A review by ailsaod
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

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

3.0

I was a little wary of this book as I recently read 'Children of blood and bone' which is also a prominent ya book with similar themes and did not enjoy it at all. I may have rated both books the same but it is for very different reasons!

This book is quite brutal (especially for YA!) but in a strange way as there is very little character death (of named characters) but a lot of very unpleasant things happen to the girls. I quite enjoyed most of it and it would have been a solid 4 stars as while being super dark it was fairly enjoyable and I was enjoying the mystery that surrounded Deka's powers. However right towards the end the big twist is revealed and it just raised so many unsatisfying questions and made the prior events in the plot far more convoluted. Like I'm all for a good 3rd act reveal but this one was just a lot and made me wonder what the point was. It's sad as what made me enjoy the first 2/3 was knowing that we were building up to something big but when the plot twist came it just didn't stick the landing for me.
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