Glint (The Plated Prisoner #2) – Raven Kennedy

Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 439
Release Date: January 11, 2021

Haven’t read the previous novel? Check out my review HERE!

“You want to make your life easier? Then be the caged bird that you are and sing.”

For ten years, I’ve lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas’s golden castle. But one night changed everything.

Now I’m here, a prisoner of Fourth Kingdom’s army, and I’m not sure if I’m going to make it out of this in one piece. They’re marching to battle, and I’m the bargaining chip that will either douse the fire or spark a war.

At the heart of my fear, my worry, there’s him—Commander Rip.

Known for his brutality on the battlefield, his viciousness is unsurpassed. But I know the truth about what he is.

Fae.

The betrayers. The murderers. The ones who nearly destroyed Orea, wiping out Seventh Kingdom in the process. Rip has power sizzling beneath this skin and glinting spikes down his spine. But his eyes—his eyes are the most compelling of all.

When he turns those black eyes on me, I feel captive for an entirely different reason.

I may be out of my cage, but I’m not free, not even close. In the game of kings and armies, I’m the gilded pawn. The question is, can I out maneuver them?

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I’m certainly in the minority when it comes this novel because I found Glint to be boring and predictable.

Glint picks up after the events of Gild where Auren finds herself a captive of Fourth Kingdom’s army. Almost the entirety of the novel takes place as the army marches to war. Auren finds herself able to roam around the army and meets others who make her eventually question her world and loyalties.

Glint focused on Auren’s character development. Or tried to. She is surprisingly naïve despite her traumatic childhood making her a very difficult character to root for. Though, in her defense she isn’t faced with many life shattering truths to make her question her life with Midas. Kennedy spends the entire novel trying to make Auren realize that her life is worth more than sitting in a cage only for Auren to continue turning a blind eye until the last possible second.

Ultimately, the reason I decided to read this series was because I seen it labelled as fantasy with heavy romantic elements and its constant comparison to ACOTAR. Both Gild and Glint have almost no romantic elements. The enemies-to-lovers slow burn is nowhere to be found in Glint. You could argue there is one moment, but it’s so far out of left field making it more weird than exciting. There is no tension or connection between Auren and the love interest.

I understand the comparisons to ACOTAR, however I thought Glint was trying too hard to be an ACOTAR knockoff. Auren goes through almost the same things Feyre goes through: seeing the world isn’t what she thought it was, new people who are almost exactly the same as those in the Inner Circle, newly discovered feelings for the novel interest, etc.

The lack of world building continues in Glint. As established in the previous novel through an info dump chapter, Fae used to be an integral part of this world but no longer are. However, the very obvious reveals throughout Glint that are related to the Fae fall flat as Kennedy has put no effort in building the lore of this world.

Overall, Glint was a boring disappointment. I’ve seen repeatedly how this series is so good and the romance is chef’s kiss, however, in my opinion, it’s a poorly constructed fantasy with a borderline annoying main character and absolutely no romance going into the third novel.

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Have you read Glint? What did you think?