Last year’s The Gilded Ones knocked me on my feet – Deka is a fabulous protagonist. She is strong and ethical and vulnerable. The world building and magical system were unique, intriguing and at times jaw dropping. That all held true for this sequel – I thought it would be hard to keep the type of intensity and uniqueness for book two. The first book tackled the idea of indoctrination, blind faith and racism; this one continues those themes and really tackles sexism, gender roles and identity. You are not beaten to death with these messages but inspired to think about them as you see parallels between Deka’s world and our own.
The pace is a little slower than the first book but that’s because there is so much for Deka to absorb. It doesn’t mean there isn’t lots of action, those scenes are plentiful but in between there is so much revealed to Deka about her true nature and the nature of her people. There are so many heartbreaking moments and emotional revelations. I generally prefer reading dialogue but a lot of the reveals are Deka in her own in her head so you get long sections of explanations, which made the reading a little duller for me. I still loved the ideas and this series as a whole. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐
Thanks to Netgalley for advanced access to this novel. All opinions above are my own.
Still waiting for Amazon to deliver my preorder even though it’s days past launch. 🤬 How often do you preorder a book?
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