Gilded is the story of Serilda, a miller's daughter with a gift from a God. She has a knack for finding trouble, and her life becomes one of the fairy tales she loves to concoct. Fantastical elements like curses, princes, and magical creatures become more than just figments of Serilda's imagination.
On the whole, this book has some solid writing, and it does some really smart, playful things with common fairy tale tropes. The story passages are especially fun to read, because they really do capture the aesthetic so well!
I will say that I found a lot of the "reveals" to be pretty obvious. The foreshadow was more than a little heavy-handed. I also couldn't suspend my disbelief at times because the characters should have figured some of these things out way sooner than they did, and it was painful to read in those moments. There were some pacing issues near the 3/4 point, and I felt like things were dragging on. But, the epic, dark climax makes up for it and then some.
I really was hoping this would be a standalone, but I'm so hooked that I'll be picking up book 2 this November. This story is definitely in the vain of the older fairy tales. It is very grim (pun intended) and dark. It's a novel that I can't stop thinking about, and I think it'll stay with me for months to come.
Also, the cover is just absolutely stunning! I cannot wait for the conclusion in book 2!
On the whole, this book has some solid writing, and it does some really smart, playful things with common fairy tale tropes. The story passages are especially fun to read, because they really do capture the aesthetic so well!
I will say that I found a lot of the "reveals" to be pretty obvious. The foreshadow was more than a little heavy-handed. I also couldn't suspend my disbelief at times because the characters should have figured some of these things out way sooner than they did, and it was painful to read in those moments. There were some pacing issues near the 3/4 point, and I felt like things were dragging on. But, the epic, dark climax makes up for it and then some.
I really was hoping this would be a standalone, but I'm so hooked that I'll be picking up book 2 this November. This story is definitely in the vain of the older fairy tales. It is very grim (pun intended) and dark. It's a novel that I can't stop thinking about, and I think it'll stay with me for months to come.
Also, the cover is just absolutely stunning! I cannot wait for the conclusion in book 2!