I've been waiting for this book to release since I gave the first two 5 stars in 2023, so I actually screamed when I got approved for this ARC! This book was everything I expected and more. It fit in seamlessly with the previous two and provided an amazing end to the story. The author also worked reminders about previous plot points into this book as to help the reader remember what’s happened previously, without the need to reread. In all, I loved this book (and series as a whole).

The covers of these books in the series are just gorgeous.

I am not usually a fantasy reader but this series has me wanting to read more fantasy. This was a great ending to this series and i would love to see this on the big screen.

I don't usually re-read books but i think i may on this series. Just a great over all series, the writing, the character build and the story line.

Great Series.

Thanks NetGalley was so excited to get this and read and review.

very strong fantasy that keeps up the pace of the previous two books! i absolutely loved these reads, like my goodness. would recommend. thanks for the arc.

Love the lore, love the story, love this finale! What a great conclusion to the series! I would love to see this as an adaptation one day!

I think this was just an okay ending to this trilogy. The characters felt empty during this book and I feel like the pacing was to blame. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first novel to continue. As well as anyone who loves fantasy and are looking for black characters.

thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank #RandomHouseChildren's publishing and #NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Namina Forna's The Eternal Ones, part of The Gilded Ones Series.
Plot: No Spoilers
After Deka realizes the intentions of The Glided One's Goddesses, Deka is set on the quest to find herself and her power (kelani). While trying to figure things out, Deka must realize that she cannot do this alone and must rely on her friends. Once again, Deka and her friends are battling several things while on their journey. They are faced with other gods and new creatures such as vales that suck the life out of humans. While fighting these things, Deka and her friends discover something new that puts them on the most important mission of their lives. With the help of her friends and the newest information given to her Deka must do something that she was born for. To find out what happens to Deka and her friends read The Gilded Ones # 3: The Eternal Ones today! #TheGildedOnes3TheEternalOnes #NetGalley

Writing:
As the course of the novel, goes by, Forna's world-building and beautifully crafted action scenes are impeccable. Towards the end, her writing becomes so lyrical that there were several phrases that I wish I could have highlighted to save.

Character Development:
All of the characters especially Deka came full circle. Deka herself grew immensely in this novel. My favorite character has to be Britta. The way she has grown as a character is great and also her role shifted in this novel as really being there for Deka. I mean she always was there for Deka, but in this novel, it feels different.

Over the course of two years, Deka went from lowly villager to imperial warrior to divine battery. At last she knows her true purpose: a nascent goddess incarnated in a mortal body, meant to bring balance to the world by wiping out the corrupt pantheons before they destroy everyone. Unfortunately, her corporeal form is rapidly deteriorating. Only by reuniting with her divine essence before any of the parasitic deities consume it can she save her life and her realm. Thus begins her long, meandering fetch quest with her beloved companions. The breakneck expansion of the world was honestly less interesting than the quiet moments when the characters processed their feelings.

I think this book is just not for me. I loved the first one in the series but did not enjoy the second one. I was hoping this one would go back into the magic of the first one but I finally realized I was just reading it to finish it and not really caring what was happening. It was also a very hard format to read as I had to zoom in on every page to read the type.

I thought this was a heart-warming end to this series, and while it took a bit to get there (there was absolutely some aimless filler in between these pages!), I certainly appreciated the quieter moments between the characters as they mentally and emotionally prepared to confront the inevitable (is it?!) choice of sacrificing herself to save her friends and the world. I loved the hot springs scene *tears up*

I will miss this series and I think it would be really cool to see optioned and adapted on screen!

This book has some fun fantasy elements in the beginning. I just cannot get into it. The “protected PDF” option has to be zoomed in for every single page because each page is mostly blank white space with teenie tiny text. The user experience is completely ruined by the file type. I should’ve checked the file types offered before requesting the book but I’ve never seen this in a long chapter book. It is simply not possible for me to read this entire book in this format with my poor eyesight.

A satisfying conclusion to the Gilded Ones trilogy! I did get a little caught up in the continued expansion of the world throughout this volume. I thought it would be pulling together what we already knew, but there ended up being a lot of new information provided.

While I loved book #1 in this series, book 3 was not quite as interesting to me. I will be recommending it to anyone that has read the first 2 as it is needed for closure in the series. I appreciated getting to read this though as my students will devour it to know how it ends.

DNF @15%

I LOVED book 1 in this series because it was fresh and had some interesting magic. The problem was, book 1 ended really well, so book 2 needed to have a clear plot or else it'd fall into the sophomore slump. Unfortunately, book 2 felt meandering, without purpose, and just kept introducing new magic. No magical rules were set for this world-to its detriment. Book 2 ended well with a cool cliffhanger, but once I got to that reveal, it truly felt like the author had the end of book 2 in mind the whole time and that was the whole point which is why the rest of the book was lackluster.

All that to say, I went into book 3 hopeful that it would be more similar to book 1 than book 2. Unfortunately, this book started out exactly as book 2 did-with a mission that wasn't preestablished and was confusing to me. Why did we have to go find this person and then our plans are immediately thwarted and we have to go off a side quest? Which will probably lead to another side quest and another side quest. Ugh it was so frustrating.

I decided I couldn't subject myself to 400 more pages of messy writing, so I decided to DNF at 15%. For some reason the Netgalley arc could only be read on the Netgalley app and not on my Kindle, which also influenced my decision to DNF because the NetGalley app is small and hard to read from.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me an e-arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

Namina Forna has done it again, and in the process I'd argue she's cemented her position as the pre-eminent YA fantasy author. This trilogy does not miss, pretty much ever, and it sticks the landing more assuredly than almost any series finale I've read in many years. It moves so fast, it adds even more depth to characters, and it made me bawl my damn eyes out. (Also, the other comps to N. K. Jemisin's 'Hundred Thousand Kingdoms' are spot-on, in fascinating and not entirely expected ways.)

The Eternal Ones is the third and final book in The Gilded Ones trilogy. Having discovered the truth about the Gilded Ones - that they are not the gods they claim to be, but parasites living off the power of the male deathstrikes, Deka is on a quest to discover how to defeat the Gilded Ones before they destroy Otero. That quest takes Deka and her friends to places they never imagined, and show them the truths of the world outside Otero, a world they barely knew existed, and then brings them back to battle the Gilded Ones, in the hopes that Deka can find her kelai, her missing self which contains her powers, before the Gilded Ones can steal it - through her death, if necessary. A must-read for anyone who has read the first two books. Recommended for high school and adult readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful way to wrap up a beautiful series that always had me on my toes and on the edge of my seat, often at the same time (how does that work? I don’t know! But it happened!). Characters and events in previous books were explained just enough to jog my memory without taking me too far out of the current story, which is a tough balancing act to manage sometimes. Now, one thing this author knows how to do (besides throwing twist after twist at you) is describe scenery and colors so well that it feels like you’re there. I look forward to seeing what else this author comes up with. (Maybe more books set in this universe? I wouldn’t say no!)

LOVED this book! It was a perfect ending to the trilogy. I have already added it to my wishlist for next school year!

A amazing and stellar ending to a great trilogy! From outcast warrior to Goddess and beyond! This story is reminiscent of the 1000 Kingdoms Trilogy

This was such a good book! I absolutely flew through this book. The characters were so interesting and I absolutely loved where the author took this story. I will be recommending this book to all my family and friends.

Leaving five stars. I didn't realize there was not a "Send to Kindle" option and I don't enjoy reading on my phone, so I have not read.

I will note, I did enjoy book 1 of this series! It was well done and I continue to recommend it. We put a bunch of copies in our libraries, and they were quickly snapped up. :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.