What a perfect-and yet so sad- end to this series! As always, this book is a perfect combination of external and internal conflict for all of our characters. I appreciated the growth that we saw in all of them both across the series and in this book alone.

I love Deka and her family. I will miss them greatly and I am so glad to have met them.

in this finale to the deathless trilogy, deka is determined to take down the gods, which requires her figuring out the source of her own divinity.

i’ve been keeping up with this series since 2021, so it was very hard to say goodbye to everyone with this book! i really wasn’t sure what to expect with this book, yet somehow it still exceeded my expectations. i absolutely loved how deka was out for vengeance and had to make her own way. there were also side characters, old and new, who got their page time and i really enjoyed them. the plot also kept me entranced and i think everything played out in an interesting way.

i highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the previous two books!

I received a free eARC from NetGalley of The Gilded Ones #3: The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna.

Welcome back to Otera and the adventures of Deka! Deka, now armed with the truth of who and what she is, must now go on a quest to find her hidden essence. Meanwhile, ancient rivalries between gods are threatening to tear Otera apart. Deka is going to have to make hard choices, to either save the world, or help bring about it's ruin.

Fantastic ending to a fantastic series. Forna does the Chosen One Prophecy trope so well, giving us a rich world, a strong female lead, and the sacrifices that women must make to change the world.

I have so much love for Deka and this series. I love everything from the writing to the cover of the book. It has been a joy to go through life with Deka and to see it come to this conclusion so perfectly is exactly how you end a series. It was so very good!

An emotional ending to a wonderful series. This is one of my top 3 fantasy series and I’m heartbroken that it’s come to an end. The author does a great job with world building, character development and taking my emotions on a roller coaster, which is exactly what I feel like I’ve been on. I don’t want to give the book away but I will say that I would recommend this to any and everyone that’s a fan of fantasy novels.

The Eternal Ones is the action-packed conclusion to The Gilded Ones trilogy. Deka and her friends have been pushed to their absolute limit after staggering betrayals and shocking revelations. Deka must choose if she will try to become a god to save the world. However, she must first regain the lost piece of her soul. As her relationships are tested in their quest, Deka must decide whether she wants to sacrifice everything to save the world.

I really enjoyed this conclusion to the series. Deka is such a strong and charismatic character. Throughout the entire trilogy, there is a wonderful sense of found family. The large ensemble cast is such a joy and the characters feel unique. One of my favorite parts of the book is Deka’s loving friendships, especially her best friend Britta. Britta and Deka are always there for each other no matter what. While Deka also has a romantic relationship, her friendships never suffer at the cost of it. Keita and Deka’s relationship remains very positive and realistic. And of course, I love Ixa!!

Namina Forna creates excellent queer-norm world-building and inclusivity. I love to see this in fantasy! I also really enjoyed the rich magic system and excellent sense of pacing. The conclusion feels satisfying and well-earned. While it is bittersweet that this is the end of the trilogy, I can’t wait to see what Namina Forna writes next! I would recommend this series for readers who love action-packed fantasy, strong heroines, and complex world-building. Readers who enjoyed Raybearer (Jordan Ifueko), Faebound (Saara el-Arifi), and A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (Roseanne A. Brown) should check out this series!

Thank you to Namina Forna, Delacorte Press, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

What a great ending to a series. It broke my heart and then put it back together. This was well worth the wait!

Book two of The Gilded Ones series ended with Deka proclaiming the total ruin of all the gods in Otera, which predicted a totally kick ass conclusion to this trilogy. Readers will certainly be satisfied with the conclusion of the main story line. The most interesting part of this book was the final confrontation, which didn't last long enough for me. There were many parts that could have been more dramatic and heightened to increase the tension. I personally would have appreciated some foreshadowing in previous books about the content in the first 200 pages of this novel. There is a chance I missed it, but it felt a little Harry Potter 5 when all of a sudden this intricate plot line gets revealed and we're just supposed to assume it's been that way all along. While I get the reasons for keeping this hidden for both the reader and the characters, it made the first part of this book feel like a different one entirely and made me eager to rejoin the fight elsewhere. It also led to a fair bit of info dumping, which isn't my favorite thing in the finale of a series. The minor characters continued to be some of my favorite, and I appreciated some of their conclusions, especially for Belcalis and White Hands. While this certainly doesn't beat the greatness of book 1, I'm glad to have gone on this journey with these characters.

