Reviews with content warning for Trafficking - Gild

Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Gild by Raven Kennedy

206 reviews

thesuperawesomesarah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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bookworm_vevans's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

2.5

Book had a good idea with King Midas and his prized pet, but it felt like too much and not enough. Not enough on the MMC, not enough to fall in love with the FMC though she has promise, and the last 1/3 of the book was rushed. I left the book not understanding the motivation behind any of the characters and don't like any enough to care. I'd love to see if the next books in the series do a better job of tying things up, but I'm not sure I'll read the next.

Lots of sensitive topics and triggers come up. I read the book warning, so it didn't influence my aforementioned opinion.

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redfae's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

I can see how this book could be triggering for some as the main character is the favourite in a harem/brothel. Her master is King Midas and as his favourite she’s been gold touched, the other women are called saddles. As the main character is gold, she stands out, and she’s the only one Midas does not share. The world is very patriarchal and the women are seen as sex objects. I found her an interesting character. Despite the fact she was owned by Midas she relies on him for safety and loves him. It reminded me of Stockholm syndrome. The women witness the men discussing war, and they get sold off to earn favour with armies. There is a lot of politics at play too, and who to trust. The book ends on a cliff hanger, and I was very curious about a character introduced at the end that I will NEED to read the next book.

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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.

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tabitha_thorns's review against another edition

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dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

Good concept, relatable characters, plotting was meh. Good enough for me to want to read the rest

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peachtess's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Check the trigger warnings before reading. Interesting world building.

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deyknight's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Very well written, but I struggled to understand what the intended overall plot was through most of the book. It felt very much like this book was a pilot episode, laying the ground work, backstory, and world building... But we only really discovered the plot/conflict at the very end of the book.

Also: definitely pay attention to the trigger warnings!

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thelibraryofjen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Gild - Raven Kennedy

BOOK ONE of The Plated Prisoner Series

Synopsis ~~

I picked this book right when I bought it because I was just so excited. This story is a King Midas retelling, with a much darker twist. We follow our main character Auren who has been caged up in the castle for over 10+ years. She is King Midas favored and we know why he is her favorite because she is completely gold.

Now for the things I didn’t like about this story is how late we meet the love interest. I was told this was a spicy romantasy and I just didn’t get that vibe at all. So if you go in expecting spicy scenes you will be disappointed. This story read more as a prequel book than has the first in a series. Be warned that there is a lot of grape scenes and the FMC has Stockholm syndrome so the choices and things she says can be a little weird for us, but for her that is all she knows.

The things i enjoyed is the pacing of this book it was really good to follow along too. This book I would say is more character driven than plot, but the plot that is in their is good there’s just way more character development. I really enjoyed the ending and how it left us on a cliff hanger. I also really enjoyed how Auren’s character transformed, she isn’t a scared girl anymore. She has so much potential and I really hope the author does her character justice in the later books. I also enjoyed her relationship with her royal guard that was a cute daughter/father relationship. It was so sad when Sail died, I rarely cry to books but that made me tear up a bit. The author’s writing was really captivating and made me keep reading. People have complained that this story doesn’t feel like an adult fantasy but for me it really did.

If you love:

⚜️ Fae

⚜️ Mythical Creatures

⚜️ King Midas Retelling

⚜️ Abused FMC

⚜️ Fantasy

⚜️ Magical Powers

⚜️ Character development for FMC

⚜️ War

⚜️ Character/Plot driven story

Genre/Type: Adult Fantasy, Romance (very little)

Format: Physical Book (462 pages)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.⭐️ (4.5)

Spice: NONE (THERE IS GRAPE 🍇)

Series or Standalone: First in a Series

CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS ⚠️⚠️‼️‼️‼️

TikTok: @j3nslibrary_
Amazon: Jenesis

Content Warnings

fuzzyblanket's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

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beckyremillard's review

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Quick read. Really wasn’t sure about the gilded woman with prehensile ribbons coming out of her back but definitely an intriguing story and I will continue.

Check trigger warnings for sure; it’s very dark.

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