Namina Forna has done an excellent job at creating a painfully patriarchal world which refuses to even let women show their faces once they have gone through the Ritual of Purity. As the plot progresses, she becomes more resilient, powerful, and determined to discover the truth about the world she lives in. She begins as an incredibly self-conscious, fearful girl who has been beaten down by the patriarchy. I really enjoyed watching Deka develop throughout this book. Her journey is one of self-discovery as she moves to the Warthu Bera to train in the Emperor’s special Alaki army. The Gilded Ones follows the story of Deka, a young girl who has just discovered she has the powers of a demon. The stranger offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor, with others just like her, or be destroyed… She is saved by a mysterious woman who tells Deka of her true nature: she is an Alaki, a near-immortal with exceptional gifts. But when Deka bleeds gold - the colour of impurity, of a demon - she faces a consequence worse than death. Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom, where a woman’s worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. The concept of The Gilded Ones intrigued me from the start: a fierce, feminist fantasy? Sign me up!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |