3.5 stars.

I’m slightly annoyed with this book. I assumed, for no particular reason lol, that this was the final book in the series. I was only part of the way through when I discovered it wasn’t.
I was also told by someone on TikTok that this book was spicy. It wasn’t.
I’m also confused by this book. So much of it was travelling. And it was painful. And slow. And annoying. This book is long, it didn’t really pick up until about 65%. I just don’t understand the need for it. Why go to all this trouble only to leave us on a cliffhanger? It’s unnecessary and boring. And pointless.
I also found the second book in this series to be lacking, and this felt the Killian and Lydia chapters to be boring.
But less boring than all the travelling. Did I mention there’s travelling? I’m pretty sure I know the layout of the entire empire now for no other reason than this book spans it all.
If you’re a fan of the series this book is needed, if you’re on the fence, I’d wait until the final book and try and pick up the pieces.

While Gilded Serpent is technically the third book in Danielle L. Jensen’s Dark Shores series, it reads like a middle book. This is most likely because Jensen had to combine Teriana and Marcus’ plotline from Dark Shores with Lydia and Killian’s plotline from Dark Skies. Don’t worry, though! The stakes are still high (and in some cases, even higher) and there is lots of political scheming and the revealing of several secrets (some of which I did not even see coming!). It is very clear that Jensen is leading her characters towards an explosive conclusion.

Although the POV characters have now increased to four, Jensen still manages to successfully juggle between the two plotlines in a way that is masterfully balanced. The story may begin jarringly, constantly jumping between the two plotlines, but that feeling soon settles as Jensen finds a happy medium. I like that readers would spend multiple chapters with Lydia and Killian (my favorites!) before switching back to Teriana and Marcus’ story. While reading, I was really hoping that the four main POV characters would finally interact with one another again (many events have happened since Dark Shores), but the inclusion of certain characters from Tarnished Empire made up for the lack of interaction between the main characters. I will just have to wait for the release of the fourth book to see the sure-to-be-rememberable interactions between the main characters.

Many thanks to Tor Teen and NetGalley for the e-ARC! All opinions are my own.

To say that this book was brilliant is an understatement. It's a good and well-written mix of action, adventure, and politics. Despite the story is brimmed with these themes, they do not sacrifice character growth. I am still at a lost of words on how good and addicting this was.

What an amazing continuation to this series. I loved all four main characters being in the same book. The POV switches were done amazingly well. I can't wait til the next book. Thank you so much for the ARC.

Okay!! It’s time to officially gush over Danielle L Jensen’s Gilded Serpent. I can’t tell y’all how much I have enjoyed this series. It is so well written that even when I put it down to go to sleep or work, I wondered what was going to happen next. I honestly haven’t been so entranced reading a book since I finished ACOSF.

This is the first time in the entire Dark Shores series that we get alternating stories from each of the 4 MC’s... And it is magical! With so much action happening, we really get a lot from having them all adding different parts to the same story.

<deep sigh> We all know how much I have loved Killian, but I have to say... Marcus got MIGHTY SEXY in this book. I’m not relinquishing my claim as part of #teamkillian , but let’s just say that I can see the appeal. 😂💪🏼🗡

Now that my emotions have been wrecked from this uncontrollable rollercoaster, I will not so patiently go wait in a cave until Book 4.

Gilded Serpent is book 3 in the Dark Shores series and I have been waiting so long to read this book that I'm not sure whether I can do it justice or not. The thing about this book that I loved was that it had Lydia, Killian, Marcus, and Teriana in it. We get a lot more of their stories and not to mention having just read Tarnished Empire right before picking up this book, I got to find out more about a certain soldier and while it wasn't all good, it was still good to know what happened with him.

Sooooo much happens in this book and I can't talk about much of it because I don't want to ruin the story for anyone. Just know that you should definitely pick this book up as soon as you can and if you haven't had a chance to read the first two books, you should! . Keep in mind that there is another book after this one and I'll be the first to admit that I really wished the ending had some more closure than it did but I'm here for the rest of the story and I can't wait to read what happens when they all cross paths.

This is one of my favorite series and I was so excited to see the conclusion to this one! I love the world and the imagery is just so beautiful and I love the cast of characters. A total win for Danielle and I am moving all of her other books up my TBR list!

Really enjoyed this installment in this series! The four different points of view kept me flipping from one chapter to the next just to find out what was happening next in each person’s storyline. I did get confused from time to time as to who I was reading about but it was easy enough to flip back to the beginning of the chapter and see clearly who it was.

