Gilded: The St. Croix Chronicles

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She also works on a murder mystery for her patroness lady Rutledge which involves poisoned professor in King's college. Her ton life intensifies when her admirer Lord Compton comes back from his mysterious journey and redoubles his attempts to woo her while his mother plots Cherry's disgrace behind their backs And above it all, Cherry slowly unravels unable to lead her double life for much longer. Croix Chronicles, - you most likely would love it too. Feb 14, Liz rated it really liked it Shelves: Our dear Miss St. Croix is at quite a crossroads as this story ends and I literally have no idea what direction she will go and how it will all shake out.

Where is book 3?! I don't even see mention of it and that makes me sad! May 06, Tahyun rated it did not like it Shelves: I'm so mad, I can't even write anything intelligent about it. I'm going to create my own fantasy ending, wherein the last 30 pages don't happen, and just before those, the Too Stupid To Live "heroine" dies a horrible gruesome death. Which would have made this book a Happily Ever After, at least for me. Nov 29, Bad Cookie rated it did not like it Recommends it for: This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.

To view it, click here. Is it bad that the only part I liked was when the earl Cherry had just married bit the dust? Dec 24, Trixiter Marczak rated it it was amazing. Can't wait to see what the future holds for Cherry! Apr 30, Summer rated it it was ok Shelves: This wasn't necessarily bad, but despite finding the first book in the series decent I couldn't really find the interest in reading further. Dec 21, Juliet rated it it was ok Shelves: This series had a lot of promise but ultimately it missed the mark big time.

I really really wanted to like this series but each book was essentially the author trying to mirror some other novel for example: Such things would have been fine with better editing and more cohesive storyline. The second book is a lot of wtf. Aug 12, Matilde Damkier rated it really liked it Shelves: That ending blew my mind. Sep 28, Marlene rated it really liked it. Her terribly flawed heroine, Cherry St. Croix, always feels as if she is living in some kind of cage. The titles of the books in the series, Tarnished, Gilded, and book 3, Corroded, represent the type of cage that Cherry is trapped in during that part of her life.

The world of the St. Croix Chronicles is a very dark steampunk version of London where the division between rich and poor has been made quite visibly manifest. The social strata given form. Cherry straddles two worlds, and not just because of her unconventional parents and hidden unsavory upbringing, but because she herself has been unable to settle into the role she would call it a strait-jacket that Victorian society forces on upper-class females. Also, she is still addicted to opium, a legacy of her lost days in the underworld, and she requires a method of paying for continued habit.

But instead of freedom, the Midnight Menagerie sunk its own claim into her as she meddled in something either alchemical, magical or scientific beyond her ability to escape. In Gilded, Cherry discovers that society has its own methods of forcing her to do its will, even as she beats her hands against the bars of the cage she feels closing around her. And even though she knows that marriage is a trap for any woman who would otherwise possess her own fortune, the Midnight Menagerie blackmails her into doing their bidding.

It is only then that she discovers the true nature of the cage that she has stepped into, even as she hears the key turning in the lock. Croix series gets darker and grittier as it goes, and it keeps going downward in that sense. More like a heartrending moan. Cherry is hunting Jack the Ripper and someone is hunting her. Everyone in London above is hell-bent on Cherry marrying Earl Compton before she reaches her majority except Cherry. This may be my interpretation.

Cherry is incredibly flawed, and the story is told from her first-person perspective. Her usage simply spirals up and down as fortunes permit. She lies, she cheats, she steals, and she loses track of everything she says and does. But she still solves her cases, eventually. She also makes horrific mistakes because of her addiction. But in at least two cases, it also saves her life. Mar 16, Tina rated it liked it Shelves: Dark side of a steampunk novel; flawed and scarred characters, drugs, violence, murder, vengeance, betrayal, fragile hope. Sep 25, Shellie Layers of Thought rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Original review at Layers of Thought.

Read my review for Tarnished book 1 and pick it up first. I believe that Original review at Layers of Thought. I believe that they are still selling the ebook version for. In a realistic yet fantastical setting — a steam powered Victorian London - we have the second in this atmospheric series. The complex and strong main character, Cherry St. Croix, was once a circus waif and performer, giving her physical attributes which allow her to pursue and apprehend persons of greater strength and stature than herself.

