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basementofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, and Abandonment
kimwritesstuff's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a good debut from author Marianne Gordon. The book centers around Hellevir, who can walk in death and bring people back to life. When she brings her mother back from the dead, her mother is startled by what Hellevir is capable of. Sensing her mother's discomfort, Hellevir moves in with the town's midwife/herbalist. While there, the Queen brings her granddaughter who has been poisoned and demands that the herbalist raise her. When Hellevir raises her, the princess Sullivan, she traps herself in a deal with the crown.
Hellevir leaves the town she grew up in and joins her family in the capital. Her mother is still wary of her, but her dad and brother are so excited to have her back. It's genuinely sweet the relationships Hellevir has with her dad and brother. From there, we get into the bones of the plot where Hellevir has a promise to raise Sullivan any time she dies in order to protect her family. At the same time, Hellevir makes a deal with Death to bring him treasures in a trade for raising the dead.
I thought the world-building felt really organic and described the history and religion of the book clearly without being a giant info dump. I wish there had been more info or history about the beings Hellevir was interacting with for the treasures. However, I think that leaving out that information set up a good plot for the next books in the series. I also loved that the queer characters in this book simply existed. There wasn't really any discussion of persecution or exile for being gay. I love a book where queer characters just are.
There were a few confusing plotlines for me. Like, were the treasures good enough for Death that Hellevir wasn't losing more pieces of her soul? Or were they just stand-ins for her limbs? I thought that was a little confusing. I also thought there should have been a little bit of a reveal about what the Onastian (sorry if I spelled it wrong) symbols meant. It was described over and over without actually giving any descriptions or meaning. I get that it sets up the next book, but I felt like it could have been fleshed out more. It just felt like for how good the world-building was, some of the background lore made no sense and could have been fleshed out more.
Overall, I thought this was a solid book, and I'm excited to see where the series goes.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Harper Voyager for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Hellevir leaves the town she grew up in and joins her family in the capital. Her mother is still wary of her, but her dad and brother are so excited to have her back. It's genuinely sweet the relationships Hellevir has with her dad and brother. From there, we get into the bones of the plot where Hellevir has a promise to raise Sullivan any time she dies in order to protect her family. At the same time, Hellevir makes a deal with Death to bring him treasures in a trade for raising the dead.
I thought the world-building felt really organic and described the history and religion of the book clearly without being a giant info dump. I wish there had been more info or history about the beings Hellevir was interacting with for the treasures. However, I think that leaving out that information set up a good plot for the next books in the series. I also loved that the queer characters in this book simply existed. There wasn't really any discussion of persecution or exile for being gay. I love a book where queer characters just are.
There were a few confusing plotlines for me. Like, were the treasures good enough for Death that Hellevir wasn't losing more pieces of her soul? Or were they just stand-ins for her limbs? I thought that was a little confusing. I also thought there should have been a little bit of a reveal about what the Onastian (sorry if I spelled it wrong) symbols meant. It was described over and over without actually giving any descriptions or meaning. I get that it sets up the next book, but I felt like it could have been fleshed out more. It just felt like for how good the world-building was, some of the background lore made no sense and could have been fleshed out more.
Overall, I thought this was a solid book, and I'm excited to see where the series goes.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Harper Voyager for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
sadetanssija's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: War
lover97's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If you like intense books, I think this is a good one for you.
Hellevir has the ability to step into death and bring people back. But there is always a price, and she soon learns how steep the cost can be. I really liked the magic(?) System here. Every exchange with the being in death is intense and unsettling. It's also very clear that hellevir does not truly understand how it works even at the end of this first book.
Characterwise, I liked her brother and his Knight along with her father. Her relationship with her mother is complicated, but I grew to like her also. I also enjoyed the nightingales. I'll give it to the author she also knows how to write extremely unlikeable people. From the queen to the peer and to sullivan. Sully is complex, and while that is very much the point, it does make the subplot between her and our main girl a tad unconvincing. Clearly, they're connected, but its not a connection I'm dying to read more of.
As this book went on, it started to feel like a massive prologue setting up what is to come. I spent a long time trying to decipher what the overarcing plot of the series was actually going to be. Sadly, I'm still not sure. It looks like it's now a treasurehunt with a background of an upcoming war for both the throne and which religion will take hold.
Unfortunately, the book just didn't grip me. The first chapters that detail the MCs original exchanges with death were brilliantly written, but as it went on, I found myself struggling to care about what was happening. Even writing this review is difficult because my brain feels battered by everything that was going on. There's a lot that happens, and very few pieces felt explained or completed. I am unsure if I'll continue the series, but I don't think it was badly written, just maybe not the right series for me.
