amaliachimera 's review for:

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

4.0

---

3.5 stars, rounding up to 4! Actually during the first half of the book, I thought I’d be giving this 5 stars because it was so interesting and layered. But slowly throughout the rest of the book, I found myself ticking off pieces of stars due to other issues like confusing character motivations, changing alliances, and obvious deux ex machina. I wonder if the second half of the book would have benefitted from being split into another book, with more time to flesh out details around the Alaki, goddesses, monsters, origins, and all the various tribes too.