Eternal Ones literally owes me nothing! I forever Stan this trilogy! In book three, it seemed that things were moving at a faster pace but I was able to keep up. Deka finally reached her fullest potential and she did so with grace and a level of self awareness that only she could. There were continuous challenges that she had to overcome but it seemed that her calling was greater than the enemies she had. Even in the face of adversity she still managed to find a way to have her friends and Keita- who was literally the perfect partner for Deka.. he was truly in love and worshiped her: I think the author did a good job with the descriptions, plot twist, character development, and dialogue. The book was engaging and entertaining and just when I thought I had it all figured out, something else would happen that would blow my mind. I loved it!

This is the 3rd book in the Gilded Ones series. I thought this was a good conclusion to the trilogy; I am satisfied with where things left off. A bittersweet ending for those who fell in love with the cast of characters. I definitely liked this installment better than book 2, The Merciless Ones. I think the pacing was better in this book. I would give the series overall a 3 stars but this installment 3.5 rounded up.

I wanted to love this series more than I did. My issues came down to this being a story that tells you a lot and shows you very little. That was my biggest complaint about books 1 and 2 and I was hoping that #3 would be a bit different not that Deka has learned so much from the prior two books. But #3 was more of the same, with Deka being mind blown with new, incredible information in every chapter. It felt like she could never get her feet under her in the series.

Gender and Identity were main themes of books 1 and 2 but I found that they were missing from book 3. Maybe the author felt she had said all she wanted to say with that, but I expected quit a bit more in the wrap up. That said, I did enjoy the series and I would recommend that people give it a shot. But, if you did not like book 1, just know that 2 and 3 are much more of the same.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for providing an eARC of this book.

A satisfying conclusion to the series. I got a little teary at the end. Can't wait to read more from this author!

Happy release day, The Eternal Ones!

"'Look at her,' White Hands says, smiling down at the girl. 'She can be whoever she wants to be. They all can.'"

As the Deathless trilogy comes to a close, Deka finds herself with an impossible decision. Though she knows it is her destiny to ascend as a deity and destroy the corrupt gods of Otera to bring peace to the dying world, is she ready to leave her humanity and all her loved ones behind?

I did not expect to cry, I won't lie to you all! This series has been a four-year journey for me, and though I lost details in between books (not a big re-reader), I found myself so attached to these characters.

The writing itself is simplistic (in line with what YA should be), and I (as an adult) have a pretty good grasp on the way YA plotlines are shaped, so nothing was surprising to me here. I wished that the search for Deka's kelai was not dragged out so much, but I enjoy when YA authors write in moments of joy for characters amidst life-altering events and battles. It's sometimes hard to remember that these characters are children, especially when the premise circles them becoming omniscient gods.

In essence, this series is a love letter not just to young girls and women, but to humanity. You are forced to face not only the horrors of being mortal but the absolute joys of it as well. I was very satisfied with this resolution in general; my only complaint is that the middle of the book dragged far too long.

3.75 stars!!

In The Eternal Ones, Deka is on a mission to rid Otera of The Gilded Ones and The Merciless Ones. She has to to come to grips with being a God herself and knowing that she wouldn’t harm Otera as the others have. In the end, she understands what it means to be a God and how she can help her friends/family.

