When a girl who can talk to animals and see natural spirits brings the queen’s granddaughter back from the dead, she is uprooted from her quiet life in the countryside and replanted in the busy seaside capital. Now Hellevir finds herself balancing the line between two deadly worlds— keeping the Princess alive as assassination plots threaten, while maintaining her bargain with the keeper of the dead to find him the spirits’ treasures in exchange for the souls she resurrects. A promising premise marred by the toxic power dynamics in the fundamental relationships and baffling choices that make the plot feel contrived. Hellevir may be a plucky heroine trying to do her best in a shifting political and religious climate, but she alone cannot carry all of the supporting cast.

I was stuck between 2 stars and 3 stars for this book...but what did it for me in the end I suppose is how often I had to "make myself" read this book. It's not that it was bad, just not my thing!
Let me explain...
Going into this book, you think it will be a romantasy/dark romance. It's not. It's a politically heavy book about a girl who can bring back the dead and the different repercussions this has on her life. Whether it's the crown using her, the church wanting to punish her, or her own mother wanting to kick her out of the house.
I loved the parts with death and he was my favorite character.
The fact that you think he's going to play a huge part in this book and then he's only there occasionally was a tough pill to swallow.
I also didn't understand or believe the relationship between H and the princess. Nothing in the entirety of the book makes Sullivan a likable character imo and seeing the moments that Hellevir is falling for her just felt unrealistic. There's falling for the morally grey character and then there is this.
Lastly it just felt very slow and repetitive.
HOWEVER... if you like books of this nature, it might be for you!
Lots of "witchy" type magic and I did genuinely love every interaction with death.
Big thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A queer, political fantasy mixed with a growing-in-popularity death-magic made for a good start. Questions of morality kept character development going and the dark atmosphere was there. But it fell flat for me, even with a mythological undertone. A bit disjointed from start to finish.

This reminds me of the Scarlet Letter and the Witch's Heart - which I love! The world-building and character development was interesting and clear. Hellevir lives in a Nordic-inspired court, and has the unique gift that comes with a heavy price. She has the ability to raise the dead, but the cost is her body and sole. This gothic story has a lower-stakes feeling, so this is an easy read. I will definitely check out the rest of the series

Hellevir has a special gift. She can raise those who have died back to life. But when Royalty learns of the power she has, her gift begins to turn into a curse as she finds herself bound to a beautiful princess,

The Gilded Crown is not a story of wrong vs right, good vs evil, or even life vs death. Instead, it’s a story of choices, decisions, blurred lines, grey areas, and questioning whether or not one is doing “what is best”. I loved this book for that. I loved that Hellevir was not a perfect paragon of strength and righteousness, often found in the heroines of epic fantasy novels.

Hellevir’s companion, the raven Elesivir, is a wonderful addition to the story and I’m looking forward to see how he continues to aid Hellevir in future editions.

Fantastic world building by Marianne Gordon in this first installment of the Raven’s Trade series. I’m excited to see where Hellevir’s journey continues in the next book.

The premise of The Gilded Crown drew me in instantly. Our story follows a girl, Hellevir, who has the ability to travel into the world of death and bring any living creature back to life. But like all things, her power comes with a price: for every life she brings back, she must give part of herself to death. When her power is discovered, she quickly becomes entwined in a dangerous deal. She must bring back the life of anyone the Queen demands, most importantly the Princess, or her family will suffer. The more lives Hellevir brings back, the more parts of herself she gives away, but for how long can she survive doing this?

The plot moved along very fast, which I really liked. More than the plot or even the main character Hellevir, I like the complexity of the supporting characters. The Princess Sullivain in particular was a morally complex and interesting character. She was a roiling mix of regret, guilt, and resigned hatred, The best part of her was how we got to know her more and more through her growing connection to Hellevir. Each time Hellevir brought Sullivain back to life, the girls' souls became more and more apart of each other to the point where Hellevir could sense Sullivain's emotions. This was a creative way of letting the reader get to know both girls.

Overall, the plot was very political and had decent mystery to it when it came to the laws of life and magic. I think anyone who likes the characters Nina and Hanne from Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse will like this book.

I found this to be a very unique tale of life and death. It moved a little too slow for me, and I struggled to maintain interest. The concept of a necromancer who loses pieces of her self, literally, when raising people/animals from death is a good one. It definitely had “Scarlet Letter” vibes to me. Won’t be continuing the series, but grateful to read this first book.

I salivated over this book! I hope everyone I know reads it and can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy for my book shelf!

3.5 stars, rounded up

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Hellevir can enter the realm of death. She can bargain with Death itself and raise the dead, but only at a cost. Soon she finds herself entangled with the royal family, tasked to bring Princess Sullivain back to life after each assassination attempt in the name of preventing civil war.

I thought this was a solid debut and a good start to a series. I appreciated how real this world felt and how firmly rooted in myth it was, as well as the magic system requiring Hellevir to give up pieces of herself in order to resurrect someone. I thought the side characters were interesting and I liked the way Gordon wove religion into the politics that Hellevir has to navigate. I especially loved the descriptions when Hellevir enters Death and seeing Hellevir have to come to terms with the consequences of her actions. The tension between Hellevir and Sullivain was well done, though I wouldn’t call this a romantasy by any means. I really liked how this ended, too, because it felt like this particular arc had reached its natural conclusion but there’s still much more to come.

