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A review by brighgreen
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.5
I wanted to like this and I absolutely did not. Poor writing, no character development, confusing plot after no world building - you’re just thrown into a world that is immediately dismantled, multiple times. It’s all bad.
The main character is so one-dimensional and flip flops ideologies and beliefs too quickly to follow. It’s like reading a 300 page panic attack and then suddenly she’s fully formed and confident. She’s so inconsistent that the whole book is rendered pointless. Not one character acts how a real human would; I understand this is fantasy but we’re still supposed to believe they’re real people, right?
The main character is so one-dimensional and flip flops ideologies and beliefs too quickly to follow. It’s like reading a 300 page panic attack and then suddenly she’s fully formed and confident. She’s so inconsistent that the whole book is rendered pointless. Not one character acts how a real human would; I understand this is fantasy but we’re still supposed to believe they’re real people, right?
And how is this book’s pace simultaneously too fast and too slow? I had no idea what was going on and yet it was somehow stupidly predictable??
The story could have been good - I could see myself caring about this world - it was just executed so poorly. I like what this book was trying to do (I’m always looking for diverse fantasy and strong female leads) but this ain’t it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Misogyny