Format: Hardcover, 512 pages
Release Date: November 2, 2021
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fairy Tales & Folklore / Adaptations
In Gilded, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer returns to the fairytale world with this haunting tale.
Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has
developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and
spellbinding and entirely untrue.
Or so everyone believes.
When
one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister
Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim
world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens
track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible
task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods.
In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her
aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn't meant to be part of
the bargain.
Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one
secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must
be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt
forever.
Gilded, by author Marissa Meyer, is the first installment in what is being sold as the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and the Wild Hunt featuring 18-year old Serilda Moller as the primary storyteller. Cursed by Wyrdith, the
god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for
spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely
untrue. Or so everyone believes. Thanks to her golden wheeled eyes, and the fact that her mother disappeared years before, Serilda's only outlet is the children she keeps entertained while being an assistant to Madam Sauer.
After Serilda saves two moss maidens from the Erlking's hunt, and tells one of her outlandish tales which has left her with no friends, she draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters. She soon finds herself in a world full of ghouls, ghosts, monsters and other creatures from nightmares and hollow-eyed ravens that track her every move. Because of her lie, she is forced to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods.
In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy who we will call Gild (Vergoldetgeist) to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn't meant to be part of the bargain. But there is more to Gild than meets the eye. Serilda soon realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.
Every time Serilda tries to escape and return home, she's brought right back to the castle and forced to make more gold. Even after meeting a woman and her young daughter, and trying to find safe haven, it doesn't last very long. When the Erlking takes five children from her village who were an eager audience of Serilda's tales and stories, she knows she is in deep trouble with no outlet for escape. Gilded encompasses the dark and sinister aspects of the original German fairy tales while creating something new and enchanting.
This is the first part of a planned duology with the finale coming out November 2022. Unfortunately, there are some damnable spoilers on Goodreads that tells readers what they can expect next. At times, I really do wish the publisher would wait until shortly before release date in order to add the synopsis to the sequel. This book is repetitive at times, and probably could have been cut back by a 100 pages or more. The worldbuilding is probably the one thing the author does well as we are not just stuck in one place, but several places as Serilda tries to find a way to escape from the Erlking and find out if her mother is alive or not.
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