Namina Forna’s buzzy West African-inspired fantasy The Gilded Ones was originally supposed to hit shelves back in May of 2020 and found its release date pushed back repeatedly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that has rocked the world of publishing. Now, Forna’s debut is here at last and though this feminist adventure is imperfect, it also proves more than worth the wait.

Much of The Gilded Ones – with its Chosen One narrative and sexist, dystopian tropes – will feel pretty familiar for regular readers of YA fantasy. Yet, Forna’s rich worldbuilding helps this novel stand out from the pack, crafting a kingdom, a society, and even a religious system teeming with details and life. Every inch of this book feels steeped in the culture she’s created, which feels entirely unlike anything else out there in this genre right now. The feminist messaging around issues of purity, agency, and gender equity sadly remains remarkably timely, and though its girl-power sentiment can occasionally feel over the top, it’s deeply satisfying to watch Deka and her friends – who have been told by all and sundry that their lives are worthless because of who and what they are – claim their power.

The Gilded Ones takes place in a harshly patriarchal society, whereby girls are forced to undergo a ritual at the age of 15 to determine her purity. Red blood if she pure, and gold blood if she is of demonic descent, and these near-immortal demons, are tortured over and over again, and killed over and over again. To her horror, Deka’s blood runs golden and she is subjected to this suffering until a mysterious woman comes and recruits her to train with other alaki, other girls with that cursed gold blood with exceptional physical power, to form an army against deathshrieks, monsters who are the kingdom’s greatest threat.

The Gilded Ones was so rich in tropes and themes and thus I will structure my thoughts based on them.

A million thanks to TBR and Beyond Tours, as well as the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy of this INCREDIBLE book in an exchange for a sincere review. All the quotes used in this post are from an advance reader copy and may differ in the final publication.

“The way I see it, we all have a choice right now. Are we girls, or are we demons? Are we going to die, or are we going to survive?”
First off, we have the strong, badass YA female lead with more to her than she realises. We are all definitely not foreign to these kind of powerful girls, and are so familiar with them to the extent of many books utilising them ending up as cliche in our eyes. Admittedly, Deka does fit right into this trope but her character arc through the book was simply breathtaking. From a girl fervent in her religion, only desiring to be pure and nothing else, to one who grows into the community of alaki around her, and finally accepting and taking pride in her identity, again, it does sound cliche but its execution was anything but.
This is where the theme of pain comes in. Deka has been through intense physical abuse, dying nine times through various methods, and her character suffered too from the derision of her identity as a demon and as a woman. Tragic past trope double check. However, The Gilded Ones potrays how much this past haunts and influences her subconsciously, and how her pain shapes the person she becomes. Rawly executed, brimming with emotions through the hard-hitting and chilling narrative, I was convinced to the point of being moved by Deka’s journey spurred by pain.

“First lesson, neophytes: alaki do not yield. You conquer or you die.”
Yes there was pain, but isn’t it a core trait of most literary found families whom we hold dear to our hearts? The Gilded Ones was no different with the heartfelt kinship between all the alaki (the girls with demonic blood). Despite the divide, most entering with some sort of past abuse and suffering, how these bloodsisters banded together in their common identity, were fiercely empathetic and loyal was incredibly empowering to read about. These ferocious fighters who believed in themselves and each other and were such a collective force to be reckoned with made The Gilded Ones such a compelling and emotional read for me.

”Blessed are the meek and subservient, the humble and true daughters of man, for they are unsullied in the face of the Infinite Father.”
Their banding together was made significant mostly because of the central theme of discrimination and misogyny throughout The Gilded Ones. Women have to wear half-masks, be accompanied by male guardians wherever they go, either be brutally killed if deemed impure or just as housewifes if their blood flowed red. This was to the extent of it being embedded in the religion, with a religious text known as the Infinite Wisdom often being referenced to, in order to legitimise the obvious misogyny as well as atrocities done to girls deemed demons. Not only was this prejudice so explicitly weaved into the setting, it was evident through Deka herself and her reactions. Her behaviour in the presence of men even outside of the village, her thoughts portraying her astonishment when seeing women empowered, kept reminding readers of her upbringing and kept that theme of discrimination hang heavily in the air.
Yet, these women finally seeing themselves without any biases, proving themselves and holding their own destinies in their hands was incredibly empowering to read about and I give Namina Forna a standing ovation for this fiercely feminist novel.

