This book... WOW!!!

The narrator Rebecca Soler was amazing as always, but it was the story that kept me so captivated I didn't want to do anything but listen to this book. It had an amazing world building, interesting characters and so many stories within the story the foreshadowing was perfection!

I went in thinking this was a standalone and I'm devastated to know I have to wait for the second book but so happy I don't have to say goodbye to these characters just yet!

What?!?
I cannot believe that it ended like that... and I already want more. More Serilda... Gild... more of their story and more of Serilda's stories.
So be aware going in... that this is not a stand alone book (or at least it better not be!), because when it ends there is still a lot left undone.
Now that my initial reaction is out of the way, onto a proper review.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed it. I felt like it started off a little slower than some of Meyer's other books. At times it almost felt like the book was just a platform for Serilda herself to tell tales. Enjoyable tales, but just individual little stories.
But pay attention- they all play a part as we get closer to the end of the book. Each story was important and masterfully woven in. When I finished I was surprised at how well it all fit together and found I appreciated all those "little stories" so much more.
And now desperately want more!

Marissa Meyer can do no wrong with her fairy tale retellings. Heartless is among my favorite books of all time, so I was stoke to pickup Gilded. I saw other reviews that said this reminded them of the show Once Upon a Time, and I definitely agree as I always associate anything Rumpelstiltskin with the show. Luckily, I love the show ;) This book was just pure magic. I adored the atmosphere and the characters. Everything just felt so incredibly rich and new. There is a cliffhanger at the end that made me even more excited for the sequel!

Marissa Meyer has done it again; turned a well known fairytale into something wildly delicious and adventurous. From spinning straw into gold to spinning lies into truths, Gilded is a truly breathtaking story. Dive into the story of Rumplestiltskin like you’ve e never heard it before.

The narrator is fantastic! Highly recommend.

A very interesting concept, and creative world building. There are stories within stories. Twists and turns you’ll never see coming.

Gilded was my favorite character. I had a harder time connecting with Serilda. She acted very childish at times, and having to have Gilded, and others repeat the same thing to her multiple times only added to this. Magic has a price. Even the muggles know that. But apparently not Serilda.

Despite this shortcoming, I enjoyed the story and will look for book two.
The narrator did a great job with the voices.

Marissa Meyer has such a wonderful take on fairy tales and I just want her to keep going and going. This new version of Rumpelstiltskin is no exception. The basic story is definitely there, but it is the wonderfully creative new magic that Meyer’s brings that really makes this story shine.

The characters throughout the story are pretty well developed and are relatable to many different audiences. The settings are vivid and carry an atmosphere that flows well with the story. Meyer’s reimagining of the tale and added magical realm are very well flushed out and detailed.

I hope that Meyer continues to delve into the old fairy tales and bring us her new versions that are refreshing and exciting. Look forward to seeing the excitement on patron’s faces when this book arrives.

The audio for this book was competent and did not strike me as good or bad. The pacing was well done and the voice was not distracting.

I received an advance audiobook of Gilded by Marissa Meyer in exchange for an honest review provided by NetGalley & Macmillan Audio 4⭐️


I am huge fan of Marissa Meyer. I love her ability to take a classic tale and spin it into something unique. Gilded is no different, a twist on the classic Rumplestiltskin. I was hooked from the very beginning. Meyer’s does such a wonderful job building a magical & suspenseful story.

The narrator does an excellent job conveying the story.

Definitely recommend for fans of retellings.


Blurb:

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.

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!

Is it me...am I the drama???
Why didn't I like this ????!!!
Its a retelling of rumpelstilskin
The cover is gorgeous
Its not a traditional ya which some spooky vibes
...but its soooooo long
And the language took me out of the story as some talked in modern ways and other didn't so I really could fully immerse myself in the story
And this is crazy long for it not to be a standalone
I'm still about to go read heartless by this author ...because she isn't terrible this just wasn't for me

I've read all of Marissa Meyer's books, and definitely enjoyed The Lunar Chronicles and Renegades. Heartless had a darker tone which is similar to Gilded. Like many other books by Meyer, this is lengthy, and there were many points that I was bored. However, there were some dramatic points that I really enjoyed. I'd recommend this book to YA readers that liked Hearltess.

(There are plot points at the end of this book that makes this for mature readers.)

A wonderful fairytale retelling of Rumpelstiltskin by author Marissa Meyer.

