Thank you to netgalley for a free copy of the book, all options are my own.

This was such an interesting story, I loved the mythology behind it, the world building is so detailed and I loved it! At the age of 16 everyone goes through this ceremony that will show if you're a human (if you have red blood) or a demon (if your blood runs good) and our main character discovers that she is not human and things go to hell from there. Warning! This book is really really violent and it was honestly really hard to read some parts because of all the gore.

My only issue was the romance part, as all ya novels it's very rushed and unrealistic but other than that I'm really intrigued by the world and Deka's story

An utterly beautiful and gut-wrenching story about a Black girl reclaiming her magic. Saturated with lush worldbuilding and a gripping twisty plot, fantasy fans are sure to DEVOUR this one!

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is the next great fantasy novel. It's a fierce feminist take on the fantasy novel where women are able to subvert the blood-letting ceremony and join an army of fierce female warriors - overcoming the death sentence or stigma of being deemed impure.

It's a story of resilience, and protagonist Deka is a fierce lead. This is definitely going to be one to watch for in 2021.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

What a captivating book! Right from the start I was drawn in to Deka's story, curious to see how her ideas of her self, her family, and her country would change over the course of her experiences. And I was not let down! I loved the way Deka's beliefs were challenged as her world expanded, and the ways in which she adapted to the new information she gained. I especially appreciated the way she questioned authority figures and that those in power (like White Hands) were not universally portrayed as good/bad but rather as having nuance. I am never a fan of the idea that if a character just SEEMS good or helpful, then they ARE good/helpful. I also really enjoyed the value placed on the idea of found family and platonic/familial love, and appreciated that it was held as equal to (or even above) romantic love. The end was chock full of plot twists and new information, and though I found it almost overwhelming at times I'm still very much looking forward to whatever comes next!

“Immortal like warriors, demonic monsters, and a patriarch to burn, Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones is a story unlike any other.” Cecelia Beckman, Sheaf & Ink

Can we first take a moment to talk about the cover of The Gilded Ones.

It is simply stunning!

A female warrior, outfitted in golden armor and tribe like accessories, Deka’s ethereal beauty is captivating. It will definitely draw readers in with its vibrant colors (the turquoise and gold palette is such a great color combination) and eye popping lettering.

A definite cover buy!

The Gilded Ones is a harrowing story. Deka is faced with continued discrimination by society and even the war band she joins to protect the Empire. It is constant: the derogatory language and the harsh treatment is like being barraged by unrelenting colossal waves whose sheer force and purpose is to cause pain. There are often brutal scenes, violent depictions of how Deka and her fellow warriors are treated in ways you wonder if they’ll survive.

Even though Farna’s novel is a harrowing testament to the treatment of women in a patriarchal society, there were some concerns. The pacing of the novel felt stagnant. In the beginning it starts off with anticipation and action. But that quick pace pewters out after the purity ritual, with very little happening until closer to the end. Much of the dialogue doesn’t move the story along and the writing feels mechanical and halting rather than vivid and lush. I wanted more descriptive world building that would have added to and made The Gilded Ones more memorable.

As for the characters, from the beginning, we know Deka is different. She stands out amongst her peers (both in her village and war band), like a rare jewel in a sea of counterfeits. However, after Deka is deemed impure her character progression is similar to the pacing. And rather than embracing a more fierce warrior like demeanor she often resorts back to being helpless, confused, and unsure of who she is and the decisions she makes.

Replete with traditional customs and monsters made from nightmares, Namina Forna created an interesting world and story. One that explores a patriarchal society with its extremist views and how women ultimately had enough.

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

this was a really enjoyable read, the characters were great and I really enjoyed getting to know the settings. I look forward to more from the author and hopefully will see more in this world.

Honestly, if you are looking for a book to add to you “most anticipated books of 2021” please add this one! Why, you ask? Well, first off the characters in this book are so diverse! If you have been following my blog you know that this is something that excites me! Secondly, you have a group of young women, destined for death, who become powerful warriors! Seriously, because of being different the tribes of this world were supposed to murder them, but I will get into that later. Lastly, the world creation done by Forna was…how do I say it? Chef’s Kiss!!! Seriously, I was pulled right in from page one and just did not want to put this book down.