I think Danielle Jensen just loves leaving off on a major cliffhanger.. and it kills me!!! I keep reading the books in this series thinking I’ll finally find resolution in this story but still I am no closer to feeling satisfied! I need the next book stat!

The romance has you yearning for each of the four main characters to finally just fess up to loving each other and then when you finally get that moment it’s only for everything to go to complete shit! I can’t believe I’m still pining for these love stories to happen and I’ve already read three books! Ahh!

I do recommend these, they have everything from romance, action, politics, magic, and so much more!

Danielle L. Jensen is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. She just knows how to write loveable characters that you can’t help but root for.
In GS she showed us some more of her mad worldbuilding skills - and it really did feel like I was right there next to our heroes, experiencing it with them. The world of this series is so complex and well thought out, I just love it and almost don’t want to leave it.
But even though I loved the characters just as much as I did in the previous books, I felt the first half of the book a bit slow. The two storylines were too similar, it felt like the characters were experiencing the same things and talking about the same things (even their conversations where they get to know each other better were the same: where and how they grew up, how they know how to cook etc.). I would have liked to have a different pace in one of the storylines just to mix it up a bit, since the relationships of the characters were pretty similar as well at this point. Also, this focus on the mcs left me missing the great side characters that I fell in love with over the last couple of books. I would have loved to see more of them.
Now, the second half: *mind blown*. I really liked the way a former character was introduced to the story and their involvement. We stan a (seemingly) gray character in this household! I can’t wait to see what Jensen does with this character next.
All in all this really was a middle book in a series, a bridge to get the characters from Plot A to Plot B. Espescially the first half was a kind of "Here is a way for the couples to be alone and finally get to know more about each other"-plot. Except for the reappearace mentioned above there were not a lot of big reveals that surprised me as a reader since we’ve known these things from experiencing them with the characters. So, while it was surprising for the characters (and it was well done, well written), it wasn’t an OH MY GOD Moment for me.

Nevertheless, I still love this series with my whole heart and I can’t wait to see where Jensen will take it next.

Recommended Read!

I can honestly say that this is by far the best book of the three. WHAT a RIDE! Thanks to the underlying pressure and sense of danger throughout the book Gilded Serpent has you running to reach the end of the book. Amazing story building, gripping action and fantasy, and a lot of travel through new lands. If you loved Danielle´s Broken Kingdoms books, or if you love Sarah J. Maas´s fantasy worlds, you should pick up the Dark Shores series, because you will devour the three first books. But let me start from the beginning.

After Dark Shores and Dark Skies you reach Gilded Serpent with double the anxiety, double the story building and double the love for each couple. In an intriguing move which I haven´t seen in many series, the author makes book one and two parallel stories with two main characters in each, creating an impressive world and great story building. Both stories come together beautifully in Gilded Serpents.

A quick recap: Dark Shores finishes with Teriana becoming ever more entangled with Marcus, struggling to understand her feelings towards the thirty-seven legion and her need to liberate her people. After defeating Urcon, Marcus works towards an alliance with the Arinoquians, as well as trying to identify who betrayed him. Back in Mudaire, Dark Skies finishes with Lydia choosing to be taken to Hegeria´s temple, and Killian has finally been granted commander of the Royal Army, but this comes with a steep price: watching as Quintus, Grand Master Healer takes Lydia back to the city to fight the blight.

What I loved most about Gilded Serpent was how great it was to now get to follow our four main characters throughout the book. We´ve come to love each of the duo´s uniqueness through the previous books, and being able to follow all of them at the same time, it was amazing! After Dark Shores, reading Dark Skies was a test in patience for me, because I was itching to know what was next for Marcus and Teriana. Gilded Serpents fixes this, giving me information of both and making the story much richer, expanding the world as well as making me wonder how both stories are connected. Gilded Serpent´s is a much longer read, yet it did not feel like it. The stakes are higher and the suspense greater, and the author has you running behind every thrilling action and adventure our characters come across, and the pages just fly by. Our dark shores world keeps getting bigger, and the curiosity to meet each of the kingdoms in this world keeps you hooked.

