Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.What could possibly be better than a Rumpelstiltskin retelling?


A Rumpelstiltskin retelling written by retelling Queen Marissa Meyer with her classic flair for juicy drama and writing style that captures you inside its magic. **Cue Happy Dance**


I enjoyed this book so much. I ended up starting it one day and staying up late the next night to finish it because I just couldn't wait another day to find out how it ended. Who needs sleep when you're hopelessly lost inside a story with suspence, magic, thrills and secrets anyways?

As expected, the writing is amazing. The pacing is perfect. It was fast paced even when very little was happening. Every piece of the story was important. There was no word vomit or filler.

I adored Serilda as a main character. I just loved her spunk and her spirit. The side characters were so well done. Each character had an important part in the story no matter how small it was. I loved that we don't get weighed down with a huge mess of characters but rather get to focus on a select few. It allows us to really appreciate each one of them as individuals.

Please tell me this is a series. I really hope this is a series. It feels like it should be a series. I need more from this story, these characters, this world! I just need more. Like soon, please!

I loved the fairy-tale feel of the book. The main character, Serilda, was blessed/cursed with 'storytelling' and that was really intriguing to explore. She also took in every square inch of her surroundings with wonder...the meandering was REAL.

There were a lot of really interesting concepts woven together in this: The Wild Hunt, the Erlking, Rumpelstiltskin and a little Beauty and the Beast. Not to mention fantasy creatures and beasties. !!! It's appropriately dark and the romance was very young and sweet.

I can't help but feel like this wasn't written for an older audience in mind. I figured out way too much, too fast, which made getting through all of the observations a bit of a chore, sometimes. I was also a bit crestfallen when I realized the last chapter was not wrapping up, but setting up an elaborate plot for the next book...

I didn't love...I don't know? How long everything seemed to take? The foreshadowing is such that...I'm not sure what I have to look forward to in the next book? So, yeah. It wasn't bad, but I really wish it had been better.

I am just in awww I love Marissa Meyer's writing style so much and I am in love with this story. I hope there is more to this cause I for sure need more. I highly recommend this to everyone.

I first want to say that I love Marissa Meyer, and for a while there, I thought she could do no wrong. I also want to say that when I read this blurb, I immediately knew I would love it! The cover is also something to admire. I started the book, and everything was going great! I LOVED the beginning, and was HOOKED! Unfortunately, somewhere along the way it began to get repetitive and just seemed to drag. I lost interest in the characters, it took some weird turns, and it just lost me. It really breaks my heart to give it 2 stars because I want to like this story so much! Unfortunately, in the end, it just fell short. But, with all of that being said, I still hope others find enjoyment in it and support this great author!

Meyer is back with another strong fairytale retelling--this time Rumpelstiltskin. Well developed plot and characterization. I enjoy the addition of Fae lore including the Wild Hunt.

Gilded by Marisa Meyer was a book I was so excited to get, but I have mixed feelings on how I felt about it.
It started strong for me, but then it just dragged out for awhile, then got exciting again, only to end in a cliffhanger! I did not realize this wasn’t a standalone. I did keep reading because I was invested in the characters and story and really wanted to know what was going to happen, but found that some parts I was just skimming.
The writing in this book is exquisite and the weaving of the tale is wonderful. I just wonder if it could have been slimmed down a bit.
Overall, I enjoyed the story and will definitely be picking up the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a book that is a warm and fuzzy fairytale this is not it! This story is unique, emotional, terrible and amazing all in one. I really enjoyed the characters. I found Serilda so charming, Erlking is the perfect and frightening as heck villain and Gild is so lovable and heartbreaking. It was a little slow to start but gathered speed in the middle and kept going until the end.. I’m excited for the next book. I have so many questions and I’m excited to see what’s to come from the terrible situation Serilda has been left in!

Gilded by Marissa Meyer just released on 11/2/21 and I hope you run and pick it up.

This is the first book by Meyers that I’ve read in a physical format and it is just as magical as the audiobooks! I do plan to listen as well because I’m so attached to this story!

I feel like I could talk about this book for hours, but would give all the spoilers. All I know is I LOVE Serilda, she may be one of my favorite characters ever.

I can’t wait for you all to read this one, and I’ll be counting down the days until book 2 is available!

Marissa never disappoints with her retelling! I absolutely adored this one. It will never outdo Heartless. But it was definitely enjoyable.

