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Fantasy. Mythology. Young Adult Fiction. HTML:INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER â?˘ The epic, hotly anticipated sequel to the instant bestseller The Gilded Ones about a girl with the power to remake her worldâ??or destroy it. â??Fans of Children of Blood and Bone, Mulan, and the Dora Milaje from Black Panther are going to adore [The Gilded Ones].â?ťâ??BuzzFeed 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 Oteraâ??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. The Merciless Ones is the second thrilling installment of the epic fantasy series in which a young heroine fights against a world that would dare tame her. â?? "This book shimmers like gold."â??School Library Journal… (more)
User reviews
Thoughts: I really loved the first book in this series and was incredibly excited to read this book. Sadly, it was disappointing….I almost stopped reading it a few times
This was okay. I finished it and did enjoy some of the twists and turns later in the book, even though they were fairly predictable. Unfortunately, I felt very distanced from the characters, especially Deka. I felt like I was reading about them rather than experiencing this story with them. What should have been an exciting plot of battles and unveiled secrets, ended up being us watching Deko run from one battle to the next and make a number of bad decisions; it was just kind of boring.
I ended up skimming much of the middle of the book. Things were a bit more interesting towards the end of the story. However, as soon as I finished this I felt mostly relieved at being done with it and had no desire to read the third and final book in this series.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this book was fairly disappointing given how much I loved the first book in the series. The characters are held at a distance and the plot starts to feel very repetitive. There are some decent twists and turns towards the end, but the foreshadowing was sooo heavy here that they were predictable. Despite all of the action, I felt bored reading this and really struggled to stay engaged. I almost stopped reading this book multiple times but instead started skimming boring portions and made it through. I have absolutely no curiosity about where the story is going and don’t plan on reading the final book in the series.
So I swore I read this book when it first came out and so I requested the ARC of the 3rd book and got it. When I went to look at my reviews of these books, it was then that I realized I hadn’t read this one yet! So, I was able to read this book and then go directly into the third and final installment too - which is kind of nice because I’m so impatient when it comes to waiting for sequels.
I also listened to this in audiobook for the most part and there are some tense bits where I was gasping out loud while doing house chores (not going to mention what bits due to spoilers).
The only con I had of this was Deka’s fault of running headfirst into situations and making rash decisions. It's a young adult - Deka’s a young adult, and she’s learning. I did feel like she definitely grew since we first met her.
This is an action packed fantasy novel that I can see so many enjoying - especially since the third and final installment is coming out in just a few weeks. Definitely something I can see myself recommending for some binge reading for sure.