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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In Deka's world, there is nothing more terrifying than being found as impure, someone who bleeds gold. All Deka hopes for is that she is found pure, despite the fact she is already different than everyone else. When the day comes, she knows her future will be determined, but she has no idea just how much her life will change.
I am so pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. I haven't really had great luck with newer YA fantasy books, but this one was stellar! Deka is someone you can root for and the friends she makes throughout the story are very interesting and I actually would've loved to learn even more about them. That's basically my only complaint, I want more!
4/5 stars! I'd recommend this to anyone!
I am so pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. I haven't really had great luck with newer YA fantasy books, but this one was stellar! Deka is someone you can root for and the friends she makes throughout the story are very interesting and I actually would've loved to learn even more about them. That's basically my only complaint, I want more!
4/5 stars! I'd recommend this to anyone!
THE GILDED ONES: 4.5/5⭐️
[Side note: Also, can we appreciate that I read this book in 4 days? That is rare for me! I started this book while in a reading slump but the book was just like “Nope, no slumps accepted” and the slump was gone just like that.]
The Gilded Ones hooked me pretty much from the start. I also managed to connect with the main character from the very first page. I really loved Deka, and I felt like her thoughts were shown so smoothly and realistically, so I could easily relate to her.
While reading this book, I never for one minute felt as if the story was just dragging on. Rather, it seemed as if something was happening on every page, whether it was true action, or interesting world building or character information. I especially liked seeing the development taking place within Deka, and to see her starting to realise the wrongness of the rules that oppressed women and Alaki especially. In my opinion, the author did a great job creating an interesting fantasy world that relied heavily on a feminist theme. Another character that intrigued me a lot was White Hands. Throughout the whole book she had me guessing about her motives and had a huge cloud of mystery surrounding her.
I also really liked the formed friendships. It was heartwarming to see how women that were totally cast out and felt alone found each other and bonded like they never had with anyone. I very much liked the urunis as well, and it was nice to see their dynamics with the Alaki develop. It was a pity though that some time jumps prevented me from seeing the full development here, though.
The book has quite some twists near the end, for which I’m proud to say I predicted them to a large extent. Nevertheless, there were still some other twists that I definitely did not see coming!
So if I loved this so much, why not the full 5 stars? Despite loving this book, I did not fully get the 5 star feel. I think this is because near the end, I could have done with some more in depth explanations about certain topics. Furthermore, despite liking the side characters, the only characters I truly connected with and understood were Deka and White Hands, who were then also my favourites. I really liked the other characters and what they brought to the story, and I felt for them, but I just wish I knew more in depth information about them.
[Side note: Also, can we appreciate that I read this book in 4 days? That is rare for me! I started this book while in a reading slump but the book was just like “Nope, no slumps accepted” and the slump was gone just like that.]
The Gilded Ones hooked me pretty much from the start. I also managed to connect with the main character from the very first page. I really loved Deka, and I felt like her thoughts were shown so smoothly and realistically, so I could easily relate to her.
While reading this book, I never for one minute felt as if the story was just dragging on. Rather, it seemed as if something was happening on every page, whether it was true action, or interesting world building or character information. I especially liked seeing the development taking place within Deka, and to see her starting to realise the wrongness of the rules that oppressed women and Alaki especially. In my opinion, the author did a great job creating an interesting fantasy world that relied heavily on a feminist theme. Another character that intrigued me a lot was White Hands. Throughout the whole book she had me guessing about her motives and had a huge cloud of mystery surrounding her.
I also really liked the formed friendships. It was heartwarming to see how women that were totally cast out and felt alone found each other and bonded like they never had with anyone. I very much liked the urunis as well, and it was nice to see their dynamics with the Alaki develop. It was a pity though that some time jumps prevented me from seeing the full development here, though.
The book has quite some twists near the end, for which I’m proud to say I predicted them to a large extent. Nevertheless, there were still some other twists that I definitely did not see coming!
So if I loved this so much, why not the full 5 stars? Despite loving this book, I did not fully get the 5 star feel. I think this is because near the end, I could have done with some more in depth explanations about certain topics. Furthermore, despite liking the side characters, the only characters I truly connected with and understood were Deka and White Hands, who were then also my favourites. I really liked the other characters and what they brought to the story, and I felt for them, but I just wish I knew more in depth information about them.
Conceptually I liked this a lot, but the execution wasn’t quite there. Definitely plan to read on in the series though
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Very tropey. Rounding up to 4 because it’s a debut book and I have hope. This concept behind this world is a good one and eager to see it come forward.
I really enjoyed this book. I started it last weekend and read it very quickly for me. I didn't know that it was the first in a series until a few days ago, so now I get to look forward to the next one, which I believe I saw would come out next year.