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A review by hungryandhappy
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
4.5 stars
*ARC from NetGalley*
Take chosen one main character girl, give her immortality, add some golden blood, super strong monsters girls army, and deathshrieks. Yes, that's how the villains in the book are called because they shriek and they look very deadly or like death, you choose.
Deka is different from other girls, and not the way of the usual YA trope. She has black skin in a country where there are all white, blonde and with blue eyes. She's already looked at like an outsider so when her blood was deemed impure, running gold instead of red, she is tortured until a mysterious woman she called White Hands, offers her the choice of joining an army of girls just like her, the alaki. Just like that Deka's adventure starts, full of mystery, twists, but more importantly a found family unlike any other.
Deka's deep friendship with Britta was so sweet. Yes, there was a bit of romance in the story, but the friendship Deka makes while with the other alaki is truly was made this book even more remarkable in my eyes. We rarely see stories about friendships, people you trust and are willing to die protecting you and you protecting them. All the girls, with their suffering, came together to defeat the greater evil and accepted their monstrous selves. Because people call them monsters. Are they, though? Or are they more? That's for you to find out.
Excellently written, got me invested and afraid at the same time. Amazing first book of a series that I can consider unmissable. It has all the elements of a remarkable YA fantasy and it will get a lot of attention, I just know it.
*ARC from NetGalley*
Take chosen one main character girl, give her immortality, add some golden blood, super strong monsters girls army, and deathshrieks. Yes, that's how the villains in the book are called because they shriek and they look very deadly or like death, you choose.
Deka is different from other girls, and not the way of the usual YA trope. She has black skin in a country where there are all white, blonde and with blue eyes. She's already looked at like an outsider so when her blood was deemed impure, running gold instead of red, she is tortured until a mysterious woman she called White Hands, offers her the choice of joining an army of girls just like her, the alaki. Just like that Deka's adventure starts, full of mystery, twists, but more importantly a found family unlike any other.
Deka's deep friendship with Britta was so sweet. Yes, there was a bit of romance in the story, but the friendship Deka makes while with the other alaki is truly was made this book even more remarkable in my eyes. We rarely see stories about friendships, people you trust and are willing to die protecting you and you protecting them. All the girls, with their suffering, came together to defeat the greater evil and accepted their monstrous selves. Because people call them monsters. Are they, though? Or are they more? That's for you to find out.
Excellently written, got me invested and afraid at the same time. Amazing first book of a series that I can consider unmissable. It has all the elements of a remarkable YA fantasy and it will get a lot of attention, I just know it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Rape