Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

26 reviews

nerdybirdy101's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

*Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC.*

This book was fabulous! The writing and the symbolism were done wonderfully! The author is clearly talented and understands how to write a compelling story. If you like fantasy and strong women leads, then you will enjoy this book. My only complaint and why this book received 4.5 out of 5 stars from me is that it seemed like the author rushed some of the dramatic scenes at the end. The ending of this book could have been the final ending of the story and while I did not want a cliffhanger ending, the book had more happily ever after ending than we have problems we need to deal with in the rest of the series. I think I would have rather the action that happened at the end of the book be extended and have the ending be more mysterious where the readers are dying to pick up the next book. I definitely want to continue on with this series, but I am not obsessing over the next book as much as I would have been if the ending would have been a little more open-ended. 

So, you should read this book if you like fantasy and feminism! The author is a master at writing and weaving together the plot. There are many content warnings and I suggest you research all your triggers to ensure that you are able to read this. Content warnings include child abuse, sexual abuse, misogyny, and more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

charlottesomewhere's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I'm absolutely blown away by this brutal but stunning debut. I loved the world, the premise, the characters, the bond between the alaki, the way Deka's story unfolded. This is a definite new favourite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

carolinewithane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

the first chapter had me thinking: "oh no. another stock YA fantasy."

i'm so glad i kept reading.

while the pacing was clumsy (there are many time jumps that i wish had been explored more) and the romance was a big no from me (cheesy and undeveloped), the whole message is incredible. i would die for the bloodsisters. this is a very intersectional feminist fantasy, which the world definitely needs, and the worldbuilding was very creative.

if you were considering picking this one up, do!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

roguebelle's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I could heartily recommend this book to someone looking to get into YA fantasy, particularly if that reader is from a marginalized community and wanted to see herself as the protagonist in such a story. I would have to do so with the suggestion that she look carefully at the story's content warnings, however, as there is a lot of graphic gore and less-graphic sexual violence embedded in the narrative.

For frequent readers of YA fantasy, the general patterns and tropes will be apparent from "go". A sixteen year old girl faces a Ritual (yes, capitalized) dictated by her patriarchal and puritanical society. Things go Terribly Wrong because she is Different, and in the rest of the story, she must Embrace Her Destiny (capitalizations mine, here). Standard fare, but it's certainly nice to see more diversity applied to those tropes.

The religious themes are heavy-handed with little room for nuance, but in a way that's fairly typical for the genre. The story's "big twist" is easy to see coming a mile away for any genre-savvy reader, and getting to that point is a bit of a bumpy ride. The narrative sort of careens between training montages and infodumps, without giving us a lot of time to appreciate the characters. We're often informed about personalities, but we get less opportunity to see them on display.

The predictable YA romance is predictable and rather boring. There was absolutely a more interesting choice, and if I continue with this series, it would mostly be to see if the author pulls a bait-and-switch on the expected direction and makes the bolder choice later on.

I mean, seriously, pair Deka up with Britta and suddenly this whole story is a lot more interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit and Excrement

monstrouslybookish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death

emerynmader's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Vomit