I honestly don't think I can say enough about this book! I have so many words to say about how ABSOLUTELY AMAZING it was! I saw this book on bookstagram for the first time, and the title and cover instantly grabbed my attention. I ran to request it on Netgalley and just about screamed when I saw I got approved. From reading the synopsis I had HUGE expectations, and I was so happy to find this book didn't disappoint; instead, this book completely blew my expectations out of the water! Everything about this book from the prose, to the plot, to the characters, to discussions of social issues was absolutely stellar. The magic is unique and well-developed, and the world is one I can't wait to read more of! Namina Forna did a beautiful job writing an absolute five-star read and i wish everyone would read this!

I just want to start off by saying Thank you for this copy for an honest review.
The cover of this book instantly drew my attention and when I read the synopsis I knew I needed to have it.
This West-African inspired fantasy book blew me away. Our main character Deka was so fierce from start to finish, I don't think I would've ever made it if I were in her position. She's been betrayed by her family, the one she cared about and having to find trust again is a real struggle for her, but she meets some incredible people on her journey of figuring out who she is and where she comes from. What an amazing debut!

AMAZING! I loved this book so much. It grabs you from the beginning and Forna does an incredible job worldbuilding. The characters are compelling and complex. It was fantastic.

Absolutely magical. I can already tell that The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is going to be in my top 10 books read in 2021. Forna weaves a spellbinding story filled with incredible, strong women and a plot that will keep you racing towards the end. Forna shows incredible skill in completely enveloping you into the world, making you forget about everything but the main character, Deka, and the fantasy within. This is a story that will make you reevaluate the definition of a monster, but will also have you reflecting deeply on the love, joy, and power of friendship and sisterhood.

My biggest complaint? That I have to wait to read the next installment!


Post incoming at: https://www.instagram.com/bookedwithemma/

My first thought after finishing this book is that it was so much more mature than I initially thought it would be. The themes are so important for both young women and men to learn, but a lot of the storyline and imagery are very graphic and something that I think will be jarring to young audiences. I like the messaging that your experiences make you stronger. I love the messaging that women are equals outside of what society has deemed them. I think that is the most important take away from this - that there is no weaker sex.... there is just perception. One part Hunger Games, one part The Never-ending Story and one part Black Panther, I think that this is a beautiful hybrid of a tale and a great start to what I assume will be a huge franchise.

I have been excited about this title since it was first announced more than a year ago and was sad to see it delayed due to COVID. So thrilled to be able to dive in now!

This story starts off so strong, with a fast-paced but well-structured plot and lots of exciting world building. The female characters are very well developed and their backstories are unveiled with compelling timing throughout the story. My only disappointment with this title took me a while to find words to describe--it had something to do with the ending, but as I thought about it more I think it has more to do with the male characters. Each of the male characters in the story is...flat. Somewhat two-dimensional, and occasionally cartoonish (ie--the emperor's last rant).

Regardless, this is a solid addition to the YA Spec Fic genre and a must-buy for all public libraries.

I received a review copy of this title from NetGalley.

I really, really wanted to like this book., I've heard so many good things about it from authors I love, from other members of the book community, and the premise was right up my alley. But something just didn't click for me. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing, which felt very basic and clunky to me, a lot of the time. I also was not a fan of the characters, who were pretty one dimensional for most of the book. There was also a lot of lore dumping/clunky exposition, especially at the beginning of the book. The one thing I did really enjoy was the incorporation of African inspired locations, cultures, and religion. I really wish I could say differently, but this book just wasn't for me.
2.5 stars

I don’t normally read this genre of book but I am so glad I fell into the hype and gave this one a try. The book keeps you on edge, My opinion of the book is a Handmade’s Tale and Children of Blood and Bone had a baby. You get sucked into the world created by the author it becomes hard to put down. I tend to be cynical on endings but I enjoyed this one! Left open for more books.

Demons and more!

