The Gilded Ones is the first in Namina Forna's Deathless series. A series about empowerment and determination, against all odds – and against those who would strike them down.

Deka has spent the last sixteen years waiting – and dreading – this day. The day her blood is tested, and the day she's accepted as a member of her village. Or not, as she will be worst than an outcast if her blood doesn't run red.

Deka's life changes forever on that day, as her blood runs gold. However, it doesn't end. It cannot end. Here she is granted a choice, fight for the emperor with girls like her, or stay here and face a slow, agonizing death. It's really no choice at all.

“Are we girls or are we demons?”

Wow. If you're looking for a novel that will make you feel every possible emotion out there, then you're going to want to pick up The Gilded Ones. Deka's journey is powerful and painful, as she learns to fight all the lessons that have been buried deep into her mind since the day she was born.

Her journey is a beautiful one, but it is also dark. She faces many challenges, and some of them are going to make this a difficult book to read for some. I know that personally, I couldn't read this book in one sitting (my preferred reading method, as I have no self-control). It's simply too heavy for that.

The Gilded Ones features a lot of graphic content, from the damage and pain that Deka takes, to the way society treats Deka and girls like her. It's raw and painful to read about, especially because it's so painfully easy to imagine being true.

Still, that element makes the conclusion, and Deka's change over the course of this novel, all the more impressive. All the more powerful. It's impossible not to cheer for her, and hope that there is something on the horizon. Not just for her, but for all the Gilded Ones.

“Never forget: the same gift they praise you for now they will kill you for later.”

The Gilded Ones is absolutely the heaviest YA novel I've read, and probably will read, this year. I also think it's one of the more important ones, as the impact cannot be avoided. I'm already looking forward to seeing how Deka's journey continues over the course of the next two novels, and can't wait for news on their release dates.

Dynamic and teeming with the energy of youth with something to prove. I was kind of taken aback with the violence here, but it's hard not to see it as a statement of trauma and experience from Forna.

This book follows Deka, who finds out that she is not pure after her blood runs gold. What she believed to be true about her identity turns out to be incorrect, and for the rest of the book, she is on a journey of self-discovery. She gets sent to this training camp for the kingdom with others like her in order to train to kill the Deathshrieks, which are wreaking havoc on the kingdom.
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I really liked the concept of the book. It was fun and engaging, and I wanted to keep reading to find out more about Deka. She was a great protagonist who was strong and well-liked, and she was kind to her friends but also harsh to her enemies. I liked how the author revealed pieces about Deka the more we read. I also really liked the action and suspense. It was not over the top, but just the right amount for what I would consider a YA book.
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CW: violence, sexual assault, death of a loved one, torture, execution.

I was so excited to read this debut! I mean first, the cover is absolutely gorgeous! It is nice to see the representation right from the start. I thought the story was so well developed. The first chapter with the scene during the blood ceremony was so engrossing and immediately drew me into Deka and where her story would go from there. I loved the supporting characters as well, namely Britta. I championed the fact that girls were the fierce ones in this story – unwanted girls turned into warriors and saviors. The empowerment in this book was palpable. I literally could not put the book down for the 2nd half. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I was so sad to see The Gilded Ones be pushed back to 2021 last year because I’ve been excited for it ever since I heard the announcement. A warrior girl whose blood runs gold, who joins an army of similar girls? Yes please! But it’s ok, the book is coming out now.

The first third of The Gilded Ones was pretty much five star worthy for me. There was a tonne of action, some awfully violent and harrowing scenes (tw for torture and death), and the start of what promised to be a lovely female friendship.

The middle of the book is where the story started to drag for me. There were suddenly a tonne of characters that I didn’t really care for, a romance that was pretty much just instalove, and some strange time jumps too. None of these were major issues for me, but I was surprised at the turn the book took because of the impressively strong first part.

I think it would have been better for the author to have spent longer developing all the relationships in this book rather than continuing the action, at least in part. When these girls were in danger, I just didn’t particularly care, because we weren’t given enough time to get to know them anyway.

BUT, The Gilded Ones picks up again in the final part of the book. The action all comes together, and the strong world building that has been present throughout really starts to rear its head. The ending made me incredibly excited for the sequel, and I was also left wondering how the heck I am going to recap this book because so much was happening.

I do think the final showdown could have gone on for a bit longer, but otherwise I’m so happy with where this went (aside from the instalove… eck).