I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, marianne gordon, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
Hellevir has the ability to step into death and bring people back. But there is always a price, and she soon learns how steep the cost can be. I really liked the magic(?) System here. Every exchange with the being in death is intense and unsettling. It's also very clear that hellevir does not truly understand how it works even at the end of this first book.
Characterwise, I liked her brother and his Knight along with her father. Her relationship with her mother is complicated, but I grew to like her also. I also enjoyed the nightingales. I'll give it to the author she also knows how to write extremely unlikeable people. From the queen to the peer and to sullivan. Sully is complex, and while that is very much the point, it does make the subplot between her and our main girl a tad unconvincing. Clearly, they're connected, but its not a connection I'm dying to read more of.
As this book went on, it started to feel like a massive prologue setting up what is to come. I spent a long time trying to decipher what the overarcing plot of the series was actually going to be. Sadly, I'm still not sure. It looks like it's now a treasurehunt with a background of an upcoming war for both the throne and which religion will take hold.
Unfortunately, the book just didn't grip me. The first chapters that detail the MCs original exchanges with death were brilliantly written, but as it went on, I found myself struggling to care about what was happening. Even writing this review is difficult because my brain feels battered by everything that was going on. There's a lot that happens, and very few pieces felt explained or completed. I am unsure if I'll continue the series, but I don't think it was badly written, just maybe not the right series for me.
I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, marianne gordon, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
sarrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I keep trying these Romantasy books and honestly I keep getting disappointed. It could be me, it could be the books I’m picking but that’s the unfortunate state of things. The Gilded Crown had a lot of promise, and in fact at the 30-50% mark I was very intrigued. But a few things really killed this one for me.
The Gilded Crown follows Hellevir who can visit Death and return souls to the living for a price. She becomes entangled in the politics and webs of the ruling class when she returns the princess to life after a successful assassination attempt. She is forced to move to the capital city where the new ‘one god’ religion is taking root and things unravel from there.
Perhaps my biggest issue with this was the narrative style. Told with a detached almost fairy tale tone, it made Hellevir feel cold, wet, and very dull to me. She reacted to what happened to her more than she took any steps for herself. Any time she stood up for herself, she immediately backed back down. Which leads me to the incredibly off-putting ‘romance’ in this. The book is casually queer, which I loved, but the Princess (our romantic interest) is the definition of a red flag. The book attempts to excuse this, but those are simply put - just excuses.
There was convenient perspective jumping later in the book that was weird and out of place as well. Not to mention the author very clearly uses Christianity as her ‘villainous’ religion. Which, I truly don’t mind authors pulling and using religions in such a way, but this felt sadly very lazy as she did little but change names and titles.
Add into the mix a very tired and frustrating ‘My Mother hates me! Or does she…’ trope/twist and this was just not for me. If any of those things do work for you though this could be a win. I think I’m just going to have to step off the Romantasy boat though. It sails me into nothing but disappointment.
2.5 Talking Ravens out of 5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
Minor: Torture
roseleebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book about a young woman with the power to walk in death is an intriguing set up for a new series. Hellevir not only can walk in death, but for a price can to resurrect the dead. Her ability causes her to be called upon to raise the Princess to maintain the stability of the kingdom.
The story starts simply, and gains complexity as it goes on. By the end there are several plot threads and interactions which set up for the next installment in the series. Many of those plot threads are unresolved, but the book didn't feel incomplete which I appreciated. There are some very well-realized characterizations and Falvor and the man with dark eyes were both compelling. Falvor especially had an incredible story arc.
One of things I would wish to change would be for there to be more time spent on some of the relationships, Hellevir and Sullivain's relationship especially felt a little rushed to me, but this was fairly minor given that much of it seemed to be setup for the next book. I also wish we had seen more than just one aspect of the Queen's personality. It was discordant given that the other characters were so well done.
Overall I liked this book, I thought the writing was excellent and the plot cleverly expanded throughout. I'll be looking forward to the next one.
The story starts simply, and gains complexity as it goes on. By the end there are several plot threads and interactions which set up for the next installment in the series. Many of those plot threads are unresolved, but the book didn't feel incomplete which I appreciated. There are some very well-realized characterizations and Falvor and the man with dark eyes were both compelling. Falvor especially had an incredible story arc.
One of things I would wish to change would be for there to be more time spent on some of the relationships, Hellevir and Sullivain's relationship especially felt a little rushed to me, but this was fairly minor given that much of it seemed to be setup for the next book. I also wish we had seen more than just one aspect of the Queen's personality. It was discordant given that the other characters were so well done.
Overall I liked this book, I thought the writing was excellent and the plot cleverly expanded throughout. I'll be looking forward to the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse
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