3.5/5
This gripping conclusion of the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin tale. This book is rich in twists and turns, keeping me engaged throughout. The incorporation of lore surrounding gods and dark entities adds depth to the narrative, providing a compelling backdrop for the characters' struggles.
However, the constant failures of the characters, particularly towards the latter part of the story, felt excessive. This aspect detracted from the overall enjoyment, as it could give a sense of repetition or stagnation in the plot's progression.
The ending leans towards ambiguity, leaving certain elements open to interpretation. While this type of conclusion is not my favorite, it provided a fitting closure to the story, leaving room for reflection and speculation.
Overall, this book is a captivating read, albeit with some minor drawbacks. Its intricate plot, coupled with its exploration of mythological elements, makes it a compelling addition to the Rumpelstiltskin lore

Thanks for the review edition.

I love reading books by Marissa Meyer. She has a real gift in creating a world, making you invested in all the characters, and then basically breaking your heart one way or another. This book was no exception.

These books just didn’t connect with me. The first one Gilded was a little more interesting to me, but I just kinda got bored. I love MM and her ability to turn a short fairytale into a full, beautiful fantasy story. But this one fell flat for me personally. Also, disappointed to see a lesbian relationship in this YA book that progresses from the first book to marriage in this one as well as so much talk about sex.

This was a good ending to the series. I really enjoyed this one. Not as much as her other books but it’s a great take on the rumpelstiltskin story.

The first half of this book was not my favorite. It felt slow and repetitive and I kept waiting for Serilda to stop pining and do something already! The second half was much more exciting with plenty of plans to thwart Erlkonig and it was fantastic.

While I love Rebecca Soler, I don't think she was the right narrator for this duology simply because her voice sounds so young that it was hard remember the characters ages when they sounded 13.

Thank you to Netgalley for the alc. All opinions are my own.

Cursed is the sequel to Gilded, which is a dark retelling of Rumplestiltskin. I really loved the world-building. It reminded of her other book, Heartless. I found the romance to be very compelling. I also like how it ended. This series was one of her best works. It is very evocative, atmospheric, and ominous. As for the narrator, Tebecca Soler did a fantastic job. She made each character her own. Thus, she helped make Marissa Meter’s work come alive! I recommend this for fans of Gregory Maguire, Jennifer Donnelly, and Gena Showalter!

Cursed by Marissa Meyer is a superb retelling that will wow you and have you wanting more. Great series.

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

YES ON ALL ACCOUNTS
Marissa Meyer's retellings are far superior to so many others out there.
She is the number one author that I recommend to people looking to get into retellings.

Marissa Meyer is a fantastic author that can weave very imaginative storys with characters anyone will love.
Gilded wasnt a big hitter for me personally. I felt it relied too heavily on too many different tropes that just didnt mesh together. Additionally the main character is not someone I would ever root for after her own terrible decisions and actions continue to cause so much hurt to those around her. I decided to give Cursed a try just to see how things ended up and if there was enough to be considered a redemption but I just dont think this series is for me as I couldnt connect with anything or anyone in it.

I really expected to love this one, but it was much darker than I expected and very bleak. After the first half I was feeling almost melancholy and didn't really want to pick the book back up. There was just so much happening for so long that it wasn't a pleasant place to be. However, I expected the good guys to catch a break at some point, so I continued on.

I did enjoy how the story wrapped up and learning more about the underlying story as it unfolded. Meyer's writing is very good and engaging. I ended up being glad that I pushed through the darkness and found my way to the end of the story.

For half of the story I listened to the audio. Fortunately, the narrator, Rebecca Soler, is also very good. The story was easier to get through in audio format and I would recommend listening to it.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.</i>

Marissa Meyer is one of my favourite authors of YA fiction. As a high school librarian, it is an easy choice for students who are looking for a good, solid read.

Book 2 in the Gilded series was not as exciting as the first book. I didn’t feel the same anticipation with this book, but that’s not to say that the storyline isn’t solid. I had a hard time getting into the book and it took me a while to grasp on to the characters again. Once I got past the initial reintroduction, the story seemed to flow at a decent pace.

The characters were not overly complex and they were easy to follow. I would have liked a bit more from Serilda, but maybe she was just who she needed to be.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ARC.