I can’t wait to read more about these girls in the sequel, as I think their relationships are the most interesting parts of the book, along with Deka herself. I think if Forna ends up focusing on the relationships more in the sequel and really starts to build them up, I’m going to love it.

Also, there’s an animal companion?? Why didn’t anyone tell me!!

Writing wise it definitely reads different than most YA fantasies I've read before. It starts off strong with eerie details of a purity ceremony where protagonist Deka is discovered to cursed blood. Those who have cursed blood are put to death. During her ceremony monsters called deathshrieks also attack causing chaos and death. Believing she brought this plague upon them, she is sentenced to death. However despite how many times they kill Deka she doesn't stay dead. She is then finally given a choice to leave and fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her.

I thought this book did a great job portraying the PTSD Deka is feeling from her trauma. There are a lot of violent and gory scenes in this book that are described with just the right amount of detail. I also felt the closeness of the girls and knowing Namina is an AKA and Spelman grad I could see where she used her personal experiences to shape the sisterhood between the girls.

The world in this was just not very fleshed out for me to fully be immersed. I really couldn't picture the setting well. In an epic fantasy I love the little details about the food and terrain and I feel like this had the page count to describe those things. The way ethnicities are coded in this world reminded me of other books I've read this past year. For much of the middle we saw the girls training with their male partners however I didn't find the training scenes descriptive enough. And we moved from event to event at a rapid pace but at the same time it felt like we were trudging along. The tell more than show style writing just didn't work for me.

I received an arc from Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-gilded-ones-by-namina-forna.html

This book did me in! First, the cover is gorgeous and I'm not sure what I was expecting but what I got was a deep, complex fantasy novel that blew me away. It's a West African inspired story - Deka lives in a patriarchal society where girls are only allowed to do things that help prepare them to become wives and not do anything that will entice men. They go through a ritual every 15 years where they are cut to reveal if their blood runs red - if it doesn't, then they are impure. Deka is getting ready to go through the ritual. That's all you really need to know.

From there, the story takes on several serious issues - misogyny, abuse, trauma, and so much more, but the plot of the story moves swiftly, but in such vivid detail that left me feeling some t'ings. It's graphic at times - but what a freaking ride! Excellent book - high recommended.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
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4,5*
Pros: Let me tell you something, this book SLAPS!! It is so freaking refreshing! A book from the beast/monster PoV, this time female! African-inspired mythology and new fantastic creatures. Focused on the power of women, our resilience, strength, flaws, beauty. It is an ode to us and a cry for battle. Features a BADASS Black protagonist and a full diverse cast of complex female characters. Heartracing battles, difficult decisions, sacrifices made. Fashion that is just *chef's kiss *. And it has the freaking cutest pet, Ixa.
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Cons: Unnecessarily rushed ending, with many plotholes, it could've been a whole sequel.

You can also find this review on my blog, Where the Words Take Me.

Thank you, to NetGalley and the publisher, for offering this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, what happened here? I’m flabbergasted.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna was easily one of my most anticipated books since it was supposed to be released in 2020, its publication date pushed back due to the pandemic. Finally reading it, however, has been a bizarre, disturbing, and deeply unenjoyable experience.

Synopsis time. Sixteen-year-old Deka waits anxiously for the Ritual of Purity—for her blood to run red, so she can be accepted as a pure woman by her village at last. In the country of Otera, women must wear masks and defer to the men in their lives at all times, and all Deka wants is to be accepted enough to be considered marriageable. When her blood turns out to run gold, she is deemed impure, a demon, and must face the Death Mandate all her kind go through. Except she doesn’t die. Before the male elders can find her true death, 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. These girls—alaki—are near-immortals with strength and speed men don’t possess, and they are the key to stopping the deathshrieks that plague the empire.

To start, I will say that this book is a quick read, though I was certainly reading it for the sole purpose of finishing it. If you read it fast enough, it’s likely that you won’t notice the glaring errors that I did, but unfortunately, I couldn’t turn that part of my brain off. The deathshrieks—the threat the characters fight—are also interesting in both design and as a monstrous force to be reckoned with. I saw the plot twist about them coming a mile away, though, and I wanted to continuously shake Deka (and the use of the first-person perspective) for repeatedly noticing things about them and then completely forgetting about it. I know the praise here is mixed, but it’s all I can manage to give this book because I frankly didn’t enjoy it.

