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inkandplasma 's review for:
The Gilded Ones
by Namina Forna
Full review available on 26/04/2021: https://inkandplasma.com/2021/04/26/the-gilded-ones/
CAWPILE rated June 2022:
Character - 8
Atmosphere - 8
Writing - 9
Plot - 8
Intrigue - 8
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 9
Rating: 8.14 / 4 stars
Thanks to Usborne Publishing for the eARC of this book. It has not affected my honest review.
Content Warnings: death, murder, bloodletting, violence, mutilation, torture, starvation, disownment, parent loss, grief, rape, paedophilia
This book made it impossible to believe this was Namina Forna’s debut novel. The writing is gorgeous and evocative and once I’d started, I just couldn’t put it down. I read the whole thing in one go while I was feeling ill, and totally forgot about feeling bad as I was swept away into this beautiful world. This intense, feminist fantasy is a violent and gory experience and I am absolutely addicted to it. I’ve recommended it to a dozen people already and I know that I’m going to reread it once I have a physical copy in my hands.
Deka is an amazing protagonist. At the start, she’s very much a victim of the patriarchal society that she’s been raised in. She’s quiet and submissive and deeply vulnerable because that’s the way these women have been raised to be, and we get to see her develop into someone more confident and brave throughout the course of the book. It made me absolutely fall in love with her and I can’t wait to see how much more she develops throughout the rest of the series.
This book truly is violent, a complicated mess of death and gore. The alaki are almost immortal, each has a final death and anything less than that will put them into a healing sleep, and their ability to not die is tested to its full extent throughout the novel. I was blown away by how brutal it got early in the book and it had me totally invested from the first few chapters. I didn’t love the romance, but it was weighed really well against the rest of the book so wasn’t overwhelming in the way that some YA romance subplots can be. Instead a lot of the book was focused on the relationships between Deka and the other alaki, her sisters in arms, and the unusual power she has to control their frightening enemies: the deathshrieks. The whole world is so interesting and Namina Forna has a knack for creating a world that unfolds and makes the reader hungry for more information.
CAWPILE rated June 2022:
Character - 8
Atmosphere - 8
Writing - 9
Plot - 8
Intrigue - 8
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 9
Rating: 8.14 / 4 stars
Thanks to Usborne Publishing for the eARC of this book. It has not affected my honest review.
Content Warnings: death, murder, bloodletting, violence, mutilation, torture, starvation, disownment, parent loss, grief, rape, paedophilia
This book made it impossible to believe this was Namina Forna’s debut novel. The writing is gorgeous and evocative and once I’d started, I just couldn’t put it down. I read the whole thing in one go while I was feeling ill, and totally forgot about feeling bad as I was swept away into this beautiful world. This intense, feminist fantasy is a violent and gory experience and I am absolutely addicted to it. I’ve recommended it to a dozen people already and I know that I’m going to reread it once I have a physical copy in my hands.
Deka is an amazing protagonist. At the start, she’s very much a victim of the patriarchal society that she’s been raised in. She’s quiet and submissive and deeply vulnerable because that’s the way these women have been raised to be, and we get to see her develop into someone more confident and brave throughout the course of the book. It made me absolutely fall in love with her and I can’t wait to see how much more she develops throughout the rest of the series.
This book truly is violent, a complicated mess of death and gore. The alaki are almost immortal, each has a final death and anything less than that will put them into a healing sleep, and their ability to not die is tested to its full extent throughout the novel. I was blown away by how brutal it got early in the book and it had me totally invested from the first few chapters. I didn’t love the romance, but it was weighed really well against the rest of the book so wasn’t overwhelming in the way that some YA romance subplots can be. Instead a lot of the book was focused on the relationships between Deka and the other alaki, her sisters in arms, and the unusual power she has to control their frightening enemies: the deathshrieks. The whole world is so interesting and Namina Forna has a knack for creating a world that unfolds and makes the reader hungry for more information.