Exciting premise to the story—one that I both loved and hated when I really thought about the society’s racial biases. Only pure bloods are allowed to continue their lives within their villages (even if for women thats along strictly traditional patriarchal lines) The others, those whose blood runs a different colour (gold) when tested are deemed to be descended from so called demons. This is the Ritual of Purity that happens all over the land of Otera when a girl turns sixteen. If other they are used, abused and killed over and over for the economic value of their golden blood secretions.
This idea of the ‘other’ being sorted out and disposed of raises of course the specter of Gladiators and Roman arena ordeals, the slave markets. I kept thinking Hunger Games, but in Otera the rejects, the racially impure must fight to save the pure. So battle slaves are essentially being trained to save the Chosen ones. You’re being selected out and trained to fight in the arena of life, to save the pure bloods from annihilation, but not enough to be given freedom. The yoke of the powerful and righteous remains on the neck of the impure. Training is brutal.
Several tropes are occurring, the training sequences that produces friendships, the fight against monsters, secrets withheld from the main protagonist, unlooked for abilities springing to the fore, the evil within and without, acceptance, racism, parochialism. Despite all this as I continued to read, I became less engaged.
Naming Forna is an exciting new voice. Reading her introduction gives shape to that.
I am sure The Guilded Ones will be well received by many. I became somewhat disconnected as the tale developed and I’m not sure why.
I do love the cover BTW.

A Random House Children’s ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna was absolutely incredible! Deka, the 16 year old protagonist, lives in the Patriarchal Kingdom of Otera. At the Ritual of Purity, Deka is discovered to be impure, so she is placed in a cell where the village elders attempt to kill her several times. After 6-8 weeks of torture (where she experiences multiple "deaths") she is visited by a mysterious woman who offers her an opportunity to escape in exchange for her service as a female warrior. As Deka and the other Alaki, female warriors, train to protect the kingdom from the monstrous deathshrieks; she learns a little bit about her mom, but still has many questions about who and what she is. This diversity-laden tale is an action-packed, social justice Fantasy that will appeal to a wide audience.

First of all let me tell you how much I enjoyed this book! The world building was incredible. At first I started highlighting all of the new vocabulary for this world but quickly realized that this was not necessary as Forna lays out descriptions within a few sentences. Unlike other fantasy novels the different people, places and items were clearly defined right off. The world building is matched with action and scenes that grab and pull you in. There is violence but none of it felt over the top to me. I felt that it served a purpose and held meaning in allowing us to know what Deka and her blood sisters had endured.

One scene in particular really struck me. Belcalis discusses how people took advantage of her and persecuted her. They saw no wrong in their actions as she was one of the cursed - the gilded ones. But she reminds Deka that even though she may not bear physical scars, that the memories still weigh heavily on her heart. This sentiment reminds me of the myth of the strong Black woman. People think that because we have been persecuted over and over again and keep standing up that we feel no pain. Even if we have a tough exterior and manage to come through our ordeals smiling, the pain is still there. The scars have been forged inside.

The Gilded Ones talks about racism, xenophobia and fighting against the patriarchy. Although this was a coming of age novel, Deka and her blood sisters were strong female characters and their allegiance to one another was a beautiful thing to see. Overall, this book was empowering and it showed that not everything or everyone is as they appear.

We've been waiting forever for this book . . . and it was worth the wait!

Namina wrote a world that is both stunningly built and heartbreakingly real. The magic system, the characters, the creatures, these things that came from Namina's world were just so well done. You can tell she put time and energy into creating a world for all of us to fall into.

But it's the society that mirrors the real world. And it hurts. It just fucking hurts. I am a straight, cis-gendered, middle class, "white" woman. I've been lucky enough to not have to deal with the things that were mentioned in this book. But I know on a global scale, I am in a minority.

Women being told they are less than men. That they should bear him children, be subservient, and do as he wishes when he wishes it. They should never show themselves to anyone but their husband. That this keeps them pure in the eyes of their God. That women MUST do this because they are evil things. Monsters. Demons. That we should be punished for being unpure, when it was a man who chose to make us that way against our will.

And the women in this book (and in real life I'm sure), I just... they are so brainwashed into this society that even when it has cast them out and tried to kill them, all they want is for their God to forgive them and make them pure again, so they can go back home. Back home to the lovers who stabbed them. The fathers who tried to murder them. They think if they can somehow become pure again, these people will love them again.