A petite red-head with striking thick hair which she covers with lampblack on her outings into the polluted city underworld, she is not of bad character. Her darkness is due to forced circumstance. Cherry does her best to get by in this world where women aTarnishedre not allowed to own property and are considered wards of their male family members. In the first book of the series Tarnished we become familiar with Cherry, her romantic entanglements, and find out that she is the daughter of a crazy scientist and a beautiful socialite.

In this second book, Cherry is in pursuit of a killer she thinks Jack the Ripper perhaps? However, she finds that there is in fact another killer — so another mystery ensues. Karina Cooper writes in an old fashioned convoluted style in this series, which works very well for the setting. It creates text that feels authentic and Victorian-ish. I do need to mention that readers may have to consult Google when looking up some of the old fashioned English words the author uses.

But this is all good. It also has another fun cover much like the first in the series. I am really glad there is not a naked guy or a lot of skin featured on it. What happens to Cherry as we find out more about her and her romantic interests is the best part of this story.

Cooper does romance well. Recommended for readers who like strong and dark female leads, unexpected twists, a bit of a murder mystery and of course romance and steampunk. Skip this if you are looking for a solid ending, want happily ever after, or are not interested in being addicted to a series. I enjoyed this book A LOT. My only regret is that I am not reading this series after the entire collection has been completed. View all 4 comments. Mar 24, Lynn Williams rated it it was amazing.

Okay, so I finished the second of the St Croix Chronicles a few days ago but was literally stunned into silence and needed a few days to absorb events. This book is quite the riot of emotions ending on a final note of utter shock. I've tried to stay away from reviews for this series to avoid spoilers and it worked because the ending of this took me totally by surprise, and yet at the same time that it blew me off my feet with it's unexpected quality it als http: I've tried to stay away from reviews for this series to avoid spoilers and it worked because the ending of this took me totally by surprise, and yet at the same time that it blew me off my feet with it's unexpected quality it also felt sort of inevitable!

Gilded is the second in the St Croix series the first being Tarnished my review here. I really do recommend reading these books in order and not just jumping in at No. Gilded pretty much starts off where Tarnished ended. Cherry is determined to find out what took part in the underground tunnel and I won't say more for fear of spoilers.

We still have two killers on the loose on the streets of London down below and on top of this there now appears to be a new murderer on the scene - intent on killing professors from London's finest educational establishments. Aside from all of this Cherry is in debt to the menagerie, is being pursued by the Earl, castigated by the upper echelons of society and suffering illness from the side effects of her double life and secret addiction. It's quite daunting just to think about it. Ms Cooper certainly doesn't make it easy to review her books because there's very little to say without giving away spoilers.

This is a new murder mystery and really apart from a few tidbits of information doesn't really take us too much further in pursuit of Cherry's original goals and yet there are certain elements that make you realise that so much is connected. It's a sort of bring them up to watch them fall instalment. Gilded is quite a fast paced and intriguing instalment and in fact I would say even more enjoyable than the first which is a surprise given the very short space that Mr Hawke makes an appearance for. Cherry is without doubt a flawed character. She makes mistakes and she can make you feel frustrated as anything.

But, I like her and given the constraints placed upon her in this faux Victorian era she's actually very forward thinking. She's torn between wanting her friends and family to be happy and wanting to maintain her own individuality. What's a girl to do?

The St. Croix Chronicles Series

Aside from all that of course is that Cherry is basically, deep inside a good person. She tries to make the right decisions.

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She's wound up in a situation where she's indebted to the wrong sort - and this is a result of the night time activities she pursues in order to raise money to buy laudanum which she only uses to quell her night terrors. She also seems to have drawn a lot of negative attention both above and below London. You can't help feeling quite a lot of sympathy for her whilst also wanting to shake her occasionally! Anyway, there are two new murders and clearly these are the work of somebody different from the Sweet Tooth and the Ripper.

The academia are being targeted and Cherry is given a riddle to solve which will unwittingly take her into the path of danger yet again. The plot culminates in a fantastic masked ball which ends with a bang! Murder, mystery, alchemy, fog, rippers, dashing Earls, sexy Micajah Hawke - and an ending that left me without words! Yes, this feels like a guilty pleasure and yet I don't actually feel guilty at all in fact, quite the opposite. Bring on number 3. Dec 26, Stephanie G rated it liked it Shelves: Croix is a society lady by day, but at night she is a collector.

