Hellevir is only ten years old when she crosses into Death the first time, bringing back a fox caught in one of her brother's traps. Her journey is a transition that happens in the natural accident of a child's need, but the second time is intentional and begins her life's path down a liminal and lonely road. Years later, after a decade of estrangement from her family, Hellevir is summoned by the crown princess, Sullivain, to use her powers to bring the princess back from the dead whenever necessary, even though every time she does it costs a piece of herself. Hellevir is trapped between a bargain she with Death and her deal with Sullivain.

The Gilded Crown, by Marianne Gordon, is a richly woven fantasy novel with phenomenal worldbuilding. The way Hellevir's powers are treated, both the mechanics of how it works and the social aspects of how she's treated for having the abilities, reminded me of the way sin eaters were treated by the villagers and the Church in Medieval Europe. Gordon does an excellent job balancing fanaticism, superstitious fear, and legend all colliding in the capital city as Hellevir's old world beliefs and abilities come up against an insidious force taking over the country.

I love that all the characters have their own machinations, often at odds with Hellevir's goals. I got frustrated with Hellevir's refusal to recognize that humans don't always have her best interests at heart. If I have a single complaint about this book it's this: for a woman who's seen literally more death and sorrow than most, she seems incapable of seeing past anyone's surface or question motivations, especially Sullivain's, and it continuously bites her in the ass. Her persistent naivete became distracting. Ultimately, the end was very satisfying and impossible to put down, so I both love and hate Gordon just a little bit for the last few chapters of this book. Argh.

The Gilded Crown is out now and is first in a series. I'm looking forward to the second book when it's available. If you like rich, complex fantasy with a healthy dash of the otherworldly, twists, betrayals, and romantic tension, you'll like The Gilded Crown. Plus there's a pet crow, and who doesn't love that?

I really enjoyed this book. I can’t wait to read more by this author. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me the chance to read.

In life we have hard choices to make. None more pressing then choosing what directly impacts our life. From a young age Hellevir has made selfless choices but at what cost. When you have the power to help others in some ways it always comes at a cost. One such cost ties Hellevir and inadvertently her family to the crown. The book kept a slow pace. Not awful but at times I expected a bit more of a Rollercoaster when it sort of tempered out. I enjoyed how it ended, and I appreciate the climax prior to the ending. Things seemed to come full circle to a certain extent. I'm curious about book 2

hellevir is gifted—or cursed—with the ability to visit death and bring souls back to life. when she resurrects the murdered heir to the throne, she is inevitably and irreversibly drawn into the tangled politics of the kingdom. princess sullivain’s death would mean civil war, so she is summoned to the capital city in case another attempt on the princess’s life is successful—but each resurrection costs hellevir, and death has his own demands.

the gilded crown is a dark, slow-paced political fantasy centered around a young necromancer. it’s marketed as an adult fantasy (despite the very YA cover, title, and blurb), but the writing falls more into the NA category. it is absolutely not a romantasy—hellevir and sullivain’s relationship is central to the plot, their dynamic full of yearning and inexplicable attraction, but it isn’t the focus of the novel. (i don’t think they spent quite enough time together, honestly.) while the plot is fairly predictable and a lot of its elements are very popular in fantasy right now, gordon’s execution stands out for me. it won’t suit everyone, but if you enjoy court intrigue, exploration of morality and religion, flawed (like… very, very flawed—possibly just bad people) queer characters, and gothic fairytale undertones, i would recommend picking this one up.

I enjoyed this book so much and cannot wait for the next one! My only issue honestly with the whole thing had to do with the audiobook narration and its not even a bad thing, its just that the story is already somewhat similar to Belladonna in that a young girl talks with death and goes into his realm etc, so to have the same narrator do the same voice was a bit distracting and it made me want some type of romance to spring up between them. That is the only negative I have to say about this book

The writing style is different, but I like it.. The book intrigued me, and the concept is fantastic. Having a gift to bring people back to life is interesting, but at what cost. The writing is creative, and immaginative, with great world building, but slow in parts. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely.
The cover is very good.

Rating 4.5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this. It took me a couple chapters to adjust to the writing style, but overall I ended up really loving the writing.
The story was different from anything I've read before, the exchanges Hellevir makes to bring people back from death were my favorite part.
I will say that Sullivain never grew on me...it was the exact opposite. I can tell as the reader we are supposed to care for her as hellevir does, but it was a NO for me! I found her to be too enraging and arrogant to like, her and her grandmother just urked me the whole book 😅 I understand they are royalty and that they want people to fear them and all that, but they treated hellevir so cruelly when she was so willing to help already? Not to mention going back on their word multiple times...anywho...their will have to be a significant character arc for my opinion of Sullivain to change.

All that aside I really did eat this book up, it felt so rich! There was backstory, and lore, different religions, Diverse characters & relationships. So much happened in the span of the book, and I never felt bored. I was happy with the ending and excited to see how Hellevir's story continues in book 2!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review 🥰

This story was a lot of world building and very little romance which I didn't mind. The FMC can communicate with spirits and raise the dead, I found that aspect f the story more interesting than the back and forth love dynamic between Helliver and the princess. I enjoyed Helliver but Sullivan was rough around the edges and unlikable most of the novel.

