Cursed: 2 (Gilded Duology)

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In 2021 Meyer published Gilded, the first novel of her two-part retelling of the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. The five children had taken to sleeping in Serilda’s bed, even though they had been given their own cots in the servants’ halls. She's already a ghost and she still has to lose so much more before she pieces together the king's grander, eviler, more power-hungry plans and begins to fight back again. Now, I know you have much better things to be doing with your life than listening to, er, reading this, so I'll make it quick. Because of this, Gilded, pitched as a haunted retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021.

Murdered, all in an act of vengeance against the prince who had killed Erlkönig’s great love—the huntress Perchta.

Nagyon jó koncepció, szuper ötletek, de jobb lett volna, ha kiválaszt mondjuk 2 dolgot, amit megszeretne valósítani nem rögtön 6-ot. De hamar világossá válik, hogy a Lidérckirály bosszúvágyát nem csillapíthatja egyetlen kívánság, és a valódi céljai végzetes hatással lehetnek a halandók világára.

A sok kaland, küzdelem és izgalom közepette lassan lehull a lepel az átokról, a kastélyról és minden másról is. Although just as vividly detailed as the first, the tone definitely felt a little darker with it’s hauntingly bleak and slightly macabre imagery that was reminiscent of the Grimm’s original. Cursed picks up where Gilded left off, with the gifted storyteller Serilda cursed and fated to marry the Erlking, who’s intent on using Serilda to not only bring back his lost love, but to inflict revenge on the seven gods who trapped the Dark Ones behind the veil. Her newfound karmic insights reveal how thin the line is between virtue and vanity, generosity and greed .

If you look at the original Brothers Grimm tales, they are also gorier and darker than what many kids read today. Marissa Meyer’s Gilded was an enchanting YA reimagining of the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale, complete with romance, adventure, ghostly escapades and folkloric stories within stories. As I mentioned in my old review, certain things in the sample made me worry about two things: the possibility of a love triangle and the possibility of a redemption for the Erlkönig.

Following the shocking turn of events, Serilda now finds herself ensnared in a deadly game with the Erlking, who is determined to propel her deeper into the castle’s lies and secrets. When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten to disrupt the fragile peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko considers it her responsibility to hunt down the leader of the soldiers. Cath is determined to define her own destiny by falling in love on her terms, but will she succeed in a land where magic, madness and monsters rein?Thank you so much to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. The stakes are higher than ever but Serilda is such a clever, resourceful and kind-hearted character – you can’t help but root for her.