I listened to an author chat with Meyer, where she said the story of Rumpelstiltskin stayed with her into adulthood. She often wondered about the king and how the daughter could stand to be married to the man who threatened her with death, lest she spin straw into gold.

Feeling pretty grateful that Meyer asked these questions, because out of it was born Gilded, her fairytale retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

I enjoy fairytales a great deal and Gilded is fascinating. So creatively done, with twists and turns and unexpected forays into the imagination of the author.

The audiobook narration by Rebecca Soler is well done, and I understand she’s narrated most, if not all of Meyer’s books? In the author chat I listened to, Meyer interviewed Soler, who said you were going to want to stay up all night to finish Gilded.

The last 10% of the book had me hopping up and down in excitement. I couldn’t wait to finish the book, yet didn’t want to finish it at the same time… know what I mean?

And… it’s part of a duology! So twice as much time into this amazing world Meyer has reimagined.

Dare I say Meyer has spun straw into gold…? I dare!


Thank you, Netgalley and Macmillan Audio, for the opportunity to listen to Gilded.

Despite a slow start (and a slow middle), this book ended off strongly enough that I'd like to continue in the series. Serilda isn't exactly the most compelling of main characters but she definitely isn't your typical meek YA female heroin.
One of the things that did really throw me off was that every character, including a 5 year old, had the exact same vocabulary. They all used big pretentious words... words that not everyone in a small, uneducated town would know.

After reading the digital ARC of this book, I was excited to ty the audio. I was even more thrilled that the narrator is Rebecca Soler. She did a stellar job with Lunar Chronicles.

The story itself is a great read. It's a little more adult and a little more streamlined than Lunar Chronicles, with artful mysteries woven into the narrative.

The story holds up to a second reading and gave me the opportunity to notice details and clues that I overlooked in the first read.

I thiroughly enjoyed this book and have already started suggesting it to customers.

I know people love this author, and her books have been recommended to me many times, so I decided to take advantage when Gilded was offered on NetGalley. As a lover of fractured and reimagined fairytales, I really wanted to love this. In the end, I’d say I liked it as a novel for me or other adults, but I definitely would not recommend it for my middle school students. It is horrifically violent and inappropriate in so many different ways.

I was recently witness to a conversation about a very popular new television show; people were debating about whether someone should allow her child to watch it. One side of the argument was that entertainment that are horribly violent are making children inured to and accepting of the violence in the “real world.” Others said that it is so extreme and clearly make-believe that even children should understand the difference. This book walks that same fine line. Graphic depictions of beloved characters coming back in zombie form, the brutal and vivid description of child murders, the threat of a forced abortion… None of these are things that children need to read about or see. The real and implied sex is another thing all together. I didn’t find it very troublesome, but it’s certainly worth noting in a book that is supposedly geared towards preteen and tweens.

Besides the violence, I have two major issues with the book, and one is because I listened to the audio version. I don’t know if it’s the same in the e- or print versions. Although I liked the voice actor, there wasn’t a lot of differentiation in her voice between the plot in the novel, and the plot of the stories that the protagonist weaves. This frequently left me confused about what was happening. The other big problem I have with Gilded (and anyone who has ever read any of my reviews knows this): I hate, hate, hate books that shamelessly try to force readers into a sequel. I hate books without an ending.

So, Gilded just didn’t do it for me. Will I read the second half? Maybe. There were some very inventive additions to the classic Rumplestilskin story and I app site that. I really liked the “Gild“ backstory, and the mystery of his family is an intriguing and interesting addition to the story. The romance and love part, I could care less one way or the other if that’s part of the plot. I’m a romantic so I didn’t mind it, but I think it will turn off a lot of my male students, and even a lot of the more immature girls. Another thing I really appreciated was the addition of all of the German folklore. There were a lot of fairytales mentioned and characters talked about who I have never heard of before. It’s always fun to learn about myths , legends and fairy tales of a different culture and this made me curious to read more and learn more about the characters mentioned in the story. All in all, Amy the reader would recommend it to a friend, but Miss London would not recommend it to her students.

*I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I loved Cinder & Scarlet. Marissa Meyer's writing is always very immersive. However, this just didn't capture my attention likes those did. I had hoped to see something unique (like how the Cinderella retelling had androids). This novel was rather typical.

The book has too many pages for such a short retelling. I can't figure how this could be in a series. The audiobook reader was alright but it could have used more voice actors. It just wasn't interesting enough to me.

