The Gilded Ones has been one of my highly anticipated reads, and it delivered beyond my expectations. Deka’s newfound power makes her an outcast in society, but also a formidable weapon against the monsters that plague her homeland. As she is recruited to join an army of “impure” women like her, she finds her place within the empire is more complex and important than she ever imagined.

This book is a masterclass in worldbuilding. Every reveal in the story slid into place so well that I wondered how I had not known it was coming, but it was never predictable. I quickly came to love Deka and her friends and bloodsisters as they went through a journey with stakes that felt real and devastatingly intense. Every page ratcheted up the stakes more, ultimately teetering on the edge of a perfect setup for the next book. I cannot wait to see where the rest of this series takes us.

I really enjoyed the world building in this book. I think the writing was distinctive and the pacing was great. I am really looking forward to the sequel.

The Gilded Ones is what a modern YA fantasy novel should be. The characters are fleshed out, but the plot moves quickly and doesn’t fall into the trap of leaving too many loose ends for the next book to tie up. The book doesn’t shy away from brutality and harsh realities, but it’s ultimately hopeful. And, the fantasy world is well-crafted but doesn’t get bogged down in details that end up actually feeling jarring (i.e. terrible names for people and places that you know spent way too long to come up with). So excited for the next!

✨ 𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈 𝐄 𝗪 ✨⁣
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“‘And that’s the worst part of it. The physical body—it heals. The scars fade. But the memories are forever. Even when you forget, they remain inside, taunting you, resurfacing when you least expect.’”⁣
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𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘖𝘯𝘦𝘴 by 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐚⁣
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆⁣
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I hate that it took me so long to read this amazing book!⁣
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In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a crazy fantasy kick here lately, and it hasn’t disappointed one bit. I started reading 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘖𝘯𝘦𝘴 when I was selected to participate in a tour for its sequel, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘖𝘯𝘦𝘴, and I’m basically obsessed now. 🤷🏻‍♀️⁣
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𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘖𝘯𝘦𝘴 has some really well-done world-building and a unique fantasy landscape that had my imagination going crazy in a really good way. I wish there were more character art out there, or maybe I’m just really terrible at finding it, because I really need to know what deathshrieks really look like. 🤔⁣
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I love that there are such strong friendships and just a tiny bit of romance. With this not being a standalone novel, I can totally deal with the friendships getting more love right now than the actual love interest. 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐚 does all of this really well. 𝐃𝐞𝐤𝐚 grows so much throughout the story, and it’s truly amazing seeing her come into her own and figure things out for herself, rather than having to be told. She’s so strong and overcomes so much.⁣
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Definitely go into this knowing that there is a good deal of fairly intense violence, abuse, and abandonment by loved ones. I wasn’t too prepared for how intense some of those moments could be, so I want to make sure others know before going in. Take the quote I chose as a small taste of what lies within these pages.⁣
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Thank you so much to @delacortepress for my copy! I can’t wait to dive into 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘖𝘯𝘦𝘴!

overall good start for the first in a series. I ultimately just wish things would have been fleshed out a bit more with the world building and the characters.

I purchased this book for my high school library. My students have enjoyed it. and it has circulated well.

I absolutely loved this story and it's become a new favorite.

This story was unique and something I've never read before.

This story is filled with amazing powerful woman and I'm excited for the second book to come out soon.

This book is terrifying. There is depiction of torture, mutilation, rape/sexual assault, child maltreatment, and human/child trafficking. I adored Deka and despised others. Fantastic world-building. I expected to enjoy this story because it has so many positive aspects, but I struggled in the later chapters.

Many nations fear women and impose terrible restrictions on them in reality, history, and fiction. To instill fear in others, simply state that they are evil/impure/unnatural and will harm you and your loved ones. Continue until they believe. Deka and his culture are big fans of propaganda. She believes in evil even when it is her.

Warriors who created themselves." She's wise enough to choose becoming a king's warrior over death. She will fight for the king, defeat evil beasts, and be purified. Despite the violence, I enjoyed this novel until the end. Deka is a pure woman trapped in a patriarchal culture that devalues women. She has lived a proper life. I admired her resolve to do the right thing, but I was concerned about her naiveté. Her audacity stands out.

Her believable, terrifying universe deals with prejudice, racism, misogyny, and brutality. The identity of Deka's rescuer is unknown. The reader initially doubts her, then believes she is attempting to assist, and then again doubts that assumption. The story of Namina Forma begins beautifully. I expected this to be a favorite book. The book's conclusion made me reflect on the violence and brutality.

The cover alone of this book screams black girl magic, the inside of the book does the rest!! I would love to see this as a series on Netflix or HBOMAX.

This was a pretty quick read that did not feel like 400 pages. I will say that this was fairly simple in it's writing however, this story dealt with some very heavy topics. Such as a rape off-page and child abuse to name a few. It was pretty gory for a ya book but that just made me love it more since it was darker than I was expecting. Which worked out for this story. Parts that I didn't care for was some of the dialogue was cheese and didn't fit the feel of the story. I didn't feel as connected with the characters as I was hoping for. Overall, it wasn't a bad book it was a wonderful read and I think I will check out book two.

This book is taken to the next level these characters have to experience and the plot twist and the world-building of this book. This did feel more like an adult than a YA book. The romance aspect felt really out of place. All the women have to develop in this book at an early age. All the women in this book supported each other.

This is a gripping tale with believable, interesting characters. While some of the content is graphic, the story is one I could not put down and have in fact read twice! I particularly enjoyed the main protagonist--a girl whose strength is palpable. I highly recommend.

The Gilded Ones was brutal.
We follow Deka as she awaits a blood ceremony that will decide her fate. If her blood runs red then she’s accepted by her people, but if it runs gold then she’s either executed or made to join the emperors army.
I thought this was a very well done debut. The magic system was so interesting to learn about. The characters and their relationships were also a strong point of the story. The only element I feel some readers might have a hard time getting through was the amount of violence. There was some mention of assault, torture, death, etc. With that said, I think it was necessary for the story and wasn’t gratuitous.
I am excited for the next in the series to see what comes of the storyline and the characters.

The premise to the story seemed to be very interesting. I like how it showed West African culture for that is the novel’s strength. The book is also very well-written. However, there were some very disturbing scenes that made me uncomfortable. Therefore, this book was not for me.

*Thanks to Random House Children’s Books and #NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to review in exchange for my honest opinion.*
#AdvancedReadersCopy #NetGalley #TheGildedOnes

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna was a highly anticipated read for me and It did not disappoint. The characters were developed very well and the storyline moved quick enough to keep me engaged but not so quick that I rolled my eyes about it. This book was hard to put down and I would definitely recommend this for anyone who loves a good fantasy YA novel.

An incredibly interesting premise and one of the most stunning works of art to ever grace a cover couldn't make up for the lackluster, by the numbers execution of the plot and characters.

This book was such a great way to start off the reading year! It was SO good. I have been wanting a fantasy book that delivers with a badass main character and this was it.

The main character had to endure so much and they had a lot of development as the book went on. I also have an affinity for a lot of side characters in this book. The whole lore behind the society in this book was really interesting to learn about and I can only see them expanding on it in the future books of the series.

I love that the characters would be morally grey at times too. This always makes me like a book even more because I enjoy when they don’t just agree with everything that is going on and seem to think for themselves.

I will 100% be reading the sequel to this book when it comes out.

A great book. Would highly recommend to any fantasy fans out there looking for a new book to read, glad to have yet another BIPOC fantasy book to recommend to others.

Deka has always felt different from others. When her village's blood ceremony reveals her to have impure gold blood, she makes a dangerous choice to follow a mysterious stranger to join an army of powerful women. This is a fantastic feminist fantasy tale full of magic, suspense, and page-turning plot twists. Wonderful characters but be aware that there are quite a few violent action scenes.

Such a great fantasy YA! I have now purchased 20+ copies of this one to read with my student book club.