SPOILER ALERT: THIS REVIEW REFERS TO THE OUTCOMES OF BOOK ONE (Gilded). IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT, I SUGGEST YOU TRY THIS REVIEW INSTEAD: ‘Gilded’ by Marissa Meyer
To save the souls of five children, Serilda has promised to marry the Erlking and pass off her unborn child as his own. How she will save herself and her baby after the children are freed is a whole different problem.
Perhaps the fact that her firstborn child is already promised to another will be useful. Especially as that person also happens to be the baby’s real father – not that she can tell him. It’s all quite complicated really, and that’s before you even start trying to work out the Erlking’s motives for the whole arrangement…
I love how Gild and Serilda’s relationship develops in this book. Sharing the same curse definitely brings them closer together and learning a bit about who Gild really is helps to deepen that connection. Throughout the book his main focus is on Serilda and he doesn’t let her unusual arrangement with the Erlking taint his feelings for her. It is very romantic, although I also like that Serilda’s own focus is on saving the children. She wants to save Gild too, but she doesn’t let her love for him overshadow her other responsibilities or her maternal instincts.
Serilda’s story telling ability is explored in much more depth in this book, which adds an intriguing element of the fantastical throughout the narrative. Similarly, we get a closer look at some of the other fantastical characters including the ghosts, the dark ones, and even the gods. In fact the human world, and those living in it, have very little role to play and it is interesting to see how Serilda fully adapts to and embraces this new fantastical world around her.
Escape to the Bookshelf 