Review commissioned by and published at BookBrowse.com. Please find it at the following link: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/ref/pr272384

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

While I enjoyed this, it was slower than I anticipated for an action packed fantasy novel. I liked that Deka was able to find friends and fit in. The plot twists were well foreshadowed and not pulled out of thin air and leaving the reader baffled or confused. I thought the world was interesting and reminded me in a lot of ways to the GrishaVerse. I'm looking forward to seeing what Deka and her pals get into in the next book.

I liked this book overall. There was some darker themes and content, but I think it was handled very well. I loved the exploration of sisterhood and friendship. The world building and magic system were really interesting. I wasn't a huge fan of the romance. It think the book would have been a bit better without it. I am definitely looking forward to the next installment in the series.

This is an amazing debut by Namina Forna. The woldbuilding is incredible and the main character, Deka was strong and absolutely fascinating to read.
Deka is 16 years old and it will soon be time for her blood ceremony that will determine if she can become a member of her village. If her blood runs red, she will be able to stay. However, when her blood runs golden, she will be sentenced to death.
I can't wait to see where the author takes this story and I look forward to continuing the series.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is a phenomenal start to a new young adult fantasy series! Deka is a 16 year old girl who lives in a northern province of fictional Terra. We first meet her on the day of the community’s blood ceremony. During this ceremony, girls coming of age are tested to see if their blood is “pure” (red). If they are found to be pure, they are expected to find spouses and take on traditional roles of wives and mothers. Deka lives in a patriarchal society that limits what she can do and her thinking. She is found to be “impure” and her life takes a turn she is not expecting, with her training to become a warrior in a far-away province. She becomes an Alaki, which reminded me of the Dora Milaje in Black Panther. A group of young women with extraordinary abilities. I loved how Deka changes and gains confidence in herself. In The Gilded Ones, Forna deftly creates a new world and including mysteries that pique my interest and make me want to read the next book(s) in the series. I don’t often read fantasy books, so the pacing was a little slow for me, but obviously the author is laying the foundation for future books in the series. I listened to the audiobook, which is beautifully narrated by Shayna Small. I highly recommend this one!

Thank you Random House Children's / Delacorte Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

I didn’t know much about the Gilded Ones but the synopsis gave me Divergent vibes which intrigued me as that is a love it or hate it series. We are introduced to Deka who is about to go through the Ritual of Purity as all 16 year old girls do in order to be accepted into her village as a pure woman which would grant her permission to marry and start a family of her own. However, Deka is aware her mother was an outsider to the village and didn’t go through the Ritual so there is no way of knowing if she was pure, plus one of her father’s cousin was impure when tested and this worried Deka immensely. As her time approaches the village is attacked by creature called Deathshrieks which Deka is able to make leave and that is when she learns her blood runs gold instead of red showing her as impure. She is taken away to be killed as is the custom with impure women but no matter the method used, Deka is able to heal and revive herself over and over again. After being killed nine times a woman comes to herself and tells Deka she is an Alaki, this means she is basically immortal and has powers of her own as we see with the healing but instead of being killed, she is given a choice. She can stay in the prison cell she is in while others try to kill her and take her blood to be sold or join the army of Alaki that the Emperor Gezo has created in order to confront and destroy the Deathshrieks and Deka obviously chooses freedom but asks for her father to be told she is dead. As far as openings go this isn’t anything original but it was captivating and I can’t wait to get more invested in Deka’s journey.

As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Deka names the woman White Hands because of the gauntlets she wears as she hasn’t given us her real name yet. She is taken along with Britta to Hemaira, the City of Emperors where she is to be trained with other alaki to be soldiers. Before they leave Deka also gets to meet two equus, creatures very similar to centaurs named Masaima and Braima and they develop a little friendship as Britta is also trying to get closer to Deka. Once they board the ship to take them to the city, Deka falls into a deep sleep known as the glided sleep for a whole month but doesn’t show any signs of starvation, even she is unaware of how long she has been asleep. When they arrive and see the other alaki, Britta and Deka realise how lucky they are as most of the other alaki have been treated poorly by those sent to bring them to the city with some being starved and other raped by their handlers. There they learn that they are going to be paired with a jatu soldier who will be their friend and brother in arms. Deka is lucky enough to be paired with a recruit named Keita who spoke up earlier when one of the girls attacked the soldiers and explains that they did have a choice, serve the Emperor, or return and face the Death Mandate which no one wants to do. The bonding process makes each pair uruni, similar to parabatai and I am very interested to see how the relationship between Deka and Keita will change over the course of the novel. After being paired with the uruni, the girls are divided into groups and taken to their respective training camps, Deka is lucky enough to be in a group with Britta, Belcalis (the girl who attacked the soldiers) and two southern girls who look similar to her mother, Adwapa and Asha. We see some key differences between the girls here as Belcalis is looking to escape as soon as she can while Adwapa and Asha don’t share the same religious beliefs as Deka and Britta which only serves to divide them when they should be working together and watching each other’s backs because no one else is going to protect them when things get rough.

