Gilded by Marissa Meyer is the first in a new young adult duology that puts a spin on the classic Rumpelstiltskin.
When Serilda was born, she was cursed by the god of lies. She can spin a tale better than anyone but many are distrustful of the golden wheels in her eyes. She is considered a bad omen and bad luck and all the people of her small town, except for the children, shun her. When one of Serilda's stories grabs the eye of the Erlking and the wild hunt, she is forced behind the vale, into a world of ghouls and darkling's.
Tasked with the impossible or lose her life, Serilda befriends a clever poltergeist but he will only help her for a price. As the two become close, Serilda can't help but fall for the lost boy but a haunted castle is no place for romance. And as the Erlking's demands become more and more impossible, Serilda will need to use every gift the god of lies has given her in order to make it out alive.
Secrets, lies, puzzles, romance and heartache all combine in this new fractured fairytale by Marissa Meyer.
Marissa Meyer just gets me. Man, do I love a dark fairytale. But boy, do I not like cliffhangers. Truthfully, I thought this was going to be a one-off like her Heartless novel, so as I was reading, I kept thinking, how is this going to wrap up? And it doesn't, because book two comes out next fall. Sigh.
I am loving this mystery though and by the end of book one, the reader is more or less "in" on the secret with Serilda but no one else is, which is kind of neat. Yes, there is probably going to be a twist in breaking the curse but at least we know what is going on and book two will be all about what Serilda does with that information.
Gild is probably my favorite character. Even though he likes to play games and trick the Erlking, I liked how genuine he is. He's basically an open book and it's no wonder Serilda is drawn to him. There was a few spots that dragged in the middle of this book but the beginning and the end were great.
This one gets 3.5-4 stars from me.
That's all for now!
-M-