The perfect finale picks up after book 2 perfectly and ties everything in together. I couldn't ask for a better ending. I love seeing how the characters and relationships have grown over the different books and the Lore behind everything. All in all amazing book and I can't wait for others to read it.

This was a GREAT end to one of the best series I have read in a long time. I was so invested into the storyline, the setting, the characters. It had me on the end of my seat!! It has action, love, empowerment, all the things that make a book GREAT!!

The Gilded Ones lied. They told Deka and the other powerful women who served them so many lies, all to keep them subservient. But now Deka knows the truth. The Gilded Ones have been slowly sucking out Deka’s own power, since Deka is herself a divinity. Now, Deka is weaker than she’s ever been, and will die unless she regains her stolen divinity. However, reclaiming it means making a decision. Becoming a god means leaving all the friends she’s made behind, but with the world ending, it seems like there’s only one choice to make. Can Deka become that which she hates, even if it’s to save everyone?

I received an advanced reading copy of The Eternal Ones in exchange for an honest review.

The Eternal Ones is a young adult fantasy novel by Namina Forna. It’s also the third and final novel in the Deathless series, which started with The Gilded Ones and continued with The Merciless Ones. Now, we’re coming to an end, and what an end it was!

There will be spoilers for the first two novels in the trilogy in this review, and, in fact, there already have been. If you haven’t read the first two books, proceed at your own peril.

I will admit that it took me a little to get into the book. While I had read the first two books in the trilogy, it had been a while since I’d read them, and when the third book starts off with so much action, I was a little confused at first while I got my bearings. But then, once I had, I was able to dive back into this fascinating world and its kick-ass characters.

Like I said, this book has a lot of action. Every time you think the pace might be slowing down a little, it picks up, and our characters are fighting for their lives. After all, there’s not just one set of evil gods after them now, but two! And the stakes have never been higher. Not only are their lives at risk, but the world itself.

Deka goes through a lot in this book too. She has to come to terms with her fate and who she is, especially when she’s hated the gods for so long. How is she expected to become one? Something that really helps in her development is the discovery of a new land, one that’s unlike anything she’s ever expected, that gives her insight on another way the gods can be.

As for the end, it was bittersweet. I definitely teared up in the epilogue. It worked really well for the type of story this was, and I personally tend to prefer bittersweet endings. I thought Forna did a great job here of giving us a commentary on what religion should ideally be, and the series as a whole on society.

In the end, The Eternal Ones was a fitting end to the Deathless trilogy. This is a trilogy that I would recommend to any YA fantasy fans, and especially those who love stories about flawed gods and world-ending stakes.

The Eternal Ones will be released on February 13. You can preorder your copy from Delacorte Press here.

The Eternal Ones was a great conclusion to this trilogy.
I liked that there were enough reminders throughout about events that had happened in previous books to help me remember this world.
Speaking of this world, the world building continues even into this third book. It was fun to read about some of these new places that Deka and her friends had never been.
The characters are great as relationships continue to grow and change and the characters grow- especially as Deka journeys toward her fate.
The story was fairly fast paced with lots of action that kept me turning the pages.
This was a satisfying ending to the story.
4.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy for review.

Super happy to have this conclusion to the Gilded Ones trilogy. The second book slowed down for me a bit, so I was worried about the conclusion and I was not disappointed.

Deka continues to be one of my favorite YA MCs and I love how powerful she's become. This was a satisfying conclusion to the series for me.
Namina Forna has such beautiful writing and I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us.

If you want to read this--which you might not--you'll need to have books 1 and 2 fresh in your memory for it to make any sense. I really liked the first book in this series, but book 2 was repetitive and character actions and development didn't always make sense. This installment, book 3, is even worse that book 2. There's a lot of awkward backstory, the characters and their relationships are ambiguous--and the relationships seem to turn on a dime--and the plot is only vaguely perceptible.

Deka is the only one who can defeat the gods (both the gilded ones and the indugu), but her mortal body is dying. Deka must find her divinity to be reborn as a god and kill the Oteran gods or the world will end.

After being let down by The Merciless Ones, I’m happy to say Namina has breathed life back into Deka’s journey. The Eternal Ones was a lot more interesting for me thanks to the tension, high stakes, and a lot of moving parts. There’s an expiration date so to speak on Deka’s body, we learn of a new pantheon of gods and godsworns, Deka learns to tap further into her abilities, there are new threats…all while new elements and details about herself and her task are revealed.

Although the real meat of the mission doesn’t pick up until about 80% in, the plot before then is filled with twists and revelations that kept me in anticipation for what would happen next.

It did take me a bit to fully get into the story. There is a lot more telling than showing towards the beginning. Almost overwhelmingly so. At several points it felt like a massive info dump because Deka is learning a lot in this book. While I understand the need to explain, some authors are able to write whole new worlds, histories, governments…etc in a way that doesn’t feel so crammed; as if I have to take notes to understand. Of course this is a subjective opinion.

I love the incredibly close bonds this group of friends has. Their loyalty and devotion to each other was heartwarming. I also love the very strong points made against misogyny. It spoke heavily to my feminist spirit and I was fired up as Deka went so hard for girls and everyone really to have free choice and equality no matter how they identify. The mental and emotional anguish we see Deka go through and work to overcome was a really impactful part of the plot that I appreciate being included.

Namina wrote these scenes with such detail and imagination. It was fun trying to envision the story play out in my mind. I’d love to see this series adapted! The ending…when Deka and her friends go after her power, it was so layered and tense. I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I’m satisfied with the end of this series. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced eARC.

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.