A review by wdianasheppard
The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon

3.0

"The Gilded Crown" is a Nordic-inspired fantasy story that takes a basic premise - girl with unusual gift that attracts royal attention - and puts a fresh coat of paint on it. I was interested in this tale predominantly for the "Priory of the Orange Tree" comp; I love that story and sapphic fantasy is a soft spot of mine. While "The Gilded Crown" didn't hit me quite aes favorably, it was enjoyable. The writing is lyrical, the worldbuilding thorough. My disappointment was primarily rooted in character action and plot movement: this felt very much like a gorgeously-written YA book, and also very much like the *first* book of the series. The pacing is slow, our heroine is unsure of herself, and at the end of the book you realize that a lot of the payoff appears to have been reserved for later installments. Despite being a longer novel (450 pages), so much of it is set up and second-guessing. I would have liked *more* from a book one.