Marissa Meyer has blown me away time and time again with her retellings. And I wondered how in the world she would be able to make Rumplestilskin into something modern, believable, and yet remain true to the original fairy tale. But as usual, she's blown me away. But what will I be able to tell you about the story without spoiling any of it?

Gilded took about 10% for me to feel hooked into the story. While that might not seem very long, at 502 pages 10% is 50 pages. But once I was hooked, I wanted to keep reading. Even though I often found the fantasy descriptions a little long-winded. I suppose so much of the world was unique enough to need these descriptions, but I skimmed a little if I'm honest. Another issue I had was the words I had no reference for pronunciation. I don't mind unique words, but so many of them I just have no clue how to go about pronouncing correctly. And my last major complaint was the brief PC push on gender limitations.

I'm not sure I could say that Serilda was the most likable character. Of course, I still rooted for her, but something just kept me from loving her to her core. I did love her love of stories even though I also wanted to skim some of the stories that she told. Those became more important as the overall story moved along.

I liked the ghost story and darker elements brought to the fairytale. This couldn't just be about a king wanting earthly wealth and a poor girl who falls in love with the greedy king.

Favorite quotes:
-She was met with eager curiosity, the children leaning closer with bright eyes and growing smiles. Despite the cold, Serilda flushed with her own excitement. There was a shiver of anticipation, for even she rarely knew what twists and turns her stories would take before the words slipped from her tongue. Half the time, she was as surprised by the revelations as her listeners. It was part of what drew her to storytelling— not knowing the end, not knowing what would happen next. She was on the adventure every bit as much as the children were.

-full-hearted commitment was the only way to persuade someone of an untruth.

-After all, why be accommodating when one can be difficult?”

-“You’re saying the story made you feel something then?” “Of course it made me feel something. And that something is awful!”

-“Oh no. Not until you tell me what happens next.” She huffed. “I don’t know what happens next.” His expression was priceless. A little dismayed, a little horrified. “How can you not know? It’s your story.” “Not every story is willing to reveal itself right away. Some of them are bashful.”

-This was the worst part of Serilda’s terrible habit. It was so easy to forget what lies one had told, and in what detail.

-It’s hard to be close to someone when you can’t trust them.

My review copy did have a few corrections needed, specifically the very last sentence of the book. But I'm sure those have long been corrected for the final release.

Gilded ends in what is supposed to be a cliffhanger. I have a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers, but this was my favorite kind...one that gives the character and the reader hope. Of course, there's much more of the story to come, but I enjoyed Marissa Meyer's unique retelling of Rumplestilskin. Gilded gets 4 Stars. Have you read Gilded? What did you think? Let me know!

Gilded is what my dark fairytale dreams are made of. One of my favorite things about this story is its main character, Serilda. Reading her story through her own storyteller eyes made for such an enchanting reading experience, from her dialogue to the way she views the world that surrounds her to even her inner monologue and thanks to the nature of her character, I found there wasn’t a single dull moment in this book. I’d sell my heart and soul to be able to read Gilded for the first time again. It’s an absolutely stunning story, with wonderful writing and an incredibly charming, unique main character; I can already tell I’ll never tire of revisiting this story.

I loved the adventure and storytelling in this Rumpelstiltskin retelling. I felt like there was always something happening, and it made for a fast read. Serilda was a character I could get behind from the start and I was interested to see how she would get out of the sticky situation she put herself in. One thing I love about fantasy is not everything has to be believable. While there might have been a couple more things towards the end, I was hoping for a little more information on it was a book I truly enjoyed. Looking forward to the end in the series.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillanusa for the gifted copy.

This book was addicting. It was dark and exciting and the characters (including our villain the Erlking) were so compelling. It was a definite five star read for me because I really enjoyed it, but I just wish that I know it wasn't a standalone going in because I didn't mentally prepare myself to have to wait for the end of the story.

I am always unsure when it comes to Marissa Meyers books, especially retellings because I wasn’t really a big fan of the Lunar Chronicles. I still wanted to give Gilded a chance because I love Rumpelstiltskin and was excited for a retelling! If you can tell by my five star rating above, I loved Gilded. I was actually shocked by how much I loved it. There were so many happy and beautiful moments, but so many that were sad and painful too. I really enjoyed the stories that Serilda told throughout the book. She may not be able to spin straw into gold, but she could definitely spin a story. Magic, curses, monsters, and ghosts make for a great book and I had so much fun reading this one. I am now impatiently waiting for the sequel, Cursed, which comes out November of this year!

