Gleam ♥ Raven Kennedy ♥ The Plated Prisoner #3

Published May 2021 ♥ Originally Independently Published by Raven Kennedy

❥ Fantasy Romance

❥ King Midas Inspired

❥ Enemies to Lovers

❥ Slow Burn

❥ Captor & Captive

❥ Mature Themes including Rape & Abuse

❥ Completed Series

Book One & Two Review : Review of Raven Kennedy’s Gild & Glint: A Journey of Betrayal

Book Four Review : Glow Review: Thrilling Journey Through the Plated Prisoner Series

Gleam Review

Gleam by Raven Kennedy is the third installment in her The Plated Prisoner Series and the longest to date. Which honestly makes me feel like the first two books, Gild & Glint should definitely have been one book.

Like the previous two books, Gleam picks up right where Glint leaves off.

Gleam doesn’t seem to have the same sense of urgency as Glint, but it was an enjoyable read. When I read Glint I fell into the story and didn’t crawl my way out until it was finished. With Gleam I found myself picking it up and then putting it back down again. There’s a bit of a dead zone in the middle where the story sort of flounders a bit, but once I was able to get past that – it was smooth sailing again.

I like how Kennedy has been giving us viewpoints from multiple characters. In book one we relied simply on Auren, the golden pet. Kennedy adds Queen Malina chapters in Glint, and for the first half of Gleam, we get chapters from the Golden King himself, Midas. You can really see the depths of his narcissistic behavior in Gleam. The gaslighting and manipulation run deep.

There are a couple of major revelations when it comes to Midas in Gleam. First and foremost, in my notes for Glint, I asked myself if he was responsible for the raid where he found Auren. I wondered if he was responsible for the attack from the Nomads when they chopped all of Auren’s hair off. Midas doesn’t take responsibility for the Nomads, but he did know who Auren was when he found her.

Midas had been after Auren since before she escaped The Third Kingdom.

By the time Kennedy reveals this, Auren is well and truly on her way out of Stockholm Syndrome Land. She spends most of Gleam sneaking around, making moves to leave Midas. Unfortunately for Auren, Midas is also sneaking around making moves. About halfway through Gleam, there is an altercation between the two characters. We stop hearing from Midas and Kennedy introduces chapters from Slade instead. AKA Commander Rip. AKA King Rot. AKA King Ravinger.

With the help of Rip, Auren realizes what love is suppose to be.

I really like Rip and his Wrath. There are some beautiful moments between Rip & Auren. Sexy ones too. Auren’s relationship with The Wrath, particularly Lu, is blossoming. Although we don’t hear from them nearly enough. Kennedy’s use of Auren’s relationship with The Wrath vs The Royal Saddles to show just how lonely and warped a life she has been leading is absolutely brilliant. I am looking forward to Glow and more of The Fourth Kingdom.

Speaking of different Kingdoms, we meet the Queen of Third and her cohorts in Gleam. Queen Kaila has traveled to The Fifth Kingdom seeking alliances. Midas perpetrates a riot in The Sixth Kingdom & an assassination attempt on Queen Malina in retaliation for her kicking him out. Midas & Kaila intend to marry. Poor Malina, I was rooting for her, woman power and all that.

Unfortunately, things are not easy for the Cold Queen, nor does she make things easy. There is something serious going on with the Cold Queen though. Numerous times it’s been driven home that Malina doesn’t have powers. At this point, I’ll be more shocked if we get to the end of the series, and she still doesn’t have powers. I hope we get more of her adventure in Glow.

I’m really liking where things are going in this series. Gleam, just like Gild & Glint ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. The ending was devastating and beautiful. There were points when my heart was just pounding in my chest in anticipation of what was to come next.

I can not wait to see what Kennedy has in store for us in Glow.

We tell ourselves twisted lies to tangle around our wicked truths, all so that we can get caught up in the bind and not have to face bare regrets.

He’s always towered over me to cast me in his shadow, and a shadow doesn’t like it when you burn it straight through.

With a twisted smile, I take them without mercy, because mercy was never shown to me.

❥ Raven Kennedy : Goodreads ♥ Webpage ♥ Facebook ♥ Instagram ♥ Threads

❥ Purchase : Amazon ♥ Chapters/Indigo ♥ Barnes&Noble

❥ Book One & Two Review : Review of Raven Kennedy’s Gild & Glint: A Journey of Betrayal

❥ Book Four Review : Glow Review: Thrilling Journey Through the Plated Prisoner Series