Name: Cursed
Rating: 4.046052631578948 (38 reviews)
ISBN: 9780571371617

Marissa Meyer

Gild and Serilda are finally together - just what they wanted - but it's forever locked in a castle and half-dead. And Gild is only just coming to terms with the fact that his entire family is dead and he is imprisoned in the castle that was once his home. He's the butt of the Erlking's cruellest joke. Not the best foundation for a new romance.

Cursed

Yesss my favorite little treat in a fantasy book - setting description of an old secluded library! 

Caroline Clutterbuck Kapulkin

After that, she found the library without incident, and it was all she could have hoped for. Shelves upon shelves of leather-bound books, each one inked and colored painstakingly by hand, their spines stamped with gold, many so old their pages were brittle. There were scrolls, too, and loose sheaves of parchment and bundles of ancient maps drawn on stretched animal skins. Grimoires and bestiaries, books on alchemy and mathematics and astronomy. 

After hours of climbing up and down the rickety ladders, Serilda had amassed a stack of intriguing titles—fairy tales and mythologies and a fascinating study on how artistic interpretations of the old gods had changed over the centuries. She claimed a tufted chaise beside the window, where outside she could see the alder tree, is leaves still a deep green, even while the forest beyond turned crimson and gold.

New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer concludes her young adult retelling of Rumpelstiltskin in this sequel! Serilda and Gild attempt to break the curses that tether their spirits to Adalheid's haunted castle before the Endless Moon, when the Erlking means to capture one of the seven gods and make a wish to return his lover, Perchta, from the underworld. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear he doesn't want just one god - he wants to capture all seven, and force them to bring down the veil that keeps the Dark Ones separate from the land of the mortals. Serilda and Gild must try to thwart his plans, all while solving the mystery of Gild's forgotten name, freeing his younger sister who is trapped inside Gravenstone Castle, and trying to protect their unborn child. Romance, adventure, and Serilda’s journey to finding her power as a woman, a mother, and a partner make this a retelling that Meyer fans – old and new – will treasure.

Just an incredibly bizarre choice of a book to write in the YA age group. I was already puzzled at the choice of writing the getting pregnant from your first time trope written in a book published in 2021 but this takes this to a whole new level.

This whole book felt vaguely misogynistic in a way I cannot quite pinpoint but I am surprised I have not encountered in any of the top reviews, be it negative or tentatively positive.

It is just very strange to revolve the majority of your YA book around pregnancy and some sort of a natural maternal instinct and child rearing. It is not really something that is on the mind of the majority of the target readership and comes off as strangely preachy. I know that in the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale - and a lot of classic fairytales - the motive of the firstborn child is very common. But there is a reason something like "Labyrinth" gave its adolescent heroine a step baby brother instead!

At the time when those stories were created, procreation and ensuring that offsprings are not only created but also survive in order to guarantee the continued existence of the family were very important parts of the lives of commonfolk. The fear of being unable to bear children or losing your children was a very real possibility. But how would something like that be relevant to the majority of Western adolescents that this book is targetted to?

Add to that the fact that for a lot of those people, those children would have been very much wanted - unlike Serilda who gets pregnant accidentally.

And it is not like the book had anything interesting to say about motherhood or childrearing that it really needed to interpret the original fairytale in this direction or dedicate such a large portion of the book to it. Even with the plotline about Perchta wanting kids, it could have been done more interestingly - are there not adoptive parents who are incredibly loving? Are there not some who genuinely desire kids but cannot have any and are willing commit atrocious acts from love? Or is Marissa Meyer just not interested in writing a more layer, complex and compellig villain?

I just found the whole way these themes were interwoven into the story outdated and nearly offputting. Just a very, very bizarre choice. The book was unnecessarily long, too. 

Just an incredibly bizarre choice of a book to write in the YA age group. I was already puzzled at the choice of writing the getting pregnant from your first time trope written in a book published in 2021 but this takes this to a whole new level.

This whole book felt vaguely misogynistic in a way I cannot quite pinpoint but I am surprised I have not encountered in any of the top reviews, be it negative or tentatively positive.

