Marissa Meyer has an incredible talent for fairytale retellings that completely breathe life into much beloved classics. Gilded is no different. This Rumpelstiltskin retelling is not as dark as I remember the original to be but wonderfully atmospheric and immersive. I loved Serilda's characterisation and appreciated her wit and sarcasm. This is a duology which I think is perfect because we'll be able to see more interaction between Gild and Serilda!

A very atmospheric account and reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin! This gothic fairytale world is firmly rooted in the nightmare horror genre. I couldn't put it down as I needed to know how it would end.

I enjoy a dark Grimm, Germanic, Black Forest-style twisted tale.

This is the first Marissa Meyer book I've read, and I really liked the atmosphere, the darkness, the castles, the Wild Hunt, and the various creatures and peoples we meet. The world felt pretty rich and vivid.

I wasn't that fond of Serilda, I couldn't really relate to her, for most of the book, but she grew on me as the book developed, and she became a bit more sympathetic.

I really liked the idea of the romance, but, given the very few, and brief encounters that the characters had, it seemed kind of sudden, especially since it wasn't written in a love-at-first-sight kind of way, it was as if the romance had developed but without the time for that to have happened. <spoiler>(Also it made the title a bit icky for me).</spoiler>

I love that the villain is a proper villain, no redeeming features or attempt at morally grey, which is appropriate in many contexts, and can make characters more complex and believable, but doesn't always work when it's forced. The villain of this story someone to fear and he commits absolute atrocities, which some might not like, but it fits with this style of dark story, it fits with his character, and it had the shock value which was really driven home. It also works really well here, because it comes as a shock to Serilda too, as a person, you're not expecting someone you meet to be wholly bad even if there are legends saying as much, so though, rationally, you know not to mess with them, when they live up to their reputation, it still comes as a shock. Loved that.

The parts with the main love interest, the villain, the castle, the wild hunt, and the village in thrall are what made the book for me, I know the fairy tale requires the stakes to be raised, Serilda to be returned to her home, then summoned again, but I wish that could have been done better somehow. For me the creepy castle, and the tension, danger, and mystery there were so good, that the times in between where Serilda was just waiting felt like that, like I was just waiting for those bits to be over and for the good bit of the story to get going again, so the pacing seemed to suffer at times.

In general though, it's still a great twisted tale, and I loved that Merissa Meyer chose a less obvious fairy tale for inspiration with this one. I'll definitely be reading more of her books, and the next instalment of this story.

Twisted fairy-tales are really popular mostly its the princesses but this reworking of Rumpelstiltskin is pretty awesome.
i really enjoyed this, it was refreshing to read something different and fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc!

This was very interesting! I liked it a lot

A retelling of Rumplestiltskin? Sounds perfect

A retelling of Rumplestiltskin by Marissa Meyer? Is there anything better?

How does the author manage to create a story, a world that is so full of wonder, time after time?

Full review to be posted soonish. I'll update review with links to socials.
I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

the Queen of retellings is retakes her throne .with a Rumplestiltskin retelling!

i forgot how much i missed this author and how she write, i read this book in a day! and didnt do any of the adulting i was planning to do. It was fast paced but oh so dark which i love as if you know me i like the darker book (i like the villains over the heroes 80% of the time) there is some second hand awkwardness but that just means you are deep in to the characters.

the only fault i found was the ending!!! what the hell was that! why do that to me! i need the second book like now

I was so excited when I heard about Gilded by Marissa Meyer. A retelling of Rumplestiltskin, which I hadn't seen done often, but where Rumplestiltskin is the love interest? I was highly intrigued, and with this being Meyer's return to fairy tale retellings, I knew I would be in for a great story. And I loved it!

Serilda is the daughter of a miller who was granted a wish by the god of fortune, and he wished to marry the girl he loved and have a family. But the god of fortune is also a trickster god, and the god of lies, so when Serilda was born, she was born with their mark on her; golden wheels over the irises of her eyes. Serilda has been given the gift of storytelling, but everyone thinks her cursed, a liar, and no-one believes a word she says. But it's her clever tongue that gets her out of a tight spot when rescuing two moss maidens from the Erlking during the Wild Hunt. She tells him she is out harvesting straw to spin into gold - and he remembers. The next full moon, the Erlking kidnaps her, demanding she spin the straw in the dungeon she's locked in to gold by dawn, or he'll kill her. It's while she's crying and panicking, that a young man appears. A young man who can't remember his past, who is as trapped as Serilda is, but has a knack for spinning straw into gold...