I say, those people never loved them to begin with.

This book was hard to read in some places. But also worth it.

This is a found family gold mine. These women are so strong and beautiful and loving and they absolutely deserve each other. They deserve the family they have grown together and SO MUCH MORE.

There's also an amazing (achingly) slowburn romance and your girl was HERE FOR IT.

There's a really weird pet that I absolutely loved. The plot line was glorious. THAT ENDING Y'ALL! I am so excited for how this book ended and I know book two is going to be a wild ride and I am ready. I don't know when book 2 is coming, but if it was tomorrow, it wouldn't be soon enough.

💢TW: misogynism, gender-based violence, racism💢

"All this time, I've been afraid of my ability, when instead I should have been regarding it as a treasured weapon"

Gold-blooded descendents. Powerful warriors by birth. A kingdom taken over by ego. The Gilded Ones.

Set in the fictional land of Oreta, the story revolves around Deka, a young girl cast away by her family and society for who she came out to be. Hence, she was forced to join an army, until she figured out her collective history and strove for a cause thta changed the course of her life.

Bright characters and pressing issues made this book all the more impactful and relevant. We've also experienced a cultural change from witches in Europe to alakis in Africa. What a trip! And I'm so grateful for it.

This is a must read for everyone seeking to know more about how history can often lie to us and switch narratives. And definitely for the feminist aspect portrayed so powerfully.

I love the premise of the book, but I think a lot of it feels a little on the nose? And personally, it made me feel like I wasn't trusted to understand the concept, but I also know that for authors from marginalized communities, it's hard to leave such big meanings to chance. I loved the writing itself and the sense of character that I get from reading through Deka, in addition to her relationship with Britta and the other girls.

One the BEST books of the year, easily! This will be a super easy sell to teen readers and beyond. Bonus: the author is screenwriting the film!

This book…where does one begin with such a powerful book? This was a successful YA debut that truly captures the power of all women. CW: sexual violence (off page), extreme physical violence, misogyny, abuse, xenophobia, possible PTSD. 4.5 Stars

The Gilded Ones was one my most anticipated release of 2020. I was heartbroken when I discovered that it was going to be pushed back to this year. HOWEVER, it was definitely worth the wait. This book isn’t for the faint of heart. Forna has said time and time again in interviews that it is loosely based on her experiences growing up in Sierra Leone during the civil war. It is a clear representation of the atrocities that Forna and so many others faced. Additionally, it is the representation of the ill treatment that so many young women are required to face and combat.

The premise of the book is quite simple. Deka, the main character, along with the other eligible young woman in the village must go through a “blood-letting” ceremony in which they must prove their purity. Red blood is the equivalence of purity while gold blood signifies something more sinister. The consequences for gold blood are beyond any level of gruesome that I have seen exhibited in a young adult novel. Forna does not hold back for the sake of her readers and quite frankly I respected her boldness in storytelling. As Deka is revealed to have gold blood, she is presented with the opportunity to serve in the emperor’s army with other young women branded as the gilded ones. The story is fast paced and through the course of the text readers learn the intentions not only of the emperor, but also of the other men in this world. As expected, Forna utilizes this opportunity to explore what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society, what it means to defy those who demean your worth. And she does a brilliant job of creating and sustaining this narrative in each page. The commentary was spot on and brilliant. And while I enjoyed this aspect of the book, I so heavily connected to the respect and admiration for the strong bonds of friendship created amongst these young women. There is an element of romantic love, but Forna’s attendance at Spelman College gave her the perfect insight to creating these dynamic relationships between the young women forced to work for the emperor. They have this passion for each other that’s undeniable and remarkable to see develop. They respect each other, admire each other, are vulnerable with each other in a way that I’ve never seen done before in a YA novel. For this, I give many thanks to Forna as a writer.