“I’m your uruni, now until the day of our deaths.”
So far, all the tropes and themes mentioned have truly carved a place for themselves in my heart but we all know, no book is perfect and this one did have its downfall, being the romance. It is rather ironical that the cliche YA enemies to lovers trope failing to deliver has also become typical in itself. Important, softie love interest. Feels like it escalates over a few days. Unnecessary. To make matters worse, I felt that this book would have been improved without the romance at all for to me, the romance juxtaposed the feminist vibe in this book. With a central focus on women empowerment, I was hoping for it to show that strong, powerful women do not have to always fall in love, but alas Cupid decided to pay The Gilded Ones a visit.
Another issue I had with The Gilded Ones, would be the pacing. I did get the flow and severely addicted to the story but I felt that the narrative was inconsistent, skimming over a lot of bits and thus one day could feel the same as a few weeks which did hinder the development of the story.


“All this time, I’ve been afraid of my ability, when instead I should have been regarding it as a treasured weapon.”
The narrative may have been an issue, but the plot was most definitely not. It did include many familiar tropes such as “the chosen one”, the “not-everything-is-as-it-seems” trope and others but I thought with the great amount of foreshadowing as well as the element of mystery unravelling strand and strand and accelerating, they were executed rather satisfyingly. Like a good tropey YA novel, the ending was spectacular and I was teetering between exuberant and intoxicated as the book alternated rapidly between intense action scenes, subversion of expectations and just moments where I would have to remind myself to breathe through swollen eyes.
Adding on, the world was incredible. It was packed with an intriguing magical system, with some rich history and lore, political intrigue at the end but most importantly with so many themes such as discrimination as mentioned above, I could draw so many parallels between it and our world today which is just terrifying given how brutal the kingdom is.

“No matter my origins, there is worth in what I am.”
The Gilded Ones managed to incorporate so many tropes like found family and the badass YA female lead, and themes such as those of discrimination and pain into this story of strength and empowerment of Deka, a young girl who goes through tremendous character and identity growth. A brilliant, brilliant, brilliant novel that you guys HAVE TO pick up soon.

This has been a very anticipated book. The story sounded exactly what I would enjoy - let's destroy the patriarchy, with some cool magic to boot. And it started out great. There's lots of brutality, a need to fight, the push to the edge of yourself, etc etc. But it kind of ended up not being that great.

The story follows Deka, a young girl at the turn of her womanhood, with hopes and dreams to be chosen as a wife, and live a calm homely life. But first she needs to be deemed pure, aka bleed red not gold. At her purity ceremony, everything goes wrong, and she is deemed in fact a demon. After being tortured and killed multiple times, comes an offer from the Emperor himself - become part of his demon army against the Deathless, the demons that are savaging the empire. What is a girl to do, if not to choose to be a fighter. After all, she did survive multiple kills.

That alone, got me hooked. I loved Deka for her need to survive, to fight, to be something different than what the men in her life expected her to be. But, there were a lot of issues with her character too. For example, the insta love? Insta bonding, insta trusting of others. There are scenes where she is questioning the betrayals, and wondering if the same thing will happen again, and she chooses to just kind of give in into faith.

The whole story is told from her perspective. And that would be fine. But everything, from the world building, to the interactions, is through Deka's eyes alone. So the world building ended up not an actual world build, but a few descriptions here and there of things that Deka saw, and how she portrayed them. It bothered me, as the world seemed to be a really cool place (except for patriarchy).

There's no history told (much) of the goddesses that ruled before, and how that world looked before. We were just told that it was better, and you have to trust that. It's was pushing the whole - men are bad, and have been bad for everyone forever. And that's all you need to know. I wish there were more stories of proof, and comparing of these different worlds from more than one perspective.

Overall a cool concept. I can't wait to see what these girls are going to do to the patriarchy in the continuation of this series. There's so much to flush out and explore. And I do need to know how the story will end for Deka. She is a sweet soul that you can't help but want to win in the end.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is a feminist-fantasy dream! I am so taken with the plot and it’s amazingly vivid world! I cannot wait to see where this one goes next. Fans of Children of Blood and Bone will dig this amazing world of strong females fighting against foes near and far. The twists and turns are somewhat expected, but are done so well that I’ll let it pass. Pick this one up fast!

