Outcasts by blood. Warriors by Choice.

I saw these two phrases on the front cover of the book and I couldn’t resist getting the whole trilogy. So, I walked out of TextBookCenter with three books and a smile on my face because I couldn’t wait to read about female warriors. Let me tell you, I just finished reading The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna.

The story starts out with a coming-of-age ceremony, The Purity Ritual, where girls who turn sixteen are presented before Oyomo, and the priests make a cut above their chests and if the color of their blood is pure red, they are pure and if it’s anything else then they are cast out. Deka, the heroine of this story, is nervous- we meet her in this chapter and she’s anxious because she lost her Mother and her Father is ailing, so she prays and prays that she is pure until her turn comes and she bleeds gold!

Suddenly she’s a demon- they kill her not once or twice but nine times and she comes back to life and that proves everyone but her right- she’s vile, a demon spawn and as she is trying to make sense of it all, she is rescued by White Hands, a lady who promises her absolution is she agrees to train as a warrior for the Emperor to fight Deathshrieks…and as her journey unravels so does her understanding of who she truly is and why she wields so much power.

“Don’t you dare. They might need us now because we’re valuable, might pretend to accept us, to reward us- but never forget what they did to us first. If they did it once, Deka, they’ll surely do it again, no matter the flowery promises they give.”

And let me tell you, Deka fights!

I love how the author wove the history of The Gilded Ones into the book, of what oppression did to the women in the book- and all through we get Deka asking questions and not settling for answer simply because they are given, she probes and probes and doesn’t let go- and perhaps that’s what makes her an interesting heroine.

I loved this first book and can’t wait to start reading the second one- The Merciless Ones- because I want to know what comes next for Deka and the Gilded Ones.

Have a great weekend.