I think it was interesting for a story to play with the constructs of purity in a fantasy world. As usual, only girls’ purity is called into question and the "purest" girls are the most covered with mask adorned with gold or cheaper metals. We see Deka run herself ragged trying to meet her society's standards. She tries to be as devout as she can.

Unfortunately, and understandably, Deka felt like such a sad sack the entire time. She's tortured in brutal ways and abandoned. I wasn't aware that this was a multiracial (why are there so many blonde and blue-eyed ppl? At least make it interesting, blonde and red-eyed?) fantasy world, so I was surprised at Deka being basically a magical biracial girl.

On top of the impurity bs, she's isolated from her mom's side of the family and further alienated. With that being said, I fully understand that Deka’s dejectedness is a purposeful progression.

The storytelling felt very slow-moving, and some readers may drop before they see Deka come to terms with herself. But my heart was gladdened once Deka did. I didn’t care about any of side characters, the allies Deka makes, though White Hands immediately piqued my interest.

The conversations between Deka and Britta just never hit for me. Very ‘we’re friends because we sit next to each other in class’ vibes. I was indifferent to Keita. But I enjoyed the lady army, the commanders and the soldiers were ruthless. the final fight scene felt so technical. The emperor was acting so hammy.

Because I wasn’t endeared to any of the characters, the reading experience was lackluster. I wonder if the author’s screenwriting experience played a part in the execution. Still, creating a fantasy story is no joke! ( )

Actual rating: 3.5/5

A powerful story about a group of young women made to believe their golden blood and superior abilities mark them as demons. As they are made to choose between certain death and fighting in an army to protect the empire from monsters, hard truths will come to light and the biggest question of all: who is the real monster?

The cast is lovely and diverse and I loved Deka as the main character. It was refreshing to have a complex, three-dimensional black female main character for once! The female friendships in this were also gorgeous. I also enjoyed the worldbuilding and the internal mythology but my main issue with this book was that there was much too telling and not enough showing. There were a lot of very important underlying themes which definitely make this a valuable read, but my enjoyment of it really took a hit because of the way this story was told.

I quite struggled to connect with the writing style, which while easy to read was at times maybe overly simplistic. This is probably just me though, not the book's fault, and it may not be a problem for other (younger) readers. I also had some issues with the use of trauma in this, even though I appreciated the effort to show a wide range of experiences and reactions to some severely traumatic events.

This book gets pretty explicitly violent for a YA fantasy, so be mindful of triggers before reading this.

Content Warnings:violence, death, torture, sexism and misogyny, physical abuse, emotional abuse, religious bigotry, war, blood, trauma, off-screen implied rape.

For more reviews, visit Book for Thought. ( )

I had a long explanation of a comment to explain my complex feelings for this book, but at the end of it, I can summarize it.

This book is just okay.

SPOILERS--

I was hoping for some push in narrative maturity, but it still has the trappings of gendered violence and religious taboos against certain sexualities. When I read the summarize, I was hoping to get transported to a fantasy land with a touch of Africana, but there is too much realism in this, in a fashion, which makes it boring and predictable.

There's nothing challenging in this book, only reminders and clichés of real life injustices. Maybe before I would have found this book relatable, since it brings up problems of the real world and allows the protagonist to rise up against it all with a power I do not have surrounded by the support of her fellow fems and "The Good One (tm)" amongst the bad bad men. Now, it just feels like rehash, using real life horrors to create shock value and the illusion of narrative substance, but the book would have been the same had all that been removed, just shorter and less times the author wrote 'my heart beating so fast yadda yadda burst from my chest'.

So, yeah. I got through it, but I'm not reading #2 ( )

It begins with a purity ceremony in Deka’s village. If your blood runs red, you are pure; if it is gold that means impurity and death. When Deka runs gold, she is shunned by the village she has known her whole life and subjected to horrendous punishments. But she endures. And then, a strange and unknown woman comes to offer her a way out: fight for the Emperor against the death shrieks and ultimately your death mandate will be commuted. From there Deka faces intense pressure to train and to live up to her gifts, all the while learning what happens in the capital and among the Emperor and his army as well as learning about the history of her world.

Forna has done an amazing job creating an entirely new world and building off the ideas of patriarchal and matriarchal societies. All of the characters created are intriguing and likable - at least those who are meant to be. The twists and turns, notably with Deka and how she thinks of herself, are well done - some are obvious, others, not at all! I am very much looking forward to the next book in this installment. ( )

Overly sentimental and repetitive writing, with some pretty cool and unique ideas. ( )