I became obsessed with the Plated Prisoner series by Raven Kennedy…and then it disappointed me

I always like to have a series on the go that fits the guilty pleasure spot. A longer series where I can read one book a month and use them as a brain candy read when I need it, but I also, of course, want to love the series and become very involved with it. When I picked up ‘Gild’ in April and devoured it in only a few days, I felt like I’d hit the jackpot and it immediately went on my TBR to read a book a month.

When May arrived I picked up ‘Glint’ from my TBR and then proceeded to devour not just ‘Glint’, but also ‘Gleam’ and ‘Glow’ in about 10 days… Devoured, inhaled, consumed.

I was horrified at the things that Auren went through and cheering her on as she took back and commanded her power, and I was completely head over heels for Slade (a stance which never, ever changed), but something about ‘Glow’ went a lot slower than the previous books and I kind of burned me out on the series for a little while.

While I understood why the story sat where it was in ‘Glow’, I found it, and Auren, very frustrating. It really slowed the pace down and it felt like it dragged out the book. This series is long and the books are very long, a lot longer than they needed to be; there was a lot of padding that could have been sacrificed for the better, but that’s usually to expect from a book that hasn’t undergone edits under traditional publication. It was with ‘Glow’ that my love for the series began to wane a little.

Then starting ‘Gold’, I was pretty annoyed by the state of play, a state that was sustained for the entire novel. There was a lot of development in the world of the series, but also personally for Slade and Auren. However, there was also a deluge of other perspectives that I just didn’t care for and they held a significant page count in a long, long book.

I kept going and going and I did finish the series with ease - these books may be long, but they’re quick and easy reads. The brief feeling of being utterly obsessed with this series (and with Slade, let’s be honest) was a total joy, however, and I’m so glad I gave the series a whirl.

If you’re looking for a fun fantasy romance series to get stuck into, I recommend it!