It is just very strange to revolve the majority of your YA book around pregnancy and some sort of a natural maternal instinct and child rearing. It is not really something that is on the mind of the majority of the target readership and comes off as strangely preachy. I know that in the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale - and a lot of classic fairytales - the motive of the firstborn child is very common. But there is a reason something like "Labyrinth" gave its adolescent heroine a step baby brother instead!

At the time when those stories were created, procreation and ensuring that offsprings are not only created but also survive in order to guarantee the continued existence of the family were very important parts of the lives of commonfolk. The fear of being unable to bear children or losing your children was a very real possibility. But how would something like that be relevant to the majority of Western adolescents that this book is targetted to?

Add to that the fact that for a lot of those people, those children would have been very much wanted - unlike Serilda who gets pregnant accidentally.

And it is not like the book had anything interesting to say about motherhood or childrearing that it really needed to interpret the original fairytale in this direction or dedicate such a large portion of the book to it. Even with the plotline about Perchta wanting kids, it could have been done more interestingly - are there not adoptive parents who are incredibly loving? Are there not some who genuinely desire kids but cannot have any and are willing commit atrocious acts from love? Or is Marissa Meyer just not interested in writing a more layer, complex and compellig villain?

I just found the whole way these themes were interwoven into the story outdated and nearly offputting. Just a very, very bizarre choice. The book was unnecessarily long, too. 

Marissa Meyer never fails to write an excellent story, I would rate this a 6/5 if I could 

amelia <3

Cursed by Marissa Meyer was definitely better than its prequel, Gilded. This sequel was much better in building suspense and creating mystery, although I predicted the ending very early in the book. 

The first half or so of the book was very very very slow paced, the only thing that happened was Gold: "omg we have to save everyone" and Serilda: "noo we can't do anything think of the children :(" it was really frustrating to read (that's why it took me so long lmao). 

The second half was loads better, but as I said before, I correctly predicted the ending and then the book just stopped with a weird story/letter kind of thing that was supposed to wrap up the story, but it confused me even more. I did not even like the "stories" that were spread throughout the book, I felt like they were only relevant to prove Serilda's "gift" but the whole storytelling thing was a bit lame in my opinion.

In conclusion, I really did not enjoy the Gilded duology by Marissa Meyer, I hope her other books are better.

Laura

Cursed by Marissa Meyer was definitely better than its prequel, Gilded. This sequel was much better in building suspense and creating mystery, although I predicted the ending very early in the book. 

The first half or so of the book was very very very slow paced, the only thing that happened was Gold: "omg we have to save everyone" and Serilda: "noo we can't do anything think of the children :(" it was really frustrating to read (that's why it took me so long lmao). 

The second half was loads better, but as I said before, I correctly predicted the ending and then the book just stopped with a weird story/letter kind of thing that was supposed to wrap up the story, but it confused me even more. I did not even like the "stories" that were spread throughout the book, I felt like they were only relevant to prove Serilda's "gift" but the whole storytelling thing was a bit lame in my opinion.

In conclusion, I really did not enjoy the Gilded duology by Marissa Meyer, I hope her other books are better.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. While Gilded was repetitive and slow, Cursed had many different events that caused the plot to move forward. I also loved the unraveling mythology and world building that occurred. Its poeticism strikes well within the more old setting presented. In mythology, there’s also a specific interest in promises and the value of words. Words are measured carefully yet people can still plot what that can mean. This is also shown in a delightful way in this book, with the main character being a storyteller. 

However, although I mention the benefit of many different plotlines, this also created a surplus where not every one of them was explored. In particular, they have been dangling this idea of a romance ever since the previous book and that continues here. However, this continues to just be bait and never forms to be concrete. On one side, I think this was the correct decision but on the other I wonder why this was added in the first place. Ultimately I believe this added tension was done simply to help quicken certain slow scenes, as banter is an entertaining form of dialogue. While I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it, it did feel unnecessary though when there was nothing about it that mattered. 

