*review will be published on 6/18/24

Honestly, as soon as I saw this sampler up on Netgalley I ran to preorder my copy on Amazon. This was already set to be one of my all-time favorite duologies when I read the first book and I was so excited to see how it all ended. 

Although this was only the first few chapters, I fell back in love with the story right away. I was so invested in knowing about Serilda and Gild's fate, and whether they would get a happily-ever-after. 

I highly recommend this exciting Rumpelstiltskin retelling for fans of fantasy or fairytale retellings. At the time of this review, I've already finished the full-length novel and can 100% say it was a fantastic read!

This was not my favorite of Marissa Meyer's books, but it was still very interesting and exciting! I love the characters and feel a deep connection to them which is a huge factor for me of a good book! This story was interesting, though dull at moments when it should have been high energy.

I am obsessed with Marissa Meyer and her work! This was such a good book and I can’t believe that it took me so long to read.


Tropes:
Touch her and die
Enemies to lovers
Retellings


All of these tropes really stick with me after the book. The trope of touch her and die is one that is becoming more popular in YA fantasy as it is a good way to show love without saying love. I also like that they have such emotional depth. Enemies to lovers is a long standing trope in the fantasy genre, and this one is NO different. Retelling are massively popular in YA right now. They tell a story we all know in a way which reflects current values and beliefs. Because of this, I love to read modern retelling a of books.

Thank you for making this sampler available! I loved the first novel and was excited to get started on the second, even if it was in sample form. My full review will go alongside Cursed.

I absolutely loved Gilded and was so excited to read the first few chapters of Cursed. The story continues pretty much immediately where the previous book left off with Serilda stuck beyond the veil about to be wed. We get a few brief moments of romance with Gild, an unusual wedding ceremony and some heavy foreshadowing that there are still secrets being closely guarded by the Alderking. I could tell even from just a brief snippet that this one is going to be a wild ride!

Marissa Meyer’s books is either a hit or miss for me, I absolutely loved The Lunar Chronicles but I hated Renegades, so I started reading Gilded with a grain of salt and by the end of the book I still didn’t exactly known if I liked or not, I ended up giving it 3 stars and was not so sure if I would be reading the next one.

Fortunately Netgalley put forward this sample and I knew I had to take this chance to know if it was worthwhile for me to read Cursed.

While the sample is very short, just a few chapters, it was enough to pick my curiosity, Serilda is such an amazing character, I love how strong she is and how she’s willing to do anything to protect the people she cares about. The Ehrlekonig continues to be my favorite villain, I hope Marissa develops a bit more of his background in this book.

I will definitely continue reading it!

I always recommend Marissa Meyer's books to students because she has such an interesting and new take on fairytales and that really sets her apart from other authors. I did DNF Glided back in 2021, so I am not sure why I picked up this one, but I will still be recommending it for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I received a sample of this book and from there I went out to buy it! I love this author and have all her books on my bookshelf, and I constantly go back to them. Cursed is a wonderful addition to my bookcase. Cursed is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and it is very well done. Meyer knows how to retell an old fairytale into something amazing.

I don't have much to say, considering it's just a "sampler". But I'll definitely read the finished book. It was a unique experience and I ended up with the feeling that I needed to read more. I love Marissa Meyer, she is a genius writer and holds us to every word she writes. Thank you Netgalley!

What an amazing novel! I loved this sample and it prompted me to read the full novel after it came out!

Cursed by Marissa Meyers picks up right where Gilded left off and Serilda finds herself in quite the predicament. This is definitely one of those situations where things are about to get really bad before they can get better again.

When I picked this up, I found myself excited to be back in this grim world of the Wild Hunt and the Erlking. The Erlking is such a fascinating villain. I had to remind myself that this wasn't one of those stories where falling for the villain was a viable option. HA HA.

As I am reading, I am anxious along with Serilda on how she is going to free herself, THE KIDS, and Gild. Oh...and being pregnant all the while! Talk about s t r e s s f u l.

I'll be honest..I really don't like a surprise pregnancy trope, especially in a YA novel. It just makes all my muscles clench up knowing that an unborn child is at risk in the middle of the chaos, and I that definitely affected my overall enjoyment of the story.

I like that this fairytale retelling exists because most retellings these days are of Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella or Rapunzel. But rarely do you see one for Rumplestiltskin. With that being said, I WISH this was more Rumple retelling heavy than Wild Hunt folklore heavy. I think Marissa Meyer made it work, however it can be misleading for those who go to reach for it an expect it to be more one thing than another.

Cursed is the second book in a duology that is a retelling of the Rumplestiltskin fairy tale.

Serilda is again pitted against the Erlking, but this time she has discovered his true intent and desire for revenge at all costs. The world building is spectacular, as they travel to the Erlkings original palace where Serilda is able to discover his true nature. Fast-paced, exciting, great characters, and an HEA conclusion.

Thank you Macmillan Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. I enjoyed the sampler. I'm looking forward to reading the book!

I was given a sampler of Cursed by Marissa Meyer through NetGalley. I've come to realize that I'm just not a huge fantasy fan. I think if I were, then I would have really enjoyed the start of Marissa Meyer's latest series. It has all the elements to be great, but I just could not get into it. I struggle enough with real life, I just can't handle all the new worlds that fantasy creates. So...putting this one aside in this time of my life knowing that I may pick it up again when my brain can handle more than one world. If you're a lover of fantasy, pick this one up now!