As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, the girls are introduced to other alaki who have been training for a year who will be the ones doing the majority of their training and helping them adjust to their new lives. They are also introduced to the okai, the Emperor’s female assassins and one of them thinks Deka is familiar, that evening Deka seems to be remember her mother wearing the umbra, the symbol of okai on a necklace which is punishable if the person wearing it isn’t a member of the okai. This sparks a lot of questions in Deka about her mother’s life before she met her father as she knows her mother was alaki because her blood ran red but there is a lot that Deka doesn’t know about her own history. However, during her training she is coming to realise that alaki are superior to humans in terms of speed, strength, and a lot of other factors but their bodies aren’t prepared for it. When they go running for the first time Deka finds she can run a lot faster than a normal person but the exhaustion when she stops is immense and it is going to take a lot of conditioning for them to be ready in seven months to face the Deathshrieks in battle. We do get some good bonding moments her as the group of five joined by Katya vow to be bloodsisters and help each other out whenever and wherever they can to make sure that they survive the twenty year service and get what they were promised.

As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, I was enjoying the story but I was hoping the main plot would kick in soon. We get some plot progression but a lot of things happen with the characters in a very short space of time which made the pacing feel off. The first is that we have gone from the beginning of their training to two and a half weeks in and Deka is finally able to find out if her mother was one of the okai. It turns out she was but Deka is told her mother was already pregnant when she left the service and a death warrant was issued for her but there was a noble who protected her. Knowing this Deka realises that her father can’t be her father as the timing is wrong and this mysterious noble might be the key to finding out what really happened to her mother before Deka was born. However, she doesn’t really have time to dwell on this as their training is increasing and one day some Deathshrieks are spotted nearby thanks to Deka and while they try to get away silently Katya screams drawing the attention to them and she dies as a result, not a false death but her true death which badly hurts the groups since all Katya wanted was to return home to the man she loved and even her uruni leaves the jatu returning home because he can’t bear witnessing any more death. In the aftermath of this, the Lady of Equus returns as a teacher and she has selected Britta, Deka, Belcalis and Gazal as an elite team as they excel above the others in different areas. The teachers have also become aware of Deka’s unique ability to command the Deathshrieks which they are trying to look into but it isn’t until White Hand talks to Deka about her reoccurring dream that she finally unlocks the key to commanding the creatures intentionally but it still takes a huge toll on her which is why the others especially Britta were chosen, to protect Deka in her vulnerable state. After this the girls and their uruni are spending some time together and Keita is horrified to learn of how Belcalis and Deka were treated before they were brought into the army and we can possibly see a romantic relationship developing between Deka and Keita. The group are also informed they are going on their first raid weeks before the others in order to road test Deka’s ability and this panics her as the lives of others are on the line now not just her own.

As we cross into the second half of the novel, I was enjoying the story but I didn’t really have a clear understanding of where it was going. During the raid Deka uses her gift in order to make the Deathshrieks docile enough to kill easily but feels guilty about it as they can’t even defend themselves. As we saw earlier Deka has no problem defending her sisters against the abuse the people give them even when they aren’t willing to sacrifice their own lives in order for the alaki not to be defending them and yet she feels guilty over killing these creatures and there might be a reason for that. In the cave where the Deathshrieks were nesting we see the remains of many humans but there was a little girl Deka saw fleeing into the woods but no one else did. They group of alaki explore the cave and find a temple to the Gilded Ones but they don’t look like demons here as the girls think they look like Gods and they agree not to say anything about the temple as it felt sacred to them and it shouldn’t be disturbed. However, Deka finds a creature there that can shapeshift and it binds to her after consuming her blood and she names him Ixa. At first the others are wary of the creature but Deka’s instincts tell her that he is harmless and she is allowed to keep him. The Lady of the Equus returns and this time it is to train Deka to use her gift without speaking however, the author chooses to jump over all of this which I didn’t enjoy as it seems like Deka masters everything so easily as we don’t see her struggle and fail but she does eventually learn to command the Deathshrieks with movement as well as words. The elite group rename themselves the Death Strikers and make quite a name for themselves and they are even summoned before the Emperor himself where Deka learns he and White Hands are cousins as she was the one who put forward the idea of having alaki soldiers. The Emperor informs them that they have been chosen to march at the head of his army in the upcoming battle with the Deathshrieks and he hopes it will be the end of that problem altogether.