Sullivain and her grandmother, the Queen, are interesting though I felt a certain distance from them and hope to see them more fleshed out in future installments. Though sometimes I found myself annoyed with Hellevir’s perspective on her power, I understood her point of view and thought her actions made sense for her character, though I did not feel that same level of understanding with Sullivain—and so while I thought the tension between the two of them was good, I also didn’t feel super compelled to see them resolve it. The writing was serviceable (at times there were bits and bobs that I loved! but I thought it was mostly fine) but sometimes I felt that the dialogue was stilted, which pulled me out a little bit. Still, I think this will change as Gordon writes more, and so I’m not super bothered that there were some technical quibbles with her debut.

Overall, this was a solid debut and start to a series that lays a nice foundation for an interesting world, and I will definitely continue reading.

First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I think that the premise of this book was very unique and interesting, and there was so much that could have been covered. The biggest problem was that it wasn't. The characters remain stagnant, and I never grew to care deeply about any of them. Hellevir is probably the most "likeable" character of all, but she doesn't feel like a real person. The characters feel like archetypes of people (the love interest, the evil queen, the girl who saves people, creepy Death), and I had a lot of trouble feeling real attachment to what would happen to them. Death, especially, could have been very interesting (though covered a lot in media and books), and there needed to be some sort of interesting twist or a stronger personality to him to make him feel compelling. But there wasn't. It played into the very traditional conception of Death (mysterious, maybe not completely bad, etc.). Hellevir's character also frustrated me a lot because there's not enough motivation supporting the actions she chooses to take. I forget that she's 21 years old because much of her dialogue frankly feels like an indecisive teen who's unused to her powers (despite having it for many years): she wavers in decisions of whether to save people or not (always opting to save them despite the cost to herself), but there's no explanation of the why behind it. She literally loses half of her finger to save these strangers, but there's no compelling reason why...besides the fact that she's the protagonist and is shown to be good at heart.

Also, Sullivain was so unlikeable to the point where I do not care about her. And I don't understand why Hellevir cares about her or keeps on saving her. There is literally no reason for attraction (again, how are you falling in love with someone who threatened your family). Sullivain is frankly a terrible person, and the only redeeming quality about her is that she is trying to be better and does not actively commit most of the horrible things in the book. But she has power, yet fails to speak up against her grandmother. Being complicit in atrocities is not a redeemable or attractive character trait. Also, she was involved in Hellevir's brother's death. (I'm sorry, but how do you love someone who was involved in your own family member's murder!) This was such a badly written queer romance.

Anyways, would give this book a 2/5 (it's not absolutely terrible, and I mean I finished the book).

Wow, this was such a surprise! I was interested in this plot, but it sounded fairly similar to some things I've read before. The quiet calm and POV of the main character who can raise the dead, Hellevir, made this book very special and I couldn't wait to sit down and keep reading, it really kept my attention.

Lots of thought provoking content about what we owe our families, religion, right and wrong - fantastic.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

⭐ 5 !

This book was s0mehow completely different from what I expected and also exactly what I would've wanted. For some reason, I was really expecting a shallower, fluffy love story with classic fantasy elements on the side. There is nothing wrong with those stories, romantasy as a genre is full of them, and they allow you to escape into a better world where the rules are loose and stakes low.

This is not one of those bo0ks. The Gilded Crown is about complicated, troubled people and the consequences of the dark draw of power, both magical and political. The romance elements are not weak but I would say they are weaker when compared to other aspects of Hellevir's journey. Religion and family are powerful themes in this book, discussed well and thoroughly amongst the characters. Her brother and father were two of my favorite characters and every scene I could feel just how much they loved and cared for Hellevir. On the flip side, Hellevir cared just as strongly for them, doing all she could to ensure their safety, even to her own detriment. I adored Hellevir. I liked Death, even if I could only imagine The Outsider from Dishonored based off his description. His interactions with Hellevir never felt less than entertaining.

If you're worried about the religious discussion and the queer elements, the religious elements do not target queer people/relationships. The existence of queer people seems normal and accepted by both of the world's religions, which I appreciated. The religious discussion brings up topics such as tradition, xenophobia, hypocracy, and belief incompatibility instead.

I do wish we saw more Sullivan in the story. Although it would have made many twists nonexistent within the story, I feel like the two women's romantic connection and chemistry would have been more obvious with a dual POV, if not through the entire book, then in places. I like Sullivan but she really is a complex character and feels too distant at times. I would have loved to hear her inner turmoil. ALSO, there was a moment at the beginning of the book where Sullivan kept winking? Once I noticed, I couldn't stop. I believe there's one chapter where she does so about 3 times in quick succession. That's really a nitpicky thing for me to say but I couldn't not mention it.

