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A review by queer_bookwyrm
Gild by Raven Kennedy
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.
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
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Blood