I really wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style. it was hard to get into for me and i kept wanting to read something different

It starts out with a promise of being an interesting story. Intriguing characters, decent world building a little bit of mystery and then it falls off and becomes depressing & riddled with death. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would adore this book, but sadly it is not me. This book also may be triggering for those with religious trauma.

I usually don’t do this, but I DNF’d this story at 16%.

There wasn’t any appalling content, besides this being a bit dark. But, my issue is how the story is written. I think the premise and idea of this story is quite interesting, but the way it’s written had me feeling disconnected from the characters and having a hard time feeling connected to the world. I often found my attention drifting, and didn’t feel pulled in. Heck we don’t even know what the main character looks like besides the fact she has black hair.

That being said the writer has promise. But I found the story to be wanting.

The concept of the book really intrigued me, but the plot fell a little flat. I was going in expecting more of a romantasy, and unfortunately it was nit that. The book was still enjoyable, just not quite what I thought it was going to be before reading.

What would you give to bring someone back to life? What if the cost was a part of you? How much or yourself would you be willing to give before enough is enough?

The Gilded Crown is a wonderfully written tale of a young woman with amazing powers to communicate with Death, and to bring people back to life. Family, acquaintances, and the heir to the throne are all part of the desires, but not all souls cost the same price.

While I felt some parts of the story dragged on, overall, I enjoyed this book, both for its characters, and the storyline. It was interesting to see the intertwining of multiple religions, politics, love, and belief in oneself. I'm interested to see what future books will unveil.

The Gilded Crown has a beautiful cover, and I love the idea of someone being able to bring others back from the dead. I will say I had a hard time getting through this book and was unable to finish it. Thank you for the opportunity to read it!

This story has great bones and the characters have good depth. I felt the story was slow. It's more fantasy forward than romance. I actually feel that the FMC had a more dynamic relationship with Death than the princess. The FMC went through so much and I didn't get excited about it until the last few chapters when she finally stood up. Her back and forth about the Princess was getting annoying. I liked the POVs but they need to be more clear. Sometimes I didn't realize it was a different scene of a different person. The tension between the religions was good, but I expected more based on the history. I also expected more from the relationship from her mom, especially after a tragedy. I'm hoping that book 2 will be the real start of the story and this was just the foundation and background. I want to see more banter between her and death. If romance is supposed to be in the story, it should have more of a presence in the story. I want to see more of this other magic she has. I feel like we got glimpses, but nothing like her ability with death.

This took me a lot longer to read than I expected because the story was missing something for me. However, I think if you like court intrigue, fantasy forward, what's truly right, and LGBT+ characters; you would enjoy this story. It has a lot of potential to develop into a very interesting series. I hope they develop more dark themes and lean into the adult topics.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Harper for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

With The Foxglove King as a comp title, how can I not say no?

The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon is a fantasy novel about a woman who is able to raise the dead, and is tasked with protecting the princess at all costs. The first time Hellevir visited Death, she was ten years old… Since she was a little girl, Hellevir has been able to raise the dead. Every creature can be saved for a price, a price demanded by the shrouded figure who rules the afterlife, who takes a little more from Hellevir with each soul she resurrects. Such a gift can rarely remain a secret. When Princess Sullivain, sole heir to the kingdom’s throne, is assassinated, the Queen summons Hellevir to demand she bring her granddaughter back to life. But once is not enough; the killers might strike again. The Princess’s death would cause a civil war, so the Queen commands that Hellevir remain by her side. But Sullivain is no easy woman to be bound to, even as Hellevir begins to fall in love with her. With the threat of war looming, Hellevir must trade more and more of herself to keep the Princess alive. But Death will always take what he is owed.

I feel like this book had a really cool concept, just poor execution. And I blame the marketing/feel of it being a romantasy, but solely focusing on the fantasy aspect.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was such a cool concept that I wanted to continue to read. A sapphic, dark fantasy? Sign me up. Hellevir is the name of the FMC, she talks to Death, raises the dead, and has a raven? I loved it.

Every relationship Hellevir has is complicated and wrapped so thoroughly around her gift—the ability to travel beyond and claim back the dead. Her working relationship with Death was such a great point of view, and I was looking forward to her visiting him again to find out information bit by bit. I really liked the progression of the story, and how we get a good bit of backstory as she grows in age and the consequences and acceptance of her choices.

There is a lot of heartache, sadness, betrayal, and death. I’m definitely looking forward to book 2!

CW: death, death of parent, child death, murder, animal death, emotional abuse

When a growing religion preaching life-after-death meets a young woman who can step into death and bring a soul back, it is not good for the young woman. Marianne Gordon tells the tale of Hellevir who first stepped into death to bring her mother, who had died in childbirth, back in trade for a little finger. She is working as a herbalist in a small village when the Queen with The Gilded Crown(hard Harper Voyager) brings her the body of her granddaughter and heir, Sullivain, who had been poisoned. Death lets Sullivain return to life for a minor trade as long as Hellevir finds special objects for future trades. Of course, Hellevir is brought to the capital city when her parents had moved and where a religion from her mother’s homeland is becoming more powerful. The same politics that caused Sullivain’s poisoning are still present and one noble family may be at fault. There is more coming.

