Gilded is the story of Jae, an American-born Korean who's recently moved to Seoul with her father after the death of her mother. Jae is learning to get along at an international school, has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and is an excellent archer - but she's no perfect heroine. Jae sneaks out of the apartment, disobeys all of her elders, and brings more danger to everyone she cares about (and herself) than she'd ever imagined possible, as she finds herself at the center of a legend where the princess always loses in the end.

I really liked that Jae acts her age. She goes against her father's wishes, she sneaks out of their apartment to hang out with her friends, and she gets scared when things in her life turn weird. And even when she's trying to survive, she worries about her friends being upset with her - because those are things that are important at that age.

I also really liked the mythological creatures and the story that's told.

I'd have liked to get to know the other characters in the story better, especially her aunt. We get to know her boyfriend somewhat, but her aunt I felt had a good story that deserved more than a quick explanation for why Jae didn't know she existed and why her aunt was such an excellent fighter.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, it was fun, and it seems like a book I would have made all of my friends read when I was in high school. I also think it would do a lot of young adults in the US some good to read this kind of fantasy/romance that takes place in a culture that is completely alien to their own.

This book really surprised me. I don't read a lot of YA, but I tried this one out because I was drawn to get a taste of the Korean mythology it offers. After the third or fourth chapter, I didn't want to put it down. It was that good.

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Created Sep 29, 2022 at 4:17pm • Submit your own review...