As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, I still didn’t know where the novel was going. I was sure it wasn’t going to be about Deka’s heritage as that has disappeared after finding out her mother was an okai. I don’t think it is going to be about Deka’s journey as an alaki as that is being glossed over, so it has to have either something to do with the Deathshrieks or it is going to end up being a romance novel, which I wouldn’t be happy about. As the group continue to go on raids, Deka gains more control over her gift but the Deathshrieks show a level of intelligence she wasn’t prepared for as on one raid they specifically target her because of her ability to control them giving them the upper hand and they also wear devices that lessen her control over them. Deka survives thanks to Ixa but Britta is injured and she seems to be dying until Deka commands her not to. We see that Deka’s influence is spreading from the Deathshrieks to the other alaki as well but not to the human soldiers. Also, during this raid, she is able to understand the Deathshrieks, while others just hear clicking noises Deka is able to understand it as speech where the Deathshrieks refers to her as Nuru and call her a traitor and Deka is beginning to suspect that White Hands lied to her about being half Deathshriek as that is the only way she can explain these new changes. As they ride out with the Emperor’s army to face the horde of Deathshrieks Deka isn’t sure if she is doing the right thing as the so called creatures seem almost as human as them but when they start attacking them with weapons like spears and catapults, she has no choice but to defend herself. At this point I had no idea how the story was going to end.

As we cross into the final section of the novel, the final battle begins but one Deathshriek calls out to Deka claiming to be Katya and when Deka believes her she commands the other Deathshrieks to protect Katya marking her as a traitor. Deka is going to be killed and Keita asks to be the one to do it as her uruni and decides to dismember her and Deka realises that he knows she can’t die that way and he is betraying the army to save her and allows it. When she awakes even as her body is still healing Keita and Ixa are bringing her to the Deathshrieks where she belongs as all alaki are reborn as Deathshrieks after their final death. There Keita has to leave her even though he doesn’t want to with them sharing their first and possibly last kiss. White Hands is also there are answers all the questions Deka has had while she is healing and explains that her role as the Nuru is to awaken the goddesses, The Gilded Ones and help them restore peace to the land which the jatu conquered by imprisoning and killing their mothers and sisters. As Deka heads to the temple of the Gilded Ones with her friends at her side they realises that the Emperor is already there waiting for them and he has both Britta and Keita bound with him. He explains that the true jatu where the male offspring of the goddesses and while they didn’t have the abilities the daughters had they weren’t completely defenceless but Deka shows what her training has amounted to when she bests the Emperor and forces his army to kneel before her as she wakes the goddesses. In the aftermath, Deka is reunited with her friends, the other uruni and Keita while the jatu and the Priests scatter across the land hiding and plotting but the alaki are ready for them as they understand why their mission is so important as it has lead to girls and women suffering and dying that needs to be stopped. Overall, The Gilded Ones was a very interesting book with a great magic and political system with plenty of intrigue to keep you guessing throughout the novel. However, I did feel it was missing some key elements, take Deka for example, at lot of the scenes that would have made us like her and sympathize with her where cut like the training scenes, more of the raids, more of her trying to interact with the Deathshrieks in order to understand them. I think it needed just a little more and it would have been a solid 5 star read for me but it fell a little short. I will definitely be picking up the sequel in the future to see what has become of my favourite characters and to see where Namina Forna takes this world and these characters.

This book was brilliant, but all the talk about blood made me squeamish. A great book, just not meant for me.

I really enjoyed the story line and character development in the book.

Deka starts out living in fear and as an outsider because of her difference in appearance to the local people. Upon learning she has gold blood she is willing to accept death as her fate. As time passes she learns to embrace who and what she is. This is a truly empowering concept that everyone needs to learn.

The world building is good but I look forward to learning more in future books.

