About the book
Title: The Gilded Ones
Series: Deathless #1
Author: Namina Forna
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, PTSD, Feminism, High Fantasy
Publication: February 9th, 2021
Pages: 400
Read: April 2021
Series: Deathless #1
Author: Namina Forna
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, PTSD, Feminism, High Fantasy
Publication: February 9th, 2021
Pages: 400
Read: April 2021
My Copy
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd.Edition: Paperback
Purchase Location: Book Depository
My Rating:
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom, where a woman's worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. But when Deka bleeds gold - the colour of impurity, of a demon - she faces a consequence worse than death. She is saved by a mysterious woman who tells Deka of her true nature: she is an Alaki, a near-immortal with exceptional gifts. The stranger offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor, with others just like her, or be destroyed... |
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My Spoiler Free Review
First of all, I don’t know how to describe all the feelings that I have for this book in this review! This book has now become my second favourite book of 2021 (Legendborn is still #1), and I can only hope that so many more people will read this book and give it the attention that it deserves! If you’re reading this review, I strongly recommend that you order your own copy of The Gilded Ones in case you don’t have it already!!
Once I started reading The Gilded Ones, I couldn’t put it down. I immediately got lost in the world of Deka and alaki and had serious troubles concentrating on school work (tbh, I totally ignored all university work until I finished this book, so I cannot recommend anyone starting this book when you’re in the middle of exams or a stressful phase where you need to concentrate on work). Be warned, this book will capture you from the very first page with its fast story pace and a fascinating new world filled with great characters.
A warning: this book talks about violence, PTSD, oppression, discrimination, abuse and bullying (mainly) towards women in detail.
We are introduced to a very patriarchal ancient kingdom, where women are oppressed and serve no other purpose in men’s eyes other than being useful to their families. Early on, we already get introduced to some very disturbing (in my opinion) passages from their “bible”:
If girls bleed gold (instead of red) blood, they are branded demons, and the priests take them away from their families and most often try to kill them immediately. So when nearly 16 year old Deka’s turn comes up for the ritual where they give the villages’ girls a small cut in order to find out if they’re “pure”, we know something is about to go down. But before it gets to that point, the village is under attack from the Deathshrieks, vicious creatures that attack village after village in the kingdom and kill the villagers. This is where Deka first finds out that she has powers, as she can command the Deathshrieks to go away from her village. But right after she saved the remaining villagers, they all turn on her and try to kill her.
Deka: From the beginning, I had a strong feeling that there was something special about Deka. She undergoes a massive character development, and I am so happy to see her at the end of the book as a strong young woman that can stand up for herself. She isn’t the mindless believer she was in the beginning anymore and she definitely has strong leadership skills. I am looking forward to her using more of her powers and finding out more of the truth of the kingdom’s history.
Deka’s friends Britta, Belcalis, Katya and the others are such an important feature in this book! I really loved how the focus in this book wasn't on a boy/man that Deka fell in love with, rather it was on her friends always helping her through everything and standing by her side. Friendship is probably one of the biggest topics in this book as well and it shines such a great light on this group of friends who help each other overcome their horrible past experiences. When somebody is near a panic attack or uncomfortable they're there for each other and try to help however they can. It's nice, for once, to see the girl friends help the protagonist save herself, instead of her love for a boy do that! Yes, love is nice and important, but it is not everything.
Keita: The romance in this book was just the perfect amount. It did NOT get in the way of the plot and Deka’s self-development and it also did not interrupt Deka’s focus on her friendship. It was just a nice add-on and a great way to see Deka heal with her trust issues towards men. All in all, I don’t think that Keita is a very special character, but I’m glad he appeared anyways.
The message in this book is really strong! If you haven’t figured it out by now, then have you really read my review? The representation in this book is stronger! With Deka, we strongly focus on a main character from a far southern part of this fictious world, and there are many other characters like her with important roles. I mean have you looked at the cover? IT IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS and I cannot stare at it enough! I liked the world building and that it was mainly divided into the four compass directions for regions (Western, Southern, Northern, Eastern). But there is also a biiig part on the map labelled with Unknown Lands. I hope that we will read more about this in the next book and see what kind of people live there and why they’re sealed off from this empire.
This series truly has so much potential and promise and I cannot wait for the sequel and hope that it will be just as great! There are still so many obstacles in Deka and her friends’ path in life and it’s going to be so interesting to see what Namina Forna comes up with next! I am truly inspired and hope this author will publish many many more books in the years to come!
I have to admit, that early on I already didn’t believe the whole demon thing and suspected that the four Gilded Ones were actually Goddesses who were overthrown by men instead and then they changed the viewpoint on the Godesses, and I am so glad that I was right about this! I also made the embarrassing assumption when Deka met the Emperor for the first time, that he was actually her father. Which now, having read the last 50 pages of the book, I’m really glad I was wrong about!
