Gild (The Plated Prisoner, 1)

Rating: 4.6/5 ⭐ Spice Level: 2.75/5

Tropes/CW: Dark Fantasy Romance, Retelling (King Midas), Single POV, Abuse, SA, Kidnapping, Imprisonment, Misogyny, Single POV

I've read this 3 times (so far), and each time I'm blown away. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite series of all time (reserving final judgment until the final book comes out). The worldbuilding, the writing, the pacing, the twists and turns are just chef's kiss

This series does have quite a bit of abuse and trauma in it. So please read the trigger warnings before starting it just in case. I don't find the dark content to be gratuitous though, and it's well-handled and adds to the story and characters. Auren in particular experiences the majority of the abuse as the FMC and boy does she go through it.

Auren is the favored, gold-touched "saddle" (a concubine with metallic gold skin/hair) for King Midas, the ruler of the 6th Kingdom, who keeps her in a golden cage that is strategically expanded throughout portions of the castle. He keeps her literally under lock and key, parading her about as needed for political purposes and as a demonstration of his power (turning things to gold).

Midas has his sights set on ruling more than just 6th Kingdom and ultimately ends up needing to head for 5th kingdom, later sending for Auren and the rest of this saddles (concubines). This leads to a series of unfortunate and fortunate events that puts Auren on a journey of self-discovery and growth.

The writing is phenomenal and portrays the mental side of abuse in a respectful and gritty way. There were several moments throughout where I literally stopped and said "damn, that's brilliant." The characters are all extremely well developed, even the bad guys and multiple morally gray characters. There are very explicit scenes (including the literally beginning of the book), so keep that in mind as well.

If you like dark fantasy and fairy tale retellings with some unique twists and beautiful writing, please give this one a shot (while considering the trigger warnings)

BLUF: Read the book. This is King Midas like you've never imagined before. Spice, but not like you're expecting in this one. Trust me, it's coming. This book introduces our characters and sets our story into motion deliciously. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Fantasy

Setting: First person, multiple POV writing in a realm with very little magic. The fae abandoned the realm long ago, and only those with fae ancestry retain magic and power. Our story mainly takes place in the frozen mountain castle of Highbell. Everything is gold because this is Midas' domain.

Meet the FMC: Auren is the king's favored saddle. She is in love with him and he with her. She is special and valuable beyond compare. So special that he turned her into gold. She lives in a gilded cage in his castle.

Meet the MMC: In this book, it would be King Midas so I'll introduce him here. Midas has gold touch. He can will the gold in his veins to gild anything he pleases. He is handsome and charming. He visits his favored from time to time and protects her from the world. He saved her long ago and proclaims his love for her, to her, to this day.

Short overview, no spoilers: This story unfolds slowly. We meet the royalty of Highbell and those in their orbit. We dig into the dynamics between our main characters. We learn a bit of the lore behind this world. The King is hard at work, forming alliances and building his legacy. He is at his peak, and his long-time friend, King Faulke, is poised to launch Midas to his greatest height yet. But Auren is caught up in the political machinations, and the betrayal has tipped the scales away from her beloved King. Will their relationship survive what is to come? Will King Midas get his heart's desires? Will our cage bird learn to fly?

I have a feral obsession with this series and this author. I've never felt so much so quickly. The writing is beautifully done. The descriptions, the imagery, the emotions woven into every chapter. The pace was perfect, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I related to Auren immediately and yet sensed some secrets and needs that left me intrigued. I normally read very spicy books, but I didn't once feel that the story lacked passion. I would give this 🌶🌶 and the vibe of the scenes is lust and power, not exactly passion or love. You'll see. You'll be running to the next book as fast as your little feet can carry you! 10/10!

I am OBSESSED with The Plated Prisoner Series and while the first book is not my favorite of them all (that honorific goes to Book 3, GLEAM which is just absolute PERFECTION, the first book is still an incredible entry into Auren and the world Raven Kennedy has created. Kennedy's writing is beautiful and, while Auren's inner monologue and the dialogue can feel anachronistic at times, it works with the characters she has created. Auren's background and the big reveal in this book are very well done, and after re-reading this first book in anticipation of the finale coming out in September, there are so many little clues and easter eggs I didn't pick up on the first read-through that only leaves me more impressed after a second read. I tell everyone I know about this series!

The golden sprayed edges are fantastic and add to the 6th kingdom's King and his magical gift plus the Gold-touched Woman. The book sleeve has a beautiful shiny gold foil lettering though the foil does not extend to the hard cover. The hardcover is slightly bumpy almost like the cardboard used was in pieces that were pressed together to form the cover instead of a solid smooth cardboard piece.

