Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by theteaisaddictive
Gilded by Marissa Meyer
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
As always, I had a rollicking good time with a Marissa Meyer fairytale retelling. That said, I do consider this one of her weaker works. Serilda, while obviously only trying to make the best of the numerous bad situations she ends up in, does act with varying levels of stupidity throughout the book. The love story is, while not insta-love (and has some interesting tension regarding the line between touch-starved people desperate for human contact of ANY kind, and genuine affection) only just sketched out, where I expected the length of the novel to be devoted to exploring their dynamic slightly more. However it must be said that Gild manic-pixie-dream-boy-ing his way through the plot did charm me utterly. The attempts at including queer themes via side characters and world building was a touch clumsy, but still appreciated.
Ultimately it comes down to the fact that this really did not need to be 2 books long — you could have cut a good majority of the Adalheid characters (while still keeping the plot revelations) and trimmed the longer stretches between full moons and still kept the sense of slow, rising tension. That said, will I be reading the sequel? You bet your ass I will, I’m invested now!!
Ultimately it comes down to the fact that this really did not need to be 2 books long — you could have cut a good majority of the Adalheid characters (while still keeping the plot revelations) and trimmed the longer stretches between full moons and still kept the sense of slow, rising tension. That said, will I be reading the sequel? You bet your ass I will, I’m invested now!!