Oh, wait, I can say one more thing. Remember how everyone got mad at Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education because of the passage that specified dreadlocks as being targets for magical infestation, so the characters all keep their heads shaved? A similar event happens here, except done more tastefully. Upon arriving at the training grounds, all the girls have their heads shaved regardless of hair type because the matron wants no cases of lice to occur. Same idea as in A Deadly Education but Forna wrote a better application of it because the writing doesn’t specify a particular hair type and avoids tripping over a racist stereotype. Forna handled that subject matter very well, and sure, everyone’s hair grew back overnight, thereby instantly eliminating the drama and heartbreak of the scene but whatever.

The main problem with this book is three-fold. First, its characters are wooden. Second, it features graphic content that is far too descriptive for a YA book that has a particular audience in mind. Finally, it lacks all manner of logic, its world-building hanging by a very thin thread of “women are oppressed but make it feminist” that frays with every new burst of contradictory information readers receive.

Even its cover is deceptive. It’s beautiful, absolutely stunning—yet it presents an extremely different aesthetic from what’s inside it. From the beginning, I was thrown by the overly formal language, the backward ideas of female purity, the quaintness of the farm girl milking cows. Is that the image the cover conveys to you of what to expect from this book, I wonder? I’ve seen some reviews compare much of the opening and the world-building in general to be reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale, a book I largely dislike and a comparison I tend to hate making, but they aren’t wrong. Before I could fully adjust to how the book actually presented itself, the violence started—the extreme, dark violence, something I don’t tend to mind but which was jarring up against characters speaking like they’re from Little House on the Prairie. Part of me just couldn’t fully believe and commit to what I was reading.

Before the violent upheaval, however, the book is tragically YA in some of the worst ways. Our protagonist, Deka, already knows she’s different and special in some way, but she wants to hide it until she passes the Ritual of Purity. She has exactly one female friend who is less conventionally attractive than her, but Deka doesn’t know she’s pretty until an important village boy tells her so. There is a mean rich girl who bullies her and her friend, with the mean girl’s mom even joining in. It was almost a relief when the deathshrieks showed up to put an end to this.

The saving grace of these tropes, of course, is that Deka is biracial, her skin darker than that of the other villagers. Her internalized feelings of being considered unattractive are born from colorism and racism. However, her being a target for bullying is seemingly caused by another narrative reason: a member of her family was once considered impure, ostracized, and put to death—a fate Deka prays she doesn’t share. I’d hesitate to call this a good example of showing these issues. As soon as Deka arrives at the capital, where plenty of other people are with a range of skin tones, the colorism and racism all but vanish, including internally, because the narrative now only has room for sexism, misogyny, and ham-fisted feminism.

Let’s step back to the violence a bit. It’s unsettling and disturbing how much there is—primarily aimed at women—and yet how little weight it has. It’s gratuitous and draining to read about constantly, yet I know there is supposed to be a larger message behind me reading about characters getting dismembered, getting their spines ripped out, and being raped—to name but a few. I just couldn’t connect enough to the book or the characters to determine what this message could be. “Life sucks if you’re a woman in a domineering, patriarchal society, so look at all the terrible things that can happen to you once your power is all stripped away,” perhaps? Yeah, no kidding. I, too, live in a society.

What I would like to know is why a book with near-constant graphic violence and mentions of minors being raped repeatedly off-screen is being marketed toward younger teens. The grimdark content in this book is easily made for much older teens, and yet the writing—and even the story itself—clearly has younger teens in mind, and I would absolutely not recommend this book to them, even if they do read the trigger warnings. I personally don’t feel like giving warnings is enough, and I like dark and gritty stuff, even grimdark stuff. I had no problem reading The Poppy War, for instance, which is a grimdark adult fantasy novel with heavy influences from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking.

On a certain level, the way this book’s content has been handled feels incredibly careless given who their market audience is—younger, POC readers of YA—and this knowledge is part of the reason why I became more and more disturbed as I read. Obviously, people can do as they please, but am I seriously supposed to believe that a 13/14-year-old girl would be fine reading this book? I guess in the world of providing content warnings this somehow absolves all sense of responsibility from the author and publishing house. Personally, I don’t think so. You don’t write multiple scenes of descriptive, horrific violence and multiple mentions that minor girls were raped—which increasingly felt like I was just reading torture porn so that feminism could swoop in and save me—and still slap a PG or PG-13 rating on it. This is easily an R-rated book. While I don’t think Forna or Delacorte should be attacked by this or anything, these are still some interesting thoughts to consider about how creators are responsible for the content they create and who they direct it towards.

