Audiobook Review – Gilt by Katherine Longshore, Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 15, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0670013999
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

“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.”

This was an okay YA book about life in the court of Henry VIII. The story follows Kitty Tylney, best friend to Catherine Howard (who worms her way into marrying Henry VIII). Kitty ends up being summoned to court after Catherine marries the King.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was a well done audiobook. The narrator did a good job with character voices and portraying emotion. I would recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

At the start of the book I enjoyed this look into what it took to get into King Henry’s court and how wondrous it seemed to Kitty. However, the story ended up being a bit surfacey…it just didn’t had a lot of depth. The characters, the story, and the writing all fell a bit short for me; it wasn’t very engaging or anything all that special.

The ending is fairly open ended; some things are resolved and others aren’t. It was an okay way to end the story but I would have liked a look at where our heroine ended up.

Overall this was an okay historical fiction read. I enjoyed the look into King Henry VIII’s court but was disappointed at how shallow and fluffy the book was; there just wasn’t a lot of substance here. I personally wouldn’t recommend, there are much better historical fictions out there.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– Audiobook Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– YA Reading Challenge