Review: Gild by Raven Kennedy

Title: Gild (The Plated Prisoner, #1)
Author: Raven Kennedy
Genre: Fantasy, Adult 
Publication Date: October 16th, 2020

Kindle, 303 Pages

Summary: 

The fae abandoned this world to us. And the ones with power rule. Gold. Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold. Even me. King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I’m called his precious. His favored. I’m the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don’t leave the confines of the palace, I’m safe. Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck. Suddenly, my trust is broken. My love is challenged. And I realize that everything I thought I knew about Midas might be wrong. Because these bars I’m kept in, no matter how gilded, are still just a cage. But the monsters on the other side might make me wish I’d never left. The myth of King Midas reimagined. This compelling adult fantasy series is as addictive as it is unexpected. With romance, intrigue, and danger, the gilded world of Orea will grip you from the very first page. Please Note: This book contains explicit content and darker elements, including mature language, violence, and non-consensual sex. It is not intended for anyone under 18 years of age. This is book one in a series.

**Content Warnings: Rape, Death, Kidnapping***

I've been eyeing Gild for quite some time and it was one of the first books I downloaded with my Kindle Unlimited subscription. Gild has flooded Tiktok in the recent weeks and had me intrigued. Several people have pitched it for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas so I was curious to see if it lived up to the comparison. While I did give me ACOTAR vibes, this story is stunningly different and whole lot darker. Gild is not a book intended for young audiences, for it contains dark and heavy scenes.

Auren is a royal saddle, meaning she is one of King Midas's concubines. He rescued her from a harsh reality of living in the slums and fending for herself. She is his precious. His Gold-touched. His Gilded pet. Auren trusts Midas with her life, but everything changes one faithful night when a dark deal is struck, leaving Auren with no choice but to obey her savior and King. 

I really enjoyed Auren's character. I will admitted the first chapter or so I was a little hesitant but she quickly grew on me. She's caring and has a strong desire to help others, which is something that stood out to me. She proves this point several times with in the novel in some hilarious ways and in other heart touching moments. I am excited to see Auren's growth over the next books in the series considering where this book left off, there is so much potentail for her character and after everything I've read in Gild I'm sure I am not going to be disappointed. 

There is so much I want to discuss but because of spoilers, I can't. But go into it keeping in mind that this book is very heavy on character development and plot development. It does get sow at points, but the action scenes balance it out very well. If you are looking for all of Gild to focus on Fae for it's entirety, it isn't. The Fae aren't mentioned until the end, building the story line up for another book. 

Overall I really enjoyed Gild and I can't wait to see what the second book is going to have in store for Auren and Midas!