Oh boy do I have thoughts. The beginning of The Gilded Crown was fantastic! I was immediately engrossed and absolutely loved the vibes and potential story that was to unfold. Unfortunately, everything started to fizzle out and my expectations were never met. I think this story had insane potential and this could’ve been everything I adore in a darker fantasy. However, I was super let down by the forced romance between Hellevir and Sullivan. Sullivan was a trash can of a human being who manipulated and treated Hellevir cruelly, much like most people Hellevir interacted with. I saw more of a romantic connection between Hellevir and Death, so I was extremely disappointed nothing went that direction. The plot started to stagnate around the middle point and never picked back up, leaving me bored and not excited for the next installment. The bare bones of this story and Hellevir as a character were definitely the bright spots and I think this author will advance her writing and storytelling as she creates more. Essentially, The Gilded Crown had a very strong start, but couldn’t keep the momentum going, thus falling flat and not being very memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and the author for sending me an early copy!

I genuinely enjoyed the narration of this book, as it felt incredibly genuine and realistic coming from Hellevir's thoughts and words. I also had a lot of fun with the world-building, which was very immersive and entertaining. The characterization was complex, especially of Hellevir's mother, which made the experience a lot more interesting. The way the ostracization of Hellevir's powers was represented was cleverly done, and the romance was a very enjoyable plot line. It did not feel unnecessary to the book, which often occurs in fantasy books.

DNF! The advertising and the cover of this book led me to believe that it would be a romantasy book, however, it is not and not what I was wanting out of the book. Maybe we will return to it down the line.

I really wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style. it was hard to get into for me and i kept wanting to read something different

It starts out with a promise of being an interesting story. Intriguing characters, decent world building a little bit of mystery and then it falls off and becomes depressing & riddled with death. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would adore this book, but sadly it is not me. This book also may be triggering for those with religious trauma.

I usually don’t do this, but I DNF’d this story at 16%.

There wasn’t any appalling content, besides this being a bit dark. But, my issue is how the story is written. I think the premise and idea of this story is quite interesting, but the way it’s written had me feeling disconnected from the characters and having a hard time feeling connected to the world. I often found my attention drifting, and didn’t feel pulled in. Heck we don’t even know what the main character looks like besides the fact she has black hair.

That being said the writer has promise. But I found the story to be wanting.

The concept of the book really intrigued me, but the plot fell a little flat. I was going in expecting more of a romantasy, and unfortunately it was nit that. The book was still enjoyable, just not quite what I thought it was going to be before reading.

What would you give to bring someone back to life? What if the cost was a part of you? How much or yourself would you be willing to give before enough is enough?

The Gilded Crown is a wonderfully written tale of a young woman with amazing powers to communicate with Death, and to bring people back to life. Family, acquaintances, and the heir to the throne are all part of the desires, but not all souls cost the same price.

While I felt some parts of the story dragged on, overall, I enjoyed this book, both for its characters, and the storyline. It was interesting to see the intertwining of multiple religions, politics, love, and belief in oneself. I'm interested to see what future books will unveil.

The Gilded Crown has a beautiful cover, and I love the idea of someone being able to bring others back from the dead. I will say I had a hard time getting through this book and was unable to finish it. Thank you for the opportunity to read it!

This story has great bones and the characters have good depth. I felt the story was slow. It's more fantasy forward than romance. I actually feel that the FMC had a more dynamic relationship with Death than the princess. The FMC went through so much and I didn't get excited about it until the last few chapters when she finally stood up. Her back and forth about the Princess was getting annoying. I liked the POVs but they need to be more clear. Sometimes I didn't realize it was a different scene of a different person. The tension between the religions was good, but I expected more based on the history. I also expected more from the relationship from her mom, especially after a tragedy. I'm hoping that book 2 will be the real start of the story and this was just the foundation and background. I want to see more banter between her and death. If romance is supposed to be in the story, it should have more of a presence in the story. I want to see more of this other magic she has. I feel like we got glimpses, but nothing like her ability with death.

This took me a lot longer to read than I expected because the story was missing something for me. However, I think if you like court intrigue, fantasy forward, what's truly right, and LGBT+ characters; you would enjoy this story. It has a lot of potential to develop into a very interesting series. I hope they develop more dark themes and lean into the adult topics.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Harper for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

With The Foxglove King as a comp title, how can I not say no?

The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon is a fantasy novel about a woman who is able to raise the dead, and is tasked with protecting the princess at all costs. The first time Hellevir visited Death, she was ten years old… Since she was a little girl, Hellevir has been able to raise the dead. Every creature can be saved for a price, a price demanded by the shrouded figure who rules the afterlife, who takes a little more from Hellevir with each soul she resurrects. Such a gift can rarely remain a secret. When Princess Sullivain, sole heir to the kingdom’s throne, is assassinated, the Queen summons Hellevir to demand she bring her granddaughter back to life. But once is not enough; the killers might strike again. The Princess’s death would cause a civil war, so the Queen commands that Hellevir remain by her side. But Sullivain is no easy woman to be bound to, even as Hellevir begins to fall in love with her. With the threat of war looming, Hellevir must trade more and more of herself to keep the Princess alive. But Death will always take what he is owed.

I feel like this book had a really cool concept, just poor execution. And I blame the marketing/feel of it being a romantasy, but solely focusing on the fantasy aspect.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was such a cool concept that I wanted to continue to read. A sapphic, dark fantasy? Sign me up. Hellevir is the name of the FMC, she talks to Death, raises the dead, and has a raven? I loved it.

Every relationship Hellevir has is complicated and wrapped so thoroughly around her gift—the ability to travel beyond and claim back the dead. Her working relationship with Death was such a great point of view, and I was looking forward to her visiting him again to find out information bit by bit. I really liked the progression of the story, and how we get a good bit of backstory as she grows in age and the consequences and acceptance of her choices.

There is a lot of heartache, sadness, betrayal, and death. I’m definitely looking forward to book 2!

CW: death, death of parent, child death, murder, animal death, emotional abuse