Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

41 reviews

yulecogs's review against another edition

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, War, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Slavery

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.5

Wow, this book is exactly as violent as forewarned, but I didn't expect the plot to be so similar to the magical girl anime trope! The Guilded Ones follows young Deka as she's forced from her native misogynistic religious community upon discovering that she's unnatural and supernaturally immortal. Her only choice forward is death or enlistment into the emperor's army for other girls like her, alaki, in a quest to defeat the bloodthirsty Deathshrieks. 

I really enjoyed seeing Deka's initial character in the first half of the book. She felt like a truly accurate portrayal of a devout religious teenager, constantly admonished for daring to step the slightest bit out of line. Over time, Deka grows and flourishes with her little found family, but her character development felt natural along the progression of the plot. All of her friends, notably Britta and Belcalis, have distinct and unique personalities, and are unified under the banner of overcoming the misconceptions the world thrusts upon them. Most of all, despite Deka's romance arc, the story finds a way to center the importance of female friendships in a way that doesn't feel forced. 

When I first read of the 20-year-long contract the aleki forms with the government, I was curious about how the pacing of this, in tandem to the promised all-out campaign against the deathshrieks, would play out. At times, the plot will skip around a week or more into the future, but I found that this worked fairly well for the story, cutting out more mundane story points such as soldier training and travel time. 

I think my only issue with this book was the level of description for the violent scenes. I understand that alaki are immortal and virtually un-killable by human hands, but the depictions of gory stabbings and beheadings was a lot for me, especially for a YA book. There were also fairly numerous depictions of vomiting, both as a result of witnessing violence and as a symbol for unease, that was a little unsettling. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book a great deal as I devoured it in 24 hours, and I'm glad I was finally able to get around to reading it after it sat on my shelf for 6+ months!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Sexism, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Gore and War

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

tinyjude's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I am always ready for some book that stands for kicking the patriarchy in the ass. It follows many of the clichés typical of the ya fantasy genres but it is still very enjoyable (and is more diverse than the most known ya fantasy/sci-fi books). 

In addition, never had I imagined that I would enjoy again a straight main couple, but they were very cute and I loved how devoted he was to her. She deserves to be happy and not suffer any longer. 

Also, Ixa's sole existence adds points to the book. I LOVE TINY, AFORABLE AND FEROCIOUS CREATURES THAT ACCOMPANY THE PROTAGONIST AHHHHHHH

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Death, War, Violence, Stalking, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Murder, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

zikin's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed parts of this book, and I liked the main character/characters. My biggest reason for not giving it 4 stars is the gore. I found the graphic descriptions of violence and abuse off-putting. I will read the sequel though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and War

whatjasread's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would! Not too sure that I'm desperate to continue the series, but this book was very different to what I expected. The writing was great, though a little slow at times and could probably have been a little shorter with some decent editing. Plotwise this was predictable but not in a bad way, I enjoyed seeing the story unfold. I do wish there was a bit more focus on Deka's Uruni bond with Keita. I also wish the queer relationship was a bit more obvious and woven through the story, as it felt a bit like an afterthought.

TWs: racism, colourism, sexism, sexual harassment, illness, murder, graphic violence, gore, blood, death, stab wounds, torture, body-shaming, scarring, vomiting, ref to rape, sexual assault, fat-shaming, dismemberment, body horror, death of mother (before book)

Tropes/rep/themes: war, legends, sapphic SCs, found family, ritual bonding

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Death, Child death, Torture, and War

Moderate: Sexism, Vomit, Racism, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, and Fatphobia

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Medical content

lucy_shanners's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Bullying, Pedophilia, and Vomit

chellcake's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Torture, Religious bigotry, Child death, War, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Physical abuse, Grief, Vomit, Self harm, Bullying, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Cursing, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, Confinement, Drug use, and Trafficking

mountain_reader19's review

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Violence, War, Death of parent, and Grief

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

I really enjoyed how magical The Gilded Ones is. How bizarre that there are female characters, when coming of age, bleed gold blood and are seen as evil. 

Our MC Deka is such an amazing character and herself is a suspenseful mystery. As in, she does bleed gold, is tragically killed by her own father, and can continue to ressurect herself.

Soon, she is united with more Gilded girls and together discover their individual strengths, train, and become more aquatinted with their "rebirthed" selves. 

I was EXTREMELY happy when Ixia (a magical shape-shifting creature) was introduced and LOVE HIM SO MUCH😭 Deka and his initial encounter is magically  spiritual, as soon as she lays eyes on him something in her being tells her he belongs to her. He does end up biting down on her arm and locking down, I would have freaked out, I figure to be a blood bonding. After that he's fiercely protective of her and the sweetest protective pet.

Then the whole premise behind the wicked creatures the Gilded are trained to help eliminate, Death Shrieks. There were so many mixed emotions and confusion combined with Deka unexpectedly understanding their foreign language. I could just weep.

The Gilded Ones has so much deep meaning and realistically resonates with the spiritual warfare Black Women and dealing with. I cherish Namina Fora for writing such a powerful start to this duology. I cannot wait to read the next title of this series.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexism, Death, Misogyny, War, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, and Grief

sbdelopez's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Cursing, Death of parent, Vomit, War, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Rape, and Sexual assault