The violence being addressed, we can move onto the characters and the narrative inconsistencies. Much of my problems with both are interwoven with each other.

I’ll admit it. Despite the terrible things that happened to Deka, I couldn’t care about her. Nothing about her character arc is written as a natural progression, yet somehow it went exactly where I expected it to. The steps Deka took to get there just so happened to be on an Escherian stairwell, impossible to keep track of. She admits she’s not too intelligent; I just wish the book could have proven her wrong. She is very much not like the other girls, but at least not in a vanity, mean girl way. She is just the only character who is special and who actually matters to the plot.

I like Britta, but it’s a shame that her dialogue is written with a dialect (my guess is it equates to an Irish or Scottish dialect), so whenever she talks, it takes some adjustment to read, instantly taking me out of the story again. She is the only character who is written with a dialect, so I wondered why this choice was made constantly.

I really wish White Hands had been given an actual name, or perhaps I should say, a better name. And just more interesting characterization over all, something that would truly surprise me. I’m also super weirded out and confused about her being the Lady of the Equus, because the book never explains what that means. The equus are centaur-like beings—for lack of a better word, because I can’t tell from the writing if these creatures are supposed to be considered sentient or not. They talk, but it’s in a bizarre way, always saying each other’s names or referring to others by nickname or speaking in unison, which could be a writing flaw or it could just be how they communicate. Since so many writing flaws persisted in this ARC, I couldn’t tell. Despite being able to talk—which this book establishes as a signature of humanity—these equus are treated as beasts of burden, pulling carriages and such. So yeah, I have no idea how to feel about them. Should they be considered people, and if so, are they people who are enslaved? Are they actually just animals who can talk? I have no clue, so this is really weird and I hated whenever they showed up.

As for female friendships, that is a tad difficult to claim this book has when only its main character has characterization, a character arc, and wants of her own. Pretty much all the characters from Britta to Belcalis are there for one reason, and that is to support Deka. Britta is actually told that’s why she’s chosen, because she’s loyal and will protect Deka when she’s vulnerable, not for her own abilities. Beyond that, I know nothing about Britta other than she’s bubbly almost all the time and Deka considers her her new best friend. Literally everyone is a sidekick compared to Deka. Whenever Deka is sad, or freezes on the battlefield, or is physically harmed, one of the girls (or Keita) instantly pops to her side, seeing to her every need like they’re on rotation. This is unfortunate because so many of these characters had great potential, and I somehow liked them better than Deka. Maybe because I wasn’t stuck in their heads, hearing their every circular thought.

As soon as White Hands enters the picture, masks—and the fact that women must wear them to be considered pure—completely disappear with no explanation given as to why. Was this a village superstition? No, the narrative keeps enforcing it as truth even though no one is actually doing it. Huh, baffling. Is it a status issue? Obviously, the alaki don’t need to wear them anymore because they are considered impure, but what about White Hands, the matrons, the instructors? Why are they all exempt? No idea. It becomes a meaningless bit of world-building. It’s funny because I’m reading a Dragon Age book right now where masks are a fashion statement tied to social status in the country of Orlais, and this book manages to establish the world-building around masks—who can wear them, how they are worn, what it means if you can’t or choose not to, what exemptions are made and how the nobility views these exceptions—in two pages. Something The Gilded Ones failed to do for an entire book.

In fact, many things that are introduced as key world-building elements soon become meaningless to the plot. Even the supposedly formidable (and female) Karmoko teachers don’t enrich the narrative in any way in the end because they are barely shown. Any time they would’ve trained the girls to be warriors, we skip right over it and barely spend time on it. We don’t get to know these diverse teachers or how they came to be in their roles at all. One Karmoko is even notable for fashioning armor for the alaki—and sure, despite how hyped up each armor class is, they’re all narratively as useful as paper for some reason. Yet all I get about this Karmoko is Deka thinking, “It’s a shame she was born a woman because she would’ve been an incredible smith.” Is that not… what she’s doing? She doesn’t have “aspiring smith” on her fantasy resume; she is a smith, that’s what she is doing for the alaki regiment.