Serilda I also enjoyed a lot more in this book although only in the sense that I found her less annoying. I find this aspect perhaps the most unfortunate. Although the book was a lot better in terms of moving the plot along, there really was no character development with the exception of perhaps Erlking, where even there it falls short for me. I enjoy Gild in general a lot, but perhaps due to the information plays that happen or lack of perspective we have of him, he really is more of a plot device than an actual person. This in turn makes the romance fall flat for me because I need to be adequately invested in both people to enjoy the tension or care about the romance. But there was no push or pull in between the two or for the relationship, besides the common trope of miscommunication.

I did like the callback to the original mythos when it occurred here, and I was charmed by the general atmosphere that Meyer has here as it is a significant personal departure for her. The mental battle here was also intriguing. Although I did have my complaints on different aspects, in general I still enjoyed this book.

maddie

I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. While Gilded was repetitive and slow, Cursed had many different events that caused the plot to move forward. I also loved the unraveling mythology and world building that occurred. Its poeticism strikes well within the more old setting presented. In mythology, there’s also a specific interest in promises and the value of words. Words are measured carefully yet people can still plot what that can mean. This is also shown in a delightful way in this book, with the main character being a storyteller. 

However, although I mention the benefit of many different plotlines, this also created a surplus where not every one of them was explored. In particular, they have been dangling this idea of a romance ever since the previous book and that continues here. However, this continues to just be bait and never forms to be concrete. On one side, I think this was the correct decision but on the other I wonder why this was added in the first place. Ultimately I believe this added tension was done simply to help quicken certain slow scenes, as banter is an entertaining form of dialogue. While I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it, it did feel unnecessary though when there was nothing about it that mattered. 


Serilda I also enjoyed a lot more in this book although only in the sense that I found her less annoying. I find this aspect perhaps the most unfortunate. Although the book was a lot better in terms of moving the plot along, there really was no character development with the exception of perhaps Erlking, where even there it falls short for me. I enjoy Gild in general a lot, but perhaps due to the information plays that happen or lack of perspective we have of him, he really is more of a plot device than an actual person. This in turn makes the romance fall flat for me because I need to be adequately invested in both people to enjoy the tension or care about the romance. But there was no push or pull in between the two or for the relationship, besides the common trope of miscommunication.


I did like the callback to the original mythos when it occurred here, and I was charmed by the general atmosphere that Meyer has here as it is a significant personal departure for her. The mental battle here was also intriguing. Although I did have my complaints on different aspects, in general I still enjoyed this book.

Apiecalypse Jen

I adored this duology — I wish the denouement had been a bit longer, but this was an emotional, thrilling conclusion to the story. ❤️

Overall, I loved it however I will say I enjoyed the first one more. The beginning of this book took off amazing, and I loved how Marissa wrote it but it took a toll on the ending. 

Laura 

mixed feelings about this book. loved the first half of the book but was honestly kind of bored with the second half. 

Hannah Williams

The most cursed thing about this book is how criminally long and boring it was.

Holly

The most cursed thing about this book is how criminally long and boring it was.

Gild is still cute tho

Overall enjoyable, but I’m a bit perplexed as to how this is shorter than the first book. This one had a lot going on and felt rushed in places whereas the first one meandered and was slow (which I enjoyed in the first book). 

The ending was satisfying in a bare bones sort of way and I enjoyed it for what it was, but I can’t help but think the story could have offered more. It may have worked better as a trilogy.

Brianna

Overall enjoyable, but I’m a bit perplexed as to how this is shorter than the first book. This one had a lot going on and felt rushed in places whereas the first one meandered and was slow (which I enjoyed in the first book). 

The ending was satisfying in a bare bones sort of way and I enjoyed it for what it was, but I can’t help but think the story could have offered more. It may have worked better as a trilogy.

I felt really transported into a fairy tale while reading. The folklore was interesting and the world was easy to be swept up into. Serilda's tales added to the atmosphere and I enjoyed how there were some truths to them that could end up affecting the plot. It all felt very well tied together and magical. 

The world felt very dangerous which made the stakes high. I enjoyed the various tense moments throughout and got caught up in the action. It was easy to fear for the worst when the Erlking had proven to be creativity cruel and ruthless. He was an excellent villain. He was unsettling, clever and easy to hate. He was also strangely captivating and even romantic in a weird way.