This is probably one of my biggest disappointments from the fall. This dark retelling of Rumpelstiltskin by Marissa Meyer was on the top of my anticipated fall reads. However, after months of sitting on my DNF shelf, I need to give in and give a rating.

First of all, Marissa Meyer is one of my top 5 favorite authors. I could definitely feel her style in this book through the quirky but lovable characters and the artful twisting of a fairytale we all know. I just couldn't get into the frankly grotesque and confusing world that the characters in this world inhabit. I felt genuine dread while listening to this audiobook and was confused about what was happening in the plot.

I am surprised that this book is being marketed as fantasy over horror. I would certainly classify it as horror, and I was often sickened by the descriptions of violence. Trigger warning: this book does contain child death and violence toward animals and children. Those who enjoy horror or a truly dark fairytale will enjoy this return to Brothers Grimm level gore.

In the end, I didn't love Serilda enough to stick with this book. I was often confused by her reaction to things, sometimes that she should feel/show more emotion and other times that she acted utterly without sense. I also did not find the love interest compelling or believable, which damaged my ability to get lost in the pages.

Ultimately, I will recommend this book to readers who enjoy dark fairytale retellings, but who are mature enough to handle the violence. I will hesitate before handing it to fans of Meyer's Lunar Chronicles.

I will keep this short even though the book decidedly WASN’T.

Obviously it was way too long. It drags in places that should be exciting and all but stands still the rest of the time. At least 200 pages could have been cut and probably should have been.

This was not a complete story, not even a complete arc. As soon as it starts to feel like you’re approaching something resembling a second act, the book inexplicably cuts off. WHY?!?!?! This is not a cliffhanger so much as it is an unfinished project.

The idea is cool and the beats of the story are *there* if only someone cut out the filler. We simply do not need watch Serilda complete one thousand iterations of the same tedious task. The story of the prince and how the Rumplestiltskin fairytale is flipped on its head is very clever, and I can tell Meyer is a talented writer. But I just could not get onboard with how slow moving this was. A bit of a disappointment if I’m being honest.

Amazing, fantastical and utterly beautiful. Marissa writing always leaves me hoping for more and staring at the page in utterly awe, this is no exception. The romance just topped off the emotional story and got me so much more invested in the characters. The sequel is going to be a wild ride and I'll be here for it. 4.5

If you’re not in to word building this may seem a bit draggy for you BUT sometimes that word building is necessary for the story to truly shine. I will say that Serilda wasn’t very intriguing. I didn’t instantly feel akin to her or fall into the story as if I were here. I also wish the romance had been a little more. It didn’t seem like there was really any real chemistry. While I had high hopes for the book- it didn’t hit them.

Gilded full

After months of not being in the right mood for this Rumplestiltskin retelling I finally read this! I wish I had known it was a duology because I was at like 90% and I thought it was going to wrap up and then it JUST ENDED.

I think the vibes were perfect for dark sort of spooky times (again, my mood really decided to think it was spooky season in January, but whatever.) The characters were interesting and I was definitely hooked once the retelling really started to unravel!

I would highly recommend this if you enjoy dark and sort of twisted retellings, especially because this one definitely took a turn I didn’t expect it to take!

I did think the beginning was a bit slow to build up, especially because it didn’t feel like there was any world building involved. Every time a new creature or the hunt was mentioned, it felt like it was just thrown in and we were already supposed to know it. I wasn’t really able to imagine any of the creatures because I felt like I didn’t really have a grasp on what any of them looked like, but I didn’t mind it once I got past the first maybe 15%.

The ending was. Really well done and I was really surprised because I didn’t expect a sequel. I loved the way the story Serilda told slowly built up to a really interesting reveal. While I wasn’t completely surprised, it was really cool to see the way it was done.

I really liked these retellings by Marissa Meyer. Gilded followed the story of Serilda as she spins stories for children and the Erkling as she unexpectedly falls in love. I feel this book lays a lot of the groundwork for the sequel and was slow at some part, but I am hoping it is all with it when the sequel reveals everything.

Such a great read. Marissa Meyer knows how to take a fairy tale and weave a new perspective that you never expect.

Another fairy tale retelling that does not disappoint. I feel Marissa Meyer has grown as a storyteller. It is part of a series, so be warned it ends on a cliffhanger. If you enjoy clever twists on retelling of old tales then you will enjoy Gilded. As is so often true of fairy tales, there are perverse trials and difficulties choices to be made by the human protagonist.

