This review it's written in spanish to explain myself better about how I felt about the book.

Me gustó mucho. Tanto la creación del mundo como el desarrollo de Hellevir.

Me pareció sumamente interesante el personaje de la Muerte y me encontraba queriendo saber más de él cada vez que Hellevir se iba de ahí. Se nota que es un personaje con muchas capas y creo que todos queremos saber quien fue/es (kind of a spoiler but actually it's just a theory: si era una persona o si en el pasado fue a la tierra y vivió entre la gente durante un tiempo).

La relación entre Hellevir y la mamá se me hace TAN real, siento que retrata la relación de cualquier madre-hija (generalmente en aquellas familias donde hay más de un hijo y no son solo mujeres).

El tema de la religión y la persecución por pensar/ser diferente, cómo se usa la misma religión para excusar tales actos simplemente deja en velo la realidad de nuestro pasado y (lamentablemente) el presente de algunas personas.

Me encanta que Hellevir pueda hablar con los animales y las cosas de la naturaleza. Siento que se asemeja a la relación entre una chica y su mascota de la infancia.

Sobre el tema del interés amoroso. Es algo bastante complicado por cómo inicia la relación entre ellas y el daño que le hace Sullivan durante todo el libro. Si bien se nota, a medida que pasa el tiempo, que ella va cambiando y empieza a desarrollar sentimientos, la realidad es que no se ve demasiado porque siempre vemos la historia desde el punto de vista de Hellevir. Nosotros no sabemos lo que significa ser Sullivan, lo que tiene que vivir para ser y hacer las cosas que hace. Si hubiesemos tenido esa dualidad se justificaría más que se hayan enamorado. Hellevir no tiene muchas razones para enamorarse de ella con todo lo que hizo pero supongo que ese lazo que se genera cada vez que la revive y que se fortalece cada vez más, quizás le deja ver quién es Sullivan en realidad. Sentir los sentimientos de otra persona es algo que nosotros como simples mortales no lo podemos experimentar, tan solo imaginar, sí podemos ser empáticos y ponernos en la posición del otro pero no es lo mismo. Quizás sea esa la razón de que algunos no comprendan por qué se enamoran.
Por otra parte el longing no me molestó (aunque me suele molestar) por el contexto del libro y la situación tiene completo sentido.

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0 stars

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and Harper Voyager. The opinions expressed are my own.

Hellevir discovers at a young age that she can enter Death and resurrect the recently dead. As a young woman, she is asked to raise the Queen’s granddaughter and heir. When she does so, she finds herself caught up in political intrigue and conspiracy when all she wants is a quiet life. Things develop from there….

It started a bit slow, which is not unexpected for a first book in a series that has to do a fair bit of heavy lifting in establishing characters and world building. It definitely picked up pace as it went.

It explores interesting (to me, at least) themes around power dynamics and religion. There are definite parallels drawn with the spread of Christianity (in the form of the Roman Catholic Church) across Europe in the Middle Ages.

While it is described as a romance, this isn’t really very developed in this book. It is obvious who the romantic interest is meant to be, but given the circumstances (the aforementioned power dynamics being a big part) I think this is a good thing.

The world is what I consider “generic Medieval European, although the cultural nods were a bit all over the place (Hellevir and her family read Scandinavian-ish, her mentor’s name sounds French, the capital is pretty generic but with nods to Venice, etc), which I found distracting in a way that pulled me out of the story sometimes. I think it would work better if the author stuck to on culture or avoided real world cultural references entirely. But this is a fairly minor quibble for me.

Overall a good debut and a good story and I look forward to the next book

This was such a beautiful and harrowing story about a young woman with the ability to raise the dead, ensnared in a deal with a kingdom on the brink of civil war who bares the responsibility of keeping a princess, under threat of assassination, alive.

I felt so deeply for Hellevir. She’s such a strong but gentle character. I loved her crow companion Elsevir, and the setting descriptions for the castle and apothecary. Most importantly every character brought to your attention is given some sort of development and holds weight and relevance. In a book this long I was shocked at the end by how it never felt repetitive, despite how well explored each character and plot line was. It makes so much sense that the Authors day job is Editing for a publisher!

The author uses fantastical and mystical imagery in her metaphors and allegory for feelings, and it creates such a holistic and immersive experience.

Though this story wasn’t filled with an explosive war drenched narrative, its elements of political intrigue and mystical encounters with death personified kept me turning the pages rapidly. I was enraptured in this narrative and I can’t wait for the next book! This could technically be a standalone because everything really wrapped up nicely but I would LOVE to meet “Death” and Hellevir again.

Sadly this one just never turned into what I was really hoping for. There was great LGBTQ+ representation throughout the book. . The marketing, cover design, and concept all led me to believe that this was some sort of romantasy novel and it wasn't which kind of disappointed me

This book was everything I needed right now. The writing, the plot, the characters, everything was very well done.
Helliver is very stubborn, which in most protagonists I would’ve been annoyed with. But it fits her very well. It made the plot move forward and I enjoyed seeing her try to do what she thought was right.
I wish there was more about the mysterious “Death”. He is very prominent in the story but we didn’t really get an understand of who he is. This will definitely be brought up in the next book so I’m not too worried.
I really liked this book, it was a great time and I can’t wait to read the sequel.

I enjoyed The Gilded Crown! I think this would be good if you’re a fan of The Nightshade Kingdom, The Wilderwood or The Shepherd King.

Hellevir has a special gift- she can go to Death and bring people and animals back. This does come at a cost to her but that’s where Death’s bargain comes in. He’s looking for treasures and since Hellevir is the only who can do what she does Death needs her. With Hellevir having this gift it doesn’t take long for someone in power to learn of it.

For this first book I really like the balance of Hellevir looking for Death’s treasures and the pressures of being used for her gift with the living. This balance allowed everything to move well and kept me from getting bored.

I will be interested to see how Hellevir navigates everything in the next book. I wouldn’t call the end a cliffhanger but it definitely is left open for the story to continue.

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.