Gilded: 1 (Gilded Duology)

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Fantasy Author Marissa Meyer Reveals Her Next Book Cover: Gilded". io9 . Retrieved February 27, 2021. Thank you so much to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. We return once again to the Court of the Erlking, the Alder King, where Serilda lives with five little ghosts whom she dearly loves. In the morning she’s to live a lie and marry the Erlking but they are, of course, at odds. He is determined to use Serilda for his own nefarious plans whereas she has only one aim which is to help Gild, the forgotten prince, to recover his true name and his past. Can they break the curse that binds them both to Adelheid Castle before the Endless Moon when it will become unbreakable? The second 25% is torture, 1-star in every sense. It's a mud puddle to plough through at extra slow speed. Nothing happens there, Marissa Meyer overdoes the descriptiveness even more than usual, and the writing is horrendously basic; so basic many "paragraphs" are one word or three words, no exaggeration. It's so repetitive and soporific I lost 3 days trying to wade through it and losing the battle every time, I nearly abandoned the book in this stretch, and would have if, at approximately 42%, Meyer hadn't dropped a plot bomb, the first of several to come until the end, that enlivened the dull story and made it more interesting, turning the third 25% into another 4 star read. It's really exhausting, in the end. I'm not sure I'd read another retelling of hers, because even though I've enjoyed what I've read of her work so far, some more than others, I always have ended up with a sense of exhaustion after every one of them. Not elation, not the pleasure of having finished a great story, but tiredness and the feeling that I've eaten a greasy cut of beef with more fat than meat in it instead of the lean and delicious steak I sought. When a book makes you work this much to get to the point, you have to wonder if it's worth the effort, and in this case it wasn't.

This was extremely disappointing. I enjoyed Gilded (maybe not as much as the Lunar Chronicles or even Heartless, but enough to round it up to 4 stars), but this was one felt like an absolute slog. Serilda is a confusing main character because sometimes she's feisty and tough, sometimes she's real dumb, and other times she just stands there and screams "nooooo". Gild has potential, but most of the time, he's just kind of...there. I also didn't care for either of the two child-oriented plot lines. I know that the girl in the original Rumpelstiltskin offers him her firstborn child, but it just feels...out of place in a YA novel.

The vividly immersive and gorgeously woven sequel to Marissa Meyer’s spectacular reimagining of Rumplestiltskin continues where Gilded left off, returning us to Adalheid, the ErlKing and his malevolently dark court. Meyer was born in Tacoma, Washington and attended Pacific Lutheran University, where she received a Bachelors in Creative Writing and Children's Literature. She later attended Pace University and received a Master's in Publishing. [4] Growing up, Meyer admits that she had a strong love for fairy tales and one of her favorite shows was Sailor Moon, both of which later impacted her creation of Cinder. [5] Meyer also says that her love of superheroes helped lead to the creation of Renegades. [6] In an interview with Los Angeles Times, she said she attempted her first novel when she was sixteen. [7] Career [ edit ] Meyer at the 2022 Phoenix Fan Fusion I did enjoy how the story wrapped up and learning more about the underlying story as it unfolded. Meyer's writing is very good and engaging. I ended up being glad that I pushed through the darkness and found my way to the end of the story. In a classic power move, the Erlking forces Serilda to become his wife. He's hoping to be able to use her powers for his own gain. She plays along, mildly, as she has her own agenda going on under the Erlking's nose; keep your enemies close and all that.

a b "Bestselling YA author Marissa Meyer details her career in writing". HS Insider. December 18, 2021 . Retrieved March 3, 2023. Meyer manages to insert humour and heartache, and gives her characters some wise words and insightful observations about human nature and life. Often, Serilda sees her gift as a curse: “Have you been cursed by the god of stories? Does every word out of your mouth somehow land everyone you love in danger?” When she is finally able to make that complaint to Wyrdith in person: “I do understand,” said Wyrdith. “Stories are powerful.” They threaded their fingers through Serilda’s. “What you don’t understand is that you have not yet written the ending.” In 2013, Meyer received a two-book deal from Feiwel & Friends for a young adult series featuring the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. However, it later ended up being a standalone book called Heartless, which was released in Fall 2016. Utah students adapted the novel into a musical which Meyer attended in 2021. [18] I think Meyer did an incredible job of building this world, the characters, the lore and the action, oh my goodness! This one had so much action, but most captivating was Serilda's character arc over the two books. Additionally, I did listen to the audiobook for both installments, narrated by the always fabulous, Rebecca Soler.Now that the story is finished, I can tell that this second book was not needed. The story could've fit in one book if Meyer wasn't a pathological overwriter or had an editor that didn't fear using the editorial hatchet more forcefully. I like her, I like that she is a good storyteller, but I'm not blind to the fact that she isn't a good writer. Like Serilda, she puts in too much, and she always overstays her welcome by cramming in too much and not knowing what to cut and where to stop; perhaps that's why this duology's heroine is the most reflective of her own storytelling. The stakes are high. Can Serilda and Gild figure out how to free themselves from the Erlking's grasp before the Endless Moon finds them cursed forever?