The Gilded Ones - Namina Forna

Date of Reading: 5/2/2021

Author: Namina Forna

Publisher: Delacorte

Publication Date: February 9, 2021

Source: NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

About the book:

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 is quite what they seem to be--not even Deka herself.

Review:

        There are not many books that have trigger warnings on the front. Well, this is my first and I would be lying if I say this story has not shaken me to the core. Deka might be a fictional character but the world Namina Forna draws is entirely our own and her protagonist is representative of all the women who are chained and who love their chains considering them to be dignified ornaments.

        Deka is a girl from Irfut, a deeply patriarchal village where women wear masks from the age of sixteen once they complete the ritual of purity. Her mother was a southerner and she has inherited her dark complexion. All these years she has been dreaming of being accepted by the villagers when her blood flows red. Then she can wear masks and marry someone from the village. That is all she ever wanted.

        Her world turns upside down when she shows the ability to command the death shrieks, the fearsome demons attacking their country and as expected her blood is gold. Her only way of atonement is to serve the emperor as a soldier, once her allotted time is over, she will be absolved of her impurity. There begins her unexpected journey which brings her closer to the truth of what she is.

        It was hard for me to warm up to Deka in the beginning, a girl so adamant in believing the terrible customs doled out by religious authorities. Will she ever change and find strength in her difference? But each day in training awakens her to new capabilities that she was forced to shut down previously. We proceed with her, sharing her agonies and self-doubts because after all, this is also our story.

        A truly evocative novel which will undoubtedly be one of the best books 2021 offers. And the book, though a part of the series, wraps up nicely too without any cliffhangers.

Meet the author:

"I always wanted to write a book that showed girls that they could be heroes, that they could fight for what's right."

Namina Forna is a young adult novelist based in Los Angeles and the author of the epic fantasy YA novel The Gilded Ones. Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, she moved to the US when she was nine and has been travelling back and forth ever since. Namina loves building fantastical worlds and telling stories with fierce female leads.