Tag: the gilded ones by namina forna

The Eternal Ones: The finale of The Gilded Ones Trilogy by Namina Forna

January 29th, 2026

I have finished reading #TheGildedOnesTrilogy as January comes to an end, and I am pleased with having such a great start to the year in books.

The last book in the series is The Eternal Ones, and it set out to answer the question: Deka holds the power to defeat the gods, but can she become one?

Something stuck with me on Deka’s evolution, she started out as a young girl just turned sixteen wanting to be declared pure by the gods at Oyomo so she could continue in the expected order of women to get married, have children and serve their husbands- and then she bleeds gold and is declared a demon, only to learn that she is a by-product of the gods and she has to fight deathshrieks- and as the war intensifies she learns that everything she knew about the benevolence of the gods were lies, and that there were many more gods.

Yet, for someone who was cast out, looked down upon and killed eleven times- she could choose vengeance instead of granting the people choice…it’s interesting that she had the power to destroy and compel people to worship her and grow stronger as a result, but instead she gave them the chance to choose and honoured their choice.

It’s been a splendid journey and I am so team Deka! This trilogy stays in my personal library as an absolute favourite. There is a character that I believe made this epic even better and that’s White Hands, don’t call her Fatu- because if anything is true about her as a warrior and strategist is that she doesn’t get angry, she gets even.

I cannot end this flowery review without sharing a phrase or moment that I would remember from this book, and that is the conversation between Sayuri and Deka where she says:

And do you know, madness is illuminating. Because when you no longer think like others, you are forced to think like yourself. To see things in ways you might not have seen before. To see the truth. And that brings understanding, painful though it may be.

Have a great day and I can’t wait to delve into the next read.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna: Insights on reading

January 9th, 2026

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.