I've been patiently waiting for Cursed and it was absolutely worth the wait.

Marissa Meyer continues to have the perfect stranglehold on romance tropes that make my heart race. Someone give this woman a medal, seriously.

I can't wait to see what happens next. I have been loving this new series by Marissa Meyer and the teens at my library can't wait for our copy to come in. The gothic atmosphere of this new fairy tale spin off series is quite enrapturing and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Would highly recommend to lovers of fantasy at my library.

I ended up reading the entire book, because I loved Gilded, so this review isn’t for just the sampler.

This duology is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, with German folklore inserted in the original tale. Marissa Meyer has written some other retellings, all of which differ wildly from the original. I’ve read her Lunar Chronicles, beginning with Cinder, which took four different fairy tales and set them in a sci-fi/dystopian world.

I’ve heard some people complain in reviews that Gilded didn’t stick close enough to the original, and I’ve also heard people say that it should have been a stand-alone. Personally, I loved this duology, and I thought it was a nice twist on the original. It just kind of looks like some people were upsetti spaghetti that she took liberties with the original. But she did that in the Lunar Chronicles and the people complaining about Gilded liked Cinder.

Someone help. I don’t get it. Why don’t people like this duology as much as I did?

In the meantime, I’ll tell you all why I loved it and why you should give Gilded and Cursed a chance.

The main character, Serilda, has the magical ability to tell stories that turn out to be true. She was given this power by Wyrdith, the God of Fortune, when she was a baby. In the first book, she makes up a story to get away from the main villain, the Erlking, when she accidentally meets him. Unfortunately, he wants her to come back to his castle and spin gold for him.

The Erlking is the leader of the Dark Ones, these demon/ghost-like creatures that came from the realm of the dead. The God of Death had them locked up, but they managed to escape a long time ago. The Gods all worked together to limit their powers, so they wouldn’t be able to hurt people very much, but the Erlking wants to be free from these restrictions.

The first book focuses on Serilda trying to find a way to spin gold for the Erlking and her attempts to escape his clutches. She also meets this ghost boy who can actually spin gold, and there’s a bit of romance between them. Serilda is able to go home in between spinning gold, so we get to see a bit of her friends back home while also exploring the castle and meeting some of the Dark Ones.

During Cursed, Serilda is stuck at the Erlking’s castle full time. She can’t leave to go home, because he cursed her. Any time she tries to go outside the walls of the castle, she is transported back to the throne room. In addition to being stuck there, the Erlking decided they’re getting married, no ifs ands or buts.

This second book focuses a lot more on the consequences of Serilda’s storytelling, and how her stories have accidentally given the Erlking information that will help him do evil deeds. We also get to learn more about the seven Gods, many of whom start to play an integral role in the story.

I’m not usually a fan of stories that have religious aspects to them, which is why I’m glad these Gods aren’t treated like a religion. They’re more like characters from fairy tales, where only a few people still believe that they exist somewhere out there in the world. So when they do appear in the story, it feels like you’re getting to experience the wonder of meeting them with Serilda.

Despite them being Gods, they have regular lives and personalities, which made them feel more relatable. For example, Wyrdith, the God who Serilda was given powers by, travels around the world as a wandering bard, telling stories to people in taverns. So anyone could meet Wyrdith and not even know it. How cool is that? It was really nice to see each of the Gods and their personalities get explored in Cursed, something I was really curious about from the first book.

I do agree with one complaint that some reviewers have. The original tale of Rumpelstiltskin includes the girl making a deal for her firstborn child with the magical creature who can spin gold. In this story, the consequences of getting pregnant (by the love interest, of course) while in the clutches of the Erlking is talked about a lot in Cursed.

It very much felt like a huge chunk of the book was spent with Serilda thinking about motherhood and not wanting her baby to be raised by the Erlking (remember, she was marrying him for plot reasons). Some of the reviews I saw hated this, and I kinda agree. I do understand why the author did it, because it’s integral to the plot, but it still felt really weird. I mean sure I felt for her, but at the end of the day, I’m ace and don’t want kids, so I couldn’t relate to her in any way.

Aside from the weird baby thing, I loved this duology. It felt like reading an original Grim Brothers’ fairy tale, where it’s the story you know, but a tad bit darker and with higher stakes. It was neat to see the German folklore incorporated into the story, along with all the things the author made up to flesh out the world and lore.

I’d highly recommend checking out this duology. Most people I know that liked Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles also liked these, so if you’ve read that series you’ll probably recognize her writing style and enjoy this.

This was one of my most favorite books of 2022! I wholeheartedly recommend it — great writing, Character development, storyline was fantastic. It was just an exciting, well crafted, thrilling story. Read it today!

I read the sampler while I was waiting to be approved for the ARC and loved what I read! I submitted a full review of the book when I finished reading it. I gave it 4 stars! Thank you for the sampler!

Thank you to Marissa Meyer, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy (ARC) of "Cursed (Sampler)" in exchange for an honest review.

I am riveted and in need of more of this story already! I have loved everything Meyer put out since someone recommended Cinder to me, and in Gilded, as well as, Cursed, Meyer continues to parade Queen Supreme where it comes to the retellings of fairytales in a brand new, updated light, touching deftly and with exquisite care on the important topics of our day. I can't wait to read the end of this series!