The Gilded Ones

Wir begleiten in diesem ersten Teil Deka, eine junge Frau von 15 Jahren, die in Ihrem Dorf in den nördlichen Provinzen Oteras sowohl als Frau, als auch als "Südländische" am Rande der Gesellschaft lebt. Als sie dem Ritual unterzogen wird, das alle 16 Jährigen durchlaufen müssen, gedchieht das undenkbare - sie ist eine Unreine. Das offenbart ihr ein Schicksal, das zunächst als schlecht erscheint, sich aber bald als eine lang ersehnte Bestimmun herausstellt. Das Setting sowie die Charaktere haben mich überzeugt. Auch wenn die Protagonistin manchmal etwas naiv wirkt, es doch einige redundante Passagen gibt und sich die Geschichte nach langsamer Entfaltung auf den letzten Seiten etwas gar schnell entwickelt, so hat sie mich dennoch für sich eingenommen.

This book touched something deep inside me! An emotional story about finding your chosen family and not the one you were born into. About fantastical beasts, that aren't beasts at all. Empowering! A fight for freedom, for equality, for being seen. And a fight against patriarchy. Loved this book and would definitely recommend giving it a try. It's a bit complicated the first 100 pages or so, but once you dive into the world you will not want to stop!

Tabbed - 22 times I really love this book! I have now read it twice - rereading it ahead of the release of the sequel later this week, which I am super excited for. I can't choose a favourite part of this book - the first thing that comes to mind is the characters but when I think about it more I can't choose any part. I really do love the characters, and slight element of romance there is in this book. Deka is a great female lead, Britta is super loyal and someone I would love to be friends with, Keita is a great romantic interest and I just love him! He's so perfect for Deka, and I want someone like him! and I just love all of Deka's gang. I really love this world as well. I wouldn't survive in it but I love it and the magic really intrigues me. To be fair, I don't know if I'd call it magic but I don't have a better name for it. I really love the world and I don't know why, it is just somewhere I want to read about. Something I loved about the magic, was the creatures - I am super interested in them and hope they are something we learn more about in the second book. There were so many other parts of the world and magic (but it's not really that), that I loved and need to hear more about. I think that's everything I want to talk about but I'm not sure. Something important to mention is The Gilded Ones has quite a few trigger warnings including graphic violence, torture, child abuse and sexual assault, among others - so I would recommend looking those up before reading.