Then, there are the okai—the elite female assassins for the emperor—who are also never explained as to how they are possible in a world that is supposedly built on female oppression and keeping women jobless, pure, and solely dependent on men. They are a literal impossibility that needed to be explained but for some reason never were—even though Deka’s mother was an okai. How do you qualify to be one? What are the rules? Are these women considered impure or not? Why does the emperor trust and rely on them? How were they formed? No answers given. This is the kind of poor writing I cannot give a pass to for anyone for any reason.

When I wasn’t dealing with a lack of foundational world-building, there were also moments where Forna seems to have forgotten what she had written before. For instance, Deka acts like she doesn’t know things she established a few pages ago. An example is when she notices the physical and mental states of her fellow alaki. Some have been clearly physically abused by their transporters while others have obviously been raped at some point, and Deka’s conclusions are enforced by world-building she intimately knows. Yet when an official asks Deka whether her transporter physically harmed her or tried selling off her virginity to others, she is fully taken aback, wondering if that’s what happened to the other girls. Just as I began to mentally criticize her for forgetting what she’s already established, Deka is suddenly thinking like she’s known this all along. There are many other places like this where the narrative seems to have forgotten itself at some point that I hope have been fixed because this story is tough enough to fall into without my brain snagging on every little thing.

An element of Deka’s character arc that I wanted to see was her growing more comfortable and even accepting of her demonic nature and the gifts it brings along with her rejection of the Infinite Wisdoms, which is the classic “religion that controls women as lesser beings, inferior to and subjugated by men.” Because of how devout and pious she starts out, I knew this would be a difficult, drawn out process, full of progress but also regressions. It can be hard to shift your ingrained worldview you’ve been indoctrinated into believing even though it’s literally been pulled right out from under you.

Instead of a journey, what I got was an unbelievable flip of the switch that happened in between chapters. In chapter 13, Deka can hardly fathom that Karmoko Huon will be teaching her and the other girls how to fight; a chapter before that, she is stunned about running, which women are forbidden to do, and offers up prayers of forgiveness to her god for having to do so for training. In chapter 14, two and a half weeks have passed, and suddenly she’s completely fine with all these things, to the point where she lectures the other girls when they hold back on running in front of the male recruits so as not to frighten them, even the girls who have never had the same issues as her. “Are we girls, or are we demons?” Deka demands, and this quote I’ve seen everywhere that once felt so powerful is now utterly toothless, and I am frustrated.

I’m frustrated because if I had been shown any real growth of Deka’s thought process before now, this would’ve been an amazing moment for her character. Instead, I get a time skip out of nowhere that hides the growth this character has experienced for two straight weeks, making her feminist declarations now ring laughably hollow—and is yet another problem with how this book tells its story that could’ve easily been fixed with just a tad bit more groundwork. And much less ham-fisting.

I’m starting to come to the conclusion that any story advertised to be feminist like this one really isn’t feminist at all because it’s just trying way too hard. If you as an author have to have your characters get on a soapbox to constantly bludgeon the readers and other characters over the head with your version of feminist rhetoric, then guess what? Your book isn’t feminist. If it was, you wouldn’t have to do that. It would just BE feminist. Readers would recognize that. They don’t need to be talked down to, no matter how young or old they are. As for myself, I’ve just gotten far too old for this.

For any male reader who gives The Gilded Ones a try, I will just say I’m sorry. There isn’t a single male character here who is actually a character, but then Deka hogged all the character cred to herself. And I don’t understand why because it’s not like there aren’t boys and men in the book.

You see, all the alaki are also given a male comrade in arms, an uruni, to train with and be their partner on the battlefield. Deka’s is a jatu, an elite solider, named Keita, who starts out being cold and mysterious. I was hoping that this relationship at least would develop slowly, but no. You get a few pages of interaction between them, and by midway through the book, Keita is soft as butter towards her, all tension completely gone. Yep, we’ve got instalove on our hands.

By this point, Deka has also somehow gotten over her fear of men after what happened to her at her village, and the only explanation for that I got was because she just hadn’t thought about it for a few weeks, so it must not be an issue anymore. She can talk casually about her many deaths at men’s hands now—including the death dealt to her by her own father—without feeling anything about it, yet her brain also shies away from certain memories and the fear they bring. Which means she’s not over it, right? Book, which is it? You keep giving me flashbacks of the cellar, of her golden blood on the floor, of these men cutting off her head or burning her whenever anything gets too intense for her. So she’s not over the violence of what happened to her, just the part where men were involved? All so she can have, what? An instalove romance maybe a few months after these horrible things were done to her? Make it make sense.

