I had heard a lot of good things about this book and knew that I had to give it a try.

The concept of this book is really pulled me in. From reading about the ritual of purity and Deka's blood bleeding gold I was hooked. The idea of these women who are viewed as impure having these gifts really gave me early 2010 YA fantasy vibes which is a peak genre in my eyes. I loved loved loved the way the magic system was created throughout the book.

I loved how through the lens of a YA fantasy genre the book explored deeper societal issues which are very much prevalent in our modern world. The amount of misogyny that the girls have to face that are deeply engrained within societal structures really allows for reflection on how these issues are existing throughout the world right now.

Aside from the deeper messages, the book presents it is also just a really quick and enjoyable read. The characters are well developed and the world-building is intricate and very well done.

I am excited to see where this series goes in the future.

Excellent exploration of themes. A fast paced fantasy. Twists that surprise and a splendid incorporation of lore.

Born to a mother from the south, Deka has always been marked as an outsider in her father's northern village. But the Ritual of Purity can finally declare her as someone who belongs, celebrate her newfound womanhood in this patriarchal society, if her blood runs red. When the red changes to a glimmering gold, it's an instant death sentence for Deka. For an impure woman like her, a demon like her, the apparently righteous elders are determined, desperate to end her life. But when she doesn't die by anything —from a brutal beheading to a barbaric burning— and the so-called cursed gold continues to flow through her veins, she's marked as unnatural: a monster.

Deka's silent prayers to Oyomo, the god of sun, is answered —or is it— when a mysterious woman brings her two choices: stay in the village and submit to the death mandate or fight for the emperor in an army of alaki. Hearing this word for the near-immortals who bear unusual speed and strength and golden blood brings Deka a small hope of belonging for once; even if the purpose of this army is dangerous, is to defeat the horrifying creatures called Deathshrieks.

Played out in a world where women are oppressed and backed by a strong influence of religion, the misogyny, the bigotry, and the violence reflects with saddening clarity. The greed for power, the desperation to place a hold on the entire kingdom, and the need to reinstate sexist structures continues to build an overarching narrative that must be fought against. Subsequently, this fantasy gives enough purpose for empathy to flow in relation with the realistic themes.

The chosen one trope inevitably brings in a cliche but the strong indication of internalised feelings stemming from the racist, colorist, and sexist stereotypes perpetuated through years easily casts an aspersion on the flawed society. The slower dismantling of the submissiveness, gentleness, and meekness drilled into the mindsets of women in this misogynistic kingdom is lined with realism and allows the discovery of Deka's power within oneself to shine brighter. The instinctive want to protect other women and instantly eye men with hatred depicts the unfortunate yet survivalist psychology that an oppressive environment produces, and also allows sisterhood and the subtle romance to flourish with intrigue.

Though, the lack of depth depicted through the main character didn't allow enough care to be placed by the reader and the under-delivered details of the world brought down the possibility to be completely immersed in the fiction. Having said that, the diversity allows the feminist motif to be highlighted by inclusion and the mix of magic and monsters keeps one interested enough. A slight disappointment for those who expect an epic fantasy ridden with intricate attributes, or literature that focuses on immense character development rather than being majorly plot-driven, or a young adult fantasy —because the graphic descriptions and brutally realistic portrayal of an oppressive empire unquestionably make it an adult read.

Overall, as a first in the series, The Gilded Ones does set up a strong foundation for the themes of feminism and empowerment to proliferate through a plot that surprises through revelations and a writing that's easy to comprehend. Regardless of the pacing or the want for more characterisation, this fantasy does excite one for the sequel, and the way it forces readers to wonder why women with unknown power are immediately, without any contradiction, considered demons in a patriarchal society.

I've only just recently started reading more high fantasy, and I'm becoming obsessed with it – so when I saw the exquisite cover for this, I said YES PLEASE.
Not only is this a richly developed world but the characters grab you by the heartstrings. Also, it's empowering AF and brilliantly feminist, as well as diverse and inclusive. I wish this book had been around when I was a young reader, and I'm excited for young girls today to have something as magnificent as this to get lost in. I shan't say more for fear of spoilers, but seriously, just do yourself a favour and get this book.

TWs: Lots of blood and gore, anxiety, PTSD, assault, mentions of sexual abuse and assault, mentions of domestic abuse, misogyny.