I really liked both Serilda and Gild, both as characters and as a couple. I enjoyed seeing them support and worry for one another. They got along so naturally. It was a nice reprieve when they were alone together getting to have some banter and some lighter moments in the midst of all the stress they were both under. I just wish I could have seen more of them together at the end, after everything went down.

Kayla

I felt really transported into a fairy tale while reading. The folklore was interesting and the world was easy to be swept up into. Serilda's tales added to the atmosphere and I enjoyed how there were some truths to them that could end up affecting the plot. It all felt very well tied together and magical. 

The world felt very dangerous which made the stakes high. I enjoyed the various tense moments throughout and got caught up in the action. It was easy to fear for the worst when the Erlking had proven to be creativity cruel and ruthless. He was an excellent villain. He was unsettling, clever and easy to hate. He was also strangely captivating and even romantic in a weird way.

I really liked both Serilda and Gild, both as characters and as a couple. I enjoyed seeing them support and worry for one another. They got along so naturally. It was a nice reprieve when they were alone together getting to have some banter and some lighter moments in the midst of all the stress they were both under. I just wish I could have seen more of them together at the end, after everything went down.

Marissa is the Retelling Queen and no one can tell me otherwise. Absolutely loved this duology. Also I know the "pregnancy trope" is not very popular but with a Rumpelstilzkin retelling, I was kind of prepared for it 😂

Sarah Campbell

Aimee Johnson

Joan 

Caroline Boone

Teeeeeesha

Marina Theil

Zara Doulton

Emily

Molly Sanderson 

New York Times–bestselling author Marissa Meyer concludes her young-adult retelling of Rumpelstiltskin in Cursed, the sequel to Gilded. Serilda and Gild attempt to break the curses that tether their spirits to Adalheid’s haunted castle before the Endless Moon, when the Erlking means to capture one of the seven gods and make a wish to return his lover, Perchta, from the underworld. But the Erlking doesn’t want just one god – he wants to capture all seven and force them to bring down the veil that keeps the Dark Ones separate from the land of the mortals. Serilda and Gild must try to thwart his plans, all while solving the mystery of Gild’s forgotten name, freeing his younger sister who is trapped inside Gravenstone Castle, and protecting their unborn child. Romance, adventure and Serilda’s journey to finding her power as a woman, a mother and a partner make this a retelling that Meyer fans – old and new – will treasure. Marissa Meyer is the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles series – Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, Winter – the New York Times–bestselling Renegades trilogy, as well as the graphic novel Wires and Nerve. Her first standalone novel, Heartless, was also a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her contemporary romance Instant Karma was a #1 Indie Bestseller. In 2021 Meyer published Gilded, the first novel of her two-part retelling of the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. And in 2022 she was a contributor to and editor of the collection of romance stories Serendipity. Marissa lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and their two daughters. ‘This is an intriguing retelling, with a modern twist, of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale...The cliff-hanging denouement promises a sequel.’ Magpies on Gilded ‘Utterly immersive and captivating...I cannot bear the wait for the next instalment.’ Joy Lawn, Paperbark Words on Gilded ‘When it comes to reimagined fairy tales, the reigning queen of the genre is Marissa Meyer...This dark, enchanting book is Meyer at the height of her powers — crafting a new tale with an old-school feel where nobody is guaranteed a happily-everafter. It is fresh and utterly engrossing while also familiar — just what Meyer does best.’ New York Times on Gilded ‘A gorgeously intricate tale that will have readers locked in from the start...Meyer weaves an enchanting tale filled with whimsically magical moments and some serious suspense. [She] knows how to capture fantastical worlds, and this one is pure perfection for her fans and new readers alike.’ Booklist on Gilded ‘Intricate worldbuilding and star-crossed romance help temper the Erlking’s brutality, and...well-drawn characters will leave readers craving a sequel.’ Publishers Weekly on Gilded ‘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?...The queen of fairy tale retellings has spun what is sure to be another best seller.’ School Library Journal on Gilded

Cursed

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