Story Review:

Overall there is great character development and writing that really makes you not only feel and root for the main female character but also some of the supporting characters also. There are a few twists and turns that gives the reader a better understanding of the past 24 years of her life plus her and Midas' 10 year relationship. A bit of world-building throughout this novel which helps to break it apart while adding to the ever growing instead of in one large section.

Gives a bit of the Tamlin ACOTAR vibe, but with a twist given the King has a Queen and the owner of the King's heart, Auren (or so he claims). His actions in this story seem to contradict this as I don't believe anyone would even put the keeper of one's heart in these situations.

SPOILERS and THEORIES Warning SPOILERS and THEORIES Warning SPOILERS and THEORIES Warning SPOILERS and THEORIES Warning SPOILERS and THEORIES Warning

The more and more we learn about Auren and Midas' pre-King relationship the more I'm leaning towards Auren being the one with the powers of gold-touch and the less I believe she was gold-touched by Midas. There can be an argument that Midas transferred some of his gold-touch powers to Auren when he gold-touched her which is why she can turn the Pirate Captain gold towards the end of the book. If Midas was born with the gold touch power, why is he a vigilante when he finds and saves Auren? She was only 14 when he rescued her, did she even know or have the gold touch ability or was that something that developed when she grew her ribbons shortly before Midas rescued her. Though if she was gold all her life I don't think she would have been coveted way before her 14th year. Midas also doesn't gold-touch any other human, though of course he wouldn't do this to his Queen who is so power hungry and one could easily see her trying to kick Midas out if she had the power for herself.

Thinking of the bird that Midas turned gold in his cage, I'm not fully convinced that Midas can gold-touch living creatures and not turn them solid. Her life was tough before Midas saved her, and because of her tough history, she is willing to stay in her cage. Tricks another King into a “golden saddle night” and significantly hurts their bond in return for the kings army to take them out and end the human trafficking the 5th kingdom's king participates in. On the way to 5th kingdom, she's captured by land pirates and then sold over to 4th kingdom's army. This book sets up the failed relationship of Auren and Midas going forward and I expect many additional cracks before the final break because she still feels like she owes him for saving and protecting her. I'm sure we'll see more to come in the

The plot was plotting. -⭐️4.5/5

You can for sure tell this is a “first book” and i’m in desperate need for some character development.

Auren has so much potential to be a strong FMC she just needs the push in the right direction; I enjoyed the few flashbacks of her past because it gave a look into who she is without making Midas her whole personality.

That was one thing I couldn’t stand but understood considering she’s been locked away for the last 10 years. I hope to see her grow exponentially and have an eye opener.

This book is different. Not bad yet the jury is still out with a true verdict. 3.5 *** is what I’m feeling. For those who are avid fantasy readers, you may have liked this more than me. I’m a dark romance/mystery reader but wanted to try something different.

The story begins interesting enough to keep my attention captive. The reason for 3.5 stars is it’s sooo wordy!! The constant description of what she “the favored” sees or thinks or remembers is monotonous. It gets boring. Not enough dialogue between the characters and we don’t get enough answers. I even skipped pages and it was still the same scene and conversation or thoughts in her head. BORING.

The story begins with a woman who is gold. She has gold skin and hair and has “ribbons” that are whisps that grow from her spine - seems yucky and yet beautiful at the same time. Her name is Auren. She lives in a castle, inside a gold cage kept by her “savior” King Midas (the Midas touch was not lost on me. Kool and the Gangs song played on repeat in my head everytime his name came up). He found her in horrible conditions when she was only 15. She had lived an awful life on the run and being taken advantage of by men for 10 years of her young life. Midas finds her, rescues her, protects and she thinks loves her. He wasn’t a King when they first meet. However, he has some magic to turn things into gold and offers his hand in marriage to the princess of the 6th Kingdom. This hurts Auren however he promises to take her with him and keep her for himself. Ten years go by and she lives in a cage as his “favored”. The king has a harem of women he refers to as “saddles”. Auren is also considered a saddle yet she is only for the Kings pleasure, that he rarely touches.

Throughout this book I keep waiting to find out who truly has the magic to turn things into gold, bc it surely isn’t the King. She clearly has untapped power she isn’t using due to her indoctrination by the king. She loves him and believes he loved her. I don’t believe he loves her at all. He manipulates her into seeing and believing something that isn’t there.

The last two chapters are good. Looking forward to reading the next installment

I don't think I've ever read anything like this!

Auren is the golden girl. Literally. She's almost entirely made of gold, and she is the favorite "saddle" of king Midas.

