Book Review – Gild by Raven Kennedy

“Word of advice, though? Maybe no more book chucking.”

Gild by Raven Kennedy

Why This Rating?

Could I have arbitrarily given this book more turtles because I enjoyed it so much? Yeah, but that isn’t going to be fair to the rating system. So, here’s me staying consistent with my reviews!

This one started off with a banger everyone! That sentence is probably more funny than I should let it be since the first page is a fully on orgy happening. If you didn’t know, Auren, our gold-touched main character POV, is a part of King Midas’ harem known as the saddles. So sex is something that you are walking into by just picking this book up – heads up. Midas’ saddles are a pretty constant in the scenes doing various things. I did not know that was the path the story was going to take based on the back of the book. I also stayed away from spoilers with this one, especially with the 6th one releasing soon to my reading of this book. Which was hard considering how loud the book community can be when they like a series. So, the whole book was a surprise to me and added a wonderful spice level to the reading. That being said there are a bunch of warnings that I feel should be said, it is even written into the front page of the book so readers will be aware then too. There is violence, dark elements, non-consensual sex, abuse, emotional manipulation, assault, sex-trafficking, and probably something else that I missed. I know that not everyone is able to handle some of the things that can come up in readings and I don’t usually call out some themes, but this one I feel like should be.

Unfortunately, the world building that happens in this book is tiny. Could that be because our MC is literally trapped behind bars and not allowed anywhere? Yeah, probably. I guess you can’t see much if your POV is gold bars, same old castle, and people that won’t interact with you because the king gets grumpy. We get a brief understanding at the expanse of kingdoms in the world. Then there is an opportunity for Auren to travel and the world starts to be created for us. I think this moment really shows that there is potential for development happening. However, I do think the world overall was lacking some. I’m really hoping that the books develop far more of the world (considering there are now 6, I’d like to think this is successful). There is a map though! So the world does have potential with growth!

Another part lacking was character development sadly. The first part of the story is just a basic glance at everyone. We get a little history about King Midas from Auren to help us understand their relationship some. But Auren’s development is very superficial and keeping us at a distance still. There was some cracks letting us just after halfway, but I think Sail brought more to the table for us to bond with than Auren. I did enjoy watching her break out of the docile, quiet individual she was at the castle and shift into the brave, confident woman that was clearly there the whole time. She just needs to say “fuck off. Let me be me already.” And Midas is a dick. Sorry but he is. I know that says nothing about his development. There is something that just sets me on edge when he’s interacting with Auren. I can tell that his character is meant to be pretty superficial so far and pretty self-absorbed. If there is development past the proof of him being an ass, I probably missed it.

The writing is simple, but kept you reading. I think the best way to approach this reading would be to just turn off your mind and let the story take over. The descriptors were pretty good. There is only so much one can describe from a castle and everything within it covered in gold. Kennedy did a great job at describing the moments as we went and I never got annoyed with the descriptors despite the gold everywhere fact. I was starting to get annoyed with the constant “Bright Side” lines (and that is coming from an individual who is absolutely an optimistic/bright side thinker). BUT I realized that is Auren’s coping style after the first dozen times it happened. Find that silver-lining in situations that you don’t have control and you can find a way to survive the experience. Also, what was up with her desire to gamble all the time? She never once gambled truly and yet, she constantly asked people if they wanted to bet or wager stuff all the time.

I know you guys are probably reading all of that and asking, how did I enjoy it for a full 5 turtles if I have this much to talk about. Honestly, I straight-up and simply enjoyed the book. I loved the mystery Auren poses to us. There is so much we don’t know about her. I had this need to keep the pages turning to learn more. There was want to figure out why I had certain ideas about Midas and this evil the Fourth Kingdom that just kept me going – not that much was revealed in hindsight. I liked that banter Auren had when she did talk with Diggy and Sail. Loved Sail! And it was just a fun read to just sit back with. This first book was just Kennedy’s way of teasing us with a taste of something yummy and great. There is so many things that have caught my attention that I can’t get this series out of my head! I would recommend this one pretty highly if you are ok with reading books with the warnings I’ve mentioned. This is a dark romance story that I am eager to keep reading the rest of the series.

Time to get lost in the next story!