"I’m the darling of King Midas, ruler of Highbell and the Sixth Kingdom of Orea. People flock to see me just as much as they come to look upon his gleaming castle worth more than all the riches in the entire realm.
I’m the gold-plated prisoner.

But what a pretty prison it is."


Gild is the first in The Plated Prisoner series and is a take on the tale of King Midas, who in Greek and Roman legend, is a king of Phrygia and known for his foolishness and greed and through a wish was able to turn all he touched be turned to gold. I was intrigued by this series, as I had loved reading many myths and legends such as Midas, Narcissus, Pandora etcetera and I love to see such myths rewritten and reimagined into tales such as this.

Whilst I knew that Gild is the first book in the series, I wasn't expecting that there to be so little of the plots progression until near the end of the book but the set up both with the world-buiding and characterization is very in-depth - this is where my positivity of the book ends.

Despite knowing that this series is a dark romance and there are warnings given for various topics that ensure this book isn't recommended for anyone under eighteen; I found myself wanting to scrub my skin clean after finishing. In truth, I only completed it because I was desperately hoping that Auren, the girl whose skin is gilded thanks to Midas, also known as the Plated Prisoner, gets even a moments reprieve from her imprisonment and abuse. After all, a cage is still a prison whether it be made of gold or steel, whether there be silk sheets on a bed or a stone floor to sleep upon.

There's something truly unsettling about how she is stripped of human touch, as Midas is the only one permitted to touch Auren and yet, even he rarely touches her and leaves her craving any attention he gives her in the desperate hope for more. Romance and love isn't trapping someone, it's cruelty and it's Stockholm Syndrome wrapped in pretty words. Midas is cruel, and his abuse of her isn't hurt how he treats her physically by caging her, nor is it in the emotional abuse of denying her his constant touch. There is also how Midas and the other men he keeps close treat those who are beneath him, using sex to keep reminding in their place and it again, made me uncomfortable

This, again is supposed to be romance. (insert green tinged face)

I won't be continuing this series - despite knowing it was dark, I didn't realise I would feel physically ill nor praying from early on that Auren found a way to cage and kill the utterly arrogant and abusive Midas and many others for their cruelty and manipulation.

This could have been good, had so much potential for having Auren see the truth of what was being done to her, maybe it will in book two but I won't be finding out in case it's as traumatic as Gild.