So now begins my task of telling you about this book without giving you any spoilers what so ever. Let’s begin with the lead character, Deka. She is a sixteen year old young woman who is terrified that something would go wrong at the blood ceremony and she wouldn’t be allowed to become part of the village. You see, her family was already seen as an outsider for marrying someone with questionable lineage. So this blood ceremony was incredibly important to her. She just needed to bleed red and her and her father would finally be considered members of their village. Unfortunately, the blood ceremony did not go as planned and Deka’s life changed. She went from being on outsider, to being called a demon, to becoming an incredible warrior (known as alaki).

Namina was masterful in her creation of this world. You could feel the oppression the women and girls were forced to live under. They had to be subservient to men to the extent that they weren’t even allowed to run father than their male counterparts. There was actually an amazing part in the book where Deka realized that all of the girls were purposely running painfully slow to avoid shaming the boys and she called them out on it! One of my favorite lines in the book came from this scene…”are you girls, or are you demons?” This was a major plot point of this book. A female could either bow down to the men of the world or be strong, there was no middle ground. Let me just say, I loved reading about how these young women found their own voice and strength. It is such a fantastic message for YA readers. Seriously, these young girls go from being abused to being warriors, this was so freaking fantastic.

Namina was masterful in the way she covered so many topics including racism, sexism, and rape. Yes this was brought up as one of the horrors that these young women had to face. But these topics were faced in a way that it added to the story and not just as an side like in other books. This grounded the story in some reality and also showed just how low women were treated in this world. But there was also beauty to be seen once the girls were allowed to be who they were meant to be. This book was so good that I just could not put it down. This book gave it all to the reader!

Overall, this is a must read! You were given a diverse cast of character from all over their world and lgbt characters as well. You followed Deka and her friends as they trained to become warriors. You were along side them as they battled these creatures that killed tribes and captured children. And you were there along Deka as she found out who she truly was and what made her special even amongst alaki. So, were the alaki evil like the men in the book or were they something more? Well, guess you are going to have no choice but to read the book to find out! If you are looking for a fantastic YA novel with diverse characters and strong female characters you need to put this on your to be read list for 2021!

I received an ARC from Netgalley. I am leaving my honest review

In her debut book, the author does a fine job of creating àn interesting, believeable world.

Despite the excellent world building, I didn't find that the book sustained my interest. I didn't find the characters relatable and the plot sort of fizzled out

This was a solid fantasy. There was times when it became stagnant and nothing was happening but for the most part I enjoyed myself. I am interested to see where the sequel would take Deka and her friends. I mentioned about some tropes I didn't like. I didn't like how Deka out of all these girls her power was above everybody else and they only needed her power for their battle. Everything rided on her shoulders. I felt like that was too much pressure. The other trope was the soilder falling in love with the guard. It was really slow burn but we could have not had a romance in this story.

The Gilded Ones is the debut novel by author Namina Forna and the start of a new YA fantasy trilogy, although it works perfectly well as a stand alone novel. It's also a novel set not only in an West-African inspired world, but also one that is strongly feminist in its themes. I knew nothing about this book going in, having requested in from NetGalley after I think I saw some mention of it on twitter and after I was drawn in by its strong cover, so I had no expectations going in at all. And while The Gilded Ones has some flaws and isn't perfect, what I found is a novel that was impressively strong with its main character and themes and left me excited to find out that there will eventually* be more.

*This book was originally supposed to come out this summer, but was pushed back for some reason (COVID I guess?) to next year, so I suspect I'll have to wait a while for the sequel*

TRIGGER WARNING: While no abuse is shown on page - brutal dismembering yes, abuse no - it is implied or talked about with regards to young women in this novel. There's good cause for this, and it is not gratuitous (like I mentioned, the book doesn't show any of it), but just fair warning.
----------------------------------------------Plot Summary--------------------------------------------------

At age 16, Deka is soon to undergo the Ritual of Purity - a ritual where every girl is cut for the first time to see if their blood runs red....or deadly unnatural gold, in which case the girl will not be suffered to live. Deka fears the ritual because she's always felt like an outsider in her village - both because her mother being an outsider from a different part of the country has given her looks like no one else and because she's always had a strange intuition that she can't quite put a finger on.

And when the demons known as Deathshrieks attack her village just as the ritual is about to begin, Deka's fears turn true, when her blood runs gold, and the people she love turn on her with blades in their hand and cruelty in their eyes.....over and over and over.....