Deka is a 16 year old, who must pass the Ritual of Purity, in order to become a member of her village. The ritual ceremony will determine whether her blood is pure or not. If it runs red, she will become full fledged woman, but if it runs gold, she would deemed be impure and will have a choice either to be executed or join the emperor’s army.

The Gilded Ones was one of my anticipated reads of this year and it didn’t fail to impress me. I loved totally Dekka, she was so fierce and admirable. The author was also successful to make the side characters interesting. I also totally loved the female friendships in this book and the way the author developed them.

The world building in this book was incredible and was at it’s finest. The author described everything in a great detail, which made it easy to understand and enjoyable. The book also explores themes like colourism, racism, patriachial society.

I usually find YA books predictable, but this one was full of twists and turns. I liked the magic system, it was well developed and original. The romance was the major drawback in this book, I wasn’t invested in it, it could have been executed in a better way.

Overall I totally enjoyed reading it and I would definitely read the sequel. If you like books with fierce female characters, then I totally recommend this book

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher! Thanks! All opinions my own.

Book: The Gilded Ones

Author: Namina Forna

Book Series: Deathless Book 1

Diversity: Black main character and ownvoice

Rating: 4/5

Recommended For...: ownvoice, ya readers, fantasy lovers, feminism reads

Publication Date: February 9, 2021

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 432

Recommended Age: 16+ (Sexual harassment, Racism, Death, Gore, Violence, Sin Atonement and religion, Ptsd, Rape mentioned, Weight gain and not eating discussed, Menstruation, and Slavery illusions)

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.

But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity--and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.

Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki--near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire's greatest threat.

Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she's ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be--not even Deka herself.

Review: For the most part I thought this book was really good. I really enjoyed the fast-paced storytelling, they always felt like something was happening and that really kept my interest piqued throughout the book. I thought the characters were very well developed and the world building was masterfully done. I also loved how well detailed and developed our main character was and the interactions that she had with other characters in the book felt very genuine. The plot of this book is also super intriguing and when she start to book you won't want to put it down.

However the worst some things in the book that I didn't like. The fast paced nature of the book did well to keep the story going, but also it made it really hard to understand what was fully going on all the time. It felt like I was running a marathon reading this book and I feel like there should have been places in the book that were slow down to explain some of the more intricate details at this book. I also felt like the book relied too much on the trope of the chosen one and how the chosen one is not who they seem to be. I really like that trope and it worked really well for this book, but I felt like the book leaned into it a little bit too much and it took away some of the uniqueness of this read.

Verdict: It's a great read and I love the strong feministic vibes!

This book shouts GIRL POWER in full force!

The Gilded Ones is a story of a 16 year old girl Deka, who lives in a misogynist and patriarchal society. For all girls coming to age, they undergo a purity ceremony where their blood is tested to determine if they will become a member of their village. On the day of the ceremony, Deka’s blood runs gold and is deemed “impure”. She is forced to death but is rescued and taken to a training facility to become part of an all female army known as “alaki” who all blood runs gold as well to fight for the empire against their enemies! However, as she becomes more in-tuned into her magical abilities and strengths, Deka realizes there are secrets the empire is covering up and would do anything to keep them hidden!

What stood out to me the most was the themes of acceptance, female empowerment, sisterhood, friendship, and disruption of traditional gender roles!

Some of my favorite quotes were:
-”No matter my origins, there is worth in what I am.”

-”Like the goddesses who created me, I am completely divine--a creature neither deathshriek or human, with the ability to mimic both. I can be whatever I want to be.”

-”The way I see it, we all have a choice right now. Are we girls, or as we demons? Are we going to die, or are we going to survive?”

I highly recommend and can't wait for the second book in the series!

The Gilded Ones follows Deka, a young girl living in a deeply patriarchal society where once all girls turn sixteen, a priest cuts them to determine whether they are pure or not. It is simple – if the girl bleeds red, she is deemed pure, but if she bleeds gold, she is deemed impure. If the impure girls get lucky, they are killed on spot, if they aren’t, they will be sold, tortured, enslaved, and killed over and over again. Because girls with golden blood are demons, they will heal, and are almost impossible to kill.

