As a huge romantacy reader, I was very excited for this book! However, for me, it did not quite live up to my expectations. While I can see where many reads could love the book, with its beautiful writing and wonderful imagery, it sadly fell flat for my tastes. I did, however, appreciate the thought and uniqueness that went into the story.

I could not put this book down no matter how hard I tried. I was always picking it up when I had a moment to just devour the words. The characters were so well built, I felt like I was in the room with them, I felt so much for Helleiver and her journey. The world building allowed me to get in touch with the culture and the belief system set in place. I really enjoyed seeing everyone's growth throughout the novel. I really cannot wait to see what the story holds moving forward

Rating: 4/5
I received this eARC for my honest opinion.

Hellevir has only wanted one thing in life and that is to feel accepted, but when you have the power to bring people and animals back from the dead, it's hard to have people accept you and not fear you. The first time she visited Death she was only 10 years old, she learned that there is a price that must be paid every time that you want to bring someone or something back. When Princess Sullivain is brought to her healer in her small village, she finds out why. Sullivain is dead and has been for a few days, she is able to bring her back but now she is the royal healer, all because you never know when someone might try to kill the only heir to the throne.

I thought this debut novel was well written and the pace of the book was okay. I did find a few spots to drag a little but honestly I think that is because it was giving out information that you will need for the ending of this book. Now I didn’t know that this would be a series when I requested it, but I am happy to know now that there will be more to the story. I liked that you will see a lot of character growth in this book, and it is more character driven than plot driven. I liked that the author handled the topic of religion, politics and mortality in this book, and I thought the reg for LGBTQ+ was handled well, but I really didn’t fill the connect between the two main characters, more so Hellevir brother and his boyfriend. However, that might be because I find Hellevir and Sullivain relationship to be a little more one sided until the ending.

With the characters in the book really helps it shine. At first I was not that happy with Hellevir and that she didn’t really have any backbone when it came to the Royal family, but getting to see her finally grow and stand up for what she wanted was amazing. I liked that she put her foot down even knowing that she would be giving up. You will see her character grow a lot throughout the book, even the little parts but it's not until the end that you will see her fully. Sullivain, she is a character that I would like to get to know more, because of what I know about her already I am on the fence about her character. I do like that we got to see more from the ending. I think once we get the next book more will come out and hopefully explain more about why she is the way that she is. I mean I understand the part about her being royalty, but I want to know why she doesn’t stand up more for herself. With Death I am excited to learn more about this man/creature…I don’t know what to call him but I think we will learn more about him and the reasons he has in the next book.

If you like fantasy, that has interesting topics but is handled well like: religion, politics and much more. You should give this book a chance.

I want to thank NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Harper voyager, and Marianne Gordon for the advanced copy.

The Gilded Crown released on July 2!

Hellevir can bring people back from the dead. When she is told by the Queen to resurrect the kingdom’s princess who was murdered by an assassin, Hellevir learns that her gift comes with a high price.
Hellevir tries to keep her gift a secret, as a “on a need to know basis only”. Rumors spread and Hellevir is forced to make a trade bargain with death, while trying to protect those she loves from danger.

This was an interesting book with an interesting power. It was kind of predictable, but it overall kept me engaged and interested!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for this advanced copy. You can pick up The Gilded Crown now.

I've picked up this book two or three times but just could not get into it. I think it's more due to my reading mood than the book itself -- the premise is fascinating, and I love a good princess/bodyguard storyline, especially mixed in with death magic. I just struggled to immerse myself in the story and get swept away in it. I'm putting it down for now, but perhaps I'll pick it up in the future when the mood strikes me.

If you love the tension and stakes from Priory of the Orange Tree and the death magic from The Foxglove King, this seems to be your book!