Until a strange woman with no name comes to Deka claiming to be from the Emperor himself with an offer: to survive and leave the town and join the Emperor's military fighting against the Deathshriek threat. For Deka is what is known as an Alaki, and her "unnatural" blood makes her near-immortal and super strong, gifts the Empire needs if it is to survive.

With no other choice but pain, Deka accepts the offer and soon finds herself training amongst a number of other similar girls. And yet as Deka learns more about her Alaki blood, she discovers truths that separate herself from all the others, and make her question not just who she herself is, but what she is, and what that says about the very world she grew up in.....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In an intro to this novel (which I'm not sure will be in the final book), Namina Forna notes that when she grew up in Sierra Leone, the land was "deeply patriarchal" and that when she moved to America, she hoped "things would be different, but [she] quickly realized they were the same." It's that theme, and the need to fight back against that, which carries full weight in The Gilded Ones, in which a similar overt form of this patriarchal society and latent sexism is a part of the world. The religion that the country practices preaches that women should be subservient, and girls have to undergo an actual ritual of "purity" - which brings to mind some real world ideas almost certainly intentionally, even if here it actually can reveal if girls are fully "human" or not. And yet those who fail the ritual aren't anything more than super capable - super strong, hard to kill, with beautiful looking blood....and yet men can only see such a thing as a threat (and the gold blood a resource to be exploited) to be destroyed in as gruesome a way as they can imagine.

Into this world comes Deka, a girl growing up with a mother who passed away a year ago and who has always tried to be the best daughter possible for her remaining relative, her father, even as her different colored-skin/looks has led to her being ostracized from others in her town her entire life. She truly believes in the patriarchal culture and religion and doesn't question it - until her fears come true and she becomes directly its target for the color of her blood. The Gilded Ones does a terrific job with Deka, showing how her thoughts transform from that of being subservient, and then to feeling guilty when she starts feeling otherwise, to truly deciding to hell with them all that she is who she is and she is proud of it. She's a very bright girl, quick to realize things aren't right and yet she was once captivated by a culture that pushed her down and this book does a great job showing her break out of it, and then to similarly question all of her other assumptions as more and more events - her strange unusual powers, what she sees and what happens - don't seem to align with what she expects.

As is the case often with any book in which the narration is done in first person by the same character throughout, the other characters in this novel don't get quite as much attention and aren't quite as interesting (particularly the love interest, who's just sort of....blah). But there are a few highlights, particularly the brash angry young woman Belcalis - who is angry for a very real reason and maintains her brash exterior throughout even if she does mellow towards our protagonist a bit. Deka's best friend, her companion Britta, is also a solid loyal companion whose caring nature and loyalty makes her a solid sidekick, but I also wish we could see more of her - and really any of the girls, outside of their interacting with Deka.

But all these characters work well enough and help form a plot that really works for the most part (see below), with it constantly subverting expectations and moving at a mostly nice pace, with revelations coming to both the characters and the readers at the same time, so you're never really getting annoyed at Deka for not realizing things before she actually does. It all builds up to an ending that is particularly enjoyable and could really work on its own as if this was a stand alone novel.

That isn't to say the plot is perfect - the whole book builds to a revelation that you can sort of see coming - parts of it at least - which occurs in the final act, and then things move insanely quickly, with other characters apart from Deka making a major decision that the reader will expect, but I didn't expect it to come that easily with so little prompting, as if the author needed to get this book over with as soon as possible at that point (it kind of needed like another 50 pages to lead up to that decision). The love interest as I mentioned above is kind of meh, and well he's just sort of there and while I appreciate his decisions and can buy his acts, it just is kind of blah. But still, these issues don't really detract from the whole that much.

Overall, I look forward to seeing more from Forna in this series or elsewhere, and highly recommend this novel to young adults and others when it finally comes out.

Never realized how much I needed a book like The Gilded Ones. It helped me get out of the dark place I was in, from feeling tainted (for personal reasons) and taking that 'taint' and using it to take back my power and doing what I can to realize my own strength. This book was amazing, the world building and character development- LOVED IT. Made it me honestly feel like I was right there with Deka and Britta.

As part of a ritual that every girl must submit to when they are 15 years of age, a priest will make a cut to see if their blood runs red to indicate a pure soul or gold for impure. They are then either killed immediately, which is the kinder alternative, or worse. Deka endures a substantial amount throughout this book and the storyline is unique and interesting. Unfortunately, the pacing is unsteady and lags at points during the book and the characters are difficult to relate to in the beginning making them hard to empathize with until later on in the story. If the reader pushes through, the ending is worthwhile.

It took me an entirely long time to pick this book up once I had it, and then it was a constant struggle from there. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this book. The writing is amazing, the story is great and tackles a lot of dark topics and overall, I enjoyed the world, the representation, almost everything. But there’s something about this book that made me struggle to read it. I can’t place me finger on it or why it took me almost a full year to get through it. Maybe it just wasn’t for me. I’m not sure. Either way, it’s defiantly a great book.

"I am... no longer ashamed of what I am." I say. "No matter my origins, there is worth in what I am."

-------------------------------------------------

Gilded Ones has got great X-Men vibes for me also maybe a little Grace Year and Game of Thrones. Girls are bled at age 16 to determine whether they are pure. If you’re found to have glittering gold blood you are outcast from society as the offspring of a demon. But what happens to these outcasts is unique as their demon blood gives them great strength and other unique skills. They offered a chance to join a unique army fighting off monsters ravaging the empire.

The main character Deka is quite likable in her transition from outcast to warrior. I’d say most of the other characters are pretty one dimensional but this story is really about world building and battling with monsters. It’s like a comic book without the illustrations, but you don’t need them because the writing is so vivid!

The reveal at the end of what is truly going on is masterful. I really loved the balance of human nature that is portrayed, those who hate what they do not understand and those who accept others even when they don't understand is so true to life.

Really looking forward to the sequel of this one!

I absolutely loved this book. I was lucky enough to receive an arc and I’m so excited I did! This book had a lot of hype and I really enjoyed it. A lot of times books don’t live up to the hype, this did!!

The Gilded Ones follows Deka as she struggles to find acceptance in a world that thinks she’s a monster. She’s always been an outcast, but she hopes that once she completes the Ritual of Purity and proves her blood runs red, everyone will acknowledge that she belongs. The only problem is that her blood is gold, signifying that she’s impure. After a hellish time in the church’s cellar, a mysterious woman comes to whisk Deka away with promises of a place in the world and answers to her questions, but Deka only finds new questions along the way. What are the Deathshrieks? What are the alaki? But most importantly, what is she?

The plot is an interesting mix of predictability and surprise. There are weird animals and goddesses and a bloody war and everything you could want in a fantasy novel, but it doesn’t feel overcrowded or convoluted at all. The friendship and family subplots are actually what makes this book worth reading. They’re extremely well done. There’s also a romantic subplot that randomly appears. You know it’s coming from the very first time we see him, but all of the actual budding romance happens off the page, so when we learn they’re closer than wary friends, it feels abrupt. That’s actually my biggest complaint with this book. That first time they hug instead of clasping arms is a huge step forward and we don’t even get to see it or hear about it. I honestly felt cheated when I realized they’d already moved past that point. But at least we get to see the first kiss.

I adore the characters. Deka and Britta make such a strong pair. I almost feel bad for Keita if he ever does anything stupid and hurts Deka, because Britta will tear him apart. I loved all of the girls, but I hope to learn more about Adwapa and her sister in future books. I get why they remain mysterious throughout this book, but now we know their secret, so their backstory could be super interesting. But if you know me at all, you’ll probably guess that Braima and Masaima (the snarky equus twins) and Ixa (Deka’s pet) are my favorites.

The pacing and the ending. The story moves along at a pretty quick pace that kept my attention. I don’t think there was ever a point where I didn’t want to pick it up the next day, which is honestly rare for me. I get bored easily which is why I only read a couple of chapters at a time. As I mentioned, the pacing of the romantic subplot is awkward, but the rest of the story moves along nicely. I will say that the ending is a little rushed, but it leaves some stuff open for the next book. I’m personally wary of the newcomers (don’t want to spoil it by saying who), but that’s probably just because I read a bunch of stuff where anything that seems too good to be true is a big old scam.

The writing is lovely. There’s some gorgeous imagery and very poetic phrasing. It’s tight and keeps a quick flow. There are places where I wanted some more description to get a better grasp of the setting, but it isn’t a deterrent from reading on.

Ultimately, I loved The Gilded Ones. I’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes, so I’ll definitely check out the next book. I’ll also keep an eye out for other things by Namina Forna.

Overall, I gave it four out of five stars. If you like fantasy or have a teen who does, this book is definitely worth checking out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for the ARC!

A solid 3 stars that was almost a 4 stars, but there are just some plot/character issues that came up for me.