The Gilded Ones
5 stars
First of all, why did I wait so long to read this? It was AMAZING! The world building was fantastic, it was Intriguing and captivating. The characters were inspiring and powerful with strong feminism and girl power vibes. I am always here for a badass female MC and this one did not disappoint. It had a sensitive approach to triggering subjects and it had a great representation of LGBTQ+. Overall it was gripping and Intense and you need to read it ASAP.

ALL THE F***ING STARS

I really enjoyed this read. I liked how this book had both a real world war element but also a school element. I really liked how Frona built the world. I also thought this book had such a strong school dynamic. It was a fun read. The pacing in the middle and the end were not as strong. I also thought this book had a some strong twists that I did not see coming. I also loved the focus on female friendships in this book. The romance in this book was such a nice balance with the action. I will def check out the sequel.

5/5⭐️ to The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna! Thank you so much to Delacorte Press, Penguin Teen Canada, and NetGalley for an egalley copy to review!

This was such an impressive debut YA Fantasy! I found our main character, Deka, and the world immediately compelling. As the reader I was sucked quickly into the story, and was so invested in what was happening to Deka and the other girls. Part of this was the quick introduction to the backstory of her village & the blood ceremony, along with the main villain ~ a group of creatures feared by all, even the most fearsome warriors of the empire. The writing was so vivid and brought all these characters, creatures, and world to life! For a book to be a 5 star read for me, it is important for me to like and feel connected to the characters, and this one was no exception! We got such an amazing group of characters that journey, train, and fight alongside Deka. Each had a distinct personality, and contributed so well to the overall story. I loved to see how they supported each other through such tough training, helped each other overcome past trauma, and fight together against an enemy they don’t necessarily know. Deka herself brought emotion & determination to the story as well as magic & backstory. Her new abilities were fascinating to figure out, and added such depth and intrigue to the story. I thought the training and battle scenes were excellently written, too! It brought the clash of blades, grunts of effort, and the fear & courage of fighting for your people and your life. Not only were there the big battle scenes, but also some scouting & secret tactical missions, which added nicely to the aesthetic of the book overall, and the importance of Deka’s mission. As for the enemy, I definitely felt the fear of the people against these creatures. They are truly worthy of the panic they cause when they attack villages, and the way they are described and introduced gave me chills! Now I just want to quickly comment on the romance in the book. It wasn’t central to the overall story, but we did get a pretty cute romance for Deka. I thought it was a nice touch, and provided a bit of tension release. Finally, I just wanted to say that the ending was incredible...it blew my mind, brought some epic twists, and was so satisfying!

Needless to say, I bought myself a physical copy as soon as it released! Definitely check out The Gilded Ones if you’re looking for a new fantasy to read!!

4 Star read!! I really enjoyed it!!

Trigger warnings: Mention Sexual Abuse and Trauma

Pros :

The world was amazing! The details about the different villages, the religious aspects, and the development of the magic system were so vivid.

I liked how the trauma was discussed. She was not painted as a weak character or having to be overly strong to coop - the girl had trauma and were learning to face it ever day.

The friendships in this book! Talk about girl power!! I LOVED it!!

Cons:

A lot of the plot was to be revealed eventually BUT the author did add a lot of repetitive questions which made some of the plot twists as surprising. The repetition was a bit overbearing, wasn't necessary and prolonged some scenes.

The love in the story didn't do anything for me personally. I didn't care for the relationship - it didn't add anything for me. Instead of them having moments together were the character thinks that a boy is being nice - just show us a few very cute heartwarming scenes. We'll pick up on it.

The action was cool but at times I couldn't follow what the characters were actually doing - more specifically in the final scene in the temple.

Overall AMAZING - can't wait for the next one :)

🌟This book...it’s official I’m 😍. I chose these quotes because they mark a turning point for Deka and the Alaki. They are taking ownership of the power that’s been in them all along...and I love it.

This book rocketed to my new favorite of 2021. The world building is incredible, the story line both plays to the strengths of the genre (magical girls undergo magical training at a secret location/school under the tutelage of a mentor who's got something to hide in order to prepare for the fight against the evil threatening the land) AND flips the script on its head in ways I will not enumerate in order to keep spoilers to myself.

I will read everything Namina Forna publishes. The fact that this is a debut continues to blow my mind.

3.5 stars. The Gilded Ones is solid YA fantasy, and it does what (in my opinion) YA fantasy does best: using another world to challenge readers' perspectives on our own world. I can also see why this has gotten as much buzz as it has - the story is excellent, Deka is a strong character, the worldbuilding is awesome - but I never really got emotionally invested in the story.

