Reviews

Garbage. I wanted to dnf at page 13 but I realised that I (regrettably) paid money for this and therefore have to carry on.

There are so many issues and cringe-worthy moments with this book and the entire writing style that I don’t even know where to begin. I am at a stage where i genuinely think I could write a better book than whatever the hell this was.

- Let’s start off with this gem on page 17: “I get indigestion when I think of my past, so I prefer not to. After all, indigestion doesn’t mix well with the amount of wine I drink every night. That’s why I’m a bright side kind of girl.” What the fuck.
- Is she a bright side kind of girl? Hmm I’m not really sure, maybe she should repeat it 500 more times than she already has just so we’re 100% clear that she’s a bright side kind of girl. Convinced this whole book was written as a joke
- Dark fantasy romance = toxic mmc. Why is the book going for a Stockholm syndrome trope? It’s infuriating and I’m honestly not sure if that was the intended effect
- Snow pirates? Fire claws? That alone should warrant a refund
- If I have to read about Auren’s ribbons once more I am going to commit a crime
- Is Auren meant to be that annoying on purpose or?? I see how she was meant to be portrayed as light hearted and someone that takes the piss out of the situation eg by joking with Digby whilst he remains his usual stone-faced self, but this just fell so flat and made me truly cringe at her entire character more than i already did. Every time she did this I just imagined every other character around her cringe in disgust - it honestly would be more of a realistic reaction
- Simply cannot imagine all the decor being gold - that’s so tacky it makes me want to throw up
- Ummm, the trauma? And why did Auren just stand there letting everyone get abused (Rissa, specifically) before fighting back/using her abilities. Shit doesn’t make sense - a very common theme in this book, it seems.
- The level of writing … it’s really rock bottom out here. The language used is so contemporary that it doesn’t fit the setting at all and it is also very show and tell in general

Honestly I should’ve known by now that whenever a book is described as a ‘dark fantasy romance’ it is my cue to stray well away from it. It is perhaps as bad as What Lies Beyond the Veil imo

The way I have also bought the second part to this book at the same time as the first and now I have to force myself to read more of this trash

reevereadsit's review against another edition

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2.0

It was hard to get past all that grooming in the begining but well the book does get a bit better after. Might be a spoiler, but I'm so wrong for laughing at that Sail joke the pirates did. Omg.

sagestenhaug's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

nini_w's review against another edition

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4.0

I don’t get why the author tagged this book as romance, but it’s amazing, regardless.

emhawes's review against another edition

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4.0

The first book in the Plated Prisoner series, and I can't wait to grab the second one.

This book is largely world building and character introduction. You get a lot of information about Auren and how she views the world and her relationship with herself, Midas and the other saddles. The first half of the book was interesting but I wasn't sure exactly where it was going

Spoiler

though Auren eventually ending up in Fourth Kingdom was pretty obvious

. Despite this, I found myself enjoying the world Raven Kennedy created. About halfway through the book,

Spoiler

when Auren gets to leave the castle finally

, I really got invested and finished the rest of the book in one sitting.

There was a lot of world building in the last quarter of the book that felt a little bit rushed, but I'm assuming it'll get flushed out in the next book in the series so I'm okay with that! Overall, I think Raven Kennedy did a great job setting up this series and I'm really excited for book 2.

I've seen some accounts stating that this book is spicy, but I disagree. While there is a lot of sex and talk about sex throughout the book, it's not written in a way I would describe as spicy.

Spoiler

I cannot wait to see how Digby shows up again in the future to try and rescue Auren. Sail's death absolutely gutted me, of course she can't have even one good friend. I hope Rissa ends up being a good friend to Auren. At the beginning of the book, I expected Auren to end up in Fourth Kingdom and eventually fall in love with King Rot but I'm excited for this Auren/ Commanded Rip romance that I now see coming. After being told Fae existed, I immediately assumed Auren was more fae than others, and feel more confident in this given Rip's physical characteristics, but we'll see. I was NOT expecting Auren to be the one with gold touch and I'm not curious is Midas has any power or if he's been using her and also wants to know if she was always gold or if he did actually make her gold/she make herself gold?

riiiclark's review against another edition

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3.0

Had no expectations going in and was a little put off by the ribbons not gonna lie. And also a blonde love interest? There’s no way because A) he’s a freak and B) I don’t like him. And did I mention he’s blonde.

awjackson's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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