Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The Gilded Ones

tl;dr summary:🙍🏾‍♀️👿⚔️🐈‍⬛ 🏃🏾‍♀️💪🏿💪🏾💪🏽💪🏼

3 stars is not too many stars but I didn’t dislike the book! It was just kind of 🤷🏻‍♀️. I enjoyed a lot of aspects, mainly the world itself and the mythology—so cool! Plus it was honestly very inspiring at points. I wanted to go fight something. And Ixa, Deka’s fantasy pet, was adorable.

The book had a lot of twists that were completely predictable to the point that I thought the characters already knew them…until the big reveals happened. Plus a lot of elements that felt out of place for the world/context. But my main issue was with the world-building because it felt a bit lacking. This could just be that we have an unreliable narrator, but I prefer my fantasies with a bit more…oomph. I mostly wanted more info on the different creatures and what their place was in the world, but maybe that’s coming.

All this said, the last 20% was so exciting that I will probably continue the series!

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jashanac's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Not a new favorite, not something I want to shout from the rooftops about, but I had a good time reading it and am curious enough and intrigued enough that I plan to pick up the sequel.

This was BRUTAL at times, including very early on. Very much content warnings for murder (of young girls especially), torture (of young girls specifically), sexual violence, sexual violence against children, gore, xenophobia... there is only one scene with a mention of sexual violence that happened to one of the girls when she was younger but the description of what happened to her is truly horrifying... so be aware of that before picking this up!

I felt like the pacing was a bit rushed at the end -- it kind of came across to me like the author was aiming for an epic "here comes the cavalry" and epic "omg PLOT TWIST" moment a time or two, which fell slightly flat for me. Not terribly flat, not super disappointing, but just a little bit, "Oh... okay."

I enjoyed the cast of characters and seeing them form very close bonds with one another, and I appreciated that while we do have a bit of a budding romance that we see forming that was not at all the focus and the main character's friendships even had priority over the romantic interest/relationship.

The magic and world-building was also intriguing to me -- enough that I do indeed look forward to the next book!

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librarybookscene's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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alenezela99's review

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adventurous dark inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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destdest's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think it was interesting for a story to play with the constructs of purity in a fantasy world. As usual, only girls’ purity is called into question and the "purest" girls are the most covered with mask adorned with gold or cheaper metals. We see Deka run herself ragged trying to meet her society's standards. She tries to be as devout as she can.

Unfortunately, and understandably, Deka felt like such a sad sack the entire time. She's tortured in brutal ways and abandoned. I wasn't aware that this was a multiracial (why are there so many blonde and blue-eyed ppl? At least make it interesting, blonde and red-eyed?) fantasy world, so I was surprised at Deka being basically a magical biracial girl. On top of the impurity bs, she's isolated from her mom's side of the family and further alienated. With that being said, I fully understand that Deka’s dejectedness is a purposeful progression.

The storytelling felt very slow-moving, and some readers may drop before they see Deka come to terms with herself. But my heart was gladdened once Deka did. I didn’t care about any of side characters, the allies Deka makes, though White Hands immediately piqued my interest. The conversations between Deka and Britta just never hit for me. Very ‘we’re friends because we sit next to each other in class’ vibes. I was indifferent to Keita. But I enjoyed the lady army, the commanders and the soldiers were ruthless.

the final fight scene felt so technical. The emperor was acting so hammy.

Because I wasn’t endeared to any of the character, the reading experience was lackluster. I wonder if the author’s screenwriting experience played a part in the execution. Still, creating a fantasy story is no joke!

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catphilli's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

What a little gem of a book! I didn’t know anything about this book before buying it based on its gorgeous cover design 😂 Such a fantastic story that I think all young women should read - very hunger games esque just more whimsical. Very high praise coming from a hunger games stan. The commentary this book makes on society, sexism, racism and abuse is so powerful and easy to devour. It’s also a beautiful emotional story and is incredibly written throughout. Definitely a great one for me to dip my toe back into YA fiction!!

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thevietvegan's review

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adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

It’s extremely violent and graphic. But an interesting world 🤷🏻‍♀️ The pacing is jarring at times, things feel very skipped over, or fast forwarded. The author is a screen writer though, so this makes a lot of sense. Dialogue game strong, plot twist game strong. Ixa is everything haha.

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