Paradoxically, what I didn´t love as much of this book was the amount of jumps between one couple and the other. At the beginning I did feel a bit of whiplash trying to follow the simultaneous stories. I would have liked to see more chapters together following just Teriana and Marcus, or just Lydia and Killian. Thankfully, after the first fifteen percent of reading, the dizzying sensation was no longer noticeable for me. Afterwards the author was able to establish an amazing balance between one couple and the other, making me pull my hair out trying to control my anxiety. I was going crazy with every chapter, because both couples had thrilling danger waiting at every corner.

Finally, the level of romantic entanglement is what I loved most. It´s a low simmering romance in both cases, never taking over the plot and adventure but always there in every conversation. I love each couple for very different reasons, and both have different obstacles that they need to work through in order to be together, and I´m really interested to see how that plays out in the next book.

An amazing read, fantasy with a bit of romance at it´s finest. A great add to the Dark Shores series, and I cannot wait for the next book, especially after that ending! I just need to live now with my anxiety, knowing that this was not the end, and I will be counting the days until the next book comes out.

Gilded Serpent is such an intense read I pretty much held my breath through the entire book! Fans of the Dark Shores series will not be disappointed by this newest installment. Danielle L. Jensen has given us a masterpiece.

I spent all my awake AND sleep time reading Gilded Serpent. It's got action, adventure and intrigue. Conniving politics and literal steam are just a few things that make this book compulsively readable. Don't even get me started on some of the plot twists that I just didn't see coming *cough Agrippa cough*. Victories and betrayals went hand in hand.

Although still separated into Marcus/Teriana and Killian/Lydia sections, we see through all four POVs. Each had their own ups and downs and surprises. The stories that started in Dark Shores, Dark Skies and Tarnished Empire melded beautifully into Gilded Serpent. I so appreciate an author who can tie storylines together and Danielle does an amazing job.

Teriana and Lydia absolutely killed it in Gilded Serpent! The former carried a lot of weight (again literally) and survived a frosty hell while the latter witnessed unspeakable horrors and made a brave sacrifice. Despite being a little outdone by their ladies, Marcus and Killian did battle some internal demons. If I could though, I'd smack them both on the head and tell them to stop trying to be noble and honourable- be selfish and save us all some frustrations!

Whether you ship Lydia and Killian or Teriana and Marcus, both relationships further progress and intertwine in Gilded Serpent. Both pairings shared some sweet and spicy moments but because this is a Danielle L. Jensen novel, she doesn't make things easy for them. I felt all the angst and anxiety. So many feels. These poor souls have been through enough, please let them have their HEAs!

Once I started reading Gilded Serpent I did not, I COULDN NOT put the book down. The story, with its vast world, complex characters, intricate twists and delicate romances, packs a punch. It will leave you screaming (for more). Be prepared!

Wow where to begin? Such an amazing book! I was obsessed with the multiple perspectives in this. I was so curious to see how it would work and I was not disappointed! I can’t tell how obsessed I am with this series. I was anticipating a teriana and Lydia reunion throughout the entire book and....you’ll just have to read it to see what happens. I cannot wait for the next book! What am I to do?!

Absolutely amazing continuation in the Dark Shore series!

Danielle Jensen has quickly become one of my favorite and go-to authors.
Highly recommend this one - and this series! Such awesome development for characters, the plot heats up, and you're still left wanting more!

Gilded Serpent is the third installment in author Danielle L. Jensen's Dark Shores series with the final releasing in the Spring of 2022. Gilded Serpent starts right where Dark Shores and Dark Skies ended. The author has chosen to make it easy for you to read either book first and then second before reading Gilded Serpent. Events of both books happen simultaneously. Please know that I will do my best not to spoil this book for you. In this installment, the author has decided to alternate her story via four main characters: Teriana, Killian, Marcus, and Lydia.

Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets. They owe allegiance only to the Six Gods. But because of Teriana's betrayal of her people, she's forced into a contract with power hungry and villain Lucius Cassius where she is to lead a contingent of Celendor soldiers across the seas to a world that is being called the Dark Shores. Succeed and her mother and her people live, fail and they all die. What could go wrong? Plenty.

There's even a saying that East shall not meet West under any condition. The West worships a group of 6 Gods and Goddesses, with a 7th making all sorts of loud noises that could lead to even more violence and bloodshed. Since arriving in Arinoquia, Teriana has tried to help search for paths back to the Empire. She's also helped win a war, and brought together Marcus and other groups like the Arinoquian imperators. Teriana's relationship with Marcus has grown, but it also has lots of ups and downs. A pretty cool secret is revealed about Teriana that makes things very interesting to see what happens going forward.

Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. Marcus was blackmailed by Cassius into helping him win an election. Now he has used Teriana's love for her people in order to blackmail her into leading Marcus to the Dark Shores and a way for other Celendorian Legions to follow. Marcus has a serious issue on his hands in that someone betrayed him. Until he can figure out who, and unravel his relationship with Teriana, things are going to get extremely dicey. Part of this story takes place where Marcus and Teriana finds themselves back in Celendor and into more trouble.

Lydia is a scholar and Teriana's best friend, but books are her downfall when she meddles in the plots of the most powerful man in the Celendor Empire Lucius Cassius. After betraying Teriana's trust and her friendship, Lydia has every intention of making things right. But, thanks to Marcus, she ended up in another land called Mudamora where she suddenly finds that she has some pretty cool new abilities. In this part of the world, Lydia has been marked as a healer. With the Blight evolving, Lydia is shoved to the forefront to find a way to stop it.

Killian Calorian is Marked by the God of War, but his gifts failed him when the realm under the dominion of the Corrupter invaded Mudamora. Killian has a boatload of issues on his hand starting with the Corrupter who wants control over all of the other gods. People who have been “marked” by other gods are now the Corrupters focus. A little sneak peek. Killian knows who Teriana and the Maarin are. Killian is also the only character who has plenty of character flaws that need to be quickly corrected before he's completely lost out in left field somewhere.

Will be interesting to see what happens when the four characters finally get together. Especially after what Marcus did to Lydia. ::lips are sealed:: There is so much scheming by so many different people in this book. The plot twists were anything but predictable. All of the characters have their flaws. No one has all of the answers and no one is completely invincible or untouchable. Strengths and weaknesses are challenged, our main characters learned more about each other. The danger was intense.

Wars, a plague, starving citizens, dangerous armies, a world filled with danger, a scheming Emperor who wants to rule the world, a pantheon of Gods who are under attack from a diabolical seventh God who seems to have no weaknesses. This has to be one of the strangest endings to a book. And, no, I am not making this up. There are literally TWO cliffhanger endings to the book. Not one. All four main characters are in trouble as this book ends. Some are in deeper trouble than others but the point is that nobody is safe at this point.

4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5) Honestly, in all 600 pages/23 hours of audio, my attention never waned. THAT is good writing!

Danielle L. Jensen has become a favorite author of mine. The worlds she creates are my favorite!

With this being book 3, I don’t want to go into it too much but I will state a few of my favorite things about this book. First off, it’s so exciting. Almost every page had something to grab to my attention. It is long, that’s the downfall but I wouldn’t cut anything. Could it be shorter? Yes, but the parts that could be cut were some of my favorite.

Second, the characters. Ok, I’ll admit. I really didn’t love book 1. It just didn’t grab me. I didn’t care for Teriana. However, I heard so much about book 2 being amazing that I gave it a try. Both book 2 and 3 grabbed me right away and I became to love these characters. They are very real in their decisions, their mistakes and their flaws.

Third, the world. Aahh, it is complex with an appearance of simplicity. Politics, the Corrupted, the Blight, the traveling between kingdoms and more. It’s death, and danger and love and I’m here for all of it.

The one complaint I have is the switching of POV. I really love different POV’s, however, with this one, I got so confused. There were too many similarities between the four POV’s so if I didn’t realize the POV had switched (yes this happened many times. Don’t worry, the chapters are labeled VERY WELL who it is. Some of us just don’t pay enough attention!) Because of this, the stories started blending in my head.

Macmillan Audio was kind enough to gift me a copy even though I had the e-book version. I will forever be grateful! Those 600 pages would not have been read in time! There was a full cast, one for each POV. One character’s voice was a bit faster than the others and I had to slow down the speed just to be able to understand him. Other than that, each narrator had great emotion and intensity for when it was necessary. I highly recommend this audio!

Content Summary: This one has a lot of content. Even the author has stated on Goodreads that the intimacy is much higher in this book than the others. I agree, it was very detailed for a YA book. The term Gods was used enough in the other books that I kept a tally in this book under the religious cursing. The language was high with minimal F words. The violence was extreme but mostly because of the length of the book and military situations. There were only a few instances where the details of blood were mentioned but there is torture, execution, battles, murder and more.