(Actual rating 3.5 stars) this book follows a young woman gifted with a storytelling talent which ends her up in trouble with the dark side of her world. If you are into retellings and ya fantasy I think you will really enjoy this one! Like others of Meyers books she really has a way with making a story you thought you knew turned on it’s head. Retellings are not usually my cup of tea which is what kept it from being a little higher for me, but I know a lot of people really love them, and if you do you’ll like this one. Adventure, tension and a romance as well. She also really makes the characters come to life, and the setting is very atmospheric.

I have been waiting for a long time for Marissa Meyer to return to the world of fairy tale retellings. The Lunar Chronicles were such a huge part of my teens and young adulthood, so when I heard she was diving back in with a brand new retelling of “Rumpelstiltskin,” I was immediately excited. However, upon finishing “Gilded,” I have somewhat mixed feelings.

Let me start off by saying that it’s clear Marissa Meyer did her research with “Gilded.” There are many callbacks to the original tale and she even included some aspects of other German folklore into the story to add to the plot. Marissa Meyer is also an excellent writer and story teller, which, being that our main character is a storyteller, made those aspects of the story that much more magical and believable.

Now, where my mixed feelings come into play, is the fact that “Gilded” was so long. Almost unnecessarily so? The first hundred pages were inviting and whimsical and kept me looking forward to more. But the thing with “Rumpelstiltskin” is that it’s a short fairy tale. I do think adding in other bits of German folklore massively helped add something new to the story and keep the plot overall engaging. But eventually the story did begin to feel dragged out and repetitive due to Serilda, our main character, being called to spin straw into gold every full moon. While the original story is also repetitive with Rumpelstiltskin coming back daily when the miller’s daughter needs to spin straw into gold, having the story extended over 500 pages like “Gilded” is, doesn’t make it as fun to read. I know Serilda is going to be called back by the Erlking because I know the story of “Rumpelstiltskin.” After the second time she gets called back on a full moon, it sort of felt like just a bunch of everyone waiting around for the Erlking to return again.

One other thing that has me really in my mixed feelings is the romance. We instantly know that Gild is going to be a romantic interest for Serilda, and while I really do like Gild and the two of them together, I realistically feel like there simply wasn’t enough of them together to really sell that they’re in love. They meet a handful of times for a few hours? I don’t know, maybe this is an aspect of the story where I simply need to suspend my disbelief since this is a fairy tale retelling. In fairy tales, insta-love is quintessential. Maybe I’ll give it a pass?… Now do you see why I have such mixed feelings?

Overall, I didn’t hate “Gilded.” In fact, the story itself, I loved. It was magical and whimsical and dark and twisted. The characters are enjoyable, even the evil ones, and there is so much promise with how much information we are given. It almost feels like “Gilded” was one big set up for the next book–which we are absolutely getting because nothing major wrapped up in this first one. I almost get “A Court of Thorns and Roses” vibes from “Gilded.” Not at all from anything having to do with the plot, but with how ACOTAR was its own story, that then very clearly became a book that was meant to set up the actual story.

Anyway, my mixed feelings with “Gilded” stand. I don’t completely hate it, but I don’t completely love it as much as I expected to. I will however, definitely be checking out the next book because I am interested in seeing how this story ends.

Initial Thoughts
I love retellings and dark retellings are even better. This book sounded right up my alley. Now, I won’t lie, I didn’t go into this book as a big Marissa Meyer fan. I definitely like her writing but she wasn’t an author that I typically gush about.

Some Things I Liked
Dark themes. I really enjoyed the darkness in this book. Some of the parts were borderline disturbing but the way the darkness was woven into the story felt so organic and it felt like a Grimm Brother’s fairytale.
Serilda as an almost unreliable narrator. I loved that she was a liar but also not a liar. She reminded me of Vanja from Margaret Owen’s Little Thieves (another author that I was not previously a huge fan of until I read that book).
Foreshadowing. This book is rich with Easter eggs and foreshadowing and my puzzle and mystery oriented mind was whirling with possibilities and theories the entire time I was reading.

Series Value
I can’t wait to read the sequel to this book. I loved this story and the ending was 🤯!

Final Thoughts
I can now say that I am a big Marissa Meyer fan. This book was phenomenal.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fantastic fairy tale retelling. It was hard to put down. Can’t wait for the next title in this duology!

*I received an eARC of this in return for a fair review.

Serilda is the storyteller of her village, and the children love nothing better than to sit and listen to one of her tales. Adults usually want nothing to do with her as they feel she is cursed due to the appearance of her eyes. In a desperate act, Serilda tells one too many stories to the wrong person, and finds herself trying to fulfill the promises she offered in her tale - spinning gold into straw. Enter the mysterious spector turned savior Gild, and Serilda finds herself able to survive another month - at least until the next full moon.