I honestly am a bit conflicted on how to rate this book because overall I did enjoy it. I thought the characters were morally gray and impactful and the world building was thorough, well-written, and the politics were explained in detail which was very helpful as the plot unfolded. I was completely enraptured in the story in the first half and the last section of the book but somewhere in the middle it seemed to drag tremendously. It was a lot of information in the middle dumped onto the reader but also in a few scenes I was sat wondering why I should care as the reader or why the scenes mattered. Though, by the end I understood it all was leading up to the major points I feel like the middle could’ve been paced so much better and the scenes could’ve been formed in a way that matched the intrigue and high-stakes of the first and latter half of the book. The middle section did hinder my enjoy ability of this, honestly, which was sad. That being said, some of the absolute highlights from this read was the unraveling of Hellevir and Sullivan’s connection as the story progressed and as Hellevir came to grips with her feelings but also how toxic they were for one another. Death was also such an interesting character and remains one of my favorite characters from the story. The weaving of this story was incredibly well-written and I felt like high stakes politics really added to the overall ambience of the story. All that to say, I am excited for the eventual second installment!

I’ll start with the positives: the concept was so nice!! Wasn’t too original but can’t go wrong with consulting and bargaining with death to bring someone back - of course with a price. I would have LOVED more interaction with animals and Hellevir speaking. But I’m happy with what I got. A touch of romance but nothing crazy, definitely more so fantasy than anything else.

I had high expectations for this one, but the plot fell short… I tried to love the characters and the concept of death and reviving held promise. But I was so bored halfway through. Honestly I skimmed the last 50 pages or so & can’t say I missed much. Likely won’t be continuing this series. Truthfully Felt like the longest book ever…..

I liked the premise and idea of the book slightly more than the execution. I became quite frustrated with a lot of the main character’s decisions and the constant same mistakes.

☆☆☆.5

I really, really enjoyed the necromancy magic aspect of this book. It felt so unique and the way the author painted the world of Death pulled me immediately from the start. The world building was really a strong point.

There was great LGBTQ+ representation with MM AND FF relationships being present throughout the book. However, the relationship with the FMC in the book just felt off and made no sense to me. I didn’t really feel the connection and had such a hard time accepting there would be feelings from the FMCs side after everything that had happened?

“𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘈 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯.”

LIKE ?? GIRL YOU DESERVE BETTER. LOVE YOURSELF. 🥲

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘝𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.🫶🏻

4.5 stars

I liked so many things about this book: the writing style is wonderful, Hellevir herself is a compelling character that I was able to see myself in, the plot is interesting and complex in ways I was not necessarily expecting, and the world building just got more and more interesting as time went on.

I saw a lot of people complaining about the marketing of this book as a romantasy caused them to not enjoy the book (I wouldn't even say this has a romance aspect, though it deals with something like it), and I think that this book could have used a different name that is more suited to the story itself and not vague like this. It kinda makes this fade into the mountains of other fantasy and romantasy novels.

The only thing that took away from my enjoyment of this novel was it feeling slow-paced. I don't think there could be anything done about this though because there is just so much to the plot. I can also admit that near the end Hellevir's feeling of helplessness got to me and I didn't really want to read further because of that. if anything though, that is a mark of a well-done story.

I would recommend to those that enjoy complex and/or political fantasy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for granting me a free and advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to this but I agree with other reviews that it seems I feel led astray by the marketing. I don’t often dive into regular fantasy often because they tend to be slower. This has such a good concept but it just gets to feeling a bit too repetitive for my liking.

3.5 -⭐⭐⭐💫

"Thank you, Farvor."
"Wha are brothers for, if not to help their resurrectionist sisters find assassins."

The Gilded Crown is the first novel in the adult fantasy series, The Raven's Trade. The story follow Hellevir, a woman who, from a very young age, has had to ability to bring beings back to life by making deals with death...deals that can come with high costs. When Hellevir saves the life of the princess and heir to the throne, Sullivan, she finds herself embroiled in a world of political intrigue, assassination, and looming civil war. She is forced to attend the princess in order to save her under threat of all she loves...yet she Hellevir finds herself drawn to this brutal princess. But will the cost of keeping of her alive be more than Hellevir can bargain for?