On the day of the ceremony, Deka’s blood runs golden and as a consequence she is trapped in a cellar and killed nine times by the village’s elders. Every time she is harmed, her body heals itself. One day a mysterious woman frees her from the cellars and takes her to the capital to train with people like her, the Alaki, girls with cursed blood, healing properties, incredible strength and speed.

“The way I see it, we all have a choice right now. Are we girls, or are we demons? Are we going to die, or are we going to survive?”

According to the emperor’s wishes, Deka trains with the other Alaki to form an army of deadly warriors that will rid the country of its enemies: Deathshrieks, pale monsters that attack villages all over the empire, steal their girls and kill every man in sight.

And Deka shall lead the demon girls into battle because she is an anomaly even among her fellow soldiers. Her powers are depthless and she soon becomes the emperor’s hero.

“All this time, I’ve been afraid of my ability, when instead I should have been regarding it as a treasured weapon.”

I enjoyed every aspect of this book very much! It had a very diverse cast with many characters of color. Many, if not all of them were very well developed and made me invested in learning more about their growth, which is very hard when it comes to books with a large cast. Namina did a great job in making all the characters distinguishable and unique in their own ways!

The world-building was also well done. The author described everything in a great manner which made the whole thing easy to understand and enjoyable. Even though the plot was very unique, I had some issues with the pacing of the book, especially during the beginning, but as the book picked up pace, everything was perfect!

Also, did I mention that there is a sapphic romance in this? I loved how it did not overshadow the main plot and still kept fighting for equality and friendship as its main focus.

Overall, The Gilded Ones was a wonderful book which not only kept forward a wonderful story, but also dealt with many issues like racism, xenophobia, misogyny and inequality which are still very relevant.

“No matter my origins, there is worth in what I am.”

Representation: Queer Black MC, POC li, Black, Asian, and Brown MCs and SCs

Trigger Warnings: Beheading, dismemberment, blood, graphic violence, mentions/allusions to sexual assault, religion-based persecution, misogyny

YA Fantasy fans!!!! This one is for you! I want to scream with joy during and after this book! Girl power, feminism, Black girl magic is in full force in every scene but it does not come easy and that's what makes this book worth it! Deka is a 16 year old who's cast out of her community after being found impure during her ritual ceremony. She ensures heartbreaking trauma, physical and emotional abuse from her community but is rescued and trained to fight against enemies that are now attacking the very community that casted her out. Deka's faces many adversities while fighting to over power a patriarchal system and help her ancestors get back their power, female goddess ancestors might I add. Sexism, misogyny, racism, bigotry, manipulation are just a few of the things Deka and her friends are forced to mentally and physically confront and they find that becoming true warriors and allies means unlearning everything she one thought was true about her life. One major theme that stood out for me is the concept of family, specifically that family does not need to be the group of people you're born into but the people you choose, the people who remain loyal to you when they have every reason not to, the people who won't judge you by your flaws but by your heart. Of course we get a tiny slice of YA romance but I'm happy it did not overshadow the central theme of female empowerment. The writing is brilliant and the plot is well executed and holds you, it's fast paced so you might not feel like you're getting enough from each character but I clearly understood their role and purpose. The content can be triggering as it contains graphic descriptions of violence, torture, rape but never the less, great book and I'm waiting on this novel to hit the big screens as it deserves.

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

The Gilded Ones is a fantastic debut fantasy novel. It’s got some tough subject matter, but it’s exciting and intriguing with a lush world and lovable characters.

For you if: You like YA fantasy, especially African fantasy.

FULL REVIEW:

“We all have a choice right now. Are we girls or are we demons? Are we going to die or are we going to survive?”

Thank you Delacorte Press for the advanced copy of this book on NetGalley. I loved it! The Gilded Ones is exciting and fun to read while also dealing with dark and heavy central themes — in a way that feels true without overpowering everything else the book does. It’s also got a great central mystery that I thought was set up well. I really liked it!

The story is about a 16-year-old girl named Deka. When the ceremony to reveal whether her blood is “pure” or not goes wrong, she’s faced with a choice: Remain the subject of persecution and unspeakable violence (those with golden blood can be killed over and over again without permanently dying, and their blood can be sold for a lot of money), or join the emperor’s new army of “demons” and earn a future of absolution. But as she trains for an upcoming battle, it becomes clear that she’s different, even among others with impure blood. As she learns more about herself, she learns that what she’s always believed is only a shadow of the truth.

