Reading With Tyler

Name: Gild
Series: The Plated Prisoner Series #1
Author: Raven Kennedy
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Kindle
Genres: Adult, Dark Romantasy, Retelling
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Review:

Please do read the authors warning before reading Gild. It is a dark romantasy which means there are some darker topics on the pages. By the authors own warning, this book is not for those under 18.

“Men making deals on the behalf of women never seems to go very well for the women.”

Gild was one of those books that was recommended to me when shopping and I picked it up pretty much totally on the basis of how excited the person was to tell me about this book… Then I let the divided opinions of the masses get in the way of me reading Gild. And in 2026 I’m deteremined to try and stop letting this happen because Gild was great!

I don’t know much about the King Midas myth, other than the fact that this king could turn things he touched into solid gold. That’s about as much as I know. So, I certainly wasn’t going into Gild because I wanted to see this authors take on the original story – but I really did enjoy what we got! I once again was betrayed by my own common sense and I didn’t realise that Gild was a Dark Romantasy and so I didn’t check for warnings at the start of the book… And I was shocked right from the get go.

I really did enjoy Gild. I found the first part of it to be pretty slow. It isn’t that I wasn’t ever interested in the story – it just felt like pages were being read but nothing was happening. And that is pretty rough at the start of a book when you really need something to grab your attention and keep you reading. Luckily, the moment things kicked off, it really didn’t slow down from there!

Auren, our FMC, is the King’s gold touched favourite saddle (those the king has sex with) and so she is kept in a gilded cage. And that’s where we join her. I was expecting an FMC who loathed her situation, who was angry, but Auren wasn’t that girl. It was one of the things that shocked me at the start. But despite that, I actually liked her! I think there is a lot of room for this character to grow as the series progresses! And even though she was a prisoner in a gilded cage, I absolutely didn’t think she was a weak character – I expect she could grow to become one of my favourite FMCs depending on how this all goes!

I’ve gotten to the end of Gild, still nonethewiser of who the romantic interest is going to be – however I certainly have an idea… So, despite the fact that there is a lot of on page sex / acts and it’s referenced a lot, whoever our endgame couple is – I sincerley doubt they’ve even touched fingers yet let alone kissed. I love that!!

I did need a bit of a break before diving into book 2 because this was pretty heavy and pretty dark. So please, don’t be like me, check the warnings so that you’re not caught off guard on page freaking 1, let alone later when it gets darker.

I didn’t get 5 star feelings while reading Gild, but I do have a feeling the series could be an over all 5 star series… So, despite my little break – which again is caused by my own lack of common sense to check for an author warning – I am very excited to read Glint! And the way that everything happened at the end of Gild… I’m left with many many questions!

“I never misplaced my innocence. It wasn’t my own doing from a forgetful lack of care. It was taken from me, one cruel exploit at a time.”