The Gilded Ones by Normina Forna

Summary:

The blood ceremony almost upon Deka which will determine if her blood fund pure and she will become a member of her village. When her blood runs gold, she knows a terrible fate awaits her until she gets an offer that could change that. She could fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her but what she will be fighting may be her death.

My Thoughts:

This book was a lot darker than I was expecting for a young adult novel. Young adult certainly has their fair share of violence but the violence described in this was quite shocking to me.

I was intrigued by the background of the world, how it came to be that women were treaded the way they were and why certain girls had golden blood. I also suspected there was a connection between the girls with gold blood and the monstrous creatures that plagued the land. My suspicions were close but far enough away that the revelations weren’t necessarily easily predictable.

I love the strong female characters and the group of friends Deka has made. The creatures in the world are quite unique which is always a huge plus for me in any fiction novel.

The ending was not at all what I was expecting and I’m very much looking forward to finding out what happens in the second book. The level of brainwashing throughout the book is remarkable so I’m curious to see how the world will change.

I think this was a good read but maybe not the best and not for everyone due to the violence.