Regardless, this death-talking is what shakes Keita so completely despite the horrific things he’s witnessed as a soldier, despite also being part of this same world and knowing about the Death Mandate all alaki must face, to the point where he apologizes to Deka over and over for what happened to her, cupping her face, and speaking in her ear, saying he’s much better than a friend to her, he’s her uruni. I get it. I get this is just another form of a soulmate bond, and I’m so bored and disappointed that this is yet another thing this book is skipping over and rushing to establish as truth. We’ve skipped over alaki training, characters forming friendships, crucial world-building, natural character growth, and addressing trauma in a consistent fashion. Why not add falling in love to the list?

In fact, none of the uruni/alaki pairs are given any real bonding moments, of friendship or otherwise, but then every male character is just a name on a page. Even Keita. He has absolutely no development beyond his introduction scene other than being in instalove with Deka. You might also be wondering: is there any mlm or wlw romances to look forward to? One side character mentions she likes sleeping with girls, which of course the rest of the world views as deviant, and that’s all you get.

I wrestled with trying to swallow all of these things while more just kept coming to render this book more and more ridiculous and anger-inducing. For instance, Deka gets a weird feeling about killing deathshrieks with her special gift—that it’s wrong and unnatural to do—despite having absolutely no reason to feel that way narratively. Then, despite all the training, despite all the fear about monsters and deathshrieks, she wanders into an unknown cave, guided by her combat sense, and bonds with an unknown shapeshifting animal that consumes her blood and communicates telepathically with her. But it can shapeshift into a kitten, so that means it’s fine, right? But that’s not the most unbelievable thing. No, that would be that her instructors—her military instructors—all allow her to keep it because “it’s not a threat yet,” in spite of all the other alaki being wary of it and the instructors not knowing what it is. This book makes absolutely no sense.

About 67% into the book, the deathshrieks show up wearing “cochleans,” which protect them against Deka’s voice, and apparently, Deka and the others also wear them under their helmets to protect themselves from deathshriek screams. This is the first time this is ever mentioned as a thing and contradicts what the book has said up to this point. A huge reason Deka’s power is so valuable is because she can silence the deathshrieks before they scream and render serious harm to alaki and soldier alike. So where have these cochleans been this whole time? More issues abound, but if I go any further, I fear I’ll never stop.

I can only hope that my ARC version has gone through some editing rounds since I received it in early 2020, but I’m not holding my breath. The editors should have at least caught where Belcalis speaks with Britta’s accent as well as the many times Adwapa says random lines of dialogue in scenes that have established she’s nowhere in the scene. I hope.

Of course, all of the questions and mysteries that form while reading get addressed in the rapid-paced finale, but unfortunately, little of it sticks the landing because all the pieces that the author lined up to build it are ill-fitting. They, too, make little sense because the foundation just isn’t there. The groundwork wasn’t laid. I understand what Forna was getting at, what she was trying to say with The Gilded Ones; however, it was poorly-told and barely shown. It’s a shame the book takes itself so grimly seriously because the amount of effort you have to put into suspending your disbelief in order to accept what you’re being told is astronomical, and I just couldn’t do it. Also, the violence was gross, and after living through the hell that was 2020, I am just so tired.

Anyway, the best I can do is offer up a rec to those who are as disenchanted as me with The Gilded Ones. If you want to read a good book about female oppression wherein the girls in the book realistically navigate their world and rebel against it—also written by a female POC author and featuring a sapphic romance to boot—I can recommend We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia. The world-building, the characters, the romance, the setting, everything about it is great. For everyone else, I’m glad you enjoyed this—or I hope you can—even though I don’t understand or agree with how you can.

