This book surprised me a lot. It is not simply about women and girls fighting the patriarchy but about these powerful beings who demolish it whilst dripping in golden blood. There are quite a lot of traumatizing parts to it and the trauma is never forgotten. I found the Gilded ones very interesting and look forward to reading more about this mythology in future books. The thing that struck out to me was how feminism can be taught to young men and boys and change their way of thinking whilst older generations typically are not able to be educated as such which felt like a very realistic and well made point. I genuinely found myself drawn to Deka's transformation from a shy unsure girl to a powerful and fierce Nuru. Looking forward to any sequels that follow and Deka's continued journey.

Amazing, humbling and an awakening.

Namina Forna weaves a world that parallels our own in so many ways but also one that is layered in magic.

From the start Deka is a girl after my own heart and one whom I would be proud to call my daughter, sister or friend. She and her friends, Britta, Belcalis, Adwapa, Asha, Katya and of course Keita (amongst others) show the meaning of true friendship and unconditional love. I grew to love them as though they were my own friends.

I asked the Author Namina for any questions she would like to ask of her readers and she returned with these:

“Oh my goodness, that’s amazing! I would ask that you look at the culture of the world and how women are treated and see if there’s any parallels to ours. Also, the obedience to the Infinite wisdoms, what are the parallels for our world? And what do the masks represent?”

I won’t spoil your reading by giving you my thoughts on these, but as you read, maybe keep these questions in mind and see what answers you draw from your reading experience. I’d be interested to hear them.

I cannot wait for the next instalment 💛