I grabbed this book because of the cover and that description. It’s absolutely beautiful, and the story sounded amazing. Outcasts by blood. Warriors by choice.
The Gilded Ones is, at its heart, an examination of the patriarchy and how women fit into that structure – and how they don’t. I related to this book on many levels, and appreciated it so much. I did struggle a bit in the beginning – not through any fault of the story, but because it felt too contemporary. It felt just a half smidge off from what women in society experience today. And it was uncomfortable.
I hated how defeated the women and girls were in this world. How they simply submitted to the religion that taught them they were lesser than the men. Only there to be helpmeets; but only if their blood was “pure.”
When Deka’s blood is not red, when she bleeds gold, she’s subjected to all sorts of horrors and betrayals. And this felt real, too. Women are allowed only so much room by many men, by society in general, only so many “mistakes” before being rejected and disparaged.
I really loved the development of Deka. She starts out fully believing in the rules that society has shackled her with. Hoping only to fit back into the mold they’ve told her is acceptable. As the story progresses, she begins to throw that off and encourage her friends to throw it off as well. I loved seeing her go from meek and scared to an inspiration to everyone she meets.
I also really love the diversity of this book, and how the author dealt with racism and colorism in addition to the sexism. The fact that there are actual friendships between women – not cattiness and fighting each other, but supporting and fighting for each other – is amazing. I kept waiting for the betrayal, which is almost inevitable in these books. That a woman close to the main character would befriend her, and then betray her for some odd reason, because tension. It was so refreshing to not have to deal with that.
I also loved that one of Deka’s close friends was lesbian and absolutely comfortable in her skin. Not tortured and conflicted, but joyous.
I’ve seen some discussion about the romance being “insta-love,” but I actually think it’s well developed. Deka spends time with her love interest, with them getting to know each other. But this isn’t a Romance (capital R, genre) novel. I don’t expect the romance to be front and center, instead it was shown in small moments, and alluded to in others. That worked for me here. Because this was really Deka’s story, her and her sisters’ journey.
If I could have asked for anything more, it would have been a little more suspicion on the part of Deka and her peers. Though Deka throws off the shackles of her former life in a very believable and developed way, I struggled with how easily she accepted “truths” from characters that she wasn’t sure she could trust. There were things that she saw with her own eyes and I understand that development, but then she just believed other things told to her.
While I appreciated that there wasn’t a big twist at the end in the form of a betrayal from a trusted source, I expected Deka to be a little more suspicious of information that’s given to her.
The Gilded Ones was a deeply satisfying book, with an intriguing world and fascinating characters. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more in this world and story.
This sounds SO good. I need more diverse fantasy in my life. I’m reading one right now with a massive cast of characters. Only two people of color have even been mentioned and there is zero queer rep. Ugh.
Yes! I have started going more and more to diverse authors for my reading, because I need more diversity, and I’m tired of a single person of color or a token queer character. What I really loved here was experiencing a West African inspired fantasy. I love all fantasy, but there’s so much room in the genre. It doesn’t all have to be European-based. There’s so much from other cultures that can be shared.