The protagonist dying is rare to see in the world of young adult fiction. The main character being killed nine times, and all within the span of the first few chapters, is unprecedented.

Shocking as it may sound, that is what readers of Namina Forna’s debut novel The Gilded Ones open their books to find. This young adult fantasy novel, published in 2021, has received widespread acclaim, quickly gaining a spot on the New York Times Best Seller list and even being optioned for a film adaptation. But is this book worth the hype?

Deka, our protagonist, lives in the village of Irfut, located in the fictional nation of Otera. We see her preparing for the Ritual of Purity, a ceremony in which girls are bled before the entire village, and their worthiness is determined by the color of their blood. But on the day of the ritual, Deka’s blood runs an unnatural gold, resulting in her being taken away from her family. This leads to her joining an army of others like her, “impure” girls spurned by the rest of society, with special gifts that enable them to fight against the greatest threat to Otera. We follow Deka as she finds her way in an unaccepting world – making friends, gaining power, and fighting demons.

Right off the bat, I noticed the novel’s West-African inspirations. Namina Forna herself is originally from Sierra-Leone, and we can see her pulling elements from her culture to add depth into the setting. In an interview, Forna said she based the capital of Otera on the ancient African city of Benin. She hoped that with her young adult novel, more attention would be brought to the rich culture and civilization of pre-colonial Africa. Indeed, everything in Otera, from the clothing to the traditions to even the names has a distinct West-African flair. The protagonist’s name “Deka” itself is of African origin, meaning “the pleasing one."

Another distinct feature of the novel is the glaring social commentary that pervades Deka’s story. Deka’s mother came from the southern provinces, resulting in Deka being the only dark-skinned girl in a shut-off village with an otherwise fair-skinned population. Because of this, Deka is largely shunned and othered by society, a clear allusion to racism and xenophobia. What’s more, the religious texts of Otera place great emphasis on the subservience of women, referencing the unfair societal standards women in the real world are held to. Deka’s story is one of oppression and of exclusion, not through any fault of her own, but rather because of who she was born as. Forna writes this narrative in an attempt to shed light on the real-world issues that parallel Deka’s experiences. She succeeds in many ways: Forna does not shy away from describing the violence girls like Deka face in their oppression, such as torture or sexual abuse, which are things that many other books of the same genre typically shy away from. As a result, Forna successfully paints a vivid image of the suffering experienced by Deka and holds up a mirror to the actual struggles of those oppressed in our society. Story-wise, Deka’s continuous fight for her freedom from oppression highlights a theme of courage in the face of tribulation.

However, vivid as it is, the writing is severely lacking in subtlety. All the previous references to the real world are done quite heavy-handedly, with the author directly inserting descriptions of these parallels into the main character’s internal thoughts.

Unfortunately, this is not limited simply to the book’s social commentary. Major plot beats and important points of character development are often summarized in the narration. Conclusions that could have easily been drawn are instead spoon-fed to the reader for fear of being missed, almost to the point where it seems like the reader’s ability to comprehend is being doubted. The novel also plays into many tropes commonly seen in young adult novels with the same abundance of straightforwardness. Though tropes aren’t inherently bad, I wish the author would have adapted them somewhat to make them her own, rather than letting such clichés take over much of the storytelling. Because of this, much of the story was rendered formulaic and predictable, and I was able to anticipate the twist at the end before I had even finished reading half the novel.

Despite its flaws, The Gilded Ones does not fail at being an interesting read. The novel is chock-full of fast-paced action scenes and complex world-building. A West-African-inspired fantasy world is not something commonly seen in young adult fiction, so even with its tendency to cater to tropes, the story still has elements of originality. I would recommend this book to any middle schooler looking for a story with a powerful female protagonist. Deka's courage to fight back against an oppressive society and eventually embrace her nature is truly inspiring to young adolescents. The plot, characters, and themes are all rather simple, with not much need for inference, making it a good novel for less experienced readers. I would give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. It is a decent read for all the reasons I mentioned above, but to more advanced readers, its overt writing lacks nuance and intrigue.