Once I started reading The Gilded Ones, I couldn’t put it down. I immediately got lost in the world of Deka and alaki and had serious troubles concentrating on school work (tbh, I totally ignored all university work until I finished this book, so I cannot recommend anyone starting this book when you’re in the middle of exams or a stressful phase where you need to concentrate on work). Be warned, this book will capture you from the very first page with its fast story pace and a fascinating new world filled with great characters.
A warning: this book talks about violence, PTSD, oppression, discrimination, abuse and bullying (mainly) towards women in detail.
We are introduced to a very patriarchal ancient kingdom, where women are oppressed and serve no other purpose in men’s eyes other than being useful to their families. Early on, we already get introduced to some very disturbing (in my opinion) passages from their “bible”:
And upon the fourth day, he created woman - a helpmeet to lift man to his sacred potential, his divine glory. Woman is the Infinite Father's greatest gift to mankind. Solace for his darkest hour.It is shocking to see and read how all the girls and women in this book live by these believes and how little they think of their own worth because this is what they were taught to think since they were born. They to 100 per cent submit themselves to the Infinite Father. The scary part is to think how close to reality this can come. There are a lot of tribes or religions or cultures in the world, that still to this very day think this way and treat their women in this suppressing way. And of course, in our very "advanced" world there are still a lot of people (men) who think very little of women’s worth and capabilities and sadly we probably all encounter this from time to time, which just shouldn’t happen. As this is a topic very close to my heart and I hate seeing women / girls struggle in any way because of “men-who-deem-themselves-superior”, I sometimes had troubles processing what I was reading here. But I feel like this book shaped my worldview on this a bit more clearly and I feel so much richer for having read this. This is definitely a central theme in this book. We see this “ideology” reflected or appearing on every page.
If girls bleed gold (instead of red) blood, they are branded demons, and the priests take them away from their families and most often try to kill them immediately. So when nearly 16 year old Deka’s turn comes up for the ritual where they give the villages’ girls a small cut in order to find out if they’re “pure”, we know something is about to go down. But before it gets to that point, the village is under attack from the Deathshrieks, vicious creatures that attack village after village in the kingdom and kill the villagers. This is where Deka first finds out that she has powers, as she can command the Deathshrieks to go away from her village. But right after she saved the remaining villagers, they all turn on her and try to kill her.
Deka: From the beginning, I had a strong feeling that there was something special about Deka. She undergoes a massive character development, and I am so happy to see her at the end of the book as a strong young woman that can stand up for herself. She isn’t the mindless believer she was in the beginning anymore and she definitely has strong leadership skills. I am looking forward to her using more of her powers and finding out more of the truth of the kingdom’s history.
Deka’s friends Britta, Belcalis, Katya and the others are such an important feature in this book! I really loved how the focus in this book wasn't on a boy/man that Deka fell in love with, rather it was on her friends always helping her through everything and standing by her side. Friendship is probably one of the biggest topics in this book as well and it shines such a great light on this group of friends who help each other overcome their horrible past experiences. When somebody is near a panic attack or uncomfortable they're there for each other and try to help however they can. It's nice, for once, to see the girl friends help the protagonist save herself, instead of her love for a boy do that! Yes, love is nice and important, but it is not everything.
Keita: The romance in this book was just the perfect amount. It did NOT get in the way of the plot and Deka’s self-development and it also did not interrupt Deka’s focus on her friendship. It was just a nice add-on and a great way to see Deka heal with her trust issues towards men. All in all, I don’t think that Keita is a very special character, but I’m glad he appeared anyways.
The message in this book is really strong! If you haven’t figured it out by now, then have you really read my review? The representation in this book is stronger! With Deka, we strongly focus on a main character from a far southern part of this fictious world, and there are many other characters like her with important roles. I mean have you looked at the cover? IT IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS and I cannot stare at it enough! I liked the world building and that it was mainly divided into the four compass directions for regions (Western, Southern, Northern, Eastern). But there is also a biiig part on the map labelled with Unknown Lands. I hope that we will read more about this in the next book and see what kind of people live there and why they’re sealed off from this empire.
This series truly has so much potential and promise and I cannot wait for the sequel and hope that it will be just as great! There are still so many obstacles in Deka and her friends’ path in life and it’s going to be so interesting to see what Namina Forna comes up with next! I am truly inspired and hope this author will publish many many more books in the years to come!
The Part That Might Contain Spoilers
I have to admit, that early on I already didn’t believe the whole demon thing and suspected that the four Gilded Ones were actually Goddesses who were overthrown by men instead and then they changed the viewpoint on the Godesses, and I am so glad that I was right about this! I also made the embarrassing assumption when Deka met the Emperor for the first time, that he was actually her father. Which now, having read the last 50 pages of the book, I’m really glad I was wrong about!
Have you read The Gilded Ones? Are you as excited as me for the rest of this series! I could talk about this book for many more hours, and I’d love to hear what you think about it! So please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments! |
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