This book puts you through the paces!

Hellevir has an empathy to her that makes her a character you really root for. You feel for every injustice she is faced and her tenacity of doing good no matter what stuck with me. At times I did question her choices, especially around the princess, but by the end she develops a strength I truly admired.

Sullivan was a character I really struggled with - I was not her fan. She is a sandpaper kind of character. At times she can be quite empathetic and you can see she comes to care for Hellevir but she also struggles to have her own separate identity from her brutal grandmother. I feel as the series progresses we will see more happen but at the initial stage she's still rough around the edges for me.

We also have a great group of side characters such as Hellevir's brother and the raven. I felt these characters from support to Hellevir in her time of need and also helped highlight the intensity of the situations growing for her.

This story does not have spice. There is a kissing scene but it is small. I would say this is a slow burn romance...but I also felt the romance was the weakest part of the novel. I appreciated the LGBTQ rep with Hellevir and Sullivan and her brother, Farvir, and Calgir - I felt Farvor's relationship was stronger. For Hellevir's relationship, I didn't really understand how they fell in love, especially given the blackmail situation. I need more development of them together. I feel there is an opportunity for it to grow further but for now, the romance was not what drew me.

The story itself is fascinating with assassination attempts, coups looming, quests for Death, and a struggle to find a sense of self. I felt the necromancy magic stuck with me as well as the costs of it - I felt for Hellevir this was a huge part of the story as people look at her and judge her. There is also some questions around religion (story based religions) to explore, especially with Hellevir's mother. I would say one thing I sometimes struggled with in different storylines was Hellevir and how she made decisions - sometimes she did nothing and I did not know why and other she made horrible choices and the rationale wasn't really unpacked. The ending prompted a very interesting twist that has me curious for the next book!

Overall, this book has excellent lore and magic and I am eager to see what Hellevir does next!

Thank you Harper Voyager for this arc!

Hellevir learns early on that she can enter the realm of death and, sometimes, bring back the dead. Once this secret is learned by the crown, she is brought to the castle to keep the Princess safe - and alive - to prevent a civil war.

This book's cover is misleading, as it looks like a typical romantasy. This book very much is not - it is darker than what I expected, even with the concept of death being a large portion of the synopsis. I really enjoyed the world and the author's creativity, and there was a lot of thinking about right and wrong, self identity, and more. I have to say though, I struggled HARD with the "love interest" (the plot really isn't romance based), as they were SO ANNOYING AND UNLIKEABLE. I really struggled to see how Hellevir felt connected to them other than the fact that raising someone from the dead connects your souls.

I really enjoyed the personification of Death in this (it felt like a better version of Death in Belladonna, in my opinion), and I want to see more of it! Definitely a solid debut.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If I had a nickel for every book where the girl a see and talk to death and falls in love with him wait! she doesn't fall in love with death! I would have at least 2 nickels. This is a great fantasy story with some darker elements and just a splash of romance. Don't go in expecting a big love story but it does feature both a sapphic relationship (kinda) and side characters who are gay.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book. Our FMC, Helliver, is young woman who discovers she can raise beings from the dead but at a cost to her body and soul. When the queen learns of this, she brings the princess, Sullivain, to be raised after a successful attempt at her life. In order to protect the princess more, Helliver must move from her comfortable life in the country to the capital to serve as a safety net for any future attacks.

There is a lot of discussion on religion and how it relates to both one's personal beliefs but also the politics of a country. I'm not sure I would read the next book because it does end on a nice note but I enjoyed this book overall.

Hellevir has been able to raise the dead since she was a child. She learned early on that any soul can be saved for a price. When the princess and sole heir to the chron is assassinated, Hellevir makes a deal with the dark figure of the afterlife to bring her back. Soon Hellevir finds herself summoned to the capital and manipulated into raising the princesses again and again. With each successful assassination, Hellevir must sacrifice more of herself in order to bring the princesses back, but how much of herself can she sacrifice before there is nothing left to give.