I found the narrative style in this book to be slightly different from what I’m “used to” — a little more … straightforward? it’s kind of hard to name — but definitely not in a bad way. I think it’s a combination of the YA genre and a West African storytelling style. I settled in quickly and loved the story all the more for it. But it did help me guess smaller plot points before they were revealed. Given that, I was all the more impressed by the book’s final reveal, when all the smaller puzzle pieces were finally put together in a way I hadn’t imagined. The ending was big and exciting and satisfying!

This one’s not without its trigger warnings: confinement, plenty of blood and death, and others. But as usual with well-written YA, I was so impressed that it managed to tackle these topics without feeling like a heavy book overall.

All in all, a fantastic debut. I’ll be over here, eagerly awaiting the second book!



TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Violence/blood; Torture/confinement; Rape/forced prostitution; Death/grief; Child abuse

I think this had a great premise and I honestly could see it as a tv series or show, but for some reason it wasn’t working for me. Maybe it was the first person narrative. It started off a bit slow, and while I usually like books set in a school/warrior training setting, I just can’t bring myself to pick this one up.

The Gilded Ones was dark, often quite brutal, but it was hopeful, too. Deka finds out that she carries the blood that will make her worse than an outcast in her village. Her neighbors, friends, and even family turn their backs on her, and she figures she's destined to suffer until the end of her days, at the hands of some pretty severe and vile torture. But when she's given the opportunity to leave her town and her oppressors, she may be able to find her agency.

Deka meets a lot of other like-blooded women along the way, which I loved. They form their own sort of family, and I thought it was such a fabulous message that Deka could find a new family here, a chosen family who will treat her with the love and respect she deserves. In turn, she is fiercely loyal to them. She even encounters some men who don't agree with the way the women are being treated, which was refreshing. I really don't want to give too much away, because I really enjoyed where the story went, so I am keeping this purposely short. Deka learns so much about herself, especially about her own strength, as the story goes on.

I found the magic and world systems pretty easy to understand once I got into the story. The author did a great job of making the whole world come together in a way that was believable, and exciting. Deka is a phenomenal character, and I adored the friends she made along the way. And while Deka didn't always know who she could trust, neither did the reader, which makes for an intense reading experience.

Bottom Line: Loved Deka, super intrigued about the world as a whole, eagerly awaiting Book 2!

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book as much as I would have hoped. The story didn't draw me in, and I felt like there was a severe lack of character development. It was a struggle for me to get through, which is a shame as I was so excited for it.

I think I might be the only person who wasn’t wowed by The Gilded Ones. I had high expectations and was really looking forward to this one, but found it a bit of a letdown. The writing is often clunky and overly simple, relying on exposition for worldbuilding rather than developing it within the story more naturally; it’s an epic fantasy, and has the epic scope to draw the reader fully in, but I never felt like I got past a really surface-level feeling for the space, the cultures, the whole world.

Despite its shimmeringly beautiful cover, The Gilded Ones is brutal, emotionally and physically (LOTS of violence and gruesomeness; seriously, check trigger warnings before you read this one), and honestly for me that’s a positive in this book - the things Deka has to deal with are truly horrific, and her PTSD is well-portrayed. Also a strong point, as many other reviewers have noted, is the focus on friendships between the girls, the sense of sisterhood between them.

And I suspect that some of the things that were negatives for me might be mitigated in the sequel (less reliance on infodump to create a world we’ve already been introduced to), while the positives should continue, so that’s promising for anyone who found this first volume a little weak but a story worth continuing on with.

In the end, though, it just wasn’t for me, despite being one of my most eagerly anticipated YA releases this year.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the advance review copy.

Content warning ahead of time before you pick up this debut. There is instances of violence, torture and death.

Deka is hoping that the blood ceremony goes off without a hitch for her. However, when she bleeds gold instead of red, she is inexplicably tossed into an army of people just like her with gold blood. She’ll soon embark on a journey to the capital with surprises that she didn’t expect.

I had certain expectations for this book and it all kind of went in different directions. The world building, first of all, was well done and made me envious considering it is a debut. World building for a novel, let alone a series, is hard to do and takes a lot, but I think Namina did a fantastic job. There wasn’t a time where I felt confused about the plot or what this or that was in connection to the world she created.

