Review: Gilt

Title: Gilt
Author: Katherine Longshore
Genre: YA Historical Fiction

See it at Goodreads

In the court of King Henry VIII, nothing is free—
and love comes at the highest price of all.

When Kitty Tylney’s best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII’s heart and brings Kitty to court, she’s thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat’s shadow, Kitty’s now caught between two men—the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat’s meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.

It’s not a secret that I am insanely obsessed with all things history. I read history books for fun. No joke.


And YA Historical Fiction just doesn’t seem to be all too common nowadays. It gets lost among the dystopia and paranormal. I would love to see more.


I’d been excited to get a hold of Gilt although I’ve never been a huge fan of the Tudor era, to be honest. Perhaps because it’s because it’s something so overdone in literature and movies that when it comes down to it, I just feel like “been there, done that” and I already know it all. Maybe this is my problem with reading Historical Fiction to begin with? I need something a bit more challenging…something that I can learn new things from or just even an era that isn’t touched on often. I finished feeling a bit dissatisfied. Though I would like to make strong points that the writing is absolutely beautiful. I felt often at times that I was reading a classical novel even, and this made me enjoy Gilt much more than I probably would have in the end.


I had trouble reading it on my ereader, so I had to read it on my computer. This could have caused a lot of my distaste, too. I had to read it slowly, and my eyes always ended up hurting within a few chapters so I would have to set it aside for a while. I didn’t get to sit and enjoy the story as much as I’d liked. I don’t think it’s very fair of me to make a point on this, but I must because later if I reread from a hardcopy, I may change my opinion and rate it higher. So just a small note on that.


The characterization building was solid and well-researched. I wish there’d been more Henry. The story wasn’t all what I’d expected it to be when going into it, and at times I felt it was a bit longer than necessary. I admit I even skimmed some areas, and still understood everything that was going on. The dialogue was classic and beautiful. And the ending was solid. Of course, I already knew the end. Anyone who knows the history of Catherine, will know. The author did a tremendous job with story-telling and research, and I liked reading from Kitty’s POV. There was as much drama back then as there is now. Haha, just remember that. It’s a fashionable, chic read that will have you ooh-ing and aahh-ing over the drama and events. And if it’s your first foray into the history, you will definitely want to learn more by the time you’re done. There’s not any confusion, as often found in this genre and time period, and it’s smoothly written.


Once again, I stress, we need more Historical Fiction--most particularly in YA. This was a wonderful debut and I enjoyed reading.


3.5 stars!