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The Gilded Ones (Deathless, #1)

Namina Forna

Start date: April 3, 2023

Finish date: April 30, 2023

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Jan 04, 2021 Kelly rated it it was amazing

I was going to give this book four stars until I read the last 30%. That part was so good I have no other choice but to give it five stars.

The Gilded Ones follows Deka, a young girl about to go through a ritual that every girl her age does to see if she has "pure blood" or "impure blood". When beasts called Deathshrieks shows up, Deka ends up showing everyone in her village that she isn't "normal". Her eyes changed color and she managed to control the Deathshrieks. Immediately, the men capture ...more

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May 16, 2021 akacya ❦ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ownvoices, format-ebook, audience-young-adult, genre-fantasy, black-authors

After a ceremony determines that Deka isn’t one of the village members, she runs off to be with alaki, an army of near-immortal girls who are like her. On her journey to train in the capital, many surprises are thrown her way.

I thought the plot was executed very well. Honestly, the blurb doesn’t do everything in this book justice, which is understandable, because I’m having trouble putting it into words myself. It was original and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Additionally, the characte ...more

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Mar 18, 2024 Kim rated it liked it

Cute story. I like how the story unfurled, like it really built on itself. The girls’ friendships were definitely my favorite part. The magic was pretty cool. I struggled to envision what the Death Shrieks looked like but the narration of the audiobook helped me keep the characters straight.

To be honest, not sure how there are 3 books in the series. Like I know the mission of one kingdom but I don’t think I will read the others. This one book was sufficient for me.

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Sep 04, 2023 Butterfly2507 rated it really liked it

had its ups and downs. super interesting but also super boring at the same time. it got better towards the end though :) still not sure if i want to continue with the rest of the trilogy.

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