This is a fun retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, with plenty of extra characters and added lore. I didn't realize it would be quite the cliffhanger ending, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book too much. Overall a great addition for fans of Meyer and retold tales.

I was really excited about Marissa Meyer's next retelling after reading and falling in love with her Queen of Hearts retelling "Heartless". Unfortunately I feel like this one fell flat. The tale of Rumplestiltskin is very short so I was surprised when this book was 500 pages and even more surprised to find out that there's going to be a sequel. The first 100 pages or so were super interesting but the story became repetitive and I found myself not really caring about any of the main characters.

This was a fun read, however I need to start looking to see if books are stand alone or first in a series before I start reading!
I really enjoyed character development and story line in this novel by Marissa Meyer. It lured me in and kept me guessing until the end.
I would definitely recommend this to YA fantasy fans! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review

Bravo to Marissa Meyer for taking a lesser known fairy tale and putting her unique spin on the story. I confess, I have never read the original story of Rumpelstiltskin so it made this book extra surprising as the twists kept coming and coming (though I did look up the story after reading). 

Marissa Meyer's talent for creating smart, sassy, and daring female heroes shines again in Gilded. Serilda is no stranger to being treated as an outcast and continuing to follow her passion of storytelling, so it is no surprise that she shirks fear and convention and throws caution to the wind by helping some Moss maidens hide from the Erlking.  She has a golden tongue and is able to use her gift for storytelling i.e. lying to save herself...temporarily.  When she just ends up in more trouble, she is lucky enough to meet a handsome stranger calling himself Gild who comes to her aid.  

Though some of her decisions seemed absolutely foolish, I love how she was so determined to do what she thought was right. Also, the romance was basically love at first sight, which I don't usually enjoy BUT Gild is such a cinnamon roll that it didn't bother me. Finally, the villain is EVIL. So evil and despicable and not one single redeeming quality WHICH I LOVE.

This story is full of so many different creatures it will make your head spin. I love how Serilda tells stories through the book and how they are incorporated into the plot.  There is definitely more to her gift than meets the eye, and I hope we explore more of her origin story in the next book.
There were a few things that just seemed too far fetched, even for a fairytale, and maybe they just weren't flushed out enough because this book is already hefty.  Also, there were parts that dragged a bit when I wanted more answers when there were pages and pages of descriptions. But now that I see it's a duology I can see we are not racing with the pacing. 

As another note -it is very dark YA. Definitely darker and more mature than her previous Cinder series. No one is safe in this book, and there are many ghosts with gruesome deaths and features that are perfectly described.

Overall I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to seeing how it wraps up in the sequel.

This was a wonderful retelling of Rumplestiltskin. Dark and Poetic and Beautifully written. I need Cursed. I need to know what happens.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

This may come as a surprise but I’ve never actually read a Marissa Meyer book before this. So when presented with the chance to read Gilded in advance, I took it. Not to mention I never could resist books with gorgeous covers!

Having read Gilded, I now realize it’s no wonder why Marissa Meyer is a well-known author and her books so beloved. There’s something so captivating with the way she tells a story. I love how she creates a world I don’t want to leave behind.

This was a much darker fantasy retelling than I was expecting. What I loved most about it was the worldbuilding and the evident influence of German folklore. The dark, creepy and haunting atmosphere the author created makes Gilded a perfect spooky read.

I enjoyed getting to know Serilda’s character. She’s naturally curious with the propensity to get into trouble but her heart is in the right place. You can see how she cares about others and is even willing to put herself in danger to help even strangers. She has a natural gift of telling stories (a talent that’s so much more than meets the eye but that’s all I’m gonna say about that) and I found it utterly delightful!

I did find the pacing to be a bit slow for my taste. On the bright side, I was itching to know what’s going to happen next that I kept turning the pages. I ended up reading the book in one sitting.

The end definitely took me by surprise. I had no idea it would go the direction it did. And for some reason, I thought this was going to be a standalone so imagine my scream of frustration and agony when it ended with a cliffhanger.

Gilded is a dark fairytale retelling of Rumpelstiltskin… Tragic romance, danger, meddlesome ghosts, a haunted castle, magic, secrets, deadly bargains and a murderous King– it has it all!

DNF @ 25%

I had such high hopes for this one since I've never read a Rumpelstiltskin retelling before, and Marissa Meyer is the queen of fairytale retellings. However, this one has such a slow start, and it lacks the excitement I was expecting. I've lost interest, unfortunately.