Gilded

Gr 9 Up–With the fae politics of Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince and the dark roots of a Grimm fairy tale, Meyer flips tradition with a simple question: What if the king whom the miller’s daughter marries is the villain, and Rumpelstiltskin is her only way out? Eighteen-year-old Serilda’s fast tongue and uncanny eyes make her an outcast to all except the village children, who hang on every word of her stories. Marked by the god of lies, Serilda would rather spin stories than wool, until the midnight hunt brings the Erlking to her door. Her fast tongue is the only thing that saves her, but the dark king believes her words and soon she finds herself in a dungeon to spin straw into golden chains. With the help of a boy with no memory, Serilda must use her stories to save everyone—but staying one step ahead of the Erlking will come at a terrible cost. The first installment of Meyer’s newest series has an atmospheric beginning that eventually pays off as Serilda travels to the Erlking’s undead castle. Dynamic relationships raise the stakes—friendship and familial add depth and thematic elements to the tale, while romance sprinkles more angst on top and promises a truly delicious conflict in the books to come. The main cast is white, with some diversity in race and orientation in the supporting characters.