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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
I gave "The Gilded Ones" 5 stars, so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately it was a bit disappointing.
The story in the first book of the series captured my attention, so now I wonder if I just didn't notice some of the problems that I spotted now. Or maybe the plot just made up for them!
For one, this book genuinely put me in a reading slump, so it took 2 months or so to actually finish reading it. I found Deka to be a problematic character - I didn't feel that she was supporting her friends and there was even a moment where she felt sad that one of her friends found love, because she realised she is no longer her friend's only priority.
The book also had a lot of combat scenes, all of which felt either too far fetched or just weird - Deka had a lot of skilled people around her and she not only makes decisions that are not always wise, but others just follow them without question. This seems odd considering some of those around her have decades of combat experience. Overall, the interactions between characters just felt flat.
Lastly, not only did the book feel like backtracking from the plot of the first book, but it also felt like it could do with some more editing. The writing was confusing at times (i.e. in one sentence Deka is concerned about someone being unusually quiet and in the very next she thinks that their silence is a good sign because no news is good news). There are also references to previous events which seem like an afterthought corrections (i.e. characters go into a situation with no information, but a few pages later it turns out they actually had the information all along).
It's really a shame because the concept of the book was really interesting, but overall it could have been so much better.
The story in the first book of the series captured my attention, so now I wonder if I just didn't notice some of the problems that I spotted now. Or maybe the plot just made up for them!
For one, this book genuinely put me in a reading slump, so it took 2 months or so to actually finish reading it. I found Deka to be a problematic character - I didn't feel that she was supporting her friends and there was even a moment where she felt sad that one of her friends found love, because she realised she is no longer her friend's only priority.
The book also had a lot of combat scenes, all of which felt either too far fetched or just weird - Deka had a lot of skilled people around her and she not only makes decisions that are not always wise, but others just follow them without question. This seems odd considering some of those around her have decades of combat experience. Overall, the interactions between characters just felt flat.
Lastly, not only did the book feel like backtracking from the plot of the first book, but it also felt like it could do with some more editing. The writing was confusing at times (i.e. in one sentence Deka is concerned about someone being unusually quiet and in the very next she thinks that their silence is a good sign because no news is good news). There are also references to previous events which seem like an afterthought corrections (i.e. characters go into a situation with no information, but a few pages later it turns out they actually had the information all along).
It's really a shame because the concept of the book was really interesting, but overall it could have been so much better.
The last four chapters is the only reason I'll pick up the third book
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
slow-paced
This was okay and think the first was better. I am going to read the final book and see where my thoughts land after that one but currently I would recommend reading the first book and leaving it as a standalone as I don’t feel like with either of these books she leaves it in a way that grips you and makes you want to continue which I feel is pretty important for a series to be able to do and I feel like she ends them in a way where you feel like it’s kinda done and you could just carry on not reading them but that could also be because I’m not the most invested it doesn’t make me itch to pick up the next book
I didn’t love how the whole of the first book is set up telling you all these things and then you come to this and everything is revealed as lies and then we have to learn all new stuff instead because of this then you have the whole male gods storyline and the Jatus which I agree with some other reviews had a focus on how men are great and these really powerful people and Deka can not figure out for the life of her how they are so much stronger then her which just felt a bit silly as it’s all about female empowerment and then we have a whole book on men and how they are stronger then the women and they have these extra powers that prevent Dekas ability’s
adventurous
emotional
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
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
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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