Feb 6

Feb 6 The Gilded Ones (Deathless, #1)

Author: Namina Forna
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

Click above to buy this book from my Bookshop.org shop, which supports independent bookstores (not Amazon). You can also find it via your favorite indie bookstore here.

Note: Trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

The start of a bold and immersive West African-inspired, feminist fantasy series for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice.

Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.

But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity — and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.

Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki — near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire's greatest threat.

Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she's ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be — not even Deka herself.

TL;DR Review

The Gilded Ones is a fantastic debut fantasy novel. It’s got some tough subject matter, but it’s exciting and intriguing with a lush world and lovable characters.

For you if: You like YA fantasy, especially African fantasy.

Full Review

“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?”

Thank you Delacorte Press for the advanced copy of this book on NetGalley! It comes out on February 9th. I loved it! The Gilded Ones is exciting and fun to read while also dealing with dark and heavy central themes — in a way that feels true without overpowering everything else the book does. It’s also got a great central mystery that I thought was set up well. I really liked it!

The story is about a 16-year-old girl named Deka. When the ceremony to reveal whether her blood is “pure” or not goes wrong, she’s faced with a choice: Remain the subject of persecution and unspeakable violence (those with golden blood can be killed over and over again without permanently dying, and their blood can be sold for a lot of money), or join the emperor’s new army of “demons” and earn a future of absolution. But as she trains for an upcoming battle, it becomes clear that she’s different, even among others with impure blood. As she learns more about herself, she learns that what she’s always believed is only a shadow of the truth.

I found the narrative style in this book to be slightly different from what I’m “used to” — a little more … straightforward? it’s kind of hard to name — but definitely not in a bad way. I think it’s a combination of the YA genre and a West African storytelling style. I settled in quickly and loved the story all the more for it. But it did help me guess smaller plot points before they were revealed. Given that, I was all the more impressed by the book’s final reveal, when all the smaller puzzle pieces were finally put together in a way I hadn’t imagined. The ending was big and exciting and satisfying!

This one’s not without its trigger warnings: confinement, plenty of blood and death, and others. But as usual with well-written YA, I was so impressed that it managed to tackle these topics without feeling like a heavy book overall.

All in all, a fantastic debut. I’ll be over here, eagerly awaiting the second book!