So, I am super excited for today! But first of all, a massive thank you to Love Books Tours and Raven Kennedy for including me in this Gild book tour! I’m genuinely so happy and honored to be part of it.
Anyway, I first came across this book while putting together a list of beautiful book covers a while back. The premise sounded so interesting; after all, you know I love it when authors write new interpretations of myths. And Kennedy’s take on the King Midas story sounded awesome.
So, when I got the chance to sign up for the book tour, I was thrilled. And, again, I’m super thankful to have been included. But now that I’ve got my gushing out of the way, onto the review!
Review
As I said, I love mythic retellings and re-imaginings. And Kennedy’s take on the Midas myth without a doubt lived up to my expectations. She wove the elements of the myth into her own fantastical world beautifully; everything came together so seamlessly.
As for the general plot, I definitely enjoyed the flow of it. I liked the way Kennedy focused on world-building and providing context at the beginning, but also wove in different details throughout the book. Honestly, this isn’t actually the kind of book I usually go for, but this one held my interest. It was dark and horrible most of the time, but Kennedy’s writing is just undeniably compelling.
Of course, a lot of the issues remained unresolved at the end, but this is the first book in a series. So, I assume a lot of those things will be dealt with in the later installments.
Also, I won’t say anything specific, but that twist at the end? Let me tell, that had me freaking out a little bit. I honestly didn’t see it coming, so it really punched me in the gut. In the best way possible, of course.
Finally, I really liked so many of the characters. I’m rooting for Auren to save herself and to grow as a person, but I think the real MVP of this book was Rissa. I admired her strength and perseverance; she’s had an absolutely awful hand of cards dealt for her life, but she does her best with what she has and refuses to break, and I was in love with everything about that.
But the villainous, antagonistic characters were equally well done. I truly despised all of them, but Kennedy definitely has a talent for writing such disgusting villains in a way that just truly sparks hatred.
TL,DR Recommendation
All things considered, I can recommend reading this one. I definitely think that SJM fans will enjoy this one! I saw a lot of similar themes and tropes, and I think the overall arc of the series might follow a similar pattern at ACOTAR. So, if that sounds like you, I recommend checking it out; given the enthralling world-building and character potential, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
So, I hope you enjoyed my review for the Gild book tour! Feel free to use the Book Tours tab to check out the other tours I’ve taken part in. Also, I included the tour post with all the dates and hosts for the Gild book tour below, so you can check out some of the other stops.
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CONTENT WARNING: Abuse, rape, mature themes/content.
