From the Bookshelf of Addicted to YA…

The Gilded Ones (Deathless, #1)

Namina Forna

Start date: July 1, 2024

Finish date: July 31, 2024

Discussion: Theme

Why we're reading this: This will be our July theme: found family book. The discussion will be added July 1st, but we wanted to m…more
[close] This will be our July theme: found family book. The discussion will be added July 1st, but we wanted to make sure you all had time to get the book and read it!
Please let me know if you are interested in being the moderator for this book discussion!!!

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Showing 2 of 9 topics — 105 comments total

Theme

* Theme: Magical Realism- Our Infinite Fates
By Bailey · 8 posts · 50 views

last updated Aug 23, 2025 04:09AM

* Theme: Characters or Authors with Disabilities- Your Blood My Bones
By Bailey · 12 posts · 56 views

last updated Jul 25, 2025 07:51AM

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What Members Thought

Jul 25, 2020 Michelle DeFields-Gambrel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, fairyloot-se

I was going to give this book five stars. I really was - all the way through the book, I kept thinking, “This book is so much better than I expected!” The character building was fantastic, the world building was just enough for this type of fantasy, it was plotted well and there were twists and turns I wasn’t expecting. But. . . Then there was the ending. The ending disappointed me. It was too quick of a wrap up and it was pretty predictable. I’m not upset that I predicted the outcome, but it fe ...more

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Feb 24, 2021 Brandy {The Review Booth} rated it really liked it

Shelves: vine, 2021-goodreads-challenge

The religion in this book is… well, downright terrifying. Mainly because its sole purpose is to confine women into beautifully packaged and unblemished beings meant to serve men. The Gilded Ones is brutal – what Deka and her fellow alaki are subjected to by the hands of men is not for the light-hearted.

I do wish that more time was spent training the alaki and uruni. The alaki have rare gifts and are nearly immortal but in a society that doesn’t even allow girls to touch knives until they pass th The religion in this book is… well, downright terrifying. Mainly because its sole purpose is to confine women into beautifully packaged and unblemished beings meant to serve men. The Gilded Ones is brutal – what Deka and her fellow alaki are subjected to by the hands of men is not for the light-hearted.

I do wish that more time was spent training the alaki and uruni. The alaki have rare gifts and are nearly immortal but in a society that doesn’t even allow girls to touch knives until they pass their test of purity, it was slightly unrealistic that they were able to learn so quickly. No matter their abilities or the teachers. Towards the end, we finally get to understand the reasons behind the extremes that the religious leaders and ruling king went through to accomplish their goal. I was not expecting the monstrous twist revealed either nor what it meant for Deka and her fellow alaki.

Being raised in a small village I believe it was even harder for Deka to break through the rhetoric drummed into her brain by those in power. It grated on me a little bit how she just refused to see the truths in front of her face but when she finally did, it was beautiful and even slightly worth the irritation. I enjoyed the budding romance between Deka and her uruni – it was the perfect amount of sweet to coat the rest of the book just a little bit. Deka and the alaki, especially those closest to her were a shining example of sisterhood and chosen family. My three favorite beings from the book were the sassy but good-hearted centaur-like twins and Ixa the shapeshifter.

I see a LOT of similarities between The Gilded Ones and Children of Blood and Bone, and honestly, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. Deka is only sixteen, the book is considered YA, but this book is often dark and bloody – fair warning. Overall, I enjoyed my journey with Deka, and it was a beautifully dark story. I will be on the lookout for book two in the Deathless series where I hope we will learn more about the Gilded Ones and the world that Namina Forna has created. I would like to thank Delacorte Press, Amazon Vine, and Namina Forna for the opportunity to read an ARC of The Gilded Ones – all opinions are my own. ...more

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Feb 26, 2020 Agemignani29 Gemignani marked it as to-read