Not long after the story starts off Deka is abandoned by everyone she ever known and is forced to endure unspeakable torture. Despite not knowing her that well at that point everything she went through made me invested in her story. The mysterious woman that came to save her from the priests torture intrigued me. Not knowing her name Deka started calling the woman Whitehands. I liked how Whitehands decided to keep the name and became a sort of mentor to Deka. I also loved all the strong female bonding that happens during training among the girls with gold blood. Deka becomes best friends with this amazingly loyal and kind girl named Britta. She also develops a cute romance with the male soldier assigned to be her partner.

After being saved by Whitehands, Deka is brought to the capital to train as one of the Kings elite soldiers. There she learns the origin of her gold blood and her mothers past. She also discovers more about the deathshrieks and why she can sense when they are near. The King is preparing to go on a campaign to exterminate as many deathshrieks as possible claiming they're monsters that only want to cause death and pain, but the more contact Deka has with the deathshrieks the more she starts questioning their mission. The girls precarious position with the King and all the secrets swirling about created some great suspense. It made for an engaging pace even during Dekas training.

Every girl must go through a ritual of purity at 16 to prove they do not have gold blood. These Alaki girls are put to death because of their ties to the gilded ones. The church teaches that the four women known as the gilded ones were vile demons. The mysogonistic church also preaches that a woman place is in the home. They can't do anything without a man's permission. They aren't allowed to work or even run. I absolutely love animal companions so when Deka found herself with a shapeshifting pet I was beyond excited. They were so cute and innocent but fearsome when it came to protecting Deka. All the reveals about deathshrieks and the gilded ones made the world more fascinating. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel.

Okay so this one was good but not great for me. It had some things I enjoyed, but some other things I found lacking.
- The cover is gorgeous. 😍😍 (this OBVIOUSLY matters!) 😀
- By far the greatest strength of this story are the badass female relationships. These girls have been through trauma and betrayal but they still developed a camaraderie and sisterhood. They looked out for each, and had each other’s backs- refreshing in this genre.
- I’m big on world building...While I didn’t feel I was completely immersed in it; I did feel feel I had a pretty good grip on the world: it’s setup, history, and culture.
- The romance was cute. It wasn’t a major plot point but it was believable and satisfying
- The writing wasn’t exactly immersive for me. It was a bit simplistic (which is fine) but I felt a sense “lacking” in a variety of areas. Like the world- it was decent but I wasn’t “immersed” in it. The plot was interesting but I wasn’t “immersed” in it.

Solid debut, but not sure if I’ll continue with the series. I may wait and see reviews for the sequel before committing!

Thanks to Delecorte Press for the eArc through NetGalley!

This book will make you angry.

That's maybe not a typical reason to pick up a book.

But, if you love characters that have triumphed over tragedies, and fight to their personal limits through trauma to stare down the patriarchy and say "not today, bitch" - this is a book for you!

It has all the appropriate amazing high fantasy stuff we love but the icing on the cake is the feminism.

For all the Arya Stark lovers among us, you've found your next book.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW STUNNING THIS COVER IS?!?!
I had to get a physical copy.

High Fantasy, high action, fast paced. The book covers very important subject matters and isnt for the faint of heart or easily triggered. Such an important story to be told. It was a good first book and I am interested to see where it goes.

And while it tackles all kinds of cruelty, it also promotes women empowerment and feminism and was probably my favorite part of the story. Deka’s character development went through the roof but it wasn’t an easy road.

Deka has been anticipating her blood ceremony for years, but when her blood runs gold instead of red her village labels her a demon and imprisons her. After enduring endless torture, she is given a choice: stay at the mercy of the people she grew up with or leave with a mysterious woman and become a warrior for the emperor. As Deka begins her training, she meets other girls like her who bleed gold and have inhuman abilities to endure. She slowly begins to realize she's been lied to all her life, and the monsters she and the others are meant to fight might not be the greatest danger.

I really really really wanted to love The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna. Unfortunately I didn't. Our main character Deka felt underdeveloped and bland to me. The world had some interesting aspects, but the world-building was weaker than I would've liked. I loved some of the details in the book and the sisterhood that grows among the girls though. There are so many trigger warnings for this: torture, abuse, trauma, racism, sexism, and violence. The horrible things that happen in this book are meant to give the main characters something to overcome and fight against, but it all fell flat for me. I still think this book has a solid message of overcoming the biases you've been taught and fighting against oppression, though. I hope this book finds the readers who will love it! I'm just not one of them.