A Y/A fantasy-drama with many heart-wrenching moments but a disappointing finale. Good but left a lot to be desired.
Summary:
(CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM FIRST INSTALLMENT) After being cursed and imprisoned by the Erlking and forced to marry him, Serilda is desperate to escape her husband and overthrow his reign over the Adalheid castle and its inhabitants. There's a few catches though: 1) he holds Serilda's five favorite children hostage at his beck and call 2) Gild is also cursed and 3) she doesn't know what grander scheme the Alder King has in place. But Serilda isn't just protecting herself anymore. The clock is ticking as the Erlking waits to take her unborn child, the child that is secretly, biologically, and rightfully Gild's. Can she keep up the ruse and manage to rescue them all before it's too late?
Verdict: 8/10
One of the few books where I think I liked the sequel better! It makes sense as most of the first book was just setting this one up. Meyer didn’t have to spend time revisiting Serilda’s town or other plot points that I didn’t care about much. Here, she was trapped in the castle with Gild and the Erlking, putting the action and drama at the forefront.
At first I was annoyed that some plot points were brought back. For instance, I really didn’t think the moss maiden portion was necessary in either of the books... until the author showed that it had a larger significance than we realized. The mythology had a much bigger piece to the puzzle and complicated the storyline in an intriguing way. And I wasn't sure how I felt about the twist with Serilda's mother... I honestly forgot about the mom and thought Meyers had too.
Meyer just has a way of enthralling me. Her plots and characters are reminiscent of a soap opera, only with far more ghosts, ghouls, and fairy tale creatures. Every time she poses a scene, she just twists the emotional knife in and sets events so that they will have the greatest dramatic impact.
That being said, there are just so many twists to pack in. It’s hard to tell which of these were planned out from the beginning and which were thrown in there half way through. It doesn’t feel completely connected with some points being drawn out and others rushed through. It’s also a bit of a blur of trying to figure out a mythology I’m not familiar with in the middle of a story with many moving pieces and mysteries interwoven.
And while many choices 'hit me in the feels', there were some key moments that fell somewhat flat. Like the addition of his sister seemed forced and a bit of an odd character choice (even though the future-telling tapestries was a nice touch). Or Serilda finally revealing to Gild that he was the father. Most discoveries you could feel in your gut and heart, but that one just seemed dull in comparison to the many scenarios I had played out in my mind.
The best unveilings are when Meyers takes a moment to describe the characters' reactions and emotions to events, not just the events themselves. It’s not enough to say 'Serilda told Guild the truth.' You have to add something like 'she watched the truth seep in, and his face fall in a way that made her heart ache' to get the readers’ hearts to ache too.
Sadly this is one of those instances where the ending almost ruined the book for me. It had so much potential but really felt anti-climatic. The Stiltskin story was a little on the nose and obvious to the point that the reader is screaming for Serilda to connect the dots. She’s made far wider jumps to conclusions than this one which is spoon-fed to her.
And (SPOILER) we don't always have to have a death that turns out not to be a death. I would have respected the ending more if Meyer had stuck to her guns and actually done something shocking. (SPOILER SAFE)
It was still a good story that had me on the edge of my seat. That largely makes up for the ending. It wasn't a bad ending - I just wanted something more. As the author points out, there's never a perfect way to end a tale that will leave everyone satisfied. I just wish I had more answers to the many questions that I'm left with (see below).
Why did the tapestry not show the baby? Why did her mother leave? Why didn't Serilda use her powers again like she did to open the rift??? We're just going to ignore that power that really could have come in handy?!
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