This is an amazing fantasy novel, and I can't wait to read the sequel! I'd read mixed things going into the book, so I had tempered expectations, but this story of Deka and her friends and the hellish dystopian arch-patriarchal world they live in more than surpassed those expectations. It is an INTENSE book sometimes--content warning for torture, death/murder, and sexual assault (though it's never on-page), in addition to depictions of intense misogyny, a bit of homophobia (though this is mostly a heterosexual-centric narrative), racism, and xenophobia. But the light-hearted moments are joyous and hopeful--I particularly love Deka's animal companion Ixa, introduced about halfway through. A few points that weren't my favorite: the romance, which briefly took center stage for Deka toward the end in seemingly (to me, at least) unrealistic ways, and the ending overall, which seemed VERY rushed and a bit less well-written in moments. I wish that some of the resolved things had been left for book two. Overall, though, this is a great, immersive book that I DEVOURED in one day. I mostly just wish there were more of it.

was at a loss as what to say in a review for this book, I could just gush and tell you to grab it when its released next week because it was that good but I decided to read what some other reviewers said instead. One of the ones that stuck in my mind said that for her, unfortunately, everything was too tidily finished off. Yes, you may see some of the plot twists coming, and yes, Forna finished the book with a stuck landing. There are many times in the book where the lack of surprise was more than made up for by the sheer quality of the phrasing, the emotional vulnerability of the characters, the magnitude of courage. This book is not just another story about a strong heroine who wins against insurmountable odds. It is a captivating story about the very issues that we face today as a society that still labors to facilitate equality among all. A look at the monsters that hide amongst and in us. A definite recommend for readers teen and up. Subjects touched on in the story would probably be too mature for younger. A clever new twist on old themes that still resonate in our societies.

In one word: amazing! Loved Loved loved. Empowering, beautiful, had me on the edge of my seat.
Definitely recommended!

The Gilded Ones by Naming Forna is a beautiful black girl magic story with magic, found family, racial and feminist commentary. This story follows 16 year old Deka who has been treated as less than by everyone in her small village, due to her mother's lineage. She has awaited the coming of age ceremony that can deem her pure and finally allow acceptance for her from the town but instead bleeds gold and is deemed an impure demon. She is disowned and killed by her own father but then comes back to life and continues to do so every time the townspeople find new ways to kill her while bleeding her of her golden blood.

She is rescued by a mysterious woman who works for the King and offers her a chance at absolution if she'll serve in the King's army for 20 years. She takes this chance and meets more impure girls like herself but what her lineage holds and what the King intends for them to do with their power will mean a bigger fight that she can imagine.

I loved this story!!!

This book has me feeling mixed emotions because there is really nothing bad about this book, I just wasn’t able to connect with the book. The story starts strong but it gets lost a bit and becomes less interesting. And I wish there was more world building done because for me I thought there could have been more done. The magic system was well done but I wish it was discussed more towards the end when things are starting to become realized about the deathshrieks. As for the characters I loved the character growth that Deka goes through because you can see how she makes all the other girls around her stronger. While I liked her growth, I didn’t connect with her or any of the characters. Especially White Hands because I get annoyed with the all-knowing characters especially when they are constantly telling the MC what to do and doesn’t explain anything until the end. But a character that I really liked was the shapeshifter Ixa, I just found him very sweet and interesting because we don’t fully understand what he is until the end. Deka also had a small romance with Keita, and it’s not bad but it felt forced in the beginning. With not being engaged into the story and not being able to connect with the characters I didn’t love this book. But I can see why others would love it because there’s nothing wrong with it, it just wasn’t for me.

WOW!!!!!!!! If Children of Blood and Bone and The Handmaid’s Tale had a love child, The Guilded Ones would be it!! This is a coming of age story of a young woman in a country where women are suppressed... because some bleed GOLDEN BLOOD!! I will not spoil the significance or implications of this because the author does a brilliant job keeping the story on pace while answering all the questions a reader may have about this work she has created. Speaking of world building, what a fantastical world Otera is!! It is big and we traversed a vast majority of it in this book.

All in all, I loved this book!! As a reader of high fantasy, I can honestly say that Guilded One is an original masterpiece and I can’t wait to return back to the Otera!!

The Gilded Ones (Deathless #1) by Namina Forna was one of my highest anticipated reads of this month and I was thrilled when I was approved for this ARC. Now that I've finished it I can officially say that it mostly lived up to the sky high hype surrounding it. It's an outstanding debut novel. Forna's world-building is pretty fantastic and so are her characters. Everything is just so vibrant and everything and everyone really stands out. My favorite was easily Deka - she undergoes quite a journey. She ends up in a much different place from where she was at the beginning of her story. My only complaint is a minor one - the first half of the book is a little on the slower side. It sets up everything well and lets us get to know the cast, but at times it feels much longer than the second half. That said once it gets to that point it takes off and doesn't let up. It goes very fast and you won't want to put it down. Overall, this is incredibly enjoyable and I'm really looking forward to whatever Forna does next as well as the upcoming sequel to this series opener.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Random House Children and Delacorte Press for the ARC in exchange for an Honest Review.

