The Merciless Ones

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I know that I'll be (not so) patiently counting down the days until one of my ultimate favourite series reaches its conclusion. Come, join me. For him to say this in such an off-hand, laissez-faire way nearly broke me,” she says. “At this point I had been writing since undergrad and this was my dream, there was nothing else I could do.” The girls are powerful, the danger is real, and the characters are engaging and diverse. Forna has accomplished something really special here, equal parts subversive and fun.”— Tor

As for the romance part, I can't tell if there's less of it or around the same amount as before? Everyone is so busy fighting that there's hardly time for anything else, which is accurate, and it makes those few stolen moments much sweeter. Phenomenal and extraordinary! Forna’s breathtaking use of language depicts a thrilling journey through an epic world, rife with danger and deception, as an obedient girl survives the patriarchy and becomes a warrior. Unquestionably, the best fantasy of 2021.”—Kim Johnson, author of This is My America This book gave me absolute whiplash, to the point it doesn't even feel like it belonged to book 1. It felt like it went hard compensating for "mistakes" in the first book to the point I felt like I'm reading a new series. Could not stay engaged or interested as all the secondary characters felt like cardboard cut outs, only there to serve and revere Deka. Deka felt like part of a computer game where if she completed a chapter she got to Level Up With A New Super Power. Every....second...minute.... This isn’t a standalone. The story is complex and very much carries on from the events that took place in The Gilded Ones. Deka and her friends face newer, more ruthless challenges, questioning their missions and the truth of what they’ve been told, when one reveal after another puts everything they think they know into question. The lgbt characters are featured a lot more too. As well as slightly different but no less important themes.

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It's been six months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera, and discovered who she really is. But war is waging across the kingdom, and the real battle has only just begun. For there is a dark force growing in Otera - a merciless power that Deka and her army must stop. Yet hidden secrets threaten to destroy everything Deka has known. And with her own gifts changing, Deka must discover if she holds the key to saving Otera or if she might be its greatest threat. About This Edition ISBN: The side characters were also great! They were all pretty well-developed and likeable, and the bonds between them and Deka were all so lovely. I adored Deka and Britta’s friendship- Britta was so supportive and caring, and that was amazing to see! 💕💕 It was giving found family vibes, which I LOVED. You guys know how much I adore that trope 😉😉😜😜 So, yeah, really liked the characters!! It's been six months since Deka has freed the goddesses and discovered who she really is. There are now wars waging across the kingdom. Otereans now think jatu are traitors to the nation. Deka is called a monster.

Next, the writing. AAAAHHHH I ADORE THE WRITING 😍😍💕💕 It’s so beautiful & descriptive, and has this lovely magical quality to it. I LOVED all the gorgeous descriptives and the way it plunged you right into the story. The worldbuilding was elegantly woven into the narrative and introduced in such a great way. I thought we’d learned so much about Otera in The Gilded Ones, but there was actually so much more!! The action scenes were really well-written and so were the emotional ones. I now really want to read more of Namina Forna’s work, because her writing is just TOP NOTCH 🤌🤌

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What I continue to love about this series is the female empowerment and the diversity represented in these strong, intelligent and imperturbable core characters. And it’s in this cast of support characters—among the dearest and closest to Deka—that the story is its most engaging. Thankfully, these characters spend the entirety of the story at Deka’s side, travelling across Otera on one mission or another, so the presence of my favourites is always there, which I have no doubt helped hold my attention at times that my focus may have been further waylaid. In this follow-up to The Gilded Ones (2021), a 17-year-old young woman must defeat divine beings to save the lives of her bloodsisters. Another thing that never appeared in Gilded were Queer people, and it was a little jarring to see so many of us basically stuffed into this book. There's not many new Queer characters either, leading me to wonder why they were all revealed to be Queer here, and there was no hint of that in the first book. The much anticipated sequel to The Gilded Ones does not disappoint! We return to find Deka and her supporters battling to save their kingdom from dark forces. The fantastical ancient kingdom of Otera and the characters that inhabit this magical land are described by Namina Forna in rich detail.

Discover the gripping sequel to Namina Forna's New York Times bestselling YA fantasy, The Gilded Ones. Overall, this was a very much anticipated book for me, and it definitely lived up to the first! I am beyond impatient for the last book in the trilogy! Sadly, this really didn’t live up to its predecessor and falls into several of the traps and issues that second books in a trilogy suffer from: super powered MC, contrived plotting meant to force a turning point in the series, large info dumps for a super expanded world, slow pacing. Because characters make a book for me. I want to invest in them, and once I do, then I'm invested in the story. Deka here has become so overpowered, it's ridiculous. She's no longer relatable, no longer interesting. Her friendships and relationship with Keita are just transferred over from book one with no further development, but I absolutely, positively did not care about any of them. I adored and devoured this book! There is intensity and adventure in every single chapter. The pace of the book gradually increases and the last few chapters are filled with anticipation and power.There is also so much talk of memories and how pain and trauma molds and shapes us, so again, it’s an interesting and almost strange choice the way the alaki and other supporting characters are seemingly forced aside like Deka no longer needs them or is too important for them, even though that shared trauma and healing was pivotal for all of them in the previous book. A poignant examination of patriarchal oppression that ensnares its reader and doesn’t let go. With a compelling main character and fresh magic system, it takes you on a journey of self-discovery through a fantastically built world with a burning mystery at its heart.”—Kalyn Josephson, author of The Storm Crow