I absolutely adored Gilded! Meyer has written another fairy tale retelling that lands on all the major plot points and events of the original Brothers Grimm story, but makes it completely her own. There's the lie of spinning straw into gold; a greedy king who locks the miller's daughter in a room with a spinning wheel and straw and demands she spins it into gold or she will die; there is someone who appears who is able to spin the straw for the miller's daughter for a price; and on the third go, there is the promise of the miller's daughter's first born child in exchange. What I adore with Meyer's stories is how she can take these pieces, and create something brand new. It's the same story, but not. The lie is told by Serilda herself. The king is the Erlking - or Elfking - a dark and fae creature, who leads the Wild Hunt every full moon, hunting animals and mythical creatures, abducting children, and seducing others to join the hunt that may end up killing them. The Erlking demands straw spun into gold, but it's for reasons other than greed. And there's a young man, who doesn't remember his own name, who is tied to the Erlking's castle, unable to leave, but who's magic can't work without something valuable given in return, no matter how much he may want to help. While you know where the story is going, with Meyer, you don't know how it's going to get there, or what will happen when it does.

Gilded is set in a historical German inspired setting, intertwining the story of Rumplestiltskin with Germanic Paganism. Throughout the story are creatures from Germanic folklore and stories straight out of Germanic belief, such as the Wild Hunt. As someone who has an interest in Paganism, I really appreciated all of the details, such as the various full moons having specific names because of what they meant on an agricultural calendar, the importance of the solstices and equinoxes. Although this is a fantasy story, it grounded the story for me; this is how people lived, and this is what they believed. Even the gods the people worship are loosely based on Pagan gods. I also really loved all the nods to the Brothers Grimm themselves. One of the ways of addressing the Erlking is, "You're Grim," which has the double meaning. And the Grimm's first collection of fairy tales is called Kinder- und Hausmärchen, which translates to Children's and Household Tales, with märchen translating specially to "little tales"; the town Serilda lives in is called Märchenfeld.

And stories play an important part in Rumplestiltskin. She's called a liar, but really Serilda is a storyteller. She doesn't often lie outright; the lies people object to are really just stories. She's judged for her eyes, for the so called curse that brings bad luck, and she's hated for things others have decided are her fault - which to me seemed similar to the accusations thrown around during witch hunts, the superstitions people held, which again grounds the story in time and place. Because of the prejudice against her, and her propensity to make up stories, when she is telling the truth, nobody believes her. She is not to be trusted. It reminded me of The Boy Who Cries Wolf, but without Serilda really crying wolf in the first place. As no-one will believe her, there are times when there is no help to be found, and she has to rely on herself.

Until she meets Gild. Gild is the Rumplestiltskin character, but with a twist, and I adored him. He's a prankster, doing all he can to wind up the Erlking, making a nuisance of himself, because that's all he's able to do. He's funny, and charming, but also really quite a tragic character. He is drawn to Serilda because she's human, and she's alive. He is surrounded by ghosts and the dark court only, but he can touch Serilda, and she's warm. I loved him, but I also felt so sorry for him. And for Serilda, he's someone who will listen to her, who believes her, who doesn't shun her because of her eyes. They each give the other something they can't get elsewhere, and from that blossoms something more. Their relationship was wonderful; the chemistry was great, but there's an aching, bittersweet element to it that just has you so completely rooting for them, but not really seeing a way out of it.

