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    Gilded
    Gilded
    Gilded
    Audiobook9 hours

    Gilded

    Written by Christina Farley

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Sixteen-year-old Jae Hwa Lee is a Korean-American girl with a black belt, a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows, and a chip on her shoulder the size of Korea itself. When her widowed dad uproots her to Seoul from her home in L.A., Jae thinks her biggest challenges will be fitting into a new school and dealing with her dismissive Korean grandfather. Then she discovers that a Korean demi-god, Haemosu, has been stealing the soul of the oldest daughter of each generation in her family for centuries. And she’s next.

    But that’s not Jae’s only problem.

    There’s also Marc. Irresistible and charming, Marc threatens to break the barriers around Jae’s heart. As the two grow closer, Jae must decide if she can trust him. But Marc has a secret of his own—one that could help Jae overturn the curse on her family for good. It turns out that Jae’s been wrong about a lot of things: her grandfather is her greatest ally, even the tough girl can fall in love, and Korea might just be the home she’s always been looking for.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMar 1, 2014
    ISBN9781480589469
    Gilded
    Author

    Christina Farley

    Christina Farley was born and raised in upstate New York. As a child, she loved to explore, which later inspired her to jump on a plane and travel the world. She taught at international schools in Asia for ten years, eight of which were spent in the mysterious and beautiful city of Seoul, Korea—the setting for the Gilded series. Currently she lives in Clermont, Florida, with her husband and two sons—that is, until the travel itch whisks her off to a new unknown.