The first half was fast-paced an amazing Immersion into a mysterious mythology and magic system that I loved. The pacing is a bit slow up and down after that. The main characters are good together apart she wasn’t very endearing or relatable to me. The villain also wasn’t multifaceted with unclear motivations which were a part of the “mystery” but not compelling. It was also a lot darker and gorier than anticipated based on her other work. Was all in all surprising to me and not in the best way. Not recommended for younger audiences that may have read lunar chronicles definitely for an older age group.

Oh why did this book have to end. I fell in love with everything about the book the story the narrator sometimes with audiobooks they become like a television show for me and I am so sad when it is over and that is how I felt with this book. The story pulls you in right away and I love how it is narrated there is drama and humor I just couldn't get enough of this book. The retelling of Rumpelstiltskin is one you don't want to miss and promises to draw in the reader. This is in the running for my favorite book of the year and I hope to see it get the credit it deserves.

I thought this was a fabulous story! I really love that it's about Rumpelstiltskin, that is not a story that I have read any retellings of! I thought it was up to Marissa Meyer standards. She did a great job keeping the story familiar, but making it wholly her own. I do think it was a bit longer than necessary, but I'll definitely be picking up book 2!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Thank you Macmillan audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title before publishing!

This is a rumpelstiltskin retelling, and a really unique take on the story. Serilda’s father made a deal with a god when she was born, leaving her with peculiar gold details in her eyes that resemble spinning wheels. She also has a gift for storytelling, or as most other people in her life call it, lying. One day, she makes a grave mistake and lies to a powerful and frightening figure known as the erlking, claiming she can spin straw into gold. He takes her away to his castle on the other side of the veil, demanding that she spin straw for him or face death. Here she meets a peculiar boy named Gild, who does indeed have this power. Problem is, she is expected to come back and spin more gold every full moon, and Gild cannot help her without payment. Serilda and Gild grow close, and Serilda becomes fixated on learning the truth about this boys past, and how it may or may not be tied to the erlkings castle and who it belonged to before he took it for himself.

I really enjoyed this read for the most part! Gild was easily my favorite character, and I found myself constantly wishing to see him more. Serilda’s character is unique and fun, however it took my quite a while to really feel connected to her. Once I did, though, it was easier to get I to the story and to feel moved by her bravery and sacrifice, despite her mistakes. There’s a lot of fun lore here, and Meyer does a good job of explaining it in a well paced manner.

The biggest problem I had with this story was how much time I felt was spent with the reader having no idea what was going on. I don’t mean this as a consequence of not paying attention, it seems that it was an attempt to wow the reader with the adventure and mystery, and keep them guessing at Serilda’s plan. However, it really felt like it was happening too often. I’m all for an “aha!” moment, but most of the time this felt like plot service instead due to the way that some things conveniently end up working out, and also just how long it took for the reader to get an explanation.

This being said, the adventure of this story is still a very fun ride. I didn’t expect it to be a series, and I’m definitely interested enough to pick up the next book. This was just as unique as I want a retelling to be, as it keeps the fairytale feel and the important points but also finds a way to tell an entirely new story within the confines of the original. The narrator was good, and I was able to tell the difference between character’s with relative ease. I would recommend this audiobook to someone interested in retellings and adventure filled fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I feel like I must not be the target audience for this book, because it was really just…fine…

This is a fun, fast paced fantasy retelling, but at the same time, it is also a too-long fairytale where not much actually happens. The original story is pretty short and sparse, so stretching it out into a 500+ page novel (or multi-book series) would be a heavy task for anyone…

The plot was very predictable (and I don’t even mean the retelling parts) and I often got frustrated waiting for the characters to catch up to what had been obvious for some time. None of the characters seemed to have any real growth or arc throughout the book, and they all felt very flat. I actually thought Serilda and Gild had good chemistry, and I was rooting for them, but then their relationship sort of spiraled and they immediately jumped into bed together, and everything else that followed felt very forced.

The writing style itself seems like it is aimed towards a younger crowd, however there is also a lot of gruesome death and murder, so the whole thing feels convoluted in this weirdly dark vibe. I also really dislike the pregnancy trope, especially for such a young protagonist, and in a book that felt written for a younger audience.

The audiobook narration was very well done, if I had been reading a physical or e-book copy I may have DNF’d early on in the story.