Author Namina Forna said that she wrote this story for young girls all over the world — to let them know that they are stronger than they think, and that the systems that oppress them try to kill this spirit, but they can't. Not really. And, really, I think she succeeded in getting this message across.

When I picked this book up, I expected it to be a semi-lighthearted, adventure filled young adult fantasy. I mean, look at that cover! It's just so cute! I did not expect this book to dive into the very disturbing violence that women are subject to all over the world. But it did, and it gave me pause, and it took me a good while to come to process everything I'd read. At the end of the day, yes, this book is still an 'adventure filled fantasy,' I guess, but it is also a book that explores some dark themes and has a heaviness to it that I couldn't quite shake.

Themes that made me want to scream aside, this book has a really soft writing style that I enjoyed! It's very historical fantasy, and it worked with the setting nicely, imo! There were a few bits here and there which weren't perfect - for instance, the author uses the term embrace instead of hug, and it's so funny in context, don't even ask me why — but overall, it was pretty good!

I really liked Deka as a character! But I felt like everyone else around her needed a little work. Despite this being one of those stories where The Whole Group is kind of a big deal, everyone except Deka did not seem very well fleshed out to me. They weren't fully bland or anything, but I would've liked to have had a better understanding of them is all!

My favourite part of the book is definitely the setting! There was just something so captivating about it! I am always a sucker for a good "magic school" setting, and I also liked how Deka's magic worked! It isn't a hard magic system, I don't think, but it was just really fun, all the same!

The plot is also pretty fun, but you can pretty much predict the twist really early on. Like, come on, she's The Chosen One, you'll get it. It's pretty well paced and the tone is pretty well-balanced too! My only gripe with it is that *some* of the character actions did not make full sense to me. I mean, I'll take what you give me but I'm also like...for real? you know what I mean?

Also that romance just exists. I care about them, I do, but this book could've done without. I know as the resident asexual, me saying this is self-indulgent, but also...I am a sucker for a good romance. You know this. It just felt like this book did not need all that! Their friend group was perfect, LET THEM BE BESTIES!!!

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book, but there were a few things that prevented me from getting fully emotionally invested to the point where I could rate it a whole five stars! I'm still really excited to see where this series goes because that ending was SUPER FUN and there's A Lot going on that needs to be addressed!

I think this book basically achieved what it set out to do, even if it was a little on the nose about it in some places, and you should definitely pick it up if you enjoy a slightly dark young adult fantasy!

I really love this kind of story : a fully fleshed out fantasy world, interesting characters... Considering this is a debut, this is quite impressive. Thank you for providing this ARC.

Before I review the book, can we talk about how absolutely gorgeous this cover is???

Gilded Ones was a highly anticipated read for me - I had been trying to get hands on this ARC for a while and was delighted when I was approved for it. Which is why, even though this was a good read, I am highly disappointed that it wasn't the amazing read I had hoped it would be.

While I loved the overall concept of the book and how the heavy topics of race, feminism and patriarchy were handled, the plot was quite lacking in structure and cohesiveness. It would jump weeks at a time or would move at a snail pace over a single day. This would have been not such a big problem had the time jumps not lead to characters changing their whole approach and viewpoint over the course of one chapter to the next - which explains why the characters sometimes seemed quite unrelatable.

Our main character Deka started off as a god-fearing and traditional girl, which was a refreshing change from how feminist women are generally portrayed from the very onset. And I was eagerly looking forward to her character development, as there was a huge scope for the same. Which is why it was frustrating and highly disappointing that her "empowerment" happened off-scenes and between one chapter to the next. Even the romance seemed very rushed. I live for the yearning and tension in YA romances, which was quite missing here.

All this being said, it was still a fun and fast-paced YA read.

This book was super hyped and, to be honest, I had concerns about it. Super hyped books don’t always live up to that. But oh boy, this one did!

Set in an African inspired world where girls who have golden blood are “demonic”, reviled, and killed, until now. A the emperor is putting together an elite unit of these cursed women, trained to finally eradicate the enemies of the Empire. But, of course, there’s going to be some twists, some love, and a badass female friendship group who band together to get through this life...

The Gilded Ones is an incredible story set in a world where girls are brought up to be subservient and their only value seen as future wives and mothers. At 16 a blood ritual shows whether a girl is ‘pure’ and able to be married or seen as a demon and subject to a death mandate. Deka has never quite fitted in in her village, where her darker skin sets her apart from everyone else. She desperately hopes that the blood ritual will show she is pure and allow her a normal life with a husband and family. However, tragedy strikes and her future changes forever.

