Gold

*sigh*

I continue to be infatuated with Slade. I think he is solidly and forever in my top 5 book boyfriends. He is out of his mind trying to find Auren, and it broke my heart over and over reading his chapters. I really feel for him, and have so much respect for his dedication to finding her again and making sure she is safe. He is doing this all while dealing with his own struggles, which is literally insane.

The revenge Slade took for Auren’s trial was written so well, and I could feel every emotion he and everyone involved felt. It was like you were transported to the scene, and as horrifying as it was, I could not put the book down. If Gold was written purely from Slade’s perspective, I think it might just have been my favorite book of all time.

Gold was written from the perspective of 4 people: Auren, Slade, Queen Malina, and Osrik. Osrik had a few chapters, but the rest was focused on the main 3. Auren, as she deals with falling through the rip to Anwyn. Queen Malina as she deals with the fallout of fixing the bridge to Annwyn. Slade, as he tears through Orea trying to figure out how to get back to Auren.

As much as I want to give Gold 5 stars because of how much I love the series, it unfortunately fell flat for me. Book 4 was a filler book in its own way, and for some reason Gold felt like even more of a filler book – but with less exciting filler content. I loved the content of book 4 with Auren learning her powers, being at Deadwell and the Brackhill, etc. Gold was filled with Auren in Annwyn doing things that didn’t make sense to me. It didn’t give me the angst of her missing Slade, the frantic desire to get back to him.

I didn’t have as much investment in Gold as I have in the other ones, and I think Auren in Annwyn was the main reason why. I just didn’t care about that part of the story, it didn’t fit, and it came out of left field. I understand why Raven Kennedy wrote this, because how else were we going to tie in the things that happened at the end of Gold with where we left off in book 4? I just didn’t personally love it.

Now what else did I love other than Slade’s perspective? Queen Malina’s story. She is a whiny, self-centered, annoying, horrible woman, and I am here for it. She gets knocked down a peg (or 20) throughout the story by the assassin, who doesn’t take any of her shit. This was a really great part of the story, and I was invested in her redemption arc. She is not 100% there yet, but she made a lot of progress. I can’t wait to see what role she plays in Goldfinch.

Overall, the Slade plot and the Queen Malina plot points were great, and I loved them! If Gold was only those 2, I think it would be 5 stars. Unfortunately, I just did not vibe with where Auren’s storyline went in Gold. I think it could have gone in several other directions, OR there should have been more of an emphasis on her desire to get back to Slade. He was frantic and out of his mind, while she what? Looked up at the sky occasionally?

I will say I did like her using her powers more confidently, and watching those grow while she fought with them. That was awesome!

Now, the ending? WOW. Wow, wow, wow, wow. SO MUCH stuff happened in the last 15% of the book, and it was a lot to process. You learn so many things, lots of twists are revealed, and we are set up for the last book. Who captured Auren and took her to Orea? Where did the people of Deadwell go? What are we going to do about Annwyn? There was one twist I did not like at all, and it has to do with Una. Once you read it, you will understand which one it is. I did not think it was necessary.

I think Gold by Raven Kennedy was a good addition to the Plated Prisoner series. I would read it again as part of the series re-read, though mainly for Slade and Queen Malina. Honestly, I would recommend it solely for the Slade chapters.