Of course, as with most novels I read there were a few things that I did not enjoy about this book. The first is in regard to the pacing. The pacing of The Gilded Ones can be viewed as having two different components. The first component, the literal passing of time, did not work well for me as a reader. There were time jumps in which days or weeks would past by and it was structured in a way that did not flow with the rest of the novel. The second component which was centered around the level of intensity at which Forna would present the text worked very well. It was constructed in a way that allowed Forna to acknowledge that she was challenging readers with a lot of difficult content. The novel would move fast with hardcore, intense, and albeit graphic violent scenes and would then slow down giving the reader time to recover and “breathe.” The final aspect of this book that I struggled with as a reader was the ending. It was written in a way that allows for the continuation of the series; however, the tidiness of it caused plot holes for other elements described earlier in the book. I walked away with a few questions that I’m hoping will be addressed in the second book.

Overall, I thought this was a great novel. The character development, plot development, and overall thematic explorations were AMAZING. It is clear that Forna put her heart and soul into the development of this book. Her experiences and her story are beautifully woven into this and I couldn’t have been more honored to read her work. I’m glad that she created this world for us to see into and get lost into while rooting on Deka and her friends/family. I highly recommend this book.

I will be 100% honest – I picked up this book solely based on that cover, and I have zero regrets. This is a hard-hitting and fiery young adult fantasy about overcoming the patriarchy.

In Otera, it’s accepted that women are subservient to men, and anyone – or anything – that goes against that is against the natural order. At fifteen, girls go through a bloodletting ceremony to prove their purity. Girls who bleed red are now considered women, free to find husbands and have families, while those who bleed gold are executed as alaki, demons. These alaki are near immortals descended from the Gilded Ones, four female demons who were subjugated by Oyomo, the rightful (male) god. During an attack by deathshrieks – horrible creatures whose screams cause impairment and even death – Deka is cut and bleeds gold, so she is imprisoned and repeatedly tortured to near-death, until a mysterious woman offers her a choice: stay there and hopefully eventually die, or join a new army of alaki, where faithful service will leave Deka cleansed of her impurities. Thrust into an unforgiving training regimen with other young girls, Deka must learn to survive. But when it becomes clear that Deka is a monster even among monsters, can even the other alaki accept her?

“The truth is, girls have to wear smiling masks, contort themselves into all kind of knots to please others, and then, when deathshrieks come, girls die. They die.” I glance from one blood sister to the other. “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?”


Deka starts the book as very young and innocent, completely buying in to the religious precepts she’s been taught – even if it means believing that she’s a monster and unworthy of salvation. The only thing that keeps her going is the hope that if she can survive twenty years of service, she’ll be judged pure. But once she meets the other alaki – once she realizes exactly how strong she is – she finally understands that she and every other woman in Otera have been caged and forced to be lesser for their entire lives. Even at the beginning of the book, though, when she’s terrified and hurting, she’s brave and unwilling to give up, and those are the qualities that really endeared her to me.

I loved the found family that Deka finds within the ranks of the alaki, especially her friendship with Britta. All of her bloodsisters have individual stories and motivations, but Britta and Belcalis were the two most fleshed-out and the two closest to Deka. They’re also opposites: Britta’s warm and trusting from the beginning, while Belcalis is prickly and defiant. White Hands, Deka’s initial savior and then sometimes-mentor, was another very interesting character, though more because of how manipulative and secretive she was. I also adored Ixa, Deka’s, uh, “kitten.” The male counterparts, the recruits, were less fleshed out, except for Deka’s love interest. Strangely enough, considering I usually read 90% romance, I didn’t care for the romance here. It felt unnecessary and a bit distracting from the rest of Deka’s journey.

“The physical body—it heals. The scars fade. But the memories are forever. Even when you forget, they remain inside, taunting you, resurfacing when you least expect.”


There’s a lot of tragedy in the book, most stemming from the ways women are subjugated by men and the ways they’re taught to subjugate themselves. And even beyond the blatant misogyny and racism, there’s also violent depictions of training and battles. I didn’t find any of it gratuitous, however, as the events have shaped each character and they each work through their trauma in their own way. The plotting was fast paced, though there’s quite a few time skips during the training, but it definitely kept me turning the pages. There were some aspects of the twist at the end that had me raising my eyebrows, but compared to the rest of the book, it was very minor.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book and I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the series. I highly recommend this to any fan of YA fantasy!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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.