Title: Gilded
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher:  Faber & Faber
Page Count: 512
Published: 2nd November 2021
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

TL;DR:

Rumpelstiltskin retelling with a bad guy you can actually hate. And that’s something I can get behind.

Oh ho ho ho hooooo. This book was quite something. Never read any of Marissa Meyer’s work before so I was diving in with no history of her books and my brain has been BLESSED with a motherfucking story and a half. This is what you’re in for:

✨ Cursed by the God of Lies
✨ A VERY MEAN KING
✨ Spinning gold from straw
✨ All magic comes with a price

Serilda (top lass and a wee scamp) is bangin’ at telling stories that give kids the heebie-jeebies. Now, this might be because she was cursed by the God of Lies but if that’s the benefit, then sign me up. Whilst she’s real good at spinning tale, it also lands her in a wee bit of a pickle – she tells a fib to The Erlking to save two Moss Maidens from the Wild Hunt.

Normally saving two little fairy-like creatures would do you a solid HOWEVER the lie comes back to bite her in the ass when The Erlking expects her to make good on her ‘talents’ and weave a dungeon of straw into gold thread. With not an ounce of magic wiggling at her fingertips, she’s absolutely fucked until a wee cutie pie of a poltergeist pops his head in.

I always thought Rumpelstiltskin was a bit of a shite and this book yoinks elements out of it and works them into a wonderful story.

Did I fall head over heels with it? No
Could some bits perhaps been a wee bit shorter? 100%
Was the romance a little weird? Yes (I would love to talk to someone about the logistics of that)
Will I be all over the next book? Absolutely

Oh and I’m a big fan that the bad guy was an actual prick. Please don’t throw him through some redemption story in book 2. I need a baddy.