I immensely enjoyed Namina Forna's The Gilded Ones, a YA Fantasy novel. This book takes the reader on an intense adventure that sweeps the reader away from the beginning. Forna did an amazing job crafting a detailed world with rich engaging characters and creatures. Deka is a strong female protagonist surrounded by other strong characters allowing the characters to grow and develop along the way. pulling the reader deeper into the story. Loved that this book establish is own world with its own mythology or folklore. There is a good amount of violence that some might find disturbing at times. War violence, dismemberment, sexual assault, torture, and death just to let readers know they exist as part of the tale.

Thank you to Delacorte (via NetGalley) for the ARC!

First off, I would like Book 2 immediately, please and thank you!

I enjoyed this one so much. I often have trouble with fantasy books that are set in entirely new worlds because they can become overly complicated and involve a lot of world building. Honestly, I have put fantasy books down before because they have been too confusing and intricate with the background before they even got to the plot. Not so with this book. It is simple and easy to grasp the culture of Deka's world and the kinds of things she has to deal with in her day-to-day life. So when that world is turned upside down and Deka finds herself being carted away from the only world she's ever known, you're already hooked.

The problems in Deka's world will not be unfamiliar to anyone: women are thought to be inferior to men, and are taught this their whole lives. Their main goal in life is to marry well and produce children. They serve the Infinite Wisdom, which tells them that women are meant to do this and that they should not desire more. They cannot hold jobs or be educated or have opinions of their own. Deka has accepted this as her lot in life and hopes to make it through a ritual blood ceremony to prove that her blood is pure, allowing her to move on to the next step in a girl's life: finding a husband.

When Deka's blood runs gold, however, the color of a demon's blood, her village turns on her and her entire life changes in a moment. Deka is tied up in a cellar and bled repeatedly, because her blood, while impure, is worth money. While imprisoned, she is approached by a women who gives her the choice to remain in her village and suffer, or to come and fight for the emperor with other girls who bleed gold like she does--other alaki.

Deka leaves and discovers more about herself than she ever thought she would, uncovering more power than she ever believed she had, and emerging from under the hold of the Infinite Wisdom, slowly realizing that her gender is not what was holding her back; it was the men who were afraid of girls like her who held her down.

This book is has been called a combination of The Handmaid's Tale and the Dora Milaje from The Black Panther, which is a great hook, but Deka's story is so much more than that. It's about her realizing how much she was being held down by her society just for being born female, as well as how much power she individually had hidden inside her. It's a punch in the face to patriarchy, and such a fun, adventurous read in a thoroughly original fantasy world. I gasped out lout in places, I cheered, and I really cannot wait for other people to read this book.

This book action packed is unpredictable and sends the reader on an intense adventure. If you loved Children of Blood And Bone, then you will truly enjoy Gilded Ones!!

3🌟-----------------------------------------
i really enjoyed this book
I really enjoyed the patriarchal structure of society and the obvious feminist undertones of the story
where this book fell flat for me personally was definitely in the characters. I was not overly connected to the main character or any characters really. I would have liked for the characters to have been more fleshed out especially Keita, the love interest. Britta and Belcais were both interesting characters and I hope they are furthered developed in future installments of the series. The story also tended to be quite predictable but I find predictability comforting sometimes so it didn't bother me too much. The pacing was also a bit choppy and stilted. It was a bit strange. to see the mc change beliefs and thinking so quickly and I would have liked to see more of her internal struggle because I know personally, it takes a lot to unlearn internalized misogyny. Overall this book had a strong foundation but didn't build on that foundation enough for me to call this a new favorite
I really enjoyed this one and I really recommend it for ya fantasy lovers
personally, I have noticed that I am becoming increasingly particular about my ya fantasy and just ya in general, and for a debut, this was well done
I am also enjoying the sheer amount of African fantasies that have been released recently
I'm living my best life, to be honest.


(also i don't know about other people but 3 stars for me means I enjoyed it. it's not a bad rating, it's positive lol)