This book gave me very heavy One Dark Window vibes, and I mean that in the best way possible. It is dark and gloomy and the magic is palpable. It also reminded me of Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May, another amazing sapphic book involving necromancy. If you enjoyed those books, you'd like this one, and vice versa.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I would definitely buy it despite already reading it just to have a copy. I'm thinking I might suggest it to the romance book club I'm in as one month's pick! Highly Recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

I really liked the premise of this story but feel like it fell a little flat. Not a ton of depth to the world or much character building.

<spoiler>Also was not a fan of the romance angle with Sullivain. Super toxic situation and then suddenly the romance was just.. there? I thought Hellevir had better chemistry with Death and would have liked that angle much better.</spoiler>

Interesting concept, but overall felt anticlimactic.

Hellevir is a girl from a small village who can resurrect dead human/ animal with certain prices. The first time she did that was out of desperation a despair, but the second time it was out of curiosity. Even though she wont openly admit this ability, words still spread. And the demand started to come. But of course she couldn't save everyone and that made the villagers hate her.

One day the palace called her to become the princess's personal resurrectionalist under the cover of a herbalist. The current ruling crown’s line is still very young, so there's a lot of threats to the crown. The reigning queen tried so hard to keep everything under control by displaying fear and terror, so Hellevir agreed because otherwise there would be unkind consequences.

The mysterious atmosphere in the early chapters were immediately hooked me, but as the story went on, I started to have questions. To make it quick, let’s just say that the magic system is unclear. I also dislike the queen & the princess so much no wonder there’s several attempts to dethrone them. And I the way a certain character needed to be resurrected more than once unsettled me, like why cant they just accept the fate and move on? Your time’s up, hon.

Hellevir’s role as the main character wasn’t really impressive either. Most of the time she’s quick to save stranger’s life even though it costs a part of her soul to do so. It’s not worth it if you ask me, but okay. She eventually get her arc so that’s something.

But yeah in conclusion I don’t think that I’ll read the sequel.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. The concept is one of the coolest things I’ve heard in awhile, however the way it was executed fell a little flat for me. Our main character can raise people from the dead. She is tasked with keeping a princess alive at all costs, and she starts to fall for her. I want to be clear that this is NOT a romantasy. There are romantic feelings, but it is by no means the main plot and is not a fully developed relationship, and if you go into the story expecting one you’ll be disappointed.

The things that really worked for me were the writing style and the worldbuilding. They were fantastic and were the main reason I enjoyed the book. The plot, however, is what I didn’t love as much. The book dragged at times, and didn’t really have a satisfying climax or reveal or twist. We didn’t really get any of our questions answered, but it did set up for an interesting sounding sequel.

Overall, I liked this book and am glad I read it, but it doesn’t seem like something that’s going to stick with me.

Started on very strong, hit a little bit of a slow spot in the middle but this book finished strong!! Right off the bat the story pulls you in. In the middle it does feel slow and not too much happening. But if you can make it through that, you won't regret it when you finish@

This book is delightful. I love the building of the world and the way Hellevir’s powers work within the world. I cannot wait to get my hands on a hard copy of this book.

I’m not really sure how to feel about this book. I didn’t care much for the protagonist or the love interest, however I found the first half of the book to be very engaging. It did slow down as it went, though, and I think the author didn’t quite know where to take it. It also was incredibly YA, which is fine because that is what it was meant to be. Still, I don’t know if I will continue on with the series to be honest. But thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I’m having a hard time deciding exactly how to review this book, because the prose is lovely and I enjoyed the worldbuilding and some of the characters. Ultimately, I think there were two major factors preventing me from liking it as much as I might have:

1. The plot being driven by the dreaded Idiot Ball. Not once but twice, terrible, pivotal hardships happened because a major character just blurted out huge, dangerous secrets without first checking if there was anyone around to overhear. In one case the character actually knew there was someone hostile nearby and still had a loud discussion about the dangerous subject!

2. The love interest. You know back in the peak Bad Boy days of YA romance, when there was a plethora of male love interests who were the absolute worst but got a pass because they were Conflicted and Tormented and Hot? The love interest in this story is pretty much that, but a girl. She is, in my humble opinion, one of the least interesting kinds of asshole: a cowardly one who does horrific things because there lies the path of least resistance. I wanted to drop-kick her into the sun.

That’s not to say there’s nothing redeemable in this book! I genuinely enjoyed some of it, and there’s a nonzero chance I’ll grit my teeth and at least start the next book just to see where it goes. If you don’t mind love interests who do heinous things but it’s okay because they’re Sad and Beautiful, and if you’re willing to overlook the plot sometimes being driven by stupidity, you just might love this book.

Title: The Gilded Crown
Rating: 3.5/5

I absolutely loved the concept of this book. The main character Hellevir and her relationship with Death and being able to enter it like a realm was very interesting. I also love the queer representation in the main love interests. The writing of this book is beautiful too, the descriptive writing style the author uses really drew me into the book.

The overall drive of the plot fell flat for me though. It felt very strong in the beginning with having the different death experiences and then the need to serve the crown, but after that I just couldn’t feel invested. I also felt the ending was a little bumpy as far as wrap-up and really drawing me into wanting to read another book on some of these characters. Overall, I did enjoy the story though, and think that the writing was beautifully done.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are wholly my own.