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    Reviews for Gilded

    3.5/5

    61 ratings8 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Weak characters abound, without setting and mythology to hold book together it would have been a 2 out of 5.
    • 4/5
      It was great to see a book based on Korean mythology as opposed to it's more popular Chinese and Japanese cousins. Fantastic writing and characters.
    • 4/5
      Farley's Gilded series follows Jae Hwa Lee, a young Korean-American girl recently moved to Korea, despite warnings from her strict, traditional grandfather. Jae's father doesn't listen. He isn't interested in the rantings of an old man, spouting fantastical tales. But there's more truth to Grandfather's warnings than Jae could ever imagine.In Gilded, Jae must confront the curse on the women of her family. For generations, the demi-god Haemosu has stolen the souls of the eldest daughters of Jae's family, and Jae's next. With the help of her grandfather, her aunt, and a secret group-- the Guardians of Shinshi-- dedicated to protecting Korea from spiritual assault, Jae must confront Haemosu and break the curse once and for all. I adored this series! I read Gilded several years ago, and finally got the chance to read the whole series together. The first time I read Gilded was, I believe, my first exposure to fiction inspired by Korean myth and I loved it. The mythology behind the orbs, and all the unique creatures prompted me to research more into the actual mythology for myself.
    • 2/5
      This is the first book in the Gilded series. I enjoyed the Korean setting and mythology but the writing itself was technically lacking and the story was predictable and boring. I listened to this on audiobook. The narrator did an excellent job with different characters voices and accents. The narration was probably the best part of this book for me.Some of the technical issues with this book were that the dialogue between characters was very simple and awkward sounding. Additionally, there were places where the wrong tense (past and present) are used interchangeably. This book could have benefited from better editing.The story was also lacking. Our heroine makes the same mistakes over and over again and never seems to grow or change as a character despite, her experiences. The ending was predictable and the at times just plain boring.Overall this was a poorly written book and I was happy when it was over. If I hadn't been listening to it on audiobook I probably would have stopped reading it. I won't be continuing with the series which is too bad because the Korean setting and mythology were intriguing.
    • 1/5
      'm a sucker for young adult lit, and young adult fantasy in particular has a soft spot in my heart (Tamora Pierce's Wild Magic books, for example, are such favorites of mine that I recently replaced my long-lost childhood copies). So when I was shopping through the Kindle sale section and saw Gilded, I thought it seemed like a great fit for my tastes.And it promised to be based in mythology! I'm a big mythology nerd and have been since I was a kid (my mom got me this book called Greek Myths for Young Children and it was my favorite thing and I still remember it fondly to this day), but I've never been exposed to the Korean mythology background indicated as a basis for the story, so I thought it would be a good chance to learn about that too.As the rating shows, though, it was a huge disappointment. The book follows the story of teenage Jae Hwa, a Korean girl raised for most of her life in the United States and recently returned to Korea after the death of her mother. Her grandfather is very unhappy to see her, which she assumes to be because he doesn't like his Americanized granddaughter, but turns out to be because as a female born into her father's family, she will be ruthlessly pursued by a demigod until he can pull her into his dimension and imprison her for all eternity.There's good stuff to work with her: grief for her mother, being torn between cultures, an exciting adventure in another world...and that's on top of the usual high-school plotlines (first love, friendships, coming of age, etc ) that have driven plenty of YA novels for ages. But nothing really works. The loss of her mother and her dual cultural identities are referenced often, but without any real exploration of them...she just notes that she's sad, or that she's confused, and it completely vanishes until she sees fit to mention it again. Her love interest has two identifying traits: he's cute, and he's really smart/education/good at everything. Of course he likes her too, so their only stumbling block is that she's constantly shoving him away because she wants to protect him from getting caught up in her destiny. Which is noble enough the first time, but gets tiresome long before the end of the book. As do her constant interactions with her divine pursuer, who keeps pulling her into his world to remind her he's going to do so permanently...and then she escapes. Again. And again. I was relieved when I got to the end. The book feels like a first draft of something better.
    • 5/5
      I received a free kindle copy of Gilded (The Gilded Series Book One) by Christina Farley, published by Amazon Publishing, Skyscape from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.I gave this page turning, young adult book five stars. The heroine is sixteen-year-old Jae Hwa Lee who is a Korean-American girl. She is multi-talented & advanced in her schooling. After her mother dies, her father returns them to Korea, where Jae Hwa's life changes irrevocably.The characters are beautifully drawn. The Korean demi-god, Haemosu is evil personified. I cheered for Jae Hwa to defeat him, but that victory was uncertain."The Samjoko amulet is on display there. The Guardians of Shinshi have recently uncovered information that leads us to believe that it acts as a key to the Spirit World." Jae Hwa will need this information in her odyssey."'Take control of your mind; harness your strength.' 'I can't', I whisper. 'You can,' she says." This is an exchange between Jae Hwa's aunt 'Komo'.I highly recommend this fascinating book.
    • 5/5
      I LOVE this! I love Polynesian mythology and discovered a new found love for korean mythology with this book. I felt wrapped up in the culture and story waiting to see how everything would play out for Jae Hwa. I'm glad there will be a sequel. I did wonder why Jae Hwa was so reluctant to call upon Haechi for help at times. This did make me want to read The Percy Jackson series because of all the reference's to it being a korean version of that series. I did see a mild comparison to a korean Katniss although that is a bit far fetched."Or maybe it's that I'm completely socially incompetent in the dating department. Like when Nick Casablanca tried to kiss me, and I used a pressure-point defense on his hand. It wasn't my fault he moved in before I was ready.""If only he knew. Like when the third-grade class bully, Jacob Cantor, Strutted up to me,pulled my long braid, and called me a worthless immi. Short for immigrant. If he'd been smart he would have picked on some other immi. But unlucky jacob picked me. I stood and knocked him a blow that sent him tumbling into the trash can. Where he probably felt right at home."
    • 5/5
      "As usual I didn't pay anything for this book but instead received it for free. This time via the courtesy of the Kindle Firsts program. Despite that kindness I give my candid thoughts below. Oh, and I do not include a plot summary so no spoilers of any kind; you can read the book description for that.Firstly, this is a YA novel so the criteria I apply differ from those of a standard adult novel. The first thing I look at is whether I'd want my own children to read this book from a moral standpoint. Joyfully, I report that this book contains nothing really sexual in nature, unless you count some occasional kissing. Further there are no drug references or anything else untoward. It should be noted that this is pretty standard youth escapism fiction though so the usual defiance of parental authority is in evidence. In short though, I have no concerns. This is good clean stuff.The second question I look at is whether this book teach the reader anything. Again, in this case I would reply strongly to the affirmative. The narrative is deeply entwined with Korean mythology and culture. It even goes so far as to include a lengthy glossary in the back so you know this is outside the standard dragons, elves and dwarves motif. Further, for the first time I've seen in a book of this sort, the protagonist faces and problem and actually has the help of her extended family. This isn't the usual situation in which a problem arises and the kids have to go it alone. The whole family is involved and working together. That in itself is a great lesson.Lastly, I ask whether the reader will be entertained. To that I say, simply, that even as an adult I was entertained. The action is fast-paced and moves along brilliantly and has enough complexity to keep the reader thinking.So in summary, this is another fine example YA literature that not only entertains but educates at the same time. Highly recommended from a reviewer who almost always finds something to complain about. In this case... I got nothing. Absolutely brilliant.PS: It is always my endeavor to provide helpful reviews. If you find my review helpful please vote appropriately. If you do not, then please leave me a comment indicating what you want to know and I'll be sure to do better next time.PPS: There is a short technical fault in the Kindle edition; in the first 10 pages or so the text is a bit garbled as different versions of the first few pages got interleaved with the actual text. This is initially annoying but will probably be fixed shortly by Amazon. Someone leave a comment please if they get a corrected version so I can remove this postscript."