by Namina Forna In this book we follow Deka who’s a young woman in a world rules by men. All women are forced to serve men, but for those who are revealed to be different, serving the men in their lives sound like a dream. At fifteen, all girls undergo a ritual meant to separate the pure from the impure. Those who’s blue run gold are called alaki and they are tortured and murdered under the law. And when Deka is revealed to be one of them, she’s mutilated and tortured in the priest’s search for her final death, the method where Deka dies for good. But thanks to a woman she calls White Hands, Deka is rescued and brought to the emperor to train and fight as his elite force deemed to vanquish an enemy called Deathstrikers. An unholy band of beasts that slaughter humans for sports. As Deka trains with other alaki, she forms friendships she never thought possible, and she earns for the freedom she’s promised once the her 20 years of service is up. But as time passes, Deka’s powers evolve, and for every truth she uncovers about her heritage and the gilded ones, dozen more questions…