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Title: The Gilded Ones
Author: Namina Forna
Sub-genre: Fantasy
Uuuggghhhh this book was so good. Seriously. So so good. It had basically all of my favorite things in a book and I low-key wish I could go back and read it for the first time again.
Deka has never fit in. As the only one in her village with dark skin, she has always been treated like an outsider. However, she has always looked forward to the village’s purity ceremony as a chance to prove she is just like everyone else. But when the village is attacked on the day of the ceremony and only Deka is able to stop the fearsome creatures from killing everyone, she is not only not accepted, she is marked as evil and tortured for her blood, which turns out to run gold. A mysterious woman comes and claims Deka in the name of the emperor, taking her to a kind of training camp where all of the girls found to have gold blood are sent. The emperor has decided instead of making the gilded ones outcasts, he will use them instead in his army (and have no problem sacrificing them to the monsters terrorizing the country). Deka and a small group of friends train to become elite warriors, leading killing raids and taking down the monsters. Deka’s abilities prove to be even greater than originally imagined, but something just doesn’t feel right when she is out sending the monsters to their deaths. A whole mystery unravels, leaving Deka and her friends to question everything they’ve known and been taught their whole lives. And while this book definitely leaves room for a sequel, it actually all ties together quite nicely at the end (no cliffhangers, yay!).
Okay. There are not enough words for me to tell you how much I loved this book. I kind of knew I would from the moment I read the description, but honestly, it was even better than I expected. The writing is gorgeous and I loved the world-building, but what really makes this book is the characters. The sisterhood the girls create at their training camp, the way they fight for each other and have each other’s backs is just so good. I loved Deka, but I equally loved all of the girls in the group. You know how much I am here for a found family, and this one is pretty top notch. I am also a huge sucker for the no one ever accepted me or loved me until I found my people angle, and this book has that in spades. It kept me on my toes, it made me smile, it made my cry. Seriously, this book has it all. I think even those who don’t usually love fantasy would really like this book. I cannot recommend it enough!
Overall Rating: 5 stars