Inspired by her time living in Sierra Leone, the author the author has created a fascinating and powerful feminist fantasy, where the strong female characters overcome the awful injustices they are subjected to. Deka and her found family are true heroes that will inspire both young and more mature women. Exciting and emotional, this is the perfect read for older teens and adults who are looking for a novel which deals with some important topics such as racism and misogyny.

I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

This book made it impossible to believe this was Namina Forna’s debut novel. The writing is gorgeous and evocative and once I’d started, I just couldn’t put it down. I read the whole thing in one go while I was feeling ill, and totally forgot about feeling bad as I was swept away into this beautiful world. This intense, feminist fantasy is a violent and gory experience and I am absolutely addicted to it. I’ve recommended it to a dozen people already and I know that I’m going to reread it once I have a physical copy in my hands.

Deka is an amazing protagonist. At the start, she’s very much a victim of the patriarchal society that she’s been raised in. She’s quiet and submissive and deeply vulnerable because that’s the way these women have been raised to be, and we get to see her develop into someone more confident and brave throughout the course of the book. It made me absolutely fall in love with her and I can’t wait to see how much more she develops throughout the rest of the series.

This book truly is violent, a complicated mess of death and gore. The alaki are almost immortal, each has a final death and anything less than that will put them into a healing sleep, and their ability to not die is tested to its full extent throughout the novel. I was blown away by how brutal it got early in the book and it had me totally invested from the first few chapters. I didn’t love the romance, but it was weighed really well against the rest of the book so wasn’t overwhelming in the way that some YA romance subplots can be. Instead a lot of the book was focused on the relationships between Deka and the other alaki, her sisters in arms, and the unusual power she has to control their frightening enemies: the deathshrieks. The whole world is so interesting and Namina Forna has a knack for creating a world that unfolds and makes the reader hungry for more information.

This book is filled with social commentary that would spark various kinds of debates. My only concern is if the book itself gets lost a little in the point it's trying to make. I needed to say that first before going into the rest of the book because it is the most prominent thing that has lingered with me days after having set it aside.
The Gilded Ones is set in a world where the women are tested for their purity before being given a chance to become part of the society (i.e. childbearing servants of households). Any assumption that the test would always bring up the same result is quickly dashed with the appearance of golden blood. Our lead protagonist is then tortured over days while we are given a full view of the double standards of this society's betters. This particular point is brought to the surface again when we follow Deka's journey to a new life.
Once she is on her way, a few mysteries regarding Deka start to crop up. At this point, this book was hard to put down. The writing was simple, and in time I seemed to be making great strides through both the book as well as the story itself.
The twists are both mildly expected and unexpected at the same time. It is slightly different from other books set in such worlds while hooking us in with characters in familiar roles. We have friendships, and personal growth and all the things that make a reader cheer on protagonists. The entire book can be read in very few sittings. I would pick up the next if given a chance. Since the people's mentality was explained in this, I am hoping to see how they put the right actions in to change the entire society.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I was first drawn to The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna by the beautiful cover and, once I started reading, I was immediately hooked.

Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in a patriarchal society full of danger and secrets. Once she is discovered to be a 'demon' whose blood runs gold, she is recruited for the Alaki - an elite group of female warriors - to fight the terrifying deathshrieks for the emperor. However, not all is quite as it seems and twists and turns abound in this gripping story.

I was completely drawn into this West African-inspired world which is so well crafted and I enjoyed the strong bonds of friendship between the Alaki. On the whole, I felt the plot was well paced, but I would have liked the ending to be a bit more drawn out. I am really looking forward to reading the rest in the series and can't wait to see what happens next.

I was granted an eARC of The Gilded Ones by Nanima Forna through NetGalley and unfortunately didn't end up having time in my busy review scheduled to get to it before publication. Better late than never, right? Thank you to whoever approved my request. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

The Gilded Ones is the story of Deka, a 16-year-old girl who just wants to complete the ritual that will prove her blood is clean and be accepted into society by the women of her town to live the quiet life tradition demands of her. Unfortunately for Deka, her blood runs gold. What does that mean? Nothing good for Deka! Believing she's a demon, her own father attempts to kill her, but Alaki don't die easily. This story follows Deka as she attends the "school" for her kind and prepares for a war.

