Glint

Possibly spoilery

This was a reread for me, and I honestly forgot how much I liked this book! The ending had me wanting to jump into Glint right away! This series is a King Midas retelling with a twist. The story follows Auren who is the kings favored concubine and her journey to realizing her true value. This book is a bit slow, but I always expect that in first book of fantasy series. By the end of this book, I was craving more. I reread this book to prepare for the upcoming release of Glow, book 4 in this series. I can't wait to move onto Glint and Gleam! I did this reread with the audiobook, and the narration was kind of difficult for me. It was very slow and just her cadence of speech was off, but once I upped the speed to 2x it was tolerable and less noticeable. This is an adult fantasy, 18+ for language, sexual content, and themes. Check trigger warning because this book definitely touches on some difficult themes.

Not much happened the entire book, there was a mayor plot twist at the end that I kinda saw coming. Despite that, I enjoyed the book a lot. This book made 400 pages of traveling fun and I did not hate it for a second.

Also, these side characters are great. Also, the saddles can rot in hell tbh. Rissa is the only one I can handle

Glint is book 2 in the Plated Prisoner series by Raven Kennedy and it is G O O D.

A much different speed/ storyline in book 2, as we follow Auren during her time with the Fourth Kingdoms army. She is petrified they will hurt her in more ways than she could imagine, but does that happen? Or does being around Commander Rip and the several kind people in camp crack her ideas of what ‘safe’ and ‘protected’ mean?

I really felt for Auren in this book, she is scared, she is essentially alone, she doesn’t know what is going to happen to her, and she doesn’t know how to protect herself. The other saddles don’t like her and don’t want to see her. She is not allowed to see the Sixth Kingdom guards. She has to sleep in the commanders tent, but he hasn’t made a pass at her yet so she is on edge.

I really enjoyed Glint. It was focused on Auren’s character development and poking holes in her previous ideas of what it is like to be treated well. There was also the dual POV from Queen Malina which was amazing.

Queen Malina was overshadowed and looked as lesser just because she was a woman. King Midas stripped away all the heritage and history of the castle, and now that he is gone in Fifth Kingdom, she is tired of being under his thumb and is going to make some much needed changes. She has so much anger pent up inside about how her life has changed the past 10 years, and she is done.

The Dual POV was great! While I enjoyed Auren’s POV more, I thought the twist in the story to focus on Queen Malina was really intriguing. I will be excited to see what happens next with her.

Honorable favorite character mentions go to Lu, Rissa, Keg, Hojat, Rip, Judd, Orsik.

My least favorite character is Midas (obviously), but I think that is what makes him a great character. He is clearly going to be a bigger villain for Auren as time goes on, and the author does a great job writing him as such.

Overall, Glint by Raven Kennedy was a riveting installment in the Plated Prisoner series, and I can’t wait to jump into book 3! I would recommend this book and the series as a whole so far to everyone.

pre-reading: if this is not as good as y'all say, after i've just suffered through that awful first book, someone's getting a scooter to the ankle.

post-reading: not as awful as the first book but still could've been a lot shorter. felt overly drawn out for no reason. the queen pov chapters were unnecessary. at least auren finally came to her senses in like the last two chapters.

Glint, doesn’t add or improve much on the first book. While the plot does progress, I’m still not quite understanding the massive popularity surrounding this series. The world-building remains interesting, and the magic system continues to be unique, but the pacing and overall depth of the story feel lacking.

That being said, Kennedy’s writing style is undeniably engaging. Even though these books are over 500 pages, they feel like fast reads. The way she writes makes it easy to absorb, and the flow of the story keeps you turning the pages. It’s easy to get caught up in the world, but at the same time, I’m left wondering when the true payoff will happen.

If you’re looking for a quick, entertaining read with some intriguing elements, Glint delivers, but if you’re hoping for significant improvements or deeper character and plot development, this sequel may leave you wanting more. Still, Kennedy’s style keeps you hooked enough to see where it all goes next.

what the fuck just happened


I'm so beyond confused (in the best way) at that twist at the end. I absolutely called the one about Auren but Rip?????? It's like my brain isn't processing or connecting the dots.

This one was sooo good and I can't wait to read the third book. I kind of get the slower pace of the first one cause I feel like we needed all the information that it gave just so this one would be that much more interesting. Still very in love with the whole world this was set in and all the elements are 10/10