Reviews

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

Only show reviews with written explanations

bookish_phoenix's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Can’t wait to read the rest of this series

glennau's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I'm so glad I read this. This is such a great book. The fantasy world is colorful, the characters are interesting, and while the trials faced by the main characters are heartbreaking they are worth reading. This is a wonderful feminist story. I enjoyed seeing multiple female characters come into their power and the beginning of friendships and relationships. Definitely read the trigger warnings. There's a lot of trauma, but it fits the story. I can't wait to read the next book!

virginianash's review against another edition

Go to review page

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

agneskkj's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

3.75

samhdixon's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

hannahnj17's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

TW for this book: physical abuse, torture, mentions of rape and sexual assault

I liked this book. The world and plot felt fresh and creative and I found myself caring about most of the characters. However, I was frequently taken out of the flow of the story by the clunky writing style. There was a lot of "I hear a [thing]. Then another [thing]. Yet another [thing]." I also felt it would've benefitted from further exploration and details of the antagonists' motives. Okay, so they're sexist and like being in power/maintaining status quo. Is that it? The last thing I didn't care for was the protagonist's romance. Without time to develop or even get much sense of her love interest's personality, I was not engaged in their relationship at all.

That sounds like a lot of negative I suppose, but I did enjoy it overall. It was a fairly quick read and I'd be interested to see where she takes the plot if future books are released.