I was so excited to get to this book! The cover is stunning, it's a YA Fantasy which is right up my alley, it has a mixed Black lead, it features a very diverse cast, and it draws from African folklore. All great points in the book's favour and I expected to love this book right out of the gate. I didn't. The opening is full of dark cultish scenes in an extremely mysogenistic society, the violence is gorey and very detailed, and time moves quickly. This felt like the setup for an adult horror, not a YA fantasy.

At about 25% through I was toying with the idea of not finishing and took a break to browse the lower starred ratings to see what others who weren't enchanted with the book thought and was surprised to find that most people thought the beginning was great and that the book loses steam after 100 pages or so. Did we read the same book? I started loving it at about halfway through! It took that long to get through with all of Deka's inner voice info-dumping and stop with the large and sudden time jumps.

Once the world was built, the scene was set, and stakes started to rise, this book hit its stride and blew me away. If I were rating it based on the second half, I would gladly give this book 5 stars and post a rave review like many of the others who rated it so highly, but I can't ignore the fact that I wanted to DNF for the first quarter and didn't love it for the first half. For this reason I'm calling it a modest 4. This book should have been about 100 pages shorter, condensing the beginning, and it should have been written in third person or mixed perspective so that we could quickly gather the world-building information Deka doesn't know or had to monologue. The latter half is near-perfection and I wouldn't change much at all.

I've seen people complain that the romance was too insta-love even for YA, but I disagree. Deka crushes on any boy who tells her she's pretty, but let's remember she's 16. The final romance is well earned and builds over a period of months, which is slower than many YA romances, we just skip a bunch of time at the beginning of it.

My favourite characters were Deka's adorable shapeshifter pet Ixa and her sassy instructor/captor White Hands. Britta, on the other hand, really needs to talk less. I was amused by some lines of dialogue that reminded me of other things, and I wonder if the references were intentional. For example:

"Are we girls or are we demons?" Are we human or are we dancer?

"I've experienced worse things. This is only a scratch." 'Tis but a scratch! Just a flesh wound! Alright, we'll call it a draw.

I accept that this book was built around a chosen one hero arc, so obviously Deka had to be the chosen one, but she annoyed me sometimes with just how overly chosen one she is. She's more unnatural than all the unnatural alaki girls. ("She's not like other girls.") The other alaki girls think she's weird or scary or cursed and don't like her. She starts to believe she's not alaki at all but rather a unique, created being, first of her kind. At times this character got too tropy for me, and YA tropes are my guilty pleasure.

And once again, the second half of this book is amazing. Stakes were high, character development was great, and although the twist is predictable it's still so well done. Once I was in the second half, I couldn't put this book down!

I would recommend this book to YA Fantasy readers looking for diverse characters and stories with the encouragement not to give up before the halfway point. Whether the rituals of the first few pages intrigue or repulse you, the second quarter seems to sag for every reader. Stick with it, it's worth it!

Based on the synopsis, I expected to love this.

I liked it well enough, I suppose.

So, the female lead, Deka, is special and an outsider in her own village. She doesn't have the "right" features or hair or skin color and she's bullied and made fun of because of this. The way that was all presented seemed a bit juvenile to me. Sort of like Mean Girls.

Moving along.

It turns out, Deka is special, she has golden blood and is, in fact, alaki and when even her own father turns his back on her, calling her a demon, a mysterious savior appears, letting her know there's a place for ones like her; a place where she can be trained to fight and kill deathshrieks - monsters/demons of sort.

And so begins Deka's journey, where she ends up becoming a total badass in a pretty short amount of time - at least, that's what it felt like - and makes friends with people just like her. And she falls in love pretty fast, too.

Now this is a patriarchal society we're talking about and especially the alaki are treated like garbage. I have to admit, the constant name-calling from other, minor characters was repetitive and a few could have been cut out.

The story itself was interesting though and even if we have the chosen one trope - of sort - and a twist that the reader kind of sees coming, I might give book two a try, see where the author is going with the plot.

Heard it's going to be a TV series, curious how that will turn out.

I voluntarily agreed to read an ARC via Netgalley. My rating is 3.5 stars.

This book was a lot of fun. It's definitely a little different than most fantasy books, which was a nice change. But I did struggle with some aspects of the book so I can't give it a super high rating even if I enjoyed myself.

Writing style: I think this was my biggest struggle. I could not quite get into the writing style. Some things are very detailed and then other things are barely explained at all. There's a lot of time jumps so we miss the buildup of Dega's relationships, because we're just skipping to the most interesting parts. I get not wanting to write a overly detailed book, but I just felt like I was missing a lot while reading a I hate feeling that way.

Characters: We read from Dega's perspective which leaves us with a very small knowledge of other characters. Dega's inner monologue isn't very interesting and for someone who has been betrayed by everyone she knows, she trusts her new companions waaaay too easily.
The ladies and the couple of gents were fun to read about, but that's it, just fun, nothing special.
And the romantic interest? Sure, he's cute and sweet, but I didn't see any sparks fly. There just wasn't any chemistry. Let them be friends, why does every story need a romantic subplot?

Story: As I said in the beginning, it's not your avarage fantasy tale, which was really nice. But it was a little lacking. I know a lot of people are over the moon with this book, but the time jumps and gaps in the storyline just didn't work for me.
I struggled a lot with the ending. The book builds up to something pretty epic, but it's over too soon... And not just because there's a second book coming. This book very much reads as a standalone, so I was a little put off by the rushed ending.

I enjoyed reading the book and never once thought I should DNF it, but there's just too much that didn't quite work for me to give it a high rating. I've decided to give The Gilded Ones 3 stars.

This was a wonderfully fresh debut and fantasy. Pitched as Black Panther meets Handmaid's Tale, I loved it from the beginning. Namina Forna does not mess around when it comes to plot! You're thrown straight into the middle of everything from the beginning, but there is so much love and care with the characters.
Definitely recommend.

Huge thank you to the publisher for sending a me an ebook for an honest review. I’ve also shared my review on Instagram, Amazon and goodreads.

First off - the cover is INCREDIBLE! I love it so much.

Secondly this was such great read. Whilst this read as very much a YA and I’ve read a lot of young girls fighting against an oppressive state, this was unique and fresh.

We follow Deka, a young woman from a small, religious village in the northern province of the country Otera. Every year to prove their “purity” a new group of 16-year-old girls has their blood let to prove; if there blood is red it means they’re pure, if they bleed gold they are sentenced to death. When Deka ‘fails’ this test she is given a choice: subject herself to further torture at the hands of her former community or leave to fight for the empire against the mysterious monsters Deathshrikes.

The Gilded Ones grapples with a lot of difficult issues including racism, sexism, and tribalism. Women are forced to wear masks in public and they cannot go anywhere unaccompanied. Girls are the only ones who are tested for ‘purity’ and have little to no options for their lives besides marriage and children. The alaki, the ones with gold blood, are little more than fodder for the Empire, a government that instituted the blood ceremony and Death Mandate that condemned them to this fate.

The pacing was perfect and it was well written. The world building was intricate and I loved watching how the mythology unfolded. There was a lot of information crammed into a small amount of time which I found rushed at times but the majority of it flowed well and it lays a great foundation down for the series. The characters are vivid and full of life and the story is full of plot development, with the overall thematic explorations cleverly handled. I’d definitely recommend this book!

The biggest fear of sixteen-year-old Deka was to go through the blood ceremony. Even if she knew that she has never done anything that would make you impure, she was still scared of her blood to run gold. When the time of ceremony finally comes, the group of deathshrieks attacked the village. That’s when Deka discovered her cursed gifts; she could feel the deathshrieks coming and control them with her voice. However, even if the gifts would be very helpful for the village, the fight proved that she is impure and there is no place for her among her people.

Everyone, even the closest people turned their back on her. She is imprisoned, and the men of her village try to kill her, however, it is not possible. After nine attempts, a mystery woman paid her a visit, which can change her life. She offered her a way out of her situation. She proposed to join an army of alaki, a half-demons woman who is trained to fight deathshrieks.

Review:

It’s the first fantasy book I read based on the West African culture and I couldn’t be happier that I requested it on NetGalley a few months ago. From page one I knew that this book will take me on a journey none of the books did this year and I was right.

Deka is a young very powerful girl who was destined to become one of the most powerful warriors in the kingdom. However, when we meet her at the beginning of the book, she doesn’t show any signs of it. She is a nice obedient girl for whom the most important thing is to be impure and to find a husband who will give her a purpose in life. It all changes when she turns out to be alaki. All her dreams and plans need to change and she needs to grow up into her new rule. Her transformation in this book is marvelous. It’s not immediate. It took her a while to finally reach the moment when she understood that she needs to be proud of who she and her sisters are. Besides being courageous and powerful, she also is very smart. She didn’t allow anyone to brainwash her, and she started noticing things that none of her friends saw. She kept her eyes open, and never fully believed the emperor’s words.

Another amazing thing in this book was sisterhood. The author presented this aspect in a very successful way. This book is very feministic and I think it sent the right message to all the girls that read this book. Instead of fighting the individual fights, we should stay together and fight side by side (not literally obviously). I don’t want to give you too many spoilers but I adore the moment when Deka and the rest of Alaki became sisters. It was breathtaking and very powerful. I might say that it was one of the best scenes in the book.

The overall idea for the book is very well created and structured in the book. There weren’t any moments that wouldn’t be clearly explained/described so reading this book is very smooth. There weren’t any unnecessary scenes, everything was chosen in a way to make the reader understand the ending of the book and it was brilliant! I cannot wait to read the next book in this series! Hopefully, we won’t need to wait for it too long.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Namina Forna, and Usborne Publishing for providing me with a copy of this amazing book! I loved every single detail about this story and cannot wait to find out what’s going to happen in the following books!

This was a wonderful, fully original read.

I loved the idea of girls seen as outcasts due to their powers banding together and training to be warriors. I loved following Deka's journey and I was genuinely surprised by the ending. I'm looking forward to reading the follow-up title.

Please see full review below:
https://www.badformreview.com/read/6u1gw3teej

I adored this book and I cannot wait to read the second one whenever it comes out. As per the blurb, our character Deka is essentially exiled from her horrible village, Irfut, due to her impurity. She doesn’t even make it to her blood ceremony, which in a way feels fortunate because perhaps it was less humiliating for her, instead her demon persona is shown when the town is attacked during the ceremony. After this, Deka suffers at the hands of the men in the village and is locked away until she is recruited into the emperor's army, by a woman she calls ‘White Hands’, who tells her she is an Alaki and explains what this means. Curious about the army and wanting to escape her current situation Deka agrees and travels with White Hands to undergo her training. I love the descriptions of the journey to the training center, we meet Britta (Deka’s soon to be best friend), we meet other creatures, get descriptions of the landscapes and generally just find out much more about the world Deka inhibits.

We arrive at the Warthu Bera, training center, and discover the training camp is made up of all women, Alaki’s from across the continent (or country idk). Their aim is to kill the deathshrieks who are disturbing peace and snatching little girls from towns and cities. Alaki’s have the power to destroy the deathshrieks, however, they are also partnered with boys (who are there voluntarily) who essentially are there to protect them, but really, they all work together. As the story unfolds, the Deka finds out more about the girls she is training alongside as well as the men, discovers she possesses a little something something the others don’t, and tries to come to term with the trauma she suffered at the hands of those in her village. Of course, there is so much more to the story, but that is worth exploring for yourself. The chosen one trope is used here, but unlike other fantasy novels, I didn’t feel it was incredibly heavy-handed and unrealistic. I enjoyed this story and once they went on more raids, some of the plots became apparent to me, in a way it felt inspired by Greek mythology in some parts, but I wasn’t prepared for the turn. The turn is what had me like “yaaassss, I will be waiting for the next installment because this here is fire!” You think you know where it’s going but it pivots in a good way.

The overall theme and message from the book were great, there was a lot in here about female friendship and the oppression of young girls and women. It also touches on the way some women uphold the patriarchy by tearing other women down, without realising what it is they are doing. However, there is also a large focus on growth here and gaining a stronger sense of self when you’re no longer ruled by practices and people who only ever wanted to control women. A case in point of growth is when Deka say:
“The way I see it, we all have a choice right now. Are we girls, or are we demons? Are we going to die, or are we going to survive?”
Under normal circumstances, you might scoff, but these girls bear the mark of demons and society shuns them, they need to be strong enough to survive and that strength comes from them and women who have been through the same things as them. Overall, I’m a fan of this book and hopefully the rest of the series. This genre is not one I dive into a lot or enjoy but it is a motivating YA story. Particularly, I think, for those young girls and women who do grow up in oppressive regimes or have lived/are living through wars in their homeland. I know the author spoke about growing up during the civil war in Sierra Leone and so can speak to this brutality. So, I think it’s worth noting that when reading this and wondering if it’s appropriate for a YA audience. Not every young adult has the benefit of non-violent adolescence. The book also ends quite succinctly for a book that is part of a series, so I found if I were never to continue with the series this resolve is satisfactory.