I guess "saddles" are supposed to be like concubines that basically live in a harem, but not Auren. She's the golden "saddle" and she lives in a cage with golden bars in the size of basically the top floor of the palace. She doesn't perform the same duties as the other saddles. She's basically seen as a pretty pet made of gold that sits in her cage and is commanded to watch the king and his other saddles 👀...ummm...you-know....and play the harp, get stared at and stroke the kings massive ego.

She had a horrible childhood and sees king Midas as her savior. She loves him and she believes he loves her too, but after 10 years (from age 15till now) she's finding her life in the cage stifling. On top of that king Midas breaks her trust in a major way, and things just keep unravelling from there.

Auren is an interesting character that I feel we will learn much more about in the next book.

However, king Midas just pissed me off. Its so obvious he's using her. He groomed her since she was 15, but since he was nice to her and she was SA'd side childhood, he was her first "nice guy" that claimed he loved her, wanted to take care of her and protect her from the harsh world. She fell hard and really all those red flags went right over her head because all she really wanted was to be safe.

Its a harsh world they live in, but this is an honestly unique and interesting story. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Honestly, after all the hype, I had no idea what to expect from this book. So I kinda went in blind. But I enjoyed it!

The praise saying to read this book if you love Sarah J. Maas's books is accurate because Gild brought very much similar feelings.

The premise of the story and the world seems really interesting so far. With all kinds of magical powers, like turning anything into gold or having weird ribbons growing out of your back. I look forward to seeing even more of it in the next books.

The story itself is a King Midas myth re-imagining with some much needed added drama. Auren is golden herself and kept as the praised possession of King Midas to show off his endless wealth. But Auren can't leave her golden cage, and her love for Midas doesn't seem to be enough anymore. After some war drama, betrayal, tricks, and conspiring, the story takes a turn, and when Auren can finally leave the palace, everything goes sideways really fast. There's a wicked kingdom with rotting lands, prostitutes with hatred in their eyes, a land always plagued by winter and cold, and Auren feeling very much alone.

I was hooked by the world and the storytelling. While it is a fantasy, it is really easy to read. At first, I thought it weird to have such a modern tone to i, but I didn't mind by the end because I flew through the book in a day. The happenings are fast-paced, but still very detailed, and you can see the world around you while reading.

The characters only just started to open their wings. We only get fascinating pieces of them to peak our interest. Auren is our main character. The story is told from her point of view, and we can see everyone through her eyes. She is a bit timid and desperate at the beginning, but slowly, her personality starts to shine when she can finally leave her gilded cage. She is caring, funny, and strong. At least she starts to be that way. Midas obviously is one of the major characters, and his relationship with Auren is in the focus. He is an ambitious and confident king. Always keeping Auren in his back pocket. Honestly, I hated him from the beginning, but I don't yet know how he'll turn out. His actions are iffy, and I just don't like how he takes Auren's affection for granted. Digby and Sail, Auren's guards are also great side characters. I loved them because they showed loyalty to her first and not just to the king.

And the last third of the book? It was epic. We get the first glimpses of Commander Rip with little to know about his nature apart from his terrifying and larger-than-life demeanour. I'm quite interested in his role, for obvious reasons.

So overall, I think this book was a great start to the series. I enjoyed reading it. The story was interesting and kept me on my toes. And we got twists and turns every other chapter. I can't wait to continue the story and see how this mess enfolds.

Gild (The Plated Prisoner Series) By Raven Kennedy ✨✨✨ 3/5 📖 “I’m the gold-plated prisoner. But what a pretty prison it is.”

Gild by Raven Kennedy is the first installment of the Plated Prisoner Series, out of four. I was actually very hesitant to start any series, let alone this one. It seems all I’ve been reading lately is a series. I did try to venture out of my comfort of Dystopian/Post Apocalyptic books and ventured more into the fantasy genre.

First off, let me start by saying this book is REALLY well written. It’s not drawn out, and there are no spelling or grammatical errors which I loved. The concept of having a golden favored of King Midas was super interesting to me. This was also my first book dealing with what one would call “smut.” While the smut was very little, it was tastefully done. When I first started reading it, I was actually kind of confused when the Author depicted her ribbons. I actually could not think of what she meant; I had to look up fan art to wrap my brain around it - so to that I say well done!

This book is super interesting, and makes you think. I’m not one who really reads fantasy, but this book makes me think I will not hesitate when it comes to another. This is not a book that will capture you and have you finishing it in a day, at least not for me. The plot is amazing, the writing is amazing, it’s just lacking something - I just don’t know what!

This book is a solid 3 out of 5 for me. Really well written, it’s interesting enough not to DNF, and the concepts and plot is intriguing. I’m excited for the next book!