Gild (The Plated Prisoner Series Book 1)

Product Information

I'll preface by saying I'll keep this non-spoilery as I read an eARC, but below will be my impressions on the book so if you do not want to set any expectations, I'd urge you to avoid it. One thing that she was always enthusiastic about was writing. Even when she was quite small, Kennedy had started creating innocent stories with the help of the books she read at that time. Though the stories were not good enough, Kennedy saw them as an escape that she created for herself whenever she wanted to be a different person in a different world. For argument's sake, let's agree that everything Auren processes in Glow and how she processes it was absolutely necessary. Just because there are few major plot points happening with Auren doesn't mean we can't have movement and momentum by way of the other characters. BECAUSE WE CAN. We've had multiple POVs for a while now. Surely there could have been exciting challenges and adventures occurring on the periphery. I may be out of my cage, but I’m not free, not even close. In the game of kings and armies, I’m the gilded pawn. The question is, can I out maneuver them?

There is no quirk as such that Kennedy follows whole writing, however, sometimes she tends to listen to music to get her mood right. And when things begin to get boring, she tries to use different hours of the day, even night, to write so that she can have a change of mood. Auren will see Slade's mum and be like 'hey? fall through the rip in time and space too? let's leave this joint together!'

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Raven Kennedy is a famous American writer of paranormal, romance, erotica, romantic suspense, urban fantasy, humor, supernatural, and fantasy stories. She is the creator of several mind-blowing novel series of paranormal romance, including the Savannah Heirs series, Heart Hassle series, Void Universe series, Plated Prisoner series, Hellgate Guardians series, etc. In Gild we meet our main character Auren, who is the favored gold touched pet of King Midas. Midas keeps Auren in a fancy gold plated cage for everyone to see as a symbol of his power. I found Auren’s cage and relationship with Midas to be fascinating. Her cage spans the entire top floor the castle, with cages built into every room and barred walkways connecting all the room so she can roam kind of freely around the castle. It’s interesting because at the start of the book Auren very much wants to be in her cage to keep her safe. From what, we don’t know. But we do know that she has had a very rough life as an orphan living on the streets until Midas rescued her. She has known him since before he was king, which explains a lot of their connection. She feels very indebted to Midas for saving her life. She accompanied him to the castle as he married the Queen and became the king with the golden touch.

Every female character is the exact same weak, helpless, whiny petite figure who hates a specific male but can’t do anything unless a new male helps her do it. Another way of dealing with or facing her trauma is found for Auren in submission, at least that's what she repeatedly claims in the book, while also not wanting to rely on others (especially men), yet continuing to do exactly that: I was nothing but a road to Midas. A means to get to where he wanted to go, and I paved that path in gold."

The story - This is not a "slow burn" book. There is no burn at all. The entire book is a setup for the second one, so unless you're willing to commit to at least book #2, there's no point in reading Gild. This book should absolutely have been condensed so it could be combined with the second one, where I'm assuming something actually happens. Contrary to Auren's belief I'd like to add that there is power in submission, true, but only if your significant other respects boundaries, concepts of consent and "no" as a word in his vocabulary. Which leads us beautifully to another topic I am very, very concerned about: Consent in it's various forms. Slade is a villain through and through. He is unapologetic about it and he fully embraces his Fae nature and it's ruthless urges. I'm glad this is something Raven did not erase or attempt at a redemption arc and while he does have good intentions but he is ready to unleash the villain if anyone as so much harms a hair on Auren. I mean you’re mine to please. To pleasure. You’re mine to protect. To adore. To hear. To see. To experience. To love.” This beautiful scene. Honestly, out of the entire book, this is the most memorable scene for me. It's such a subtly important moment for Auren but also for Slade. It definitely made me tear up.