I recommend this one. It's a good book and everyone should read. Of course I would love to have this book in my bookstore.

Gilded was such a unique retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, haunting and weird but yet oddly magical too!

This is probably one of the most weird books I've read but it somehow worked. It was mega atmospheric and haunting, it definitely gave me chills and I would not recommend reading it during the night hours. The world is very grim and it is definitely not for everyone, it is very unique.

Fans of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles will love this one, it often felt similar just more grim!
I liked it enough to continue the series!

As much as I wanted to enjoy this one, it just seemed so heavy? Originally, I thought this was a standalone which made sense with how massive it is - but it's actually a duology. And I feel like having it be a duology was an incredible detriment because it was trying to set up this super fantasy and a magically driven world that in the end, most will not remember by the time the sequel is released. If this had been shortened into a single book - it would've been absolutely amazing! Despite how wordy and massive it was, it was still enjoyable. I'm just unsure if I'll actually feel the need to pick up the sequel.

I enjoyed Meyer's dark retelling of Rumpelstiltskin but wish she could have completed it in one volume. I found book one of the duology to be a slow start, quite wordy, and somewhat dry. Just about when I began to really get into the story the action ends abruptly with a cliff-hanger and we need to wait for book 2. Will I read this tomb over to recap for the sequel? No. Will I remember everything? No. I really feel this could have been edited into one book and it would have been fantastic.

Thank you Feiwel & Friends, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for this eARC via netgalley.

Serilda is god-touched and she wonders if her gift is more of a curse than blessing. With unusual eyes and mouth that spouts whimsical stories, Serilda is alienated by others because of her strangeness. When Serilda is caught in a troubling position she creates a lie that will end up testing her in many difficult ways.

I like this version of the story that the author spins. I think that the major plot of the story is well written. I will only add that some parts seemed a little repetitious and could have been shortened a bit for a better story flow.

I do wish that this book was a stand-alone rather than a continuous tale. I think that the book would have been a bit stronger overall if it would have ended when things could have been wrapped up instead of continued.

Overall I loved the detailed storytelling and this book just further shows how skilled of a writer Meyer is with fairytales. I will be continuing on with the series and I have high hopes for her future books.

This dark and daring retelling of the tale of Rumplestiltskin is creative and much creepier than I expected – but in a very good way.

Serilda was blessed – or cursed – by the god of lies and storytelling before she was even born. She has a way with words and weaving tales that has gotten into more trouble than not. And when she crosses paths with the Wild Hunt and the dangerous Erlking that commands them, her talent for finding trouble with her tongue comes to a head when she’s pulled into an arrangement with the Dark King that she can’t avoid. Too bad no one in her village believes her. Luckily, Serilda finds someone willing to help her side of the bargain with the King – for a price.

This fairytale is dark. Haunting and grim and certainly not for the faint of heart – wildly opposite the Marissa Meyer books I’ve read in the past (all of them) but almost more impressive given the fact that it seems so far out of the wheelhouse of her other works. She does it tremendously well, weaving in moments of sorrow and gore that actually made me want to squeeze my eyes shut to avoid the images drawn by her words. A ghost story more than a fairytale, yet with the essence of Grimm on every page.

The set up of the plot takes time and can be a bit repetitive at certain points, but I found myself glued to the page, eager to see what would happen next. (Though a couple key twists were semi-easy to predict given a plethora of context clues that were perhaps a bit too obvious.) Also, I DID NOT KNOW THIS HAD A SEQUEL. I went into this novel expecting a nice, clean standalone with few, if any loose ends and instead encountered a cliffhanger that will leave me wondering for the next year or however long it was until the sequel is released. SO BE WARNED.

Serilda’s story is one of caution and hope and finding light in the dark – even when it seems impossible to make your way out of the muck. A love letter to fairytales of old but a take so original that it stands on its own with ease.

Trigger warning: death, murder, violence, death of children, loss of parent.

Fairy tale reimaginings can be very hit or miss - this one makes the cut. It has all the elements of a good fairy tale, specifically of Rumplestiltskin, but some added elements as well.
Serilda's character is likable and realistic, if a bit sarcastic at times. The mythical creatures are creative. I felt like the plot dragged a bit in a few places, and found myself doing some skimming, but ultimately an enjoyable read.