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.
I’m not sure where to even start, this book is brilliant, but holy moly it is so dark! I was already somewhat familiar with the tale of Rumplestiltskin from when I was really young…this is nothing like the children’s stories. It is macabre and menacing. It’s filled with dark magic and terrifying creatures and it does not hold back from the gruesome horrors of a traditional fairytale. I always tend to enjoy a slow burn of a book and that’s exactly what Gilded is, it had me uneasily trying to guess what might happen the whole way through, but there were so many twists I didn’t expect. The last few chapters had me dragging my hands down my face in horror…I can’t wait for the next book in this series!
Books, books and also books 