I was a bit uncomfortable with the scenes that depicted torture and violence. I’ve read a few books in the YA genre where the violence can toe the line of new adult, but this was a first where I cringed and tried not to get a visual in my head. That was probably the only part in the book that had me wishing it didn’t happen or that it had been toned down. That’s just my way of thinking, so I can’t say that it will be the same for other readers. But, I do want to caution those before they turn the page. Others have thicker skin than I do.

I loved Deka and the girls she worked with. Yeah, there was some romance in there, but I wasn’t focused on that aspect of the story. This book was, as the author describes, more about feminism and patriarchy. I expected it to be “girl centered” based off of the cover. You know, a female character that the reader can connect with and root for because of her strength and mental build. What’s inside the book overpowered my expectations with the power the author created, so I’m very pleased with that. That and the world building is what solidifies this book for me, so I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel.

The firs half of this book held such promise. It had a great cast of characters, an interesting world, and a high stakes plot. It's after the 60% mark where it starts going downhill. I was reading it, and having a hard time figuring out what the end plot (climax) was going to be, and once it happened I understood why. There was no connection between the halves. The first half was going one way, and then it totally flipped to go another way. It felt like I was reading the second book, and in a 432 page book, it felt way too rushed. There were a lot of things that were rushed. The character development of Deka, our main character was the biggest one. It felt like in one chapter she went from being a scared little flower, to cutting her hand, showing her gold blood, and declaring herself a demon for the world to see. There was also no sense of time. I have no idea how long they trained for. It felt like a couple of weeks before they were charging at the front of the army to fight the creatures. I think this is because everything came easy to Deka. She was perfect at everything so fast, that we didn't get to experience her challenges, so it felt like it flew by, or was a really short amount of time.

I honestly don't know if I'm going to pick up the sequel. The new plot doesn't really interest me much because it feels like it's becoming super cliche. I'm also really sick of fantasy worlds that treat women like crap. It's fantasy, you can make your world literally any way you want, why does it have to be misogynistic?

"Today, you’ll show them you belong.”

The need to belong, this is the core of the YA fantasy "The Gilded Ones." Deka, the protagonist wants to be recognised as a part of her village, as one of them villagers; she wants to belong, desperately and completely. A ritual takes place in the village that promises her her human desire and she clings to that hope. If her blood turns out red she is pure and will belong, if it's not red, she is impure and will be banished or sent away to a brothel. She despises even the thought of coming out as impure but who can control their fate after all.
Her blood runs gold, glimmering through her skin, the shiny cursed gold that changes her life forever.
The narrative opens up with Deka's desperate need to belong, for her blood to run pure to validate her identity as a human, this is because of her appearance. Imagine being born and raised somewhere and still being treated as a stranger, this is what happens with Deka. The constant need to belong and the voicing out of that need throughout the first few pages of the book can easily drive any reader mad but it has serious underlinings of the presence and the danger from the Other, which resonates Deka's entire being. This Otherness has serious consequences for Deka since it snatches away her identity. She is shunned by the society, humiliated time and again and looked down upon. This Otherness is all but conceptualised on the appearance of Deka.
Her journey starts after she chooses her desire and she meets an entire army of women's and girls like herself, impure and outcasted by the society. She forms a strong bonding with the girl warriors and this marks the growth of Deka as an individual, her discovery of the self. This self-discovery is an ongoing process, a slow and steady one where she finally starts coming out of the shell of patriarchy, and recognises her worth for who she is with the girls around her having bore witness to a great deal of such things themselves.

'The Gilded Ones' is a strong feminist narrative which sucks the reader into its world of the fantastical in that it has the girls' standing together, voicing out their hurtful past and bonding over the same, pulling themselves and the others up to be great warriors with their supernatural powers fighting against the deathshrieks and the patriarchy. The characters bore into the reader, leaving a lasting impact on their minds. It gets brutal and chilling with the gruesome and vivid descriptions of violence, death, war, body dismemberment and what not. It does shy away from exploring the difficult topics of coping with life threatening situations, the impact of restricted movements within the society and the constant disregard of one's identity and the consequent self-hatred.