Overall I enjoyed this book but I struggled with Hellevir and Sullivain’s romance. There relationship is very toxic because Sullivain is using Hellevir’s abilities for her own self interest. She threatens and manipulates Hellevir into using her abilities. She doesn’t care about the physical or emotional cost to Hellevir and throughout the book she never really takes accountability or apologize. This makes it very difficult for Hellevir and Sullivain’s romance to feel genuine and real. I hope that this is an intentional choice by the author and that we will see Sullivain’s character grow and develop in the next book.

For me the best part of this book was the well developed character. All of the characters are well rounded and have complex interpersonal relationships. Gordon does an excellent job of showing how each character morals, motives’, and beliefs drive their behaviors and actions/inactions.

This dark fantasy has court politics, religious conflict, paganism, necromancy, animal companions, and queer romance. People that enjoy folklore, dark emotional stories, complex character relationships, and a little bit of mystery will enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: death (including animals and children), murder, violence, torture, emotional abuse.

Hellevir was only ten years old the first time she visited Death. Able to raise the dead, Hellevir goes between the land of the living and Death's domain, where she haggles with the shrouded figure who acts as its Guardian -- and who she speculates may be some kind of God, or Death himself. But raising lives comes with a hefty price, and Hellevir loses bits and pieces of herself each time she must bring someone back. When Princess Sullivain, the heir to the throne, is assassinated, the Queen seeks out Hellevir, demanding that she raise her granddaughter, and once Hellevir has done as she's asked, she promises not to tell her court of Hellevir's gift. But the Princess has made no such promise, and she decides that Hellevir will serve at her side, her protector from any further attempts on her life. As Hellevir grows closer to the Princess, despite her intentions, she learns that there is a deeply tangled web around the court, and that she may be at its center.

How exciting, to see a sapphic fantasy debut that is not young adult! Although I understand the importance of YA stories that portray diversity and queerness, it seems the curse of WLW-centered books is never being allowed to burgeon into adult fiction. It's a problem that irks me to no end, and so I was very highly anticipating The Gilded Crown, particularly with its Nordic inspired setting and its interesting premise revolving around a necromancer.

My first impression upon reading the first few chapters was positive, but unfortunately, as I delved deeper into the story, some of the shine wore off for me. While it's beautifully and brilliantly written, with some turns of phrase that left me downright envious I hadn't come up with them, the characters and plot suffer in comparison. Hellevir, for example, is strangely blank, without much personality. She deals with constant backlash and overcomes obstacle after obstacle, but she never seems to grow much of a backbone, at least not until the very last few chapters of the novel. I suppose that's growth, which I can't condemn, but aside from being forgiving and naive, there's really not much else to her.

Sullivain, on the other hand, is perhaps a bit better. She has hidden depths, at least, much of which centers around not being a very good person. Many other reviewers have a problem with Sullivain, and specifically her romance with Hellevir, but I didn't -- I'm tired of sapphic and women characters always having to be good and boring. People were upset with some of the things she does to Hellevir, but what about Cardan in The Cruel Prince, who readers absolutely adore? He does far worse things to his romantic interest, but strangely enough, no one seems to bat an eye at it. How odd, that a man might be forgiven for things ten times worse than what a woman might do, but she'll be the one who is criticized.

I'm not saying Sullivan and Hellevir's relationship is healthy; it's not. But aren't LGBTQ+ people allowed complexity, depth, and sometimes toxicity in their relationships? I grow weary of always reading "positive" representation, which only means that queer characters are never allowed to do anything wrong, lest they be seen as a negative reflection on the community. So, for the most part, I greatly enjoyed the dance between Hellevir and Sullivain, and being able to feel angry and hurt when they do things that wound one another.

