The Gilded Ones Book Review

The Gilded Ones (Deathless #1)
By Namina Forna
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended For: Ages 16+ (some graphic violence scenes), fans of female warriors, readers who want more books inspired by different cultures with black protagonists.

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.

Luna’s Top Points:

Moving character development from scared victim to courageous warrior
Action-packed, fast-paced ending with an interesting twist
Adorable animal companion
Protagonist didn’t stand out from the rest of the characters
Flow felt disjointed
Slow pacing in the first half of the book

The Review:

I was very excited to read The Gilded Ones. Not only did it star a POC protagonist, but the concept was ripe with potential in my mind. Deka’s worst nightmare comes true when her blood runs gold instead of red, marking her as impure. But then she’s presented with an opportunity to become more than the demon she’s been characterized as, and she takes in. The reader then follows along as Deka transforms from an intimidated young girl who only wants people to be nice to her, to a strong-willed, brave warrior. This is Namina Forna’s debut novel, and while it possesses many strong points, I’m afraid it fell a bit flat for me overall.

Right from the beginning we are hit with lots of intriguing elements. Will Deka’s blood be pure? What happens if it’s not? Why is she different from all the others? All this mystery helped to grab my attention and encouraged me enough to keep going, even if other elements of the storytelling where slightly lacking because I wanted the payoff of having my questions answered.

As far as characters went, I wasn’t too entranced by them. Not much time was spent on developing the unique personalities of the characters so they all kind of blended together. And there wasn’t a wide variety of personality types which resulted in me not really connecting with any of them. However, I do think Deka’s character development was crafted well. Her metamorphosis into a full-fledged warrior was thoughtful and moving, which was good because I thought her personality was a bit dull for a protagonist. Nothing about her really stood out to me.

Throughout the story you’ll find an underlying theme of female empowerment which I LOVED! I loved how it was intricate to the plot and responsible for lots of Deka’s development. Through the growth of the alaki warriors, we really see how strong a woman can be in the face of adversity. This leant to the very inspiring nature of this novel.

As much as I wanted to love this story, something about it didn’t mesh with me. I had a hard time putting my finger on it for a while, but I eventually came to realize a big part of it was that instead of it feeling like a flowing story with peaks and valley and trials and victories, it was more like poorly sewn together quick scenes. Nothing more than snapshots that give a glimpse of what’s happening without diving deep to tell the story behind the picture. It left me with a shallow understanding of what I’d just read. I wish more time had been spent in the world or in character development. Things appeared to happen out of thin air. Personalities completely changed without showing us why or how. Relationships blossomed in the span of a few pages without laying down the groundwork.

This was especially obvious to me with the romantic storyline. I want to see what it is about the other person that makes a character fall in love. I want to see the situations that reveal true characteristics and motives. All of that was missing. It was as if one day they decided they liked each other and I couldn’t figure out why. I love romantic tension and it was sorely lacking here.

While I’d say at least two thirds of the book was a little dragging to get through, I did think the ending was pretty spectacular. It was chock full of unexpected moments and some really cool and surprising twists. It was also fast-paced and brimming with heart-pounding action. I was happy to see that The Gilded Ones at least ended as quite the page turner, however, this probably isn’t one I’d recommend to my friends who love thrilling YA Fantasy.