Review: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

 Hi Readers,

Happy September!  I don't know about you, but I'm ready for spooky season 🦇🦇.

Kicking off the new month, let's talk about The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna.  I've seen quite a few posts and recommendations for this one since it came out, so I went in with high hopes.  Also, have you seen the cover for this?  It's pretty gorgeous.  Finishing this one knocked another one off my Owlcrate TBR.  Yay!

 

Official Synopsis from GoodReads:

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.

This book had a lot of interesting ideas and was well executed.  It had me guessing to the end what the deathshrieks were that the alaki were fighting and even more so, if the main character was actually an alaki or something else.  The main character, Deka, was not only on a journey of discovery, but also of empowerment.  As the story progresses, she discovers both family and love, both things that she yearns for after being taken away to join the Otera army.

I really enjoyed the progression of this book, however, this one took me a while to get into.  Will I pick up the sequel that just dropped, The Merciless Ones?  Maybe.  It's not a must read for me right now, but I might pick it up eventually to see how the story progresses.

For me this one was 4/5⭐

Next read on deck for me is Hollywood Heroine by Sarah Kuhn.  This is the fifth book in the series and I'm excited to read it, especially with the recent release of the sixth and final book.  

Time to get reading!

Kattie