I was completely gripped by Gilded, by the romance but also the wider plot. As I read, I thought of and discarded so many theories as to what was happening and where the story would take us. There were three that I had that were right. But the story isn't predictable. I was never really 100% sure on any of them, not until the reveals. This is the thing with Meyer and her retellings; you can never really be sure where the story will lead. And I absolutely didn't see the ending coming! It suddenly gets a lot darker, and it was such a shock! It shouldn't have been; we're constantly told how terrible the Erlking is and what he's capable of, what he's done in the past. And I've read Meyer's previous fairy tale retellings, she definitely goes there when it comes to the horrific. It struck me like a blow though, and completely knocked me for six. I was completely devastated, but there's no time to get used to it before the next shock comes, and the story ends on a cliffhanger! Something else that blew my mind, despite the original story, despite knowing where the story leads. I guess because of the dynamics between the various characters, I forgot that element of the story. But it left me with my jaw hanging, shouting, "No!" It's a belter of an ending, and I am so, so looking forward to reading the sequel, Cursed, when it's released on 3rd November this year. Considering most of the major elements of the original story were part of Gilded, I honestly couldn't really guess how the story will play out in Cursed, and I absolutely love it! I really can't wait, it's going to be epic! If you're a fan of fairy tale retellings, Gild is definitely one to bring to the top of your TBR!

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit, blood, gorey descriptions of violence, animal cruelty, infanticide, corpses, multilation of corpses, and mutilation of people as they are killed.

This was a really fun Rumpelstiltskin retelling. Gilded was my first book from Marissa Meyer, but thankfully not the last. After finishing this I started reading her Lunar Chronicles, which again was really fun.

Now I kinda wish this one was also a part of the Lunar world. Now don't get me wrong, I liked this one. But the kind of twists she put on those retellings were a whole other level. Also, there were some parts in the middle that draaaged. And honestly, I didn't feel the stakes the way I felt them in Lunar books.

I liked the MC and I liked her magic. But I think I would have liked the story more if her magic was better explored in the novel. maybe if the actual depth of it was revealed sooner the story would've been more fun. And then there was the romance, which honestly was kinda meh. I think I would've been more invested in it if it had more screen time, but it was just kinda there.

All that said, I still enjoyed it and will definitely read the sequel. I read this book in a time that I couldn't focus on more demanding books, so the fact that it was such an easy read was a plus.

Lovely retelling. I really enjoyed this book, I found it to be aimed at a slightly younger audience than myself but found the romance to still be enjoyable.

The world building Marissa Meyer has done is great and I’m looking forward to the sequel!

I absolutely adored this book, I loved everything from the title and cover to the intricate storytelling and beautiful images conjured in my mind! A big fat 5 stars from me! Would absolutely recommend.

For some reason, Gilded took me a long time to read, although I am unsure why because it has literally everything that I love in a book included within its pages. I am glad that I stuck with it though as it is a fascinating take on the classic Rumpelstiltskin tale.

Marissa Meyer is an author who I have long intended to read, but for some reason have never got around to. I am glad that I chose Gilded as the book to discover her writing with. I love anything to do with the Wild Hunt, and Meyer’s version of the Erlking and his Court is positively chilling. I think it is quite possibly one of my favourite takes on the mythology of the Hunt. Meyer’s rich descriptions of the Hunt and the secrets behind the castle they have claimed as their own make for a captivating read.

I do hope a sequel is released very soon, because the end left me hanging right on the very edge of a cliff, with one foot dangling in the air! In the meantime, I now have three of Marissa Meyer’s other books lined up on my Kindle to keep me going.

I really enjoyed this. I was interested throughout.
I will say I don't think this needed 500+ pages. At times in the middle this felt a little repetitive. I get they needed Gild and Serilda spinning gold needed to happen more than once to build the overall story.
I didnt know where the story was going to go but I needed to know.
Gild and Serilda chemistry was lacking for me. I think I needed more scenes of them together building that. Instead it felt a tiny bit rushed.
I liked the inclusion of ghosts, monsters and curses. It added another layer of the story.
At times this was dark. Not too dark but I didnt expect it.
Another thing I liked was Serilda telling "fairytales" adding more to the character and past of Erlking. Each one helping to understand the world and history a little more.
I'm left wanting to know what happens next.

I love every fairy tale retelling that Marissa Meyer has written, and Gilded is even more than that

Taking on the story of rumplestiltskin, Marissa crafts a story that is so full of wonderful characters and depth, that it is very easy to get lost in the book

Looking forward to the second one!