I liked the first 3rd, but once it got to the political stuff I didn't care anymore. I hated the princess and I don't see why the main character would be interested in her at all. I liked the main character and all the stuff with death though.

I have mixed feelings about The Gilded Crown. On one hand I absolutely loved the author’s prose and the premise of this book. One the other hand I was left feeling incredibly underwhelmed. Hellevir is an intriguing character and I loved learning about her ability to raise the dead. Her visits with Death were some of my favorite scenes. The worldbuilding was great, I found myself being able to completely envision the world thanks to the author’s beautiful descriptions. There was plenty of political intrigue which I also enjoyed. This book is marketed as romantasy but I would hesitate to agree. There is romance but it lacks so much chemistry. I didn’t care for the love interest whatsoever. Plotwise, it started off strong but then it started to fall flat with all the repetitiveness. I hate to say it but with where the book left off and the direction the plot is heading, I don’t have a desire to pick up the second book when it releases. Overall, if you love fantasy with necromancy, political intrigue, and The Witch’s Heart type vibes I recommend giving The Gilded Crown a chance! Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was not for me. It was written well. However, it was marketed more as a Romanasty and it wasn't that. Not really. I'm still giving it a 4 star because it was written well and it's interesting but not exactly the genre I had hoped for. It was more similar to The Witch's Heart and others like that and they just really aren't for me.

So I think the elevator pitch line was what originally drew me in but looking back, this is not really my thing any more. As usual, will give three stars for benefit of the doubt!

This was a different one for me. When I requested this book, I didn’t know what to expect. It was an anticipated read for me and it didn’t disappoint.
This book has so. Much. Death. 🥲
Cool premise, interesting storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book.

I expected to enjoy this book more than I actually did. The story progressed a little too slowly for my liking. I thought the world was interesting and Hellevir's (FMC) ability to bring people back from the dead is super interesting. I could not get past how rude and ungrateful the princess is. I also struggled to envision a map of the world as well as the city. A map would have helped. I also couldn't quite understand nor care to understand the Onaistus religion.

The one aspect of the book I loved and continued to wait until I got more of, was Death. Every time Hellevir went to Death's limbo world and spoke with him to negotiate with him for souls I was enraptured. I wanted more, but understand that the plot in the normal world had to carry on.

This book was not meant for me, but if you like political intrigue, dark fantasy, queer romance, and necromancy, then this book is for you!

"The Gilded Crown" is a remarkable debut that blends fantasy, romance, and political intrigue into a cohesive and enthralling narrative. Marianne Gordon has crafted a story that is both heart-wrenching and hopeful, with characters that linger in the mind long after the final page. Fans of fantasy and lovers of intricate, character-driven stories will find much to admire in this novel, making it a must-read for the genre.

No lie, I would've given this a higher rating if the FMC wasn't crushing hard on her abuser, but that might be me being too harsh on fictional victims of Stockholm Syndrome. (See my review for To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods. Or don't.)

Anyway, I was very surprised to find myself engrossed with this novel! It reminded of Addie LaRue, but make it more political fantasy and with higher stakes.

This is one of those books with an MC that isn't all that likeable. Hellevir's problems stem from her being selfish, even at a very young age. Usually, I hate this, but this is one of the rare times where I stan a female character making the type of decisions that a male MC would get a pass for.

But she does find out that her increasingly bad decisions puts her life (and others) in danger. And by then, it's too late.

Ultimately, this is the kind of depressing book where you get to see the MC's life spiral downwards to the point where it feels almost sadistic to read about. And as someone who likes these types of books, I appreciate how the antagonists (Death and Princess Sullivain, and to an extent, the Queen) all have their own end goals when it comes to using and abusing Hellivir's resurrection powers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for our girl, Hellevir, but I don't mind if this series ends up taking an extremely dark turn with her story. It's a pretty dark fantasy and would definitely fit in line with this first installment.

I might be in the minority here, but I can't wait for the sequel!

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this arc.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book early.

If you are told, by your mentor "don't do this" and the queen who barged into your home and demanded too much of your mentor (who also said no to the queen) but you decide to just ... be super badass witch... EXPECT THE CONSEQUENCES THAT FOLLOW!

I had to DNF. The main character is foolish. I had so much hope and promise for the story, but I can't read something with a FMC who ignores the warnings and dives into bad decisions only to be shocked that they have consequences.

As a huge fantasy lover who has read hundreds and hundreds of fantastic epics, this was a pleasure to read. I expected it to be a run of the mill YA fantasy, but it was more adult and very interesting, which I was glad about.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC copy gifted in exchange for my honest review.