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RedditIn this Glint book review I am sharing my thoughts on the second book in the Plated Prisoner series by Raven Kennedy. As usual I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum, however, there may still be a few small spoilers in this review.
“I hope you burn so bright that you scorch your Golden King down to ash.”
Raven Kennedy, Glint
The Plated Prisoner series was one that was on my possible read list for a while. I didn’t actually know if I wanted to read it because while Tik Tok was raving over how great the series was, some of the reviews made me think I wouldn’t like it. I’m glad I followed Tik Tok’s advice though.
Before we dive in, I want to make it very clear that this series has a bunch of trigger warnings that you will want to be aware of. There is a lot of sexual situations. Grooming, narcissism, and emotional abuse are regular occurrences in this book. I have done my best to identify the triggers in this book below, but my list may not be complete.
Trigger Warnings
Since we don’t always get trigger warnings on books I like to give trigger warnings in my reviews. This can help people avoid certain triggers that could hurt their mental well being.
Possible Triggers in this book are:
- Abusive Relationship
- Assault
- Attempted Rape
- Blood
- Bones
- Bullying
- Death
- Decapitation
- Drugs
- Emotional Abuse
- Grooming
- Hostages
- Kidnapping
- Murder
- Physical Abuse
- Prostitution
- Rape
- Sexual Abuse
- Sexual Assault
- Sexually Explicit Scenes
- Slavery
- Torture
- Violence
For a list of the triggers I look for you can check out this link here. This may or may not be a complete list of triggers for this book, I do my best to make sure I mark anything that could be a potential trigger but I may accidentally miss triggers.
Synopsis and Author
In Glint we once again follow Auren as she travels from The Sixth Kingdom to The Fifth Kingdom where Midas, her king, expects her. These travels are not going as planned and after being captured by pirates, she has now been captured by the army of King Ravinger.
Ravinger is a terrifying King and is often called King Rot because he has the power to rot life. This army isn’t what it was supposed to be though, in fact there are a lot of things that don’t make sense to Auren.
Raven Kennedy has brought to life the world of Orea, with complex characters, horrifying trauma, and a slow-burning romance. Her world building and character development is fantastic. A series that leaves you emotionally charged while fully understanding where her characters stand and why they make the decisions they do.
Glint Reading Experience
Glint is mostly based in the newly acquired Fifth Kingdom, where Midas is taking over the leadership after the death of King Fulke. Auren is traveling with King Ravingers army as he attempts to make a deal with Midas to return her.
In the last book we only had the POV of Auren with the final chapter being the POV of Midas. Things get changed up a bit in this book. We still get Auren’s point of view but we also get Queen Malina – Midas’s wife. We also get one more chapter from King Midas’ perspective.
This book was much better than the first even though I already gave that book a 5 star rating. We are starting to dive into the past to see how we got where we are. We are also seeing some pretty amazing character development.
Writing Style
The ebook is 462 pages with 40 chapters in which we start to see Auren come into her own. It’s easy to read, has excellent descriptions, and amazing world building.
I personally couldn’t put this book down. I wouldn’t say it’s action packed but trying to understand Auren and the decisions she wants to make in this book moves the book quickly. It doesn’t hurt that we have a tall, handsome, and broody man coming in to shake things up in Auren’s life.
Finally, Raven Kennedy does a wonderful job about keeping the story unpredictable. While I saw some reveals coming I didn’t get them all and it made the story super interesting.
Glint Book Review
Auren once again tops the list of favorite characters. Do I think she’s about to make an awful decision? Yes, absolutely I do. Do I think the choice she makes is necessary for her own personal growth? 100%. Raven Kennedy does such a fantastic job about fully understanding the feelings of this character.
I know we aren’t supposed to like Rip, but I like Rip a lot. I’ve liked him pretty much from the start of the book. Rip was about the only predictable thing in this book. We know he’s supposed to be scary, but come on, tall, dark and morally grey, yes please.
I love Lu’s strength and snark. Hojat is super kind and caring. Keg is another sweetheart and I appreciate the kindness he shows to Auren.
I was right to hate Midas from the beginning. I still don’t know what type of slime ball he is but I just know something is wrong with him. I hate the way he treats Auren.
Queen Malina is a bit of a special case for me. I hate her for how she treats people and her entitlement, however, I feel she is a victim of a horrible law that stole everything from her. So where horrible things can happen to people and they keep their humanity, Malina is not like that. That’s why she ends up on my hate list, but really I just pity her.
Osrik and Judd are going to grow on me, I just know it. Osrik is going to turn into a teddy bear who will be fiercely protective, and Judd is winning me with his sense of humor.
The slow burn, enemies to maybe lovers, and the way the story is being told makes this a super interesting book. I like the small flashbacks we get to see that help to better explain how we got to this point. I also feel like we are being led into a chosen family story and I love those types of stories.
If you like K.F. Breene, CN Crawford, and Amelia Hutchins you will probably like this series.
Star Rating
Before I rate this book I want to give you a bit of background about what my rankings mean. I typically read books that I check out through the Libby app with my local library or through Kindle Unlimited.
I rarely buy ebooks unless they are cheaply priced or on sale. I also very rarely buy physical copies of books. I’m a bit of a minimalist so I have to absolutely adore a book to buy a physical copy that will be proudly displayed in my home.
So my ranking system is as follows:
- 5 Stars equals I am buying a physical copy of this book. I will read this book at least 10 more times, it is the best ever.
- 4 stars equals a great book. I might buy an ebook version when it’s on sale so that I can re-read it at least one more time.
- 3 stars equals a good book. I likely won’t read again but I appreciate the story.
- 2 stars equals “Meh.” I will not read this book again, it had a lot of problems and I did not care for it.
- 1 star equals a bad book. I barely finished this book and I will never recommend anyone waste valuable book reading time on this book.
- 0 stars is a did not finish book. I will never finish that book and it is banished.
Glint gets 5 stars. The story is interesting, the slow burn and tension building is hot, finally we get to see the beginning stages of trauma healing. We see Auren starting to stand up for herself and step into her own. It’s a fantastic story and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
Likes:
- I love the character development in this book.
- I liked the break from the action that we got in the last book.
- The picture of what Auren’s past was like is becoming clearer making it easier to understand more about her.
Dislikes:
- I hate the way the saddles treat Auren even through her kindness, I hate bullying like that. Necessary for the story, but I don’t like it.
Final Thoughts on Glint
The second book in the Plated Prisoner series has set the bar in how fantastic this series is going to turn out. Raven Kennedy is really taking character development to a whole new level. We have realistic growth from a woman who starts off trapped and weak to now we can see her becoming stronger and more independent.
Reviews for the Plated Prisoner series:
- Gild
- Gleam
Have you read Glint? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite book boards.
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