Glow (The Plated Prisoner, 4)

“𝐖𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝.”

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥.”

𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡. 𝐖𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.

“𝐍𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.”

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞…𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧.”

“𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧.”

“𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲. 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥, 𝐰𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.”

“𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞…𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭. 𝐓𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.” 𝐀 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭. “𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐀𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐀𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 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.”

𝐒𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥.

I’m sitting here. Staring at this. Trying to figure out how to put into words everything this book was to me. All I’ve got is masterpiece. This will be a SPOILER FREE review but WILL contain large plot spoilers for the previous 3 books so proceed with caution if you’re not caught up with the series.

Ok. Whew. First off this book was heavy. You knew coming off of the end of Gleam that this was not going to be a light and breezy book, even on top of Auren still working through a decade of grooming and abuse. You knew her recovery was going to be painful and that this combined with everything else would take time. Every step of her journey, loss, and healing in this book is slow, delicate, careful, heartbreakingly realistic, perfectly depicted, and beautifully handled. There wasn’t a single question, discussion, thought process, or scenario in my mind that the author did not explore which I, as an abuse survivor on the “other side” of life in a healthy and loving relationship, both loved and appreciated SO MUCH.

What I was NOT prepared for was being emotionally ravaged by the childhood and past of King Ravinger himself. All I’ll say is Slade being a mama’s boy is everything I never knew my heart needed!!!

We get a LOT of Slade content in this book which to me was so needed both to better understand the Fae male who has fallen so hard for our golden girl, and to better understand how on earth they as two Fae managed to find each other in this world forever separated from the Fae world. And if you thought you loved Slade before this book, you have NO IDEA how much you’re going to truly be obsessed with him by the end of this book. He is multifaceted, complex, and deep…SO DEEP. He is every ounce the villain king, he has the filthiest mouth, good LORD he can steam up a page, and he loves Auren unapologetically with every single ounce of his being. These two have my heart forever and officially OWN carriages henceforth from this day forward, from now through the end of all of eternity🥵🔥

Everything is amplified in this book. The spice is OFF the charts, we gain far more POV chapters (some of which are VERY exciting), we get WAY more Wrath interaction, we get a new budding couple who I absolutely adore, we finally connect the dots to all of the questions we have about Auren’s past after her time with Zakir, we get the true fleshing out of a relationship between Auren and Slade, we get 110% more brother content between Slade and Fake Rip (his brother, Ryatt), we get 210% more emotions, we travel to the very ends of Orea (literally), and encounter far more…interesting characters, there is just SO much MORE in this book.

I will admit there were parts of this book that did feel super repetitive and just longggg, however every time I found myself thinking “didn’t I already read something exactly like this” it led to a new point of healing or vital conversation for Auren. You cannot rush healing and oftentimes through healing repetition is how you’re able to find the safe place and the courage needed to process through certain feelings/memories. So I think that’s important to remember as you’re going through this book, especially if you feel it’s beginning to get slightly long winded.

The end was an absolute roller coaster. I will say it didn’t entirely break me like the end of Gleam did, but it had my heart in my throat and screaming and I had to remind myself to breathe WAY more times than once. This cliffhanger is painful and did manage to make me cry like a baby, but with so much left up in the air knowing we’re going into the final chapter and seeing every stage set for that has me CHOMPING AT THE BIT to get my hands on book 5!!!

There just are no words for how much I love this series, and how solidly Auren has gilded herself and Slade into my heart. Every book just gets better and better and while I’m nowhere near close to being ready for it to end I cannot wait to see what is sure to be one heck of an explosive ending. My hat is perpetually off to Raven Kennedy…absolutely one of the best books of 2022!!

Glow by Raven Kennedy continues the spellbinding journey begun in Gleam, diving deeper into the world of magic, danger, and romance. In this sequel, Kennedy masterfully expands upon the characters and lore introduced in the first book, while introducing new twists and turns that will leave readers breathless. The stakes are higher, the emotions are more intense, and the magic is more enthralling than ever before. With its seamless blend of action, romance, and intrigue, Glow is a captivating read that will leave fans eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series.