Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Gleam

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Gleam by Raven Kennedy

101 reviews

karydiazc's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Everything was so predictable... except for that one last plot twist I definetly did not see coming, that last betrayal...
I loved it

Midas was so manipulative all the way and finding out he was Barden East was the cherry on top, when he revealed everything he did to get to Auren... omg.
Also, Auren finally ending midas with gold was bliss. I kind of wish he suffered more, but still, it was gratifying.
I kind of wanted the nobles and the people to realize it was Auren all along who had the gold, but making asumptions about her being able to steal powers was better somehow.

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frantically's review

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dark emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The lit student in me, the critic, would like to rate this 3 or even 2 stars. Nothing happened. Just like in the last book. But the Aurip (?) stan in me won out.

You know, maybe sometimes we don't need a plot. Maybe some healing and some sex is enough.

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kimberlyyyreads's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When I catch the mf that Midas is it’s OVER FOR HIM.

Auren my love, u literally deserve the entire world. I am so glad that she grew within herself and learned to prioritize herself. But I am absolutely DEVASTATED for her 😭💔

Slade deserves more book time 🫵, I need to see more of him and hope that the next books show me that. He is so fineeeee.

As for Slade & Auren, I wish we got to see more of their relationship. It seems like we’ve mostly seen Midas and Auren relationship rather than Slade and her and I hope that the next books show me MORE of them.

The literal plot twist at the end had my jaw DROPPING, I CANNOT believe what I had read and need time to sit on this because WTF?!?

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mikasana's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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? Yes

4.25

Best of the series (so far).

This is also the only series I feel has no definite beginning, middle nor end for each book. It’s more so just one sliver of a large overarching story that stems from the first book. There’s usually 1 definite moment that becomes the highlight of each book so far but again, beginning and end are all pretty blurry.

This approach makes the world and its world-building pretty lacking with more questions than answers as book seems to stray away from. The majority of the focus is on its characters and their relationships/development.

So despite all its flaws, the slowburn is immaculate. The payoff from book 2 into book 3 is delicious. I love the tension, the flirtations, and the push/pull between our FMC and her love interest.

I will say, however, my biggest gripes were some of the pet names that were used (I hate seeing “baby” as a term of endearment) and some of the raunchier scenes that just felt a little bit out of place with the rest of the book.

Overall the series has me hooked and despite its flaws I will be finishing all of it.

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rubisbooknook's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ok this is the book where this series fully shines! Book 1 and 2 in the series were all set up for the perfection that is this book. I absolutely loved it! I was so emotionally invested in Auren’s journey to find her strength and it was beautiful seeing it. The love story finally took off in this book too and I was obsessed it. There were also some shocking revelations and surprising moments that had me on the edge of my seat until the last page. I always say the best was to know if a book was good is when it makes you get so lost in it that you forget you’re reading, and this is one of those stories that has the ability to do that!

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