The characters experienced wholesome development, especially Deka who comes full circle from wishing to die to willing to live. The heavy misogyny that Deka herself divulged in really challenged me to even attempt to reading it further and I'm happy I did because it only got better putting across important notions of sel-worth, self-love, and hope. The romance was short but great for it brought hope of a positive change rather a ray of sunshine in Deka's dark (past) life. There were a few places where a little explanation or detail would have helped, like why what happened happened and a few obstacles would have been great along with the characters not buying into stuff too easily like they did.
I'll look out for the brewing romance in the sequel. I do have high expectations from the author after reading this book. All in all, it's a must read for fantasy lovers.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is a wonderful West African folklore/fantasy novel that balances multiple real-world themes and fantastical magical elements with a razor sharp precision. Racism, xenophobia, misogyny, inequality, trauma, and more are all mixed in this empowering story that offers diversity through a cast of complex characters, including an incredible lead.

And similar to Bethany Morrow’s superb A Song Below Water series, this book interlaces and intertwines all of its contrivances, integrating them with the story’s central themes in a natural way.

Now, the pace of The Gilded Ones is vivacious with Namina wasting very little time getting to the “journey” aspect of the story. She treats the passage of time freely and without real meaning with weeks and months flying by, again, shoutout to the trim. And there are no Back to the Future first act exposition dumps either, as you literally learn the remaining vital bits of information on the last few pages. No, Namina takes a methodical approach with the facts, with the reader learning in real time with Deka as she uncovers the truth of her past, present, and future. This leads to a satisfying ending that does leave you with a sense of both finality and hope. For that reason, The Gilded Ones works just as well as a standalone as it does the first chapter in a longer series, which it is.

Like fellow contemporaries Jordan Ifueko and Dr. Nnedi Okorafor, Namina writes what she knows, in this case, West-African folklore and magical realism. She creates a tapestry around this expertise that is both mesmerizing and entirely addictive, weaving in a somewhat unique magic system, a strong sense of found family, disparaging dogmatic and barbaric theism, and taking patriarchy to task with a vigor not often seen.

In a word, this book is POWER.

For my full review, please click the link below.

I've been so excited to read this, and it did not disappoint. A beautiful story of grief and grit, betrayal and belonging, trauma and triumph. Truly outstanding!

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THE GILDED ONES is a wonderful example of how YA can thoughtfully tackle heavy, even dark topics. Prevalent themes included: gender-based violence; racism; sexism; misogyny; and ostracization.

Not to say it was all (or even mostly) dark! There were beautiful themes of friendship, solidarity, developing one's own identity and sense of self, justice, and belonging. And let me just say, this book is feminist af! The examination of oppressive patriarchal structures was *chefs kiss*.

But what stood out for me was the way that the book handled trauma. Deka, our 16 year old protagonist, is already an outcast in the North because of her dark skin. Early in the book, she experiences a series of traumatizing events that leave her emotionally scarred. Rather than glossing over it, the book explicitly addresses how her PTSD manifests. Critically, Deka learns not to suppress the trauma but move through it to begin healing.

I found that to be a beautiful message, that is often lacking in fantasy books. The Gilded Ones delivers this message with care.

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Thank you Hear Our Voices Tours and Penguin Random House for the gifted e-ARC!

Deka is a 16-year-old girl who lives in fear and repression from the Infinite Wisdoms, which scrolls condemn women and girls into a life of piety and purity. However, on the day of the Ritual of Purity, she is found to be impure and sentenced to death. When a mysterious woman with white gauntlets saves her, takes her away from her village, and immerses Deka into the world of training for the ultimate battle against true monsters.
The Gilded Ones first-person novel is written from the perspective of our heroine, Deka. We learn about the world of Otera and the patriarchal rules that rely on the submission of women. We also learn of The Gilded Ones, demons or goddesses, that created vicious creatures ravaging Otero called deathshriekers. This is a marvelous debut novel that builds the world around Deka, her past, her inner-strength, and the friendships that forge through suffering. There are war and torture scenes that are viciously gruesome and violent, which can be triggering. My only gripe is with some of the relationships such as love interest where the connection Deka has with Keita feels very summarized (telling the reader vs. showing us). There were a lot of military-type scenes and I wish we could have seen more of the friendships between Deka and the other recruits through the training. But the cover is gorgeous and the message of rising from the ashes of suffering was inspirational. Looking forward to the rest of this series and how the world Namina Forna created will unfold.