(CW: Spoilers Lay Ahead.)
“But there are two sides to every story. The hero and the villain. The dark and the light. The blessing and the curse. And what the miller had not understood is that the god of stories is also the god of lies.”
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Review: ☆☆☆☆☆
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This book has had a hold on me, since the first time that I had the pleasure of reading it in 2021 when it was first released. Recently, in honor of the release of Cursed, I completely reread the book again.
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First, I want to say that this is one of the first, and only books that I have found that features German literature, and folktales. I have found a few others however, I cannot say that I liked them anywhere near as much, nor that they were used so cleverly. Fae are a common theme in fantasy but, never did I think to see das Erlkönig, Shrub Grandmother, and the Nachtkrapp featured in a story such as this. Meyer certainly did her research, and it is 100% appreciated.
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I never thought that Rumpelstiltskin could be a romance but, I am more than glad that it is. Serilda is by far one of my favorite characters. She is brave, kind, and trusting- although at times, I did find her to be a little bit naïve as well but, all children are. Everyone who loves stories is a little bit naïve. I loved that she was the godchild of Wyrdith. The fact that she was a storyteller, within a story, was a rather novel idea, and it made this book just that much more enjoyable for me.
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The night of the Snow Moon, Serilda hears the Hunt approaching her village. Cautiously, and perhaps stupidly, she cracks open the door to find two moss maidens huddled and hiding. Granddaughters of the Shrub Grandmother, trying to escape the wild hunt. Serilda hides them both in her father’s cellar, and when the Erlking himself arrives at her doorstep, she does what she always does; she tells a story.
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A story about how she can spin straw into gold. He leaves, for now, letting her think that she’s been saved. However, the Erlking captures her and locks her in a dungeon full of straw and tells her that she must transform it all into gold before dawn, or she will be killed for telling the Erlkönig a falsehood. She thinks that she is certainly going to die, until a mysterious boy appears, saying that he can spin it all into gold… for a price.
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By this point, I was SCREAMING. Tossed my Kindle to the side, bellowing at the top of my lungs SCREAMING.
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Then, there is das Erlkönig, often called the Erlking or the Alder King in this telling. He embodies all things dark, cruel, and arrogant, although I also feel like there might be more to him that we don’t yet know. More than that I want to know because, I find that not all people who are seen in this light, are this way without reason. (Spoiler: You will learn a bit more about him in the second, and last book of this Duology.)
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I don’t want to give away too much, and in some ways, I feel like I already have. But I will say this… if you like German fairytales, folklore, and a story that will suck you in and keep you engaged the entire time, then you definitely need to pick up both Gilded and Cursed because, they have by far become two of my absolute favorite books of all time. I also want to give honorable mentions to the fact that the seven gods are depicted as being very gender fluid, and that’s something that I 100% appreciate, and completely loved about this story.
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Are you reading anything good lately? As always, if you want to see more book reviews from me, you can always go check me out on Goodreads where you can always find my current TBR, and check up on my current reads. Also, all of my reviews tend to go up there first! Have a fantastic weekend.
-Sky
Skyla N. Lambert
Author | Blogger | Bookworm | Book Reviewer
E. skylanarissalambert@gmail.com
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