The Gilded Ones - Outside of a Dog

hardcover, 432 pages

Published Feb. 9, 2021 by Delacorte Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-9848-4869-7
OCLC Number:: 1235811036

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 …

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 are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.

9 editions

Tak! reviewed The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (The Gilded Ones, #1)

3 stars

The Gilded Ones is a fantasy epic set in a Handmaid's Tale esque dystopia where women and girls are subject to strict social rules, on pain of physical punishment and death.

The tone is very YA, although the subject matter is full of graphic violence and (thankfully nongraphic) rape.

The setting is interesting, but the plot is kind of nonsensical and the author goes hard on the chosen one trope.

The Gilded Ones is a fantasy epic set in a Handmaid's Tale esque dystopia where women and girls are subject to strict social rules, on pain of physical punishment and death.

The tone is very YA, although the subject matter is full of graphic violence and (thankfully nongraphic) rape.

The setting is interesting, but the plot is kind of nonsensical and the author goes hard on the chosen one trope.