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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
3 stars. HUGE TW for SA, grooming, and holy mother of gaslighting. That being said, I’m pleasantly surprised with the quality of writing. Plot development is a bit slow for my taste, and I haven’t connected with any of the characters yet. But I flew through this book, so that definitely counts for something. Will happily read the rest of the series.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
⚠️ Pls check your trigger warnings as there are descriptions of 🍇 and SA. ⚠️
I'm so glad this book won my book club's poll because otherwise I might have waited a lot longer to pick it up. 💗 I went into this knowing there were 6 books in the series so I was prepared for book 1 to be mainly setup. But I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. 🥰
I can definitely understand the mixed reviews and why some people might not like the FMC. Personally, I can understand her mindset. She has been lovebombed, manipulated, gaslighted and essentially enslaved for 10 years. ☹️ Her brain and thoughts are gonna be fucked up.
But despite how fucked up her brain is, she still battles against her own thoughts to yearn for freedom and real companionship. 💗 Even when she's in a terrifying situation, she still stands strong to help others. 🥹 Even though that instinct should have been beaten down after all this time.
There's still so many things we don't know about our FMC, King Midas and this world. Hope Digby is still alive somewhere. I can't wait to meet our MMC (hoping it's the Commander) and learn more about the Fae. ✨ Onto the next book!
PS: RIP the real king, Sail. May you fly high 🕊️ You were only here for a short while but you won us all over 💔 You deserved so much more than this.
I'm so glad this book won my book club's poll because otherwise I might have waited a lot longer to pick it up. 💗 I went into this knowing there were 6 books in the series so I was prepared for book 1 to be mainly setup. But I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. 🥰
I can definitely understand the mixed reviews and why some people might not like the FMC. Personally, I can understand her mindset. She has been lovebombed, manipulated, gaslighted and essentially enslaved for 10 years. ☹️ Her brain and thoughts are gonna be fucked up.
But despite how fucked up her brain is, she still battles against her own thoughts to yearn for freedom and real companionship. 💗 Even when she's in a terrifying situation, she still stands strong to help others. 🥹 Even though that instinct should have been beaten down after all this time.
There's still so many things we don't know about our FMC, King Midas and this world. Hope Digby is still alive somewhere. I can't wait to meet our MMC (hoping it's the Commander) and learn more about the Fae. ✨ Onto the next book!
PS: RIP the real king, Sail. May you fly high 🕊️ You were only here for a short while but you won us all over 💔 You deserved so much more than this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
I skim read the last 2oo pages- didn't miss much. I gave 2 stars because the premise is interesting and the character of King Midas is well done- great background. The rest of the story is too smutty to be enjoyable, started to feel ridiculous. Most characters were fairly flat.
3.75 ⭐
This is a hard one to rate, because I was clearly captivated by it to read it so quickly, but it is an odd book to start the series.
Check for trigger warnings, as the beginning and the end are very graphic, and the middle there’s constant hints of upsetting themes.
But I’m just soooo curious?? Not much happened in this particular book, but the intrigue it created and the last line of the book, mixed with fantasy done in a way that I haven’t seen before made me keep reading constantly.
I enjoyed the female rage and Raven Kennedy wrote some really beautiful lines about friendship and empowerment, and the fact that what the saddles go through wasn’t masked in terms of it being a job or abuse, there was a clear distinction which made the darker themes more tolerable, whilst still upsetting.
I’m glad I enjoyed this book more than I expected (especially after the first chapter), because I bought the whole series - so I will definitely be continuing!
This is a hard one to rate, because I was clearly captivated by it to read it so quickly, but it is an odd book to start the series.
Check for trigger warnings, as the beginning and the end are very graphic, and the middle there’s constant hints of upsetting themes.
But I’m just soooo curious?? Not much happened in this particular book, but the intrigue it created and the last line of the book, mixed with fantasy done in a way that I haven’t seen before made me keep reading constantly.
I enjoyed the female rage and Raven Kennedy wrote some really beautiful lines about friendship and empowerment, and the fact that what the saddles go through wasn’t masked in terms of it being a job or abuse, there was a clear distinction which made the darker themes more tolerable, whilst still upsetting.
I’m glad I enjoyed this book more than I expected (especially after the first chapter), because I bought the whole series - so I will definitely be continuing!
⭐️ ⭐️
This book had what I thought was an intriguing premise: a dark, ‘seductive’ retelling with a unique twist on King Midas and his gilded court. The concept of Auren, a woman literally encased in gold, held promise for depth, symbolism, and magic. But unfortunately, I think the execution didn’t really itch the scratch for me (is that the saying?)
While the world-building had potential, much of the plot felt slow and repetitive, with long stretches of internal monologue and not enough meaningful progression. Auren’s lack of agency for most of the book made it difficult to fully root for her (and care?) even though her circumstances were clearly traumatic. I understand that the intent is to probably show her growth over the series, but in Gild alone, it just felt stagnant and dry.
The darker themes were handled with mixed success. Some moments felt powerful, others felt like shock value without enough emotional grounding. The romance (if it can even be called that at this stage) was more disturbing than compelling, which may have been the point, but left me feeling unsettled without resolution.
I’ve heard the series improves as it goes on, and I might consider continuing out of curiosity. But as a standalone, Gild didn’t quite grip me.
Had this book have been any longer in page count, it likely would have been a DNF.
This book had what I thought was an intriguing premise: a dark, ‘seductive’ retelling with a unique twist on King Midas and his gilded court. The concept of Auren, a woman literally encased in gold, held promise for depth, symbolism, and magic. But unfortunately, I think the execution didn’t really itch the scratch for me (is that the saying?)
While the world-building had potential, much of the plot felt slow and repetitive, with long stretches of internal monologue and not enough meaningful progression. Auren’s lack of agency for most of the book made it difficult to fully root for her (and care?) even though her circumstances were clearly traumatic. I understand that the intent is to probably show her growth over the series, but in Gild alone, it just felt stagnant and dry.
The darker themes were handled with mixed success. Some moments felt powerful, others felt like shock value without enough emotional grounding. The romance (if it can even be called that at this stage) was more disturbing than compelling, which may have been the point, but left me feeling unsettled without resolution.
I’ve heard the series improves as it goes on, and I might consider continuing out of curiosity. But as a standalone, Gild didn’t quite grip me.
Had this book have been any longer in page count, it likely would have been a DNF.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes