Hmm. Still debating between 3 and 3.5 stars. The fantasy world-building and characters were fascinating, but I struggled with the rapidfire pacing and some plot decisions. Longer RTC near release date.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. The writing in particular wasn’t for me; it was a lot of telling and not showing, as well as the repetition of certain details to emphasize them which was more annoying than anything.

While I appreciate that this book delves into the patriarchy, based on the author’s experience of it in Sierra Leone (where she’s from), the worldbuilding other than that felt very basic. The north is coded as Western Europe, the south Africa, the east Asia, and the west Native Americans (I think?). I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this; a lot of other books do it. I just got tired of reading the same characterizations for each group. For example, people from the east would be pale and have “black hair that cascades like a river.” That was it. I couldn’t really tell if it was actually characterizing people from these groups as one thing or repetition of the same characteristic, but it felt like the former.

Honestly though, I tend to be more critical of books that I don’t really enjoy or can’t get into. Please know that this is my personal opinion! While I didn’t like this book, I’m sure many more people will enjoy it.

I stumbled across this book weeks ago on a blog that was listed upcoming YA titles. The cover caught my attention (how gorgeous is it?!), then the description hooked me. From the first few pages I was wholly invested in Deka, her forced part in society, and the world Namina created at large.

Although this is YA, there are many parts especially in the last third of the book that I had to set it down and take a break; it's so easy to connect with these characters that their pain is a little too real. PTSD is no light thing, but I feel that Namina handled it beautifully with both Deka and Belcalis. One buries it beneath her duties, in the other it festers. There is a very poignant moment where these girls confront it and I was about in tears.

By the end I was so emotionally invested in this world, these characters (all of whom are distinctly individual with clear personalities and motivations), and the hope that they stand and strive for. I loved everything about this from the first word to the last. And I want my very own flock of Ixas, please 🙂

This book is beautifully written and reminds me a little of A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy. The story is captivating though it starts with building the world to give you a view.
The cover is what pulled me in but the story is what pulled me through and into a world I would never have dreamed of.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is an excellent book that is more of a journey, with epic adventures and paths along the way, towards a glorious destination all wrapped up in one exciting package.

This epic adventure has it all: fantasy, myths/legends, coming of age, adventures, suspense, action, and a dash of romance.

We first see Deka, a young teen, living in a village called Otera where women are considered second-class citizens. They are subservient and have little hopes and dreams of their own. At the pivotal point of a ritual of purity (where girls have the clearance to become women), instead of finding her blood running red, she is discovered to have gold. She is considered a Demon. After being chained, imprisoned, and disowned by all she knows, she is offered a life-changing choice by a woman known as “White Hands”: stay and suffer or embrace her Alaki and fight with others that are similar and special for the emperor. She chooses life.

Being able to meet all of the other excellent female companions and friends and see all of these girls grow into strong, confident, wonderful women is so awesome. To see this supportive environment, which they would never have had before, is so refreshing and welcoming. I love the growth that she shows and feels during this book. She is so smart, feisty, and tough. I love all of the character development, and I love the chemistry between her Keita (her male romantic interest). I loved everything about this book and I am excited to see that there will be more in this series in the future. I can’t wait.

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte Press/Random House Childrens for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

If The Gilded Ones caught your eye because it had a beautiful cover, rest assured that the outside is just as good as the inside. Get ready to read your new favorite YA dystopian horror fantasy series.


YA fantasy these days is a dime a dozen, and after awhile, you start to see certain trends that can feel like clone stamps- even when the story is inspired from non western cultures or tries something different. The Gilded Ones is a case study on how a story can use tropes effectively without downing in them, because this story is completely original, You have some things- Like Deka being a chosen one- a special person among the special, and training with her squad to become a warrior, but even these common themes are turned on their head and written with surprising originality.

Deka lives in an incredibly, Handmaiden's Tale level sexist society that will shake you to your core within about 10 minutes into this book- and unlike many modern heroines, she actually buys into it completely. Deka is devoutly religious, meek, submissive, and gentle. She does not break the rules, speak up, or truly see anything wrong with the society she lives in. When she is discovered to have special powers and is accused of being a demon- even as the village turns on her, Deka feels as though the evil within her justifies their violence and cruelty- she does not become an independent "badass" overnight.

Our lovely main character is the product of her environment, and her growth happens slowly as she begins to engage with the bigger world outside of her village. Her journey of self discovery is a beautiful character slow burn that explores how patriarchal society imprisons women in our own minds, and it's not until Deka meets other women and hears their stories that she finds herself becoming the warrior she was meant to be.

The side characters are all beautifully written and woven into their oppressive world in a way that makes you instantly protective of them, while also being instantly mistrusting of the men in their lives. The world is beautifully crafted, dark, and biting. It's a violent world of blunt offering- decapitation, genocide, drowning, and full on body horror. There are several moments in this story that will give you chills, even within the first few chapters of the book. Namina Forna's world is a ghastly nightmare that will leave a lasting impact on you. You won't be able to get the Deathless series out of your head

One of the best debuts I’ve read in a long while. The Gilded Ones is a book that boasts an original plot, a captivating protagonist, sharp clever dialogue, and immersive descriptions. An undeniably strong start to a unique and compelling series.

I find it really hard to suspend reality but the writing of this book made what would normally be a really hard book for me to get into a relative smooth read. It’s not something I would pick up myself in a store but I would highly recommend. This is a girl-power fantasy. Deka is such an amazing protagonist and I enjoyed this book overall.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

TW: gore, death, murders, torture, mentions of rape

Deka is sixteen years old and she fears the blood ritual that will determine if she is pure or not, whether she will become a full member of her village, where she's seen as unnatural for her mother, for her intuition. But when her blood runs gold instead of red her life is turned upside down. Tortured and killed many times, Deka one day has to face a choice, when a mysterious woman comes in her cell: stay in her village or fight for the emperor against a terrible threat, with girls just like her. Because Deka is an alaki, someone stronger than humans and with rare gifts. And Deka is the most peculiar of them all. During her training she will learn to fight, to be herself, to grow and to discover lies and truths about her life and her beliefs.

The gilded ones is one of the most beautiful book I've ever read. It's a feminist fantasy, with a strong female character, who was taught, all her life, what women have to be and what they can do.
According to the holy books, The infinite wisdoms, in Otera, her country, women have to be meek, subservient. They can't do anything that don't prepare them to an husband and a family. They can't ride horses, run, drink, shout, go to school, they can't even move without a male guardian. They aren't seen as indipendent, only inferior to the men.
Deka has known this all her life and she lived under strict patriarchal rules and impositions, resigned to their idea of female, fearing to be unholy, unpure, unnatural.
Her being an alaki means learn new things and slowly dismantling her beliefs and her idea concerning being a woman.

Her whole growth, her questioning things she thought were truths, her finding her place in the world, her growing stronger and more confident is something that happens throughout the book and the reader follows Deka, discovering things, abilities, family and friends.
The author wrote her journey, physical and emotional, skillfully, because the reader is able to understand her moods, her feelings and thoughts. The reader, a first, meets a young girl, molded by a cruel patriarchal society, fearing herself, her powers, her being deemed "unpure", a "demon". Her fear, disgust, rage and hopelessness is heartbreaking and skillfully written. The reader can experience her feelings and follow her in her growth, seeing her becoming more and more confident, having friends and faith in them and in herself. Becoming stronger, self-assured, able to fight, to defend herself and her newfound family.

In The gilded ones the women are oppressed, abused in a country that see them only as inferior. The alaki's stories, the way they were treated and abused were heartbreaking, like Deka's and Belcalis', their trauma forever part of them, never being able to forget it. They went through hell and came out stronger, tougher and it's beautiful and empowering reading about how they decided to fight against their oppressors, in more than one way, like using the words they say against them, demons, for themselves. Reading how they embrace being different, their powers and strength was intense and encouraging.

The characters were amazingly written, the characterization is one of the best I've read in a long time.
Besides Deka, who is a wonderful and complex character, I loved reading about all the female characters in this book. Britta with her energy, Belcalis with her sarcasm, Asha and Adwapa with their beliefs, White Hands with her secrets. They all fight against the patriarchal society and its belief, imposed on all Otera by priests, generals and the emperor.
I really liked the idea of the training ground, the raids, the war, as setting of Deka's growth and her finding family, friends and answer. The recruits, forced to work and fight with women they (and the society) considers inferior or demons are interestingly written, because they slowly starts to realized too the lies and the manipulations.
Keita is Deka's uruni and the only male character I loved in The gilded ones. His character is complex, deep and with a painful past. It was interesting reading about him changing his idea of a woman, of Deka by being and training with her. His relationship with Deka is wonderful, I love their chemistry, their trust in one other, their friendship and love.

Funny and wonderful is Ixa, his shapeshifting homorous and amazing, fiercely loyal and protective of Deka.

The book is full of plot twists, where the truths are slowly revealed, where myths and legends are very important part of Otera and its inhabitants.
The gilded ones is full of strong and complex character and the worldbuilding is fascinating and evocative. It's a brutal world, there are many gory scenes, violent battle scenes and monsters, even though they are not what the reader think.
It's a book about strong female characters, an attack to the patriarchal and oppressive society.
It's about love, friendship, beliving in one self, finding your own place and family, even though is not the biological one.
This fantasy is amazing and I suggest to everyone that wants to be captured by intense and complex characters, plot twists and a wonderful and evocative setting.

This book was a very interesting read and I enjoyed every minute of it! The cover caught my eye right away, the blurb pushed me forward, and I fell right into the story, not resurfacing until I finished the last page! What fantastic worldbuilding the author managed to bring to life, and I say from experience that is not an easy thing to do, and to do well! The images and descriptions of the deathshriekers, of the girls and their training and partners (trying not to give spoilers lol) was truly engaging, and leaves you wanting more. Even though I managed to guess what was coming, it still was fascinating to watch it unfold, and watch Deka have her eyes opened to the world and who she is. The characters themselves were fully fleshed out and absolutely a delight to get to know! Britta is my favorite!!! I must warn however, that it is VERYYYY gory! So if you’re squeamish like I am, beware! If it wasn’t such a great story, I’m not sure I would have been able to handle it xD
Also, I lovedddr Ixa so much 😍

*Spoiler free*

I had seen so much excitement for this one online, that I couldn't help but be intrigued. Then I read the synopsis, a great walled city, blood running the impure color of gold, and fighting in an army of girls who are different. It sounded amazing and I was really looking forward to reading it! Trigger warnings: blood, torture, mentions of rape, gore

I'm surprised how much I ended up loving this book. It took my a good long while to start loving it, I think it was about 60% in that I started really falling in love with the world, the characters, and the plot. Usually, if I'm not completely in love by 60%, I don't completely love it by the end, so this was a new experience for me! And I am glad that I ended up loving it.

I think one of the things that threw me off in the beginning was the pacing. I think this book could have benefited from a slower pace. Everything sort of moved full steam ahead, very fast. I think a lot of things in this book would have been better and could have been highlighted with a slower pace. It would make it ache and I think that aching would make this explode with everything it's trying to do.

With the fast pace, I felt like major things happened before I was fully settled in the world. I was still getting to know the characters when absolutely horrible things were happening to them. I feel like this made it hard to get my feet underneath me. I dunno, I feel like some of the emotional overtones of this book sort of got lost in the shuffle and weren't as powerful as they wanted to be. I could tell what they were trying to do, but I couldn't fully feel it. That's just me though!

Nevertheless, this book is amazing. Because once I started to fall in love with it, I completely fell in love with it. THERE'S EVEN A FANTASY CAT!

This book has so much pain, both physical and emotional. But it's also what can blossom out of that pain and the strength that pain can bring. This is done so, so well. Like, words are hard to find to describe how well it's done.

Also, while brutal, this world is gorgeous. I find it to feel golden, which I know is ironic considering the golden blood. There's so much bad, but the good that comes out of it shines so brightly. Plus, the way it ties into the plot twists and it's rulers and how many secrets it holds. There's also so many super cool creatures that I seriously loved.

There is also so many incredible female friendships. There's a sisterhood between them and the support they show each other was amazing. I always love friendships and this book has some amazing ones.

I also really liked all the characters. They all carry themselves and their pain differently and I liked seeing so many stories come together. They're all so well rounded and so real. I loved them all.

