"Freedom for every woman..."

The Gilded Ones sets another fantastical fantasy for YA. Forna brings different cultural elements and themes like abuse, trauma, racism, misogyny and xenophobia in The Gilded Ones. to weave together a beautiful story. Side note: The cover is freaken' gorgeous so pops to the artist!!

The characters here are all vast and uniquely different. Deka has to undo everything she's been taught and believes; as readers we see her struggle to overcome the prejudices and lies that have been told to her. The strong bond of understanding and friendship between the main and side characters was beautiful. However I couldn't enjoy the characters, the personalities felt to one dimensional at times. I believe they all had to potential to be much deeper than they were but the attention between them was spread too thin. There were too much cast and not enough development. The romance in The Gilded Ones was subtle but not needed. It detracted from the main story.

While the world-building was extensive; I felt disconnected for the world at times. The diversity between each of the places between the different places was great for being able to tell them apart though. I enjoyed the differences between each of the places. There was a lot going on and I think Forna spread the world too thin at times. The violence in The Gilded Ones could be quite graphic; it made me angry and sad in different places as it occurred in the story. The hints throughout the book are quite hard to miss when it comes to the plotline, and while I find hints to be helpful I felt that there was too much handholding for the reader when it came to where the plot was going. The plot twist was obvious. The ending did have me excited for what comes next; I do hope the little kinks here and there will be filled out in the second book.