This is a fantastic, superb book, where the main character lives happily and happily for the rest of eternity. Or is it?
18 year old miller's daughter, Serilda, lives with her father, bestowed with her golden wheeled eyes and talent for deception, she is shunned by most locals as cursed, untrustworthy and a born liar. As a school assistant, however, she is loved by children for her ability to spin stories from what appears to be thin air, but are her stories really lies? Her patron deity is Wyrdith, the god of stories, fortune, lies and fate, and at the full moon every month, a time when the veil of the other darker world lifts, this opens the entry into our world of the wildly exuberant hunt led by the evil Erlking.
The hunt is notorious for taking children and bewitching others to join, none of whom are ever seen alive again. One night, with his entourage of the undead and hellhounds, the Erlking is seeking 2 moss maidens whom Serilda hides, deceiving him that she can spin gold from straw. This is to haunt her as the following full moon, she is taken to the Erlking's home, Adalheid Castle, located in the middle of a lake, to be punished for her lies. She is taken into a dungeon full of straw that she is expected to spin into gold by the morning, if she fails she will die. Her demise seems certain, she cannot fulfil this impossible task, but a boy, a polstergeist, named Gild appears. He knows nothing of himself or his past, Gild is cursed to inhabit the Castle and its grounds, unable to ever depart. What he can do is take straw and spin it into gold, providing he is paid for his magical abilities. What was not on the card was love. And why does the Erlking, a highly skilled magician, want the spun gold?
This is the first book I have read by Meyer, it is exquisitely written, she weaves a wondrous fairytale world of dark magic, Aschen Wood where no mortal belongs, the creepy territory of the dark ones, and the forest folk, Adalheid Castle, along with the inclusion of a host of other dark beings, the dead and other magical creatures. This is a beguiling and immersive read, whilst horror lies round almost every corner, you cannot help but root for Serilda and Gild, wondering how or even if they can escape the terrors of the fate that has befallen them. I am eagerly looking forward to the next book to see where it all ends. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
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