Thank you to Macmillan, Tor Teen and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jensen has a penchant for putting her characters through the wringer and stressing her readers out, and it was quite evident in Gilded Serpent. It picks up after the events in Dark Shores and Dark Skies. Teriana, Marcus, Lydia and Killian are back and respectively we follow two storylines and embark on a 'soul searching' journey that will test our characters' wits. Jensen's ability to seamlessly interconnect the previous books into this one is brilliant. I wish I could tell you what they were, but it's all in the details and I might've Keanu Reeves "whoa" a few times. Secrets, revelations, twists and turns will surface ... but don't look too hard because it's a recipe for a migraine.

Jensen crafts yet another suspenseful adventure, heart wrenching romance, a rich subplot of political intrigue/mystery all in one that will have you engaged the entire time and distraught over the cliffhanger, because who wants to wait a year?

Things I liked about this book:
• Detailed and immersive writing
• Anxiety inducing action
• Removed a few things from bucket list
• I cannot tell you how many times I wanted off the Teriana & Marcus ride
• So many twists and revelations
• It gets "sauna" steamy in here

Gilded Serpent
“If the story of your life we’re a book, I’d carry it with me across the world. I’d read it every night. And whenever I’d reach the ending of what had been shared with me, I’d open it to the first page and begin reading it again.”
-Marcus
-Gilded Serpent
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
THEIR BATTLES ENDED IN VICTORY
____________________________________
BUT THE WAR HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN
____________________________________
Y’all.... I... I am UNWELL!
This book took me on a RIIIIIDE! I cannot say enough amazing things about this series. It’s compelling, it’s thoroughly enamoured me with its world building and the CHARACTERS!!! KILLIAN. I mean. That’s all I need to say right??
#teamkillianforever
Don’t sleep on this series!! You. Need. Them.

WOW! what a brilliant and emotional fantasy story full of angst, and a slow burn romance that will grab you and won't let you go. The whole series has been a fantastic ride. You need to read this series, is one of my favorites and this book is the best in the series. Please go reading the first book to enjoy the all. This is a very refreshing original series, with multiple POV that enriches the story and takes it to another new level, with a lot of action and adventure like Danielle L. Jensen knows how to deliver, and the world-building is phenomenal. The series starts with the prequel Tarnished Empire, then we have Dark Shores and Dark Skies, and ending with this astonishing book Gilded Serpent. Marcus, Teriana, Killian and Lydia will get you hooked from the start and the ending was mindblowing. Bravo Danielle you got me to do a standing ovation with this series!

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I agree with Sarah J Maas in this book has everything a YA Fantasy novel should have and if it were dessert, it was satisfy your cravings. I have read Dark Skies and Dark Shores and was fascinated by the both of them and Gilded Serpent was what put them all together. In this case, you do need to read either Dark Skies or Dark Shores first in order to understand the context of the plot in Gilded Serpent. There were many moment where my heart was severely pumping blood and at first it was difficult seeing who was who and which characters were together, who were allies and who were enemies which why it is important to read the first two books. I know this series was a request a while back for our Teen Book Club and now I know they will sure be in for the ride of their life.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

THIS BOOK AND THIS WORLD 😭 I can’t get over the amount of thinking that this book has behind it. Gilded Serpent by Danielle Jensen is truly a masterpiece.

Gilded Serpent is the third book set in the Dark Shores series and connects both Dark Shores and Dark Skies, and all of it’s characters, into one action packed and sitting on the edge of your seat kind of book. The way that Jensen weaves this story and the four POV’s of this book is honestly just mind blowing. There are literally four individual people we follow across a a very expansive map and yet, it still read extremely easy and I wasn’t confused at any point, which I honestly thought I was going to be when starting out this book.

More times then not I found myself falling even more in love with all of the characters, although I’m still firmly #teamkillian, but some of the choices and actions in this book had me cringing because I didn’t want all of my favorite people making the dumb choices that they make *starts sweating*. Also I want to say, I’m #teamTerriana as well, she’s always been a favorite but her character arc and strength she showed literally had me sweating and giving me the chills all at the same time and I found a new respect for her and her strength.

I believe this book is about 600 pages long (kindle edition) but it honestly FLEW by, and I’m not a huge book lover by any means, but Gilded Serpent was just so action packed and had me constantly saying “ just one more chapter” because I NEEDED to know what was going to happen. There was A LOT of traveling scenes in this book that I know could bug some but I honestly enjoyed every second of this book.

If you couldn’t tell by this point, I HIGHLY recommend Gilded Serpent but please make sure to make this the third book you read in this series, you must read Dark Shores and Dark Skies first because picking this book up!