're just filler info. But by the end, those ideas have combined into the most beautiful story. Everything developed so slowly and in the most perfect way. Another thing I really loved was Serilda's magic. It wasn't overpowered, it was barely even helpful. It was woven so brilliantly though. Even it's origin story was done super well. It was just as captivating as the actual story, and I would've gladly read a full length book about it. It was yet another thing that developed slowly into something amazing, and although I suspected there was more to the picture, i had no idea what was coming And finally, I loved the relationship between Gild and Serilda. Yes, it was insta-love, something I normally hate. But this time, it was done so well! Their relationship was so tender and loving. They were everything I want from a romance, and what I eventually want for myself. It was adorable, and I hope it's explored even more in the next book I had no idea what to expect from this one, but I really loved it! I kinda hate that I read it now when there's such a long wait for the sequel, but at least I've read it. Now just gotta wait a year. Thanks to BookishFirst for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!