A collector is something like a bounty hunter who flies under the radar, or in this case below the drift. There is a kind of fog that surrounds most of London. Most of society lives above it for the most part. Cherry is invited to a luncheon and given a mystery that leads her to a dead college professor.

As she is piecing together the mystery and Earl decides to court her. Gilded is the second book of Karina Coop 3. It took me a little while to get used to the tone of the novel. Cherry starts out in her collector disguise, and then moved to her getting home. I was thrown by it, not only because of the double lives, but because she seemed to self-aware and independent on the street and the complete opposite at home.

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It did fill in some of the background that happened in the first book, but some parts were a little confusing. My favorite thing about this book, other than the jaw dropping ending, is that I had no idea how versatile Cooper is. The tone of the novel is completely different from anything I have ever read by her.

Gilded (The St. Croix Chronicles #2) by Karina Cooper

Instead it surprised me. All those manners, all those rules give me the shivers. Cherry would agree with me, the difference is she has to live it. The problem here though is that while she is a no fear kind of girl, she does fear the social elite. This kept me at a distance from her. I have said there is a mystery, and who is dead, but there is a lot more going on. This rivaled for my attention when it came down to it.

There are some serious secrets playing in the background of the overall plot line. I mentioned the jaw dropping ending. Gilded took me by surprise. I felt distant from Cherry and her ever wandering mind. The dead professor mystery seemed a little bland, and not for me. On the other hand a glimpse at the bigger picture going on behind the actually story held my interest. I was pleasantly surprised by how far it went. Oct 01, Beth Dawkins rated it liked it Shelves: See this review and others like it at BadassBookReviews. Gilded was another fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable outing in the St.

Croix Chronicles, but it is the ending that makes this book such a success. I was completely shocked by what happened and a little sad. But, when I sat down and really thought about it, I was in awe of Ms. She definitely knows how to end a book with a b See this review and others like it at BadassBookReviews. She definitely knows how to end a book with a bang and leave her readers wanting more.

Cherry is sinking deeper and deeper into despair and her opium addiction in this book. The two sides to her life are conflicting more and more. She finds herself drawn back into the society scene when Cornelius returns, but she also has her debt to Karakash Veil hanging over her head. The two groups clash in a fascinating scene near the end of the novel and it was interesting to see the contrasts, especially Micajah versus Cornelius. By the end of the novel, Cherry has hit rock bottom and I am interested to see how Ms. Cooper will be able to drag her back up.

I loved the progress she seemed to make throughout the book but the ending just shattered everything and left her worse off than in the beginning. It will be interesting to see who Cherry considers her allies in the next book. The focus of this book is still the mysterious Ripper and the traces of an alchemical formula that Cherry owes to the Karakash Veil. Not much progress is made on either front, but Cherry does find a few interesting nuggets of information.

Cornelius is her one rock in society and I thought the developments between them were nicely done. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was even better than the debut novel, Tarnished. Jun 18, Anna rated it it was amazing Shelves: Her methods are unorthodox, her addiction is secretive, and her nights are spent leading a double life that is most unbecoming to those in Victorian society, should they ever find out.

Cherry is also curious, loyal, intelligent, and by the end of Gilded, vengeful and What appealed to me with Tarnished book 1 was that Cherry was different from all the women in m http: What appealed to me with Tarnished book 1 was that Cherry was different from all the women in many popular books these days.

She tries to chase him, but he disappears into the poisonous London fog. Later, it appears that Cherry has one ally in the High Society: Lady Rutledge, who offers Cherry a chance to solve a mystery in order to gain the Lady's respect. Cherry accepts, but she will have to look for clues in the dangerous lower London.

Cherry is a flawed character; she suffers from night terrors and uses opium-based laudanum so that she can sleep. She is also addicted to opium, which she cannot currently afford with her limited allowance. It's one of the reasons why she hunts bounties. She also seems to be a manic-depressive, and in this book she fixates on trying to solve the mystery the Lady gave her.

Nothing else matters when she is focused on that.

The people around her are dear to her, but she can still be quite selfish at times. She also considers herself intelligent and capable, but she doesn't behave in a corresponding manner. She shares an interesting relationship of mutual respect with Zylphia, her maid. Zylphia helps Cherry on her collecting trips. As a former prostitute, Zylphia has a lot of contacts in that world. She is also of mixed race. Bring on number 3.

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Gilded (St. Croix Chronicles, book 2) by Karina Cooper

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