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hanarama's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
• Sierra Leon-inspired fantasy
• Intense patriarchy and gender inequality
• Diverse characters
• Uncovering the truth
• Seizing power
• CW: body horror, death, blood dismemberment, child abuse, violence, child soldiers
Deka has newly turned 16, and is preparing for the Purity Ritual, a ritual that all girls must undergo to test if they are human or demon. Where humans bleed red, demons bleed gold, and when a demon is found they are killed.
Deka bleeds gold, but is saved when an emissary of the emporer recruits her into a secret army. Within her cohort, Deka finds a family unlike any she could have imagined. In the face of a brutal patriarchy, the cohort of young demon girls uplift and support one another. And together, they uncover a secret that could unravel society.
Overall, The Gilded Ones is a solid debut novel. Despite the predictable plot and YA cliches, the characters are likeable and the story is engaging overall.
Though there are loads and loads of characters, it feels like Forna has made an effort to give spotlight scenes to many of the supporting cast. It can still be hard to remember who is who at times, but Forna does a great job at making the cohort of girls feel like a found family. I hope that future installments provide more opportunities for these characters to be developed.
The mythology of the setting is interesting, and it made me want to learn more. With the characters uncovering information at the same time the reader does, there is a nice sense of discovery. Though a lot of information is revealed to the readers, it does feel like there is still a lot left to learn about this setting and its mythology.
That said, I had some issues with the pacing of this story. There is a significant middle part that follows the girls as they begin seeing battle. At this point, Forna falls into a lot of repetitive scenes. It feels like the story is dragging along. Many of the battles feel the same as one another, so it pushes the reader to skim through. Furthermore, many of the battle scenes feel relatively lowstakes, which contributes to the monotony. Forna's repetitive tendencies appear throughout the book, but are most egregious at this point in the story.
The end, I felt, tied things up a bit too nicely, with Deka succeeding at many of her goals. It makes me curious how things will unfold in the second installment.
Graphic: Genocide, Misogyny, Blood, Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Sexism, War, Death, and Violence
decembermagpie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Self harm, Vomit, War, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, Racial slurs, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Racism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Drug use
katsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“The physical body—it heals. The scars fade. But the memories are forever. Even when you forget, they remain inside, taunting you, resurfacing when you least expect.”
“They might need us now because we're valuable, might pretend to accept us, to reward us - but never forget what they did to us first.”
I'll be real. I put this book down about halfway through and almost didn't pick it back up. But I'm really glad I did. Other than the dip in the middle, the world-building was solid and intriguing. The patriarchy that Forna depicted was hard to read at times but I couldn't help drawing parallels to the real world.
I really enjoyed the found family trope. The secondary characters were so lovely and I ended up really liking how the author seemed to hold up the platonic relationships to the same level as the romantic one. It made the romantic relationship feel healthy and grounded while also not letting it take over the rest of the narrative.
I am interested to see how the second book progresses given that this one seemed to wrap up pretty nicely. It's almost like the author wasn't sure she if she would get to publish the second one so left enough loose ends, just in case, while tying up the big, important ones.
I also want to give some pretty major trigger warnings for death, torture and violence. This is marketed as Young Adult but I would definitely push this towards older teen readers for those scenes alone. The main character and her friends can heal from almost any injury so there are multiple scenes of torture including a pretty prominent scene of dismemberment.
Graphic: Genocide, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Death, Child abuse, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual violence
poffalina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Genocide, Child abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Confinement, War, and Misogyny
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
anniereads221's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, War, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Rape
ailsaod's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is quite brutal (especially for YA!) but in a strange way as there is very little character death (of named characters) but a lot of very unpleasant things happen to the girls. I quite enjoyed most of it and it would have been a solid 4 stars as while being super dark it was fairly enjoyable and I was enjoying the mystery that surrounded Deka's powers. However right towards the end the big twist is revealed and it just raised so many unsatisfying questions and made the prior events in the plot far more convoluted. Like I'm all for a good 3rd act reveal but this one was just a lot and made me wonder what the point was. It's sad as what made me enjoy the first 2/3 was knowing that we were building up to something big but when the plot twist came it just didn't stick the landing for me.
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Blood, Gore, Slavery, War, Sexism, and Torture
Minor: Rape and Vomit
Not sure ifh_reads98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Torture, Murder, War, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny
Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Animal death, Child death, Death, Rape, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, and Hate crime
librarybookscene's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, War, and Xenophobia
myboooksandme's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
ebelzinha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
It’s a really empowering story, deka’s whole journey of understanding who she is and where she belongs. A true roller coaster. I did predict a couple of plot twists but there were some unthinkable ones.
I love deka, belcalis, britta, keita, adwapa and especially IXA!!!!
Graphic: Torture and Sexism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Sexual assault