Title: Glow (The Plated Prisoner Series #4)
Author: Raven Kennedy
Genre: Fantasy, fantasy romance
Publisher: N/A- Independent
Publication Date: 2022
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 705 pages

Read if you like: fairy tale retelling (King Midas), dark adult fantasy, extreme spice, touch her and you die and who hurt you from the MMC, found family, major plot twists

Rating:

Raven Kennedy is the queen of the plot twist. Before starting this series, I’d been warned that there was at least one major twist in each book, but regardless, each time it hits me, I’m reeling from the shock of it all.

There was so much to love about Glow (the fourth installment in the Plated Prisoner series) that it’s difficult to even summarize. The rotating point-of-views, the character developments, and the exceptionally meaty plot all came together so beautifully that I couldn’t stop turning pages.

The final book in the Plated Prisoner series, Gold, is due out in December and I’m so glad I prioritized reading the rest of this series leading into its release. With the explosive ending of this book, I’ll be waiting with bated breath for the final book to be in my hands!

Fair warning: it is impossible to review the fourth book in this series without major spoilers to the previous books. Please avoid reading any further if you want to avoid spoilers for Glow or the previous books!

The Book: Glow by Raven Kennedy

Glow jumps back into the thick of the action that left off in Gleam, with Auren collapsed in Slade’s arms after he rotted her to stop her from dying of a power drain. Auren has left the court at Ranhold reeling from the destruction she wielded when she took control of all of the gold in the castle and killed Midas where he stood.

Slade races tirelessly to Deadwell, the small mountain community that he successfully negotiated from Midas before his death, where he attempts to revive Auren, only to find that despite his best efforts, he’s unable to wake her or remove the last kernel of his rot. She stays in stasis for several more days while Slade and his wrath panic about whether she’ll wake up again or not.

Meanwhile, Queen Kaila is taking advantage of Auren and Slade’s absence to weave a narrative about the events surrounding Prince Nevin and King Midas’ death that paints her as the heroine and Auren as the villain. She intends to use the rumours she spreads to obtain more influence and power over both of the deceased’s kingdoms, solidifying herself as a force to be reckoned with.

Auren eventually wakes traumatized, and it takes a great deal of time and patience on Slade’s part before she begins to process the events that led her to join him in Deadwell. They work together to help her learn to master her power and gain physical strength, but when they receive a summons to a Royal Conflux that has been arranged by Queen Kaila to condemn Auren for the events at Ranhold, they know that their time for recovery is up, and they must return to Slade’s kingdom to meet Manu, Queen Kaila’s brother, who has arrived to convince Auren to show for the Conflux. They race back to Slade’s castle, all the while falling further for each other and learning more of each other’s deepest and darkest secrets.

There is much else happening at the same time, but to save from any intense spoilers, suffice it to say that Auren and Slade will be met with the most difficult and devastating challenges of their lives as more and more of the plotting of those around them continue to unfold. The climax of the action is explosive and has catastrophic consequences for all involved, including Queen Malina, who has struck a bargain that she will live to regret.

The Review

There is a lot to this book, so I’ll start with the plot. I love how much Kennedy pours into the narrative around the characters, the setting, and the history, and the storytelling is always gorgeously woven. I felt like the pacing of this book took a little while to pick up, but during the slower parts, there was so much character development happening that it offset any slowdown in plot speed. The addition of different perspectives also helped to carve out both Orea and Anwynn in new and detailed ways that I loved.

Speaking of additional perspectives, I so enjoyed getting so much time from Slade’s point of view, both past and present. When I finished the last book I felt like his character had so much potential, and Kennedy comes through on it in Glow. His backstory and his development since kept me gripped, and I loved that while he has many redeeming qualities, she chose to keep him squarely in the morally grey area. His insistence to Auren that he is a villain, and will be the villain for her, had me swooning.

Auren also moves leaps and bounds in this book, which has been a long time coming. In past books, I wanted to see her develop more quickly, but given the nature and scope of her trauma, it does feel more authentic that it takes time for her to arrive here. I’m glad for the development though, and seeing her lean into her villainous nature towards the end was an edge that I loved for her character arc.

I won’t say anything to spoil the major twist, but I will say that I actually gasped out loud. My heart was breaking and my mind was reeling at the same time, and I immediately wished that the next book was already available. I’ve loved that as this series has gone on, I really couldn’t predict where Kennedy would take it. While I know what the basic premise for book five will be now, I still have no idea how it’ll unfold or where the characters will end up, and I love that in a story.

The only thing I would caution on this book is it was gratuitously heavy on the spice. There were more explicit scenes and they were much longer than any of the previous books. I like spice in my fantasy novels, but I prefer it to be balanced with a greater plot and character development, and there were times when this one leaned more heavily on the spicy romance than on other aspects. That said, it was still a knockout for me.

I can’t wait to see where The Plated Prisoner series goes from here. I’ll be picking up the final book the second it’s released and powering through it as quickly as possible.