Gild (The Plated Prisoner Series Book 1)

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If you're interested in more in-depth commentary with quotations and examples, read on. If you still plan to read this book and don't want to be spoilered do not read on. Dark" Fantasy - Nothing about this book feels dark. It reads like a YA novel where a teenage author tried to include the most provocative things they could think of (re: sex slavery and gratuitous rape scenes/references), but without maturity or the ability to convey any depth. There's no grit, no substance. Just very, very juvenile ramblings interspersed with "oh no, sexual assault". There should be about 100+ trigger warnings with this book, obvious from the fact that the opening scene is a group orgy with participants that are not there of their own free will. This is being watched by a gold woman kept in a cage for the amusement of the King, a man she thinks she loves and that he loves her. This is not even mentioning the blatant rape scene. Yeah, totally messed up and not for the faint hearted for sure.

There is hardly a time ever that Kennedy doesn’t have an idea in her head about a story and prays that she can do justice to them. Kennedy’s advice for the new authors is to just keep writing as much as they can and don’t worry about success.

Publication Order of The Plated Prisoner Books

BuT iTs ChArAcTeR dRiVeN!!!!" You cannot look me in the whites of my eyes and tell me that Auren experienced anything close to the growth we saw in Glint and Gleam, books that were a fraction in length. Additionally, Kennedy has written a few single novels and contributed to the series of other authors. Kennedy has collaborated with Ivy Asher to write one book in the Kingdom of Wolves series as well as one in the Paranormal Prison series. Everything is reaching its crescendo. I cannot wait for the fifth book. I need someone to put me into sleep paralysis until the next book is released because how am I supposed to move on..

As a writer, Kennedy likes to work on all kinds of stories as she thinks that each story brings a different kind of experience. When she is not trying to meet the deadlines of her publishers or scratching her head over a new idea, she can be found being with her family or trying her hand at a new recipe. If you’re a BookTok devotee, odds are you’ve heard about the soon-to-be-released ‘Plated Prisoner’ series. The dark, adult fantasy books are loosely based on the myth of King Midas, set in the glistening gilded world of Orea. But things aren’t always as beautiful as they appear. Auren is a prize and prisoner to the powerful King Midas, but when danger awaits, she realises that she might not mean as much to him as she once thought. You can quote Slade's dirty talk all you want, but for me, none of it countered the slog that was this book. Oh, and then there was the one chapter from Rissa's point of view, in which she simply states how much of an oaf Osrik is, how much she despises him and oops, goes up to kiss him. Sounds irrelevant? You get the drift. We saw Auren and Slade's development as a couple before, but now we get to see their growth as individuals after being faced with multiple threats and tragedies.

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Now I’m here, a prisoner of Fourth Kingdom’s army, and I’m not sure if I’m going to make it out of this in one piece. They’re marching to battle, and I’m the bargaining chip that will either douse the fire or spark a war. GOLD begins right where we left off in GLOW, which had one hell of a painful cliffhanger. This book will play and mess up your emotions so be ready. After that massive cliffhanger from Gleam, I have been eagerly waiting for this next installment in the series. And overall, I enjoyed this story. However, as many have already stated, it was a filler book. There's nothing wrong with filler books. In fact, I believe they are necessary for most series longer than three books. So as far as filler books go, this was done well, but there were a few things that didn't work for me. We get a love of solid character growth and (hehe) rot of course and I just loved how it all played out. Continuing on with multiple POVs from our favorites really just rounds out the story telling and enhances the experience. Slade continues to be dramatic AF (mood) and Auren in this book is just so perfect and ugh her growth makes me so emotional 🥹😭✋🏼

I don’t know whether it’s because I wanted something effortless to read or whether it was because I was a captive audience on my 4 hour flight but I really enjoyed this book. It is much better written than I expected and the plot is easy to follow, even with all the random “powers” and twists and turns. I liked the characters, and of course it reminds me of Sarah J Maas books, but it is not as good as hers in my opinion. RK opens various plot lines throughout the book, mostly done by newly introduced POVs and she fails to follow through with a single one of these plot lines. They all fade into nothing during the whole length of this book. The Characters - Caricatures is probably a better word, as they all fall incredibly flat. Almost everyone is laughably evil. The men are awful, sexist, over-the-top baddies with zero nuance. The women are mean and catty, and even though the author tries to provide some excuse for it later on, the reasoning is pathetically weak. The few good characters are written to have zero flaws, and they're set up as obvious plot devices. As for the Auren, the protagonist - she is so incredibly boring. She's one of the "good" characters who only wants to help everyone around her, but she never DOES anything (except whine about why no one likes her, despite her pure, pure heart). The whole story just happens to her. And her only real flaw is her complete incompetence. One thing that she was always enthusiastic about was writing. Even when she was quite small, Kennedy had started creating innocent stories with the help of the books she read at that time. Though the stories were not good enough, Kennedy saw them as an escape that she created for herself whenever she wanted to be a different person in a different world.In chapter 26 Auren hates, that her initial reaction to Slade is "snappishness" and then goes on to simply drop it. If it only were that easy, right? King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I’m called his precious. His favored. I’m the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don’t leave the confines of the palace, I’m safe. I’m now in a strange kingdom surrounded by liars, with no allies of my own, but I won’t sit idly by and let myself wither. No, there’s something that’s bloomed from the pit of my repression. Something dark. Something angry.

And now, when she sits down to write a story, things often get too emotional. So, Kennedy feels the need to work on something light-hearted. This way, she has managed to maintain the balance in her work all along. If there's something you crave, if there's some freedom you want to try the taste of, then you will do it, and I will be right there with you, watching you devour your wants. And then I will devour you." I mean you’re mine to please. To pleasure. You’re mine to protect. To adore. To hear. To see. To experience. To love.”The pacing was fitting (I didn't think it was slow) given the build up and development of the story. I was so engrossed with everything going on.