Whilst I enjoyed this book, I had two little issues with it. The first was with the character Britta. At first, I was like yes, some northern representation in the book but then I was so confused as to where on earth she was actually meant to be from! I couldn’t tell if she was Scottish or just from somewhere in northern England, but I also didn’t know why she was the only character to speak with a different dialect to everyone else. It’s confusing because a lot of the characters you get to know are literally from the four corners of the country, we’re in and we’re told about their differences in regards to how they look, their religion, etc. Like it’s a hella diverse list of characters. But only Britta speaks like she’s plucked from somewhere in England. And it actually becomes funnier the more I think about it because they are in what I assume is somewhere in West Africa and this ONE character speaks like someone very far away from there. I also think Britta needs more character development in the coming novels, she is given such a reductive role throughout the book (which irritated me but hey sometimes you are the supporting cast member), but there was no need for her character to be so poorly fleshed out.

The second issue is with the pacing at some points. From the beginning up until we reach the training school the pacing is great. When we reach the school it’s as if we blink and then the girls are ready for carrying out raids on the deathshrieks and it’s all a bit like, “woah, how and WHEN did we get here?” Time in between raids and just any knowledge of how they spend their days in-between is also lacking and glossed over. It feels like a lot of relationships develop off-page and it’s a shame we as readers don’t witness the developments. I get the author wanted to move the story along but it’s incredibly obvious in some parts.

I have to say for me this wasn’t that violent or graphic and I think this is because I have very little imagination for these things. I accept as is but don’t picture these things in my mind. However, after reading other reviews I think it is worth noting and highlighting that the beginning is brutal. There are reasons as to why this is in the book, violence towards women in real life is just as brutal and graphic as described in the book. And as I said above many women live in oppressive and war-torn societies, so whilst it may be graphic it is the reality for some. But it is perhaps worth knowing before you read the book. So, trigger warnings for sexual violence (this doesn’t happen in the book but is talked about), violence on the battlefield, and gruesome murders.

The Gilded Ones – Namina Forna

I seem to be reading a lot of YA lately – maybe it’s something to do with nostalgia, or maybe it’s because there are some great YA novels out there!

I am also a sucker for a pretty cover, and this one is beautiful. I did read this on my kindle so I didn’t get to handle it up close, but you can see for yourself how nice it is.

The story is told through Deka’s eyes, starting off in her Northern village in Otera, a patriarchal world in an ancient setting, a world where demons called deathshrieks roam the earth, and people pray to gods who may or may not exist.
The location felt like a smaller version of our world, a scaled down model. Where North means cold and pale skin, South means warm and dark skin, and East and West follow the same pattern as our own, more or less.

Deka is extremely excited to reach an age mature enough to go through the Ritual of Purity – she can finally prove herself to be virtuous and to be in the right place. As part of the blurb of the story, we know that her blood runs pure gold and not the hoped for red. As an adult reader, I was a little bit nonplussed about why she was surprised – her mother wasn’t from the village and had a bit of a secretive past.

She quickly finds herself going from one sticky situation to another, and another. I really got the feeling that this had shades of Hunger Games and The Handmaid’s Tale – the main characters are singled out for being different, living in an imposed and extreme regime. Deka is a great, strong hero – slightly out of touch with her feelings for me, and I think it could have benefitted from a few more of her innermost thoughts, but you did get a sense of what she was thinking.

There were some neat touches – her blood is sold at one point, for example, and others like her have items made into helmets, masks and jewellery. I also liked that it was Africa-centric, and the metaphors come thick and fast in this. I do want to try and avoid spoilers, but I also thought that there is a section which seems to allude to being trans-supportive, which was interestingly done.

On the other hand, I thought it was quite graphic at points, and perhaps unnecessarily so. I know that it is common for YA to contain detailed description, especially in the fantasy genre. Personally, I found accounts of 15 year olds getting their spines ripped out was a little bit over the top. That might be right up your street though!

This novel is named as Number 1, which hints at a series. I’d like to return to the world – Deka is a good character who could absolutely withstand and benefit from some development and maturation.

Thanks as always to Netgalley and Usborne Publishing!