A review by ktbookbug
Gild by Raven Kennedy

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

RATING SYSTEM
I give up to 1 star for each category: characters, world, plot, my emotional investment, and my entertainment/interest level. My rating break down is below.
REVIEW
This book shocked me, thrilled me, had me on the edge of my seat, surprised me, and had me running to get the next book. Half the book is getting inside the head of the main character, setting up the story, etc. and the rest is just a series of "What's going to happen next, oh I can't look, shoot I'm reading I have to look, oh that wasn't so bad--OH MY GOSH!" The best way to read this is to go in blind so I don't want to say too much, but please check out the content warnings/trigger warnings because those are absolutely necessary to know. Here's my rating break down:
  • Characters - 1 star
    • You can tell a great deal of thought went into each character, no matter how small, and their role in this story.
  • World - 1 star
    • This will make more sense when you read it, but I love how our understanding of the main character's world is limited to what she's experiencing so that when you get flashbacks you're experiencing them as a memory too instead of learning about the world for reference.
  • Plot - 0.5 star
    • I loved where the story took me and there were awesome surprises, but there were a couple of times where I thought to myself, "Is this a plot twist or did the author just forget to leave some breadcrumbs for me to follow. Not only did I not see it coming, but it felt a bit like a deus ex machina (essentially, a feeling like, "Oh, well that was convenient..."). Instead of being this WOW moment I was kind of confused. Other surprising moments were done incredibly well though.
  • Emotional Investment - 1 star
    • I had to drag myself away at points because I was so incredibly connected to this story and knew it had the potential to destroy me, especially at some of the darker parts I could see coming up. I would get some fresh air, drink some water, make sure I had nothing else planned and that no one would come and bother me before I started reading again.
  • Entertainment/Interest - 1 star
    • This was one of the few books I've read where even the internal dialog of the main character working through something was entertaining. Sometimes it can get repetitive or boring and you just want new information to be introduced already! But I hung on every thought the main character had because I was going through this story with her. Anytime she would figure something out or have a revelation I'd be like, "Oh good I didn't know how we were going to find our way out of this." When I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it, and that's the first thing I look for in this category.
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