Gleam (The Plated Prisoner Series Book 3)

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Finally, to end on a positive. Chapters 28-31 have to be some of the MOST DELICIOUS CHAPTERS I HAVE EVER READ. Yeah. I said what I said. It's official - Commander Rip is now one of my top book boyfriends. I felt liberated just like Auren when she tasted a little bit of freedom. Yes, the travel felt a little bit slow at times, but we got to know how Auren's real personality would be if she had a normal life outside her gilded cage. She also gets to form caring friendships that show glimpses to her, without her even realizing, of how a healthy relationship with someone should be, and who her beloved really is.

Auren is still trying to deal with the emotional aftermath of Rip's lies and "betrayal" (although in my humble opinion it's not really a betrayal...), while she is also trying to figure out how she feels about him, because it's obvious that she is not indifferent, and she cannot seem to stop thinking about him. I am," he says without remorse, his sharp jaw tight with tension. "But I'll be the villain for you. Not to you." If you’re a BookTok devotee, odds are you’ve heard about the soon-to-be-released ‘Plated Prisoner’ series. The dark, adult fantasy books are loosely based on the myth of King Midas, set in the glistening gilded world of Orea. But things aren’t always as beautiful as they appear. Auren is a prize and prisoner to the powerful King Midas, but when danger awaits, she realises that she might not mean as much to him as she once thought. Gild was very boring and pretty slow paced. The first 1/3 most of it was Auren (h) having one monologue after monologue about the castle a.k.a her big cage and how everything, including herself, is gold. How her skin is literal gold, not golden, but straight out GOLD. Her hair is gold. Hair clothes is gold. Her bed is gold. GOLD EVERYWHERE. Another very important fact is that she is the king's favored. His prized saddle. The gilded pet he keeps in a cage. The darling of king Midas, ruler of Highbell and the Sixth Kingdom of Orea. Yada yada. She is the gold-plated prisoner. That fact was shoved down my throat so many times, I couldn't forget it, even if I wanted to.Perfectly shows how many subtleties an abusive relationship has through the rose-colored lens of the victim. How can he easily use her, and tries to maintain her trust at bay through sweet nothings, how he mantains her hooked in that draining relationship through intermittent affection and their past memories as his lover and savior, how manipulative he can be, and how unbalanced the relationship is in terms of power. A perfect representation of a toxic relationship that never feels romanticized but realistic. Auren's development in GLINT was spot-on, in my opinion, and her journey to gain independence, agency, and a deeper sense of self makes her such an easy character to fall for. For ten years, I’ve lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas’s golden castle. But one night changed everything. Auren grows so much in this book, it’s impressive and it also felt so good to witness. She still struggles a lot with her feelings when it comes to Midas because even though she comes to realize that she was not exactly happy in her gilded cage, she still loves Midas and feels that she owes him her loyalty and life since he’s been the one that saved and protected her… That inevitably led to some frustrating choices on her end, but those choices created some delightful angst, and I just know that they will continue to add angst into the next book, so I am actually happy about Auren’s choices. I think it would have felt less realistic if she’d just done a 180o and suddenly decided that she didn’t want anything to do with Midas anymore. I am curious to see how she will deal with all her emotions though now that she realized how badly Midas is treating her, and how little he cares about her, but she is still forced to stay with him because he owns her (his words, not mine). In fact, in a jaw-dropping moment more than halfway through the book, it is revealed that it is not Midas who has the gold touch, but Auren.

I truly believe Auren's story resonates with many people whom were victims of manipulation and they mistook those manipulative actions for love. Her growth and realization towards the end that everything she had endured was because of a false love was so powerful yet heart wrenching.So if I make it through this, if I live, I vow to myself that I won’t let it happen again. I won’t sit idly by and keep letting men crush me in their fists. I don't know what I'll be facing in this book but as long as I'm facing it with cutie Lyra, I'm sure I'll be okay😌🫰🏻

Kennedy originally thought that the series would be a trilogy. However, ‘as soon as I started writing Glint, I realized there was no way I could do everything I wanted to do in only 3 books,’ she says. ‘I knew going into this that I was going to be dedicated to a realistic vision of Auren’s character healing from some major trauma and manipulation, so I didn’t want to rush any aspect of her thought processes or emotional and physical journey.’ I was told that being confined was to keep the bad out . . . Until I realized it was about keeping me in. Love is a whisper we didn't hear or a sound that drums in our ears and drowns out everything else." Hundreds of years ago, when there existed a bridge and a Seventh Kingdom, Orea was connected with Annywyn, the realm of the Fae and the Fae brought to Orea magic and many Oreans born to a Fae parent or with Fae ancestry are gifted with magical powers. But years later, magic slowly died out and the Fae do no longer cross Orea nor do Oreans cross into Annwyn. No more Fae set a foot in Orea because the Fae betrayed the Oreans 300 years ago and their new King saw Oreans as lesser beings and destroyed the bridge between the two realms resulting in the Seventh Kingdom's doom.Can I really fall in love when the cities around me threaten to crumble and my fate hangs in the balance? I have high hopes and expectations for the next books and I hope the execution is properly done so this won't go to waste. I would be very sad if it does. Could it be that cage was built not only to keep her safe from the King's enemies, but to keep everyone safe from her? Do you ever just get that heavy feeling in your chest? Like you've just read one of the best books ever and now that new love has been placed into your heart? no? just me💀 I swear to God this one went so well and I had so much fun and was so excited to read this book together with her. And honestly I thought buddy reading would be very complex but it went smoothly and almost easy! I'm truly happy, really! You should try it! Imagine that you can talk and hype a book together with a friend? Personally, I don't have people that enjoy reading as much as I do around me irl so to be able to hype and talk and be excited about a book together is just a pure bliss for me.

AURENNNN not only grew in this book in comparison to Gild, she blossomed. She flourished. Shes becoming her own person and I was literally just crying such happy tears for her. I am so proud of this girl. She just so amazing outside of her cage and I never want her in it again. The character development alone for her is just amazing. I love her. I'm glad you're choosing you," he says quietly, and my lips part, like I want to swallow the rumble of his cadence. I was looking forward to Auren's journey, especially knowing that she is a victim groomed to be nothing but a gilded prisoner who believed for so long that her golden cage is where she will always be safe. I’m so frustrated this was split in two books like this, ughh this could’ve been executed so much better!! I’m angry at the missed opportunity. Omg RIP!! My mansssss. I love him even though he’s hardly even been in the book. He’s giving me main character and love interest. I need more of this FAE. I mean we’re getting FAE!! And this book got so much better in the last half. More action and movement which brought it to life and kept me hooked. Lmao I was on the constant hunt for my mans. I kept getting disappointed with every guy until RIP. But I sense it deep in my bones. I know it’s him. He’s the one! And Rip saying that he knows what she is jdgsjsgjshshdkkfkdbs *internally screaming*

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Sail: this was just too cruel. Ripping alway Auren’s only friend? killing him? Their friendship was so sweet😭😭😭 So I will fight for him and he will kill for me, and if we need to become the villains, then so be it. It's actually insane how vastly different my rating for book 1 and 3 are, but I can definitely say that I don't regret reading this series.