The plotline is strangely boring, despite its rather original and fun concept. The riddles that Hellevir must solve for Death are so conveniently resolved that I felt they were pointless to begin with, and most of the characters and relationships feel like little more than window dressing (and the same can be said for the world-building, which doesn't feel fleshed out). The pacing, though, is what does the most damage to the narrative: nothing feels as if it really happens until around the 70% mark, and it's somewhat agonizing to get to that point, since everything in between is boring and struck me almost as being filler.

The third star is because the ending is pretty great, and suddenly, I found myself wanting to read more. I'll probably pick up the next book in this series (because it will be one), but I'll have some reservations when I do. If the pacing errors and characterization issues aren't fixed, I'm afraid it'll turn many people off. All in all, I think there's so much potential here, but it's hard to give it a higher rating than I did, because the majority of it is just so boring.

While this read more YA than I had initially expected, I did still enjoy the plot. It is certainly not a romantasy but I was happy to read about queer characters. I really liked the concept of resurrection and the character/setting of death. And I actually liked the politics, it was easy to follow. I do think the story has more potential for the series and would be interested to see where it goes.

A girl who can bring back people from the dead, a princess who is blackmailing her to working for her, and Death who strikes a bargain in exchange for treasure. Hellevir has visited Death many times in her life, and when she brings back the life of Princess Sullivain, the sole heir to the kingdom's throne from an assassination.... Sullivain forces her to work for her. The catch is that Hellevir is falling for Sullivain and must find a way to figure out who is trying to assassinate the princess whose death would lead to a war.... but if she does not find a way to pay Death then he will take from her more than she could ever imagine. The book started off really fun but then fell apart the more it went on. I was initially really interested in the dynamic between Hellevir and Death, and honestly couldn't care less about the romance between Hellevir and Sullivain (which is so strange because I am always a sucker for a sapphic romance). Sullivain just felt like the wrong choice as a love interest and never really felt like there was any romance or connection between the two. The story itself just never really felt like it was there and the plot just didn't move all that well. Sadly I will not be continuing with this series. The initial premise sounded fantastic but the actual execution of the story felt lacking for me personally. I do think if you like necromancer/princess romance and don't mind a slow read, give it a go maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.

Release Date: July 2, 2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Harper Voyager for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was not what I expected it to be, but I enjoyed it!

In the first third or so, I was convinced this was actually YA. You have a younger character learning about herself, coming of age, discovering her place in the world & trying to make it better, plus just making any and all terrible decisions along the way. BUT, in the second half, things got more political, darker, and by the end our main character finally had some growth & development. I was really happy with where it ended and I want to read book 2!

For fans of The Foxglove King but slower paced and more queer (so much toxic sapphic yearning, plus a gay couple as one of the main side characters). Tons of political intrigue, religious trauma, parental issues, and a mysterious Death that is NOT the love interest (thank you and also curse you romantasy for the brain rot that has conditioned me to expect that). I loved the raven side kick too.

There were some aspects of this book that I enjoyed. First of all, the premise was very enticing. I really loved all of the scenes where Hellevir and Death interact, and I loved all of her interactions with animals. Hellevir overall is an easy protagonist to root for. I even enjoyed Sullivain, which it seems some other reviewers did not. There was a lot about the writing style that I did enjoy, particularly the descriptive prose.

However, some things about the book hindered my enjoyment. Notably, I felt like a lot of the decisions the characters made didn't make logical sense, and didn't have compelling explanations in the writing, other than "this is the next plot point." It didn't make sense to me that Hellevir would keep using her power over and over again, even for small situations. I understand maybe one fluke to show her empathy, but homegirl was raising everybody left and right. Also, no spoilers, but the decision that her brother makes at about 80% of the way through the book made no rational sense to me, and it felt like a plot device.

Another issue I had was with the worldbuilding/lore dumping. I actually enjoyed a lot about the world and the magic system. The religions were very interesting to me. However, a lot of the time we would get lore or important information, it would be through Hellevir reading pages from textbooks, or overhearing someone who just happened to be saying everything she needed to hear. It didn't feel authentic. A lot of problems in this book could have been avoided if people just didn't have private conversations in other people's earshot.