I think there was generally no question that I would absolutely adore this book. It’s definitely a little too graphic for most of my students (especially with an ending like that!) but damn, Meyer’s writing continues to be phenomenal.

This was a stunning conclusion to Meyer’s Guilded duology and I honestly don’t have enough words to fully express how devastated I am that it’s over. As usual, her masterful writing of such an amazing ensemble of characters never fails to engage readers.

Soler also continues to be a wonderful narrator. I’m honestly at the point where I’d be tempted to riot if she ever stopped narrating Meyer’s books.

Cursed by Marissa Meyer

Marissa Meyer is practically an auto-buy author for me, so I was very excited when I received Gilded for review. I knew I needed to wait for Cursed to come out before I read Gilded, though, because of the potential for a cliffhanger that would drive me batty so I waited on reading it until I had both books. Unfortunately, I had to DNF Gilded when I discovered that it has animal cruelty in it. As such, I have had to abandon this duology. I listened to a little bit to see how the narrator is and I like her voice. She does a good job. I'm so disappointed that I need to be careful with Marissa Meyer now and research before buying any of her future titles.

What I loved:

The plot line
The writing style
The author
The narrator is my favorite.

What I didn't:
This needed to be split into two books. Too much happens in this second book to keep up and follow the threads of the plot, especially over audio. I kept catching myself missing vital information because I was still reeling from a revelation like three chapters priors. If it had been split into two books I feel like each plot point would have been given the space to breath and really be fleshed out.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really love this series!! So glad i checked if this was a series before starting it so i was able to get the first book as well, would buy, reread and recommend!

Huge Marissa Meyer fan and this was a fantastic read that I’d recommend even though it didn’t capture me like Cinder or the rest of the books from that series. I enjoyed this second book more than Gilded and can’t wait to see where things go from here!

No one does retellings like Marissa Meyer. This author strikes the perfect balance of drawing inspiration from fairy tales and leaving a whisper of the original woven throughout but upending that story enough to give them new breath and their own life.

Once long ago, I read and enjoyed The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, so naturally when I saw Cursed, I thought I might enjoy it as well. I don't know if it's just that I was much younger when I read The Lunar Chronicles or if this duology isn't quite of the same quality, but I was left wanting.

We have a fairytale retelling which is Meyer's bread and butter. This time it's of Rumpelstiltskin. Instead of centering on Rumpel himself, we have a story that features a damsel in distress and he is her protector of sorts. I thought the way she twisted the story was fairly interesting.

Where it fell apart for me was the main character. I found her incredibly frustrating. I can't count how many times the bad guy did something horrible, she pleads with him, and then he does something even more horrible. He's clearly a sadist who gets off on psychological torture and she gives him exactly what he wants by begging him. She even makes deals with him on multiple occasions and they always end with him doing something terrible and finding a loophole in the deal. I understand trying once, but after he backstabs her once, she should never make a deal with him again. It honestly got a bit tedious.

Also, this book relies heavily on the unplanned pregnancy trope which is one of my least favorite tropes. I get that it's an important part of the story arc, but it just wasn't for me.

All in all, I just think I am maybe the wrong demographic for this book. I could imagine a 14 or 15 year old reading and enjoying this, but as a 35 year old there was a lot that left me cringing.. If you're into young adult fantasy, you might enjoy this.

* I received an E-ARC of this from Netgalley. This in no way affects my review.

A fantastic conclusion to this duology. The story kept me engaged from start to finish, the pace was quick and I found myself wanting to read this book even when I didn't have time. I loved this ending for Gild, Serilda, and the rest of the characters. Love Marissa Meyer and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Rebecca Soler did a great job narrating this book and I will look for more books narrated by Rebecca in the future.

It took me awhile to finish this one, the story was so detailed but I felt like the pacing was weird. I definitely loved the twists and turns of the story, and at sometimes it got real dark, but I felt I kind of drifted off towards the middles and forgot about it for a minute. When I picked it up recently I raced through the ending but I did have to remember to come back to it. It was worth the work and I love the end of the story. I would recommend this to patrons, just have to warn them theres a lot of world building in between plot.

LET ME TELL YOU I love this freaking duology. When it ended my heart was broken. The world building is immersive, the characters are flawed, and the emotions flow.