Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Gild

This book was well written with an intriguing plot and great worldbuilding that had me flirting through chapters. However, there was too much on page sexual violence that we were only sometimes supposed to abhor as readers. The main character definitely has Stockholm syndrome and I don’t think that’s going to be addressed. I’m just so afraid we’ll see more toxic relationships develop as the series goes on but perhaps something will surprise me!

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katvou's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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deredere_dukes_and_dragons's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

Intriguing at the beginning, dipped in the middle, but picked up again when a new character was introduced around the end of the book.

I will not diminish the terrible things that are done and said in this book (see content warnings), but this is meant to be a dark story. And, quite frankly, the book did it's job: it made me want to at least read the next installment in the series.

However, this is not a fantasy romance, at least not this first book. The main character, Auren, is in a toxic relationship, blindly devoted to (and in love with?) her King.

In my mind, this could be considered more of a prequel; there's a lot that happens, but there's no real resolution. The last chapter begs for you to dive into the next book.

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extinctpanda's review against another edition

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This book was literally just so disgusting. The world building essentially amounted to violence against women.

Spoiler

it literally opens with an orgy where the king is fucking his harem, where the women are called saddles. I think that pretty much sums it up

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fozlandgirl's review against another edition

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sad slow-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

I don't know why I keep trying to read these TikTok books. They are so gods awful and poorly written. This is definitely my last one.

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xlaurareads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

i've heard a lot about this book on bookstagram but was never sure if it'd be for me but when i saw that the series is now on kindle unlimited, i had to give it a shot. although i devoured this one in about a day and loved almost everything about it, i feel like it is more of a prequel where we are introduced to auren and her world. i kinda saw the plottwist coming, but it was fascinating nonetheless and i'm incredibly curious how everything will turn out! i also thought there'd be more romance but that was lacking a bit and a lot of scenes were immensely graphic and rape was mentioned a lot which can be disturbing imo. moreover, i feel like auren is a portrayed a bit too independent and strong in the second half of the book - it just doesn't really add up for me considering she lived in a cage for 10 years. nevertheless, it was a great book and i'll start the second one right away.

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watsontheslytherin's review

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

4.25

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noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings: Sexual scenes, captivity, emotional-physical-verbal abuse, human trafficking, alcohol abuse, sexism, sexual harassment, sexual assault, blood/gore, violence, murder, rape, grooming, kidnapping, and sex trafficking. Mention of infertility and loss of parents.

I’ve heard so many great things about this series from friends and strangers alike. As the fourth book was just released, a bookish friend threatened to end our friendship upon learning I hadn’t read it, and I’d just finished a book that didn’t meet my expectations—I decided there wasn’t a more perfect time to start diving into this series and world.

As the way of many adult fantasies, this book has some heavy, very adult, topics within its pages. Though many talk about this series as romantic, this first book is definitely not that. I’m told at some point there will be an element of romance but currently, it’s an adult fantasy with some mystery, court politics, and political manipulation at play.

The narrative of this book is primarily through the eyes of Auren, a gold-touched trophy of King Midas. Their relationship seems to be a mix of transference/nightingale syndrome, grooming, and some Stockholm syndrome.

Rescued, at the tender age of 15, by Midas [who’s 7 years older than her, which wouldn’t be bad if she was idk at least 20 but 15 and 22…just no], Auren has always seen him as her knight in shining armor. She has been with him for 10 years, with no friendships or attachments other than him, and she loves him unconditionally. Kept within a cage—does it expand throughout the entire castle? Yes, but that’s not the point—Auren fails to see that she’s only a prop for Midas, a special tool he uses when he wishes.

I’m thrilled that, although a bit of a spoiler, many have already assured me that Midas will not be the actual love interest in this series. The way he treats her like a special pet, or trophy, taken out at his whim to impress others made me just really want to punch him right in his smug face.

Though naive, when it comes to Midas and court politics, I’m excited to see Auren’s journey of finding her own strength and starting to change the direction of her life. Auren has had a difficult life and just wants to have friendship and love…and I hope that as the series continues we’re able to see both of those things for her.

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