literary gluttony

Some stories are built on grand battles and impossible magic. Others are built on the quieter victories—on healing, on forgiveness, and on finally becoming the person you’ve spent an entire series trying to be. Goldfinch, the final installment in Raven Kennedy’s The Plated Prisoner series, attempts to balance both, delivering an ending that is equal parts tender and epic.

The journey that began with a gilded cage finally reaches its conclusion as old enemies, impossible choices, and years of hard-earned growth collide. Auren must decide not only what kind of future she wants, but who she wants to become when the chains of her past are finally broken. As kingdoms stand on the brink and loyalties are tested, every sacrifice, heartbreak, and triumph throughout the series comes to a head in one final battle for freedom.

I’ll admit something that has probably become obvious if you’ve followed my reviews of this series: Raven Kennedy and I had a rocky relationship.

For several books, I struggled to connect with the characters and often found myself wishing the pacing would tighten. There were moments when I questioned whether I wanted to continue at all.

But somewhere along the way, something shifted.

Maybe it was because we’d spent so much time together. Maybe it was watching these characters slowly become stronger versions of themselves. Whatever the reason, by the time I reached Goldfinch, I realized I genuinely cared about them.

Their victories felt earned.

Their heartbreak mattered.

And I wanted them to find peace.

That’s perhaps the greatest strength of this finale. Kennedy allows the emotional arcs she’s been building for thousands of pages to breathe. The characters feel noticeably more mature than where they started, and seeing how far they’ve come was genuinely satisfying.

Unfortunately, while I appreciated the emotional journey, I found myself less satisfied with the story’s conclusion.

Without venturing into spoiler territory, the ending simply didn’t land with the impact I had hoped for. After investing six books into this world, I expected a finale that left me feeling emotionally full—one that tied together the sprawling threads of the series in a way that felt complete. Instead, I finished the last page feeling oddly detached. Everything wrapped up, but not in a way that left me with that lingering sense of fulfillment I look for when closing a beloved series.

It wasn’t a bad ending.

It just wasn’t the ending I wanted.

That said, Goldfinch is still one of the strongest books in the series for me. The pacing is steadier, the emotional beats hit more consistently, and I found myself genuinely invested in characters I honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever grow attached to. Looking back at where this story began compared to where it ended, it’s impossible not to appreciate how much these characters evolved.

Sometimes a series doesn’t completely stick the landing, but the journey itself is still worthwhile.

I think that’s exactly where Goldfinch lands for me.

While the ending ultimately left me wanting something more, I can’t deny that Raven Kennedy succeeded in making me care. Considering how hesitant I was throughout the earlier books, that’s no small accomplishment. Watching these characters grow into people I was genuinely rooting for made the final pages bittersweet, even if they didn’t entirely satisfy me.

Not every finale has to be perfect to be meaningful.

Sometimes it’s enough that the characters arrive somewhere they could never have imagined when the story first began.

Devour or Nibble?

Nibble.

If you’ve already committed to The Plated Prisoner series, you’ll absolutely want to finish the journey. Despite my mixed feelings about the ending, Goldfinch contains some of the series’ strongest character work and provides emotional closure for many of the relationships readers have invested in over six books. Just temper your expectations for the finale itself—it may not leave everyone feeling completely satisfied, but it’s still a worthwhile conclusion to a story that eventually found its way into my heart.