The world building is by far one of the better parts. It was really interesting and I liked how deep we got. One issue that is basically going to be exclusive to me, is that I've read books that have the same plot twist, so I predicted who the "bad" guy was and the secret of the alaki by the 30% mark. I did however love the Nabari, and how they are used in the story.

I will also say that battle scenes were handled very well, each one had a purpose and it did exactly what needed to happen without feeling like it was muddling down the story at all.

Now this is YA and it does the typical YA love interest trope of making it super obvious to the point of it feeling forced. I even never felt like they were really in love either cause they had so few scenes together, and like maybe two of those could be considered "love" focused. They definitely trusted each other, but I couldn't see love. Doesn't help that the love interest was very bland, and had no depth to him, besides being ready to die for the MC, which is just his job so it isn't really a highlight for his personality.

This book does suffer from "16 year olds that act/think like 20 year olds" syndrome. Our MC also has like nothing unique about her and it felt like she lost character over the novel instead of gaining it. Part of this is that her past is just thrown out the window immediately and she just unlearns years of culture in like two weeks. After that she is just a warrior with no personality (this may be setting up for future talks on how the military removes the soul of people and turns them into killing machines, but it wasn't brought up and discussed in this). If you asked me to define her I'd just have to say "warrior" cause she doesn't do much else besides think of combat. Kind maybe? Maybe Open-minded? But those are pulling from like one or two scenes and besides that she just falls flat for me. I related a lot to her background in the earlier chapters, so to just see it all be given up (and not be a struggle/culture shock for her at all after the time skip) sucks. She doesn't react like someone who has spent her entire life in a very conservative town/culture would be, and gets over it within the two weeks (which we don't see).

And that has to be one of my issues when it comes to development of both the MC and her relationship, so many time skips and just it feels like we're missing out on character defining moments. And there are a few trope characters in this that we don't see develop beyond that (at least not yet).

I almost DNF'd this because the first 30% is so just not interesting and very generic for YA fantasy. If the latter half wasn't so good I probably would have DNF'd it. I legit think this would have been 5 stars if it was adult and not held back by the constrictions of YA. This had great potential to be mind blowing but being forced to keep stuff young just made it suffer. I'm still interested in the sequel, cause the ending did show promise. And I feel like we're getting to a point in the story where the characters will be forced to show development.

This is a great fantasy that is adventurous, diverse, and filled with female empowerment.

In a world where girls don't have any say or choice on their life and the ones that are deemed as unpure killed. Comes a beautiful story of women empowerment and finding and using your inner strength. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for letting me read the Gilded Ones early! I was one of those super lucky people who requested my e-ARC on NetGalley a few weeks before the release date for this book, so I was approved before the book was removed from the catalogue and I’m so happy I was! It was amazing! Like man y’all, if this isn’t on your list for 2021, make sure you add it now.
The Gilded Ones 5/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.
But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity--and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki--near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire's greatest threat.
Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she's ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be--not even Deka herself.
At the beginning, this book gave me so many Handmaid’s Tale and the Grace Year vibes in the oppression of the young girls in Deka’s village, but as soon as the day of the ceremony comes and she has gold blood, everything changes and this book becomes so different from anything I’ve ever read. I thought Deka was a great main character, and even though this book does have the “chosen one” trope to it, it doesn’t do it in an annoying way- it was so well done and it made me really want to keep reading (like I had to force myself to stop reading to go to bed multiple times). I really enjoyed all of the training the alaki got and there’s so much more I want to talk about, but with it not coming out until February 2021, I don’t want to spoil the amazingness for anyone, so I’m going to stop now and just say that this is definitely going to be one of my favorite books of the year and y’all should definitely pick it up when it comes out!!!

Wow, wow, wow! When I say I could not put this book down, I mean since the very first chapter I was completely engrossed and it never went away. There is so much important subject matter to unpack. Racism, and sexism were at the forefront, although homophobia was also briefly addressed. The use of religion as a weapon of oppression was particularly striking. The characters were fantastic, and the bonds between developed beautifully. This book weaves fantasy with dystopia in a way that makes it feel real, especially for anyone who’s ever been told they are ‘less than’ simply because of who they are. I can’t wait to read the sequels. I cannot give The Gilded Ones enough stars so I guess 5 will have to do.

Thank you NetGalley, Namina Forna, and publishers for the ARC. I am so incredibly impressed and highly recommend The Gilded Ones.