I also really, really loved Deka. Her emotional journey, craving acceptance, feeling like a monster, being so completely immersed in the society she's grown up in, was one to behold. It's subtle, but once you realize what has happened, it sort of takes your breath away. It's something else that is brilliantly done and I loved how it was done under the surface. It's not explicitly mentioned, but it's there in the actions Deka takes and the decisions she makes.

It might have taken me awhile to fall in love with this book, but I did fall in love with it. It's powerful and it's gold. It's dark but there's also so much light to be found in it. Plus, a fantasy cat (I really love the fantasy cat, if you couldn't tell)!

From the beginning of the book we are introduced to a young girl named Deka who has to go through a purity ceremony. Even though all the action takes place during and after that, it's important to talk about how the author weaves in the mistreatment of women from the beginning.

There is a moment where a man tries to grab her in the street and have his fun with her but is saved by another man except he goes on to tell her it's just because she is just so pretty. This happens a lot in the real world and it's nice to see it discussed. That's only one instant but there is definitely more and this book is definitely all about women empowerment.

Deka is a very relatable and likeable character. I think that is what really drew me in to her story. She is strong and is trying to maneuver through this world as best she can. I also enjoyed the other characters and really there wasn't many I didn't care for. They all add interesting pieces to the story.

The romance was a miss for me but that is okay. There was much more that I enjoyed than disliked.

The world that this author created was unique and enjoyable to read about. The fighting was intense and I'm excited to see what will happen next for these characters.

There is a lot to be said about this beautiful novel. First off, the character arcs. Our Main Character (MC) is Deka who lives in fear in her village will deem her “pure” or a “demon”. The journey and character development over the entirety of the book was astounding! The entire time I was screaming for Deka to be pure because in this world when someone is deemed a “demon” they’re killed. Then…during the ceremony….something happens to her that will throw her on a new course! I was screaming, “No!”

Then, enters another character, and she gives Deka a choice. What kind of choice? Well, you’ll have to read the book to know, but she is given a great opportunity that allows her to stand up for what she believes in.

The world Namina has created is beautiful and quite majestic. I was fully in the book the entire time. I loved the culture in these pages. The entire time was well spent reading this book.

There are many twists and turns, building the suspense. This book had all the necessities: goal + conflict + stakes.

If you love YA fantasy set in a new world with amazing characters you can root for then you need to preorder a copy of Gilded Ones.

I really did not think I would like this book but I was pleasantly surprised! This book was an easy read that kept me interested throughout the whole thing. I really enjoyed the main character and what she went through. I thought it made the plot very interesting.

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.- Goodreads

Fantastic read. One of my top reads of this year so far. Within the first three chapters, I fell in love with Deka and no matter what I wanted to protect her at all costs.


Deka is not only likable/personable but her character development is done tastefully. She doesn't complain and whine to the end; she pulls up her bootstraps and does what needs to be done. But also the most important thing is she is open to learning, trusts her gut and allows herself to trust other people. You literally cannot get a more perfect character than that.


Throughout the book, I felt very unease because it talks a lot about how women are mistreated even if they aren't considered the impure ones. It is disturbing and I fully understand that is the point because the mistreatment, the abuse is a fuel for not only Deka but the other women. It is an important factor in the book but that doesn't make it less disturbing.


There is a romance in the novel. But I use the term "romance" lightly. I do because it was expected and there wasn't any chemistry or spark. It was something that happened. And it wasn't needed at all. It didn't add anything to it. I would have liked to see more interaction within this particular relationship and possibly see it develop in the second book. This would have been a great filler as opposed to the several drops of nothing happening.


Overall, the plot is extremely developed and as detailed as it is, it keeps you invested. The ending of the novel was good. I am a little unsure of what book two would be about. But that doesn't make me less interested in its summary or release.

4 Pickles

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

This book was enjoyable. The story had it's own uniqueness, which was nice. I read so many of the same genre that sometimes they all start to blur together at a point.

Deka seems like a strong character and starts kick butt in the middle of the book. The story like was good and I enjoyed the fight trainings and the battle scenes. I'm rooting for Deka and her love interest and really hope it takes off if there is another book.