Reviews with content warning for Death - Gild

My expections weren't that high since this got some pretty bad ratings but I really loved it - 4.25 stars!

❦︎ I could hardly put this book down once I started reading it, I felt like the pacing was great and I was NEVER bored
❦︎ This was my first book by Raven Kennedy and I loved her writing so much, she got me laughing out loud but also feeling so much empathy for the characters
❦︎ I enjoyed the characters, but I didn't feel that connected to them, so I couldn't give it a higher rating
❦︎ I feel like this series has so much potential and that it's going to only get better and better and I'm really looking forward to continue reading it
❦︎ I really loved the world and the setting of Orea, the wintery vibes (even though it's summer rn) and the mountains...
❦︎ King Midas gave me major Tamlin vibes XD but once you get further into the book you kinda start to understand and like him? idk but I'm excited to see where Raven Kennedy is going to take us

❦︎ There is so much mysoginy in this book wow, but it is realistic for the time back then, at some points it was just hard to read about
❦︎ There are very serious topics discussed such as sexual assault, rape, etc. so you should keep that in mind

Content Warnings

erynelle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

viselik's review against another edition

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dark

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

4.25

The book does have its issues, and I think if you know what you are getting into it's fine. But please read the content warning, this book is definitely not alright for younger readers who don't know what they are getting into!

The first time I read this I did not know it had the content in it that it did due to me skipping over the content warning and I finished the book feeling like I had missed something and felt icky. I only figured it out once I read the content warning that I had accidentally skipped and reread the book that it clicked what had actually happened, it wasn't what I expected and made me like the book a whole lot more than I originally did.

Edit 22/07/24: I have now read this three times, my most recent is to prepare for the release of Goldfinch, and I deeply enjoyed it. I think now, the first time I read this book, I may have been a slight bit too young as I didn't grasp the subject matter as well, but this time, I understood it a lot better. I still do feel this book can get a slight bit boring at times but I am highly excited to continue to read the series to prepare for Goldfinch's release.

I did find the whole first face-to-face talk with Rip a bit annoying this time, but I think it's more just I felt like I have read a similar thing over and over again by now. This is more a romance/romantasy issue I have though in general not just with this book.
Midus I feel like he was done well for what he is in the story, we can see the twisted perspective that Auren has of him and how it is slightly warped by the end of this book. We see some glimpses behind the mask and I deeply liked those moments where we get to see how he truly is.

Content Warnings

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

3 ⭐ CW: Violence, sexual content, emotional manipulation, rape/sexual violence, blood, death

Gild by Raven Kennedy is book one in the Plated Prisoner series. I bought the first two books in this series in an effort to support this indie author when Amazon was giving her trouble, so I didn't really know much going into it other than it was a King Midas retelling. This was not for me. I finished it, but I won't be finishing the series.

We follow Auren, a gilded girl and favored 'saddle' of King Midas. She literally lives in a gilded cage, and is at the beck and call of the king. It was bold of the author to open the book with a full on orgy with our MC watching. Auren is in love with the king, who saved her from a wretched life, but she has no freedom or autonomy of her own, and is used as a pawn in his political scheming. After ten years of never leaving her cage, King Midas sends for her in another kingdom, and she finally gets to be outside. Unfortunately, for her and the rest of the saddles, bad things happen.

For a book of this length, nothing much really happens. The plot is kind of meandering and doesn't seem to have a central thread. Auren is plucky, but ultimately pretty one dimensional. I kept waiting for her to realize that Midas is not the good guy. There is a lot of power and control happening along with some hypocritical shit. Midas claims to want to stop a flesh trader, while at the same time owning men and women to be his sex slaves. It just really felt like we were meant to see Midas as the strong romantic type, but he just grossed me out. Every single man (apart from two) are the most disgusting misogynistic beasts I've ever read.

There is an unnecessary amount of violence and sexual violence. The world building was a bit lacking, and then suddenly there are fae? The concept of Auren being golden along with her ribbons was interesting, but it's not enough to hold my interest.

Content Warnings