A review by angrim712
The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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.