This was a good ending to the Deathless series. Again we see this group of warriors trying to save Otera from the gods one last time. And I loved seeing Deka gain all this power and divinity. I also loved seeing this group of friends together again working towards a better Otera. The relationships both friend and romantic, continue to grow and get better with each book. They all know each other so well and understand and love them all the way the deserve. However, with all this buildup for the final battle between Deka and her friends and the Gods, I was hoping for just a bit more. It just felt like the battle was too fast for me after three books of training and buildup.

Overall, this was a good ending to ya fantasy series!

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for allowing me early access to this title!

As the third book in this series it was certainly a wild ride! I really sympathized with Deka and her companions in the beginning in the book and was glad that Deka’s physical suffering was short lived! Although I enjoy Deka, Keita and Britta very much I think that Ixa’s shapeshifting, blue self is definitely my favorite character! I’ll be thinking about him and this series for quite some time!

Shortly after challenging the Gilded Ones, Deka finds herself searching for her divinity. However, time is not on her side as Deka’s mortal body is fading. While searching out her divinity, Deka and her friends find themselves in an entirely new realm. If that wasn’t surprising enough, the new realm holds secrets to Deka’s past as well as her future choice to lose those she loves or bring about the world’s end.
The Eternal Ones is the conclusion to the Deathless series. Forna does a successful job in wrapping up the series in a meaningful way. I felt that Forna improved on the pacing issues I had with the second book in the series making it easier to read through. However, it still felt to long at times. One of my favorite elements from The Eternal Ones is the relationship development between Keita and Deka. They go through a rollercoaster of support/having each other’s back, being in the situation together, to despairing on how everything will work. The dancing scene between Deka and Keita was one of my favorites from the entire book. Ixa is also my absolute favorite character. He’s a sweet cinnamon roll and needed to be protected at all costs. I wish Forna has spent more time exploring the roles and impact of gender/nongender that was started in the previous books. All in all, this was a solid series conclusion.

An absolutely wonderful conclusion to a series I've really enjoyed. Sometimes I wonder how talented this author must be to have not only created a whole culture and belief system, only to tear it down and rebuild what the "truth" is each book.

I thought the final book in the Gilded Ones trilogy wrapped things up nicely. I particularly enjoyed the first part of the book, which introduced us to a new part of the world and a different pantheon. The world-building and descriptions of new creatures were well done.

However, once we returned to Otera and the battle with the gods resumed, I found the plot became a bit confusing. It seemed like nobody had a clear plan, and I didn't always understand why characters were behaving the way they were. Maybe their motivations weren't fully explained, or maybe I missed something.

Despite that, the final battle was good, and the ending was emotionally impactful. Personally, I would've liked the book to have more moments of downtime and world-building between battles, but that's just my preference.

The Eternal Ones is book 3 in The Gilded Ones series by Namina Forna.
This was everything I was hoping it would be! My favorite epic fantasy series!
Forna does a masterful job of building a world that is both rich and complex.
The characters were so relatable and the storyline kept me so engaged I found it hard to put down. I loved that she created strong female empowerment within her stories. Deka is such a strong girl who turns into an exceptional leader.
An enthralling novel with twists and turns on every page.
This was a beautifully crafted book and I look forward to following the series to its conclusion.

Thank You NetGalley and Delacorte Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

"The Eternal Ones" by Namina Forna is the epic conclusion to The Gilded Ones series. I fell madly in love with Forna's writing when we meet Deka, the main protagonist, when her blood runs gold during a coming-of-age ceremony meant to weed out those of "inferior" bloodlines. What ensued in the following books was nothing short of groundbreaking.

With plot twists you'll never see coming, this is ultimate fantasy series for those seeking a thrilling and emotionally charged adventure. If you're looking for a book that will give you all the feels, THIS IS IT! Your heart will break and heal a thousand times over. You'll want to scream at the universe whilst simultaneously be awed by depths to which these characters go.

With themes that explore the complexities of power, identity, and the ultimate sacrifice, "The Eternal Ones" is an incredible conclusion to The Gilded Ones series. Thank you, thank you, thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Delacorte Press for the eARC!