Gold

The Plated PrisonerGoldRaven Kennedy

Nov 5

Written by Ally Talley

The Plated Prisoner #5

By Raven Kennedy

TheStory

Alone in Annwyn, Auren is discovering who she really is to the people in her home land. And what happened when she was taken to Orea. Waiting for Slade to find her, Auren falls in with the Turley loyalists and works to undermine the current monarchs and save Oreans throughout the land.

Back in Orea, Slade is stuck without the power to open another rip in the world and thus unable to get to Auren. Besides his own desperate attempts to get to her, the fae have invaded Orea and everyone in the realm is in danger. Meanwhile, Slade is having some sort of adverse reaction to his separation from Auren.

TheReview

Let’s start with the best part of our morally grey MMC… his revenge rampage. Slade just goes flying around Orea damning everyone that had a part in Auren’s kidnapping and/or the Conflux.

Daddy.

I loved it. He basically said, “Eff this. Everyone dies.” He can’t get the rip open, he can’t get to Auren, his body is betraying him. Therefore, revenge is his way of dealing with all of that. He channels all of his helpless fury into violence and vengeance.

But interrupting Slade’s super satisfying revenge tour, Queen Malina’s POV becomes a major plot point in the story. We basically watched her spend the series being a selfish, cold, monster of a queen. So, it was deeply satisfying to watch her realize that she is a moron who has no idea what or who she is dealing with.

But oh-ho-ho, her story isn’t done there.

She has some major character development as she realizes that she was, in fact, a dumb bitch her whole life. In this book, she finds a purpose and uses her shame and guilt to spur her into becoming the queen that she should have been all along.

Thirdly, we have Rissa and Osrik as the final set of main side characters.

I was DYING during the last book at how little we got to see of them. They become just as beloved to me as Slade and Auren. Rissa had been through so much, some of it right alongside Auren. Getting to see her have something that is just hers is really satisfying. It was completely separate from Auren and Slade, yet I bet that it will come full circle to be a part of their story as well.

After everything Rissa endured, we get to watch her stop being the person everyone assumes that they can simply overpower and take control of.

Since Slade and Auren were separated THE WHOLE TIME, my investment really shifted to Rissa and Osrik in terms of romance. Unfortunately, we got more Queen Malina and Dommik than we did Osrik and Rissa. But that only irks me because I wasn’t as invested in their story as I was Osrik and Rissa’s. I did like Malina’s story and I get the reasons why it matters so much. I just didn’t want quite so much of it.

Slade and Auren’s romance became secondary (really nonexistent, but I digress) to the rest of the story and characters. There is so much going on that it’s not remotely the main plot point anymore.

My complaint is…

I waited through the slow burn.

I waited through Midas.

I waited through the trauma and the healing.

I waited through the political games.

I finally get AUREN AND SLADE.

Then Raven Kennedy really put them in different REALMS!

I was fuming.

That being said, it opened up a lot of space for other characters to develop and other story lines to flesh out. But that doesn’t mean that I had to like the fact that I was emotionally deprived of the relationship I spent four books investing in.

For me, the pacing of this book was much slower than any of the others. Like a dramatic shift in story telling. On top of that, my favorite couples were separated the ENTIRE TIME. Meanwhile, Malina is being shoved down my throat at every turn. And the ENDING?! What a brutal narrative to navigate going forward. I am emotionally unwell.

Regardless… five star read! I don’t care what my complaints were, I am so freaking invested into every single part of this world. This book just made me FERAL for the next one.