This book was hard to get into. I really tried but it sadly didn’t work out. I chose to not read the book any further. I do think I might revisit it some time later though, I like the concept. Maybe I wasn’t in the right space to read it.

I was really enjoying this book at the beginning of the book, but around the 25%-35% mark, the book lost all the spark that was gripping my attention. It seemed to become repetitive, and the characters were not getting anywhere. I found it started to get boring detailing the cooking processes and the walking around the town. I just felt like nothing was happening especially being so far into the book.

I will try this book again in the future and give it another go but at the moment, it wasn't the right time for me to get through the repetitiveness of the story.

3.75. I picked up this novel having previously enjoyed one of the author's short stories, and I wasn't disappointed. The novel focuses tightly on four characters: two Primes, genetically engineered humans designed and trained to create political change, and two Proxies, designed as their bodyguards. The story deals with a lot of fairly heavy themes - destiny vs. agency, nature and nurture, corruptibility, social inequality, human/technology interaction, and more - but at its heart is about four people thrown into an unfamiliar world with the burning need to change it. I think this one will have definite YA crossover appeal - sometimes the book felt a bit YA to me; I wish some of the themes were explored in more complex ways. I really liked the character development, the diverse representation, and the worldbuilding in this one. I will definitely look forward to more from C.T. Rwizi.

Content warnings: death, violence, murder, blood, gun violence, confinement, forced institutionalization, medical content, bullying, torture, suicide (on the page)

House of Gold
by C.T. Rwizi
A remarkable story of humanity. The fact that this is a renown African author is not the only accolade of the story. Rwizi uses the struggle of economic systems to be the center of the conflict in her stories. She warns like the historic science fiction authors of social and technological paths that maybe problematic. She warns that the capitalism and cooperate practices may be the downfall of society. The control of the communities by cooperation's who deem value and recompense for service is a new form of slave labor, and exportation. Using the literate structure of outside viewpoint of a social struggle to highlight the problems of the cooperation controlled society.
Her characters are nuanced and universal. She has strong female characters that provide a structure to her story. Her remarkable use of color and fashion to amplify African traditional practices, and Ideals, will connect with those readers that want to understand and appreciate the many dynamic cultures.

4.75/5 stars! This book was a stunning cyberpunk fantasy. The spin on privilege and societal elitism was handled beautifully and I felt fully immersed in this unique world. There is a constant duality between loyalty and conflict that kept the story interesting. I want to dive back into this world and am hoping the author follows up with more stories.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

dnf at 43%
might give it another try in future.

It got repetitive and tiring to read. loved the concept, i had high expectations from this book. but sadly it did not work out for me.