Marissa Meyer's take on the well known fairytale Rumplestiltskin is, simply, inspired! It's certainly not how I expected the story to go.
Just as I felt during her other series, The Lunar Chronicles, I adore how Marissa Meyer manages to give each of her characters that defining trait that just make them so perfectly unique. For Gilded, this was Serilda's spinning-wheel eyes, showing her to be a child of Wyrdith leading her to be the definition of a complusive liar - or rather - compulsive storyteller! This alone I found an intriguing detail, especially with regards to how this talent helps and hinders her as the story progresses.
Despite this, I do feel that Gilded didn't necessarily need to be a duology. Even as a reader who's not recently read Rumplestiltskin, I still found myself getting a little tired of her constantly going back to the castle but not yet giving the big promise we all know from the fairytale. Thus I found when the moment did come, I felt more relieved than shocked!
However, Marissa's writing never fails to intrigue, and I'm looking forward to the sequel!
I'm incredibly grateful to netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review Gilded before it's in-store release date!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of Gilded by Marissa Meyer.

When I saw this one on NetGalley, I requested right away. I'm a huge fan of Marissa Meyer, and thpurally enjoyed both The Lunar Chronicles and the Renegades series.

Now I don't normally like to compare author's works, but with Meyer releasing a new fairytale retelling, is is hard to review this book without first mentioning Cinder/The Lunar Chronicles.

The Lunar Chronicles as a series are by far the best fairytale retellings I have read, having both the classic tales of fairytale characters and creatures as well as a fresh take and new content. With Gilded (a Rumplestiltskin retelling), I felt like the story wasn't as imaginative as Cinder was, and the others that followed in the series. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy Gilded, because I did- but next to Meyer's other works (the bar was set very high) it didn't quite match up.

Gilded, does, however have a very good cliffhanger ending with the promise of more in depth plot and character development to come, and I am looking forward to the next book to see how things turn out!

**3.5 STARS**

When I say that Meyer is the Queen of Fairytale Retellings, I mean it; the hauntingly beautiful German fairytale world that she constructs in this retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" is a masterclass in world-building. She invents dozens of magical creatures. She invents cities. She invents gods. What can't this author do?

This book is great for anyone that likes:

• Grimm's fairytales
• creepy castles
• epic fantasy
• a REALLY bad villain

That being said, I did find the romance between Serilda and Gild a little bit unbelievable (especially considering they only met about 5 times), which is a shame since that was the real heart of the story. And while I was gripped by the opening and close of the novel, I kind of felt like the middle portion was a Groundhog's Day situation, where I was on an endless loop of the same material (Serilda goes into castle; Serilda meets Erlking and spins gold with Gild; Serilda leaves castle).

On a more personal note, the violence in this book just wasn't for me; I can totally see why killing five children was necessary for Meyer's plot and Serilda's character development, but it really turned me off from reading the sequel.

Overall, however, I really enjoyed Meyer's writing, and Serilda was a wonderful main character that wasn't afraid to take action when she needed to. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend,

I wasn't aware of the story of Rumpelstiltskin prior to reading Gilded and I decided not to look into it until I finished the novel. Gilded is definitely a very clever retelling, there are so many similarities with the tiniest of twists that make this a new and refreshing take on the old tale. My main grievance with this book is I am convinced it could have been a brilliant standalone, I don't know what Meyer has planned for the rest of this series but Gilded was just too long. The story dragged so much I considered DNFing despite enjoying the overall plot and characters. The story picked up the pace slightly at the end only to finish in the middle of a huge event. I would say that most of Rumpelstiltskin's story has already been told so I imagine the sequel will be as drawn out as Gilded and that honestly has me debating whether I will pick it up.

Gilded is a delightfully faithful and dark take on the Rumplestiltskin story.

Meyer has made this story her own, adding ghosts, forest folk and the evil Erlking. It’s just enough originality to draw you in and keep you guessing despite the familiar source. That said, there’s all the standard Rumplestiltskin elements you’d expect as well, straw being turned to gold, magical bargains and a magical being without a real name. The merging of the traditional tale and the more original elements is very well done and I’m so interested in finding out where Meyer decides to take the story in the sequel.

The book is perhaps a tad longer than it needs to be as it did feel repetitive at times and I felt the romance could have been slightly better developed. That said, I did find the romance sweet and I loved all of the characters so I’m looking forward to reading more of their story and development in book two.

This book stood out for me because it wasn’t afraid to go dark, much like the original fairytales. I think it hit just the right tone, not too dark for a YA but enough to raise the stakes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.