The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

This was amazing. But be warned, it’s a young adult book, and not for little kids. Deka grew up in a world where women are treated as lesser. Now it’s time for the Ritual of Purity. The Ritual of Purity is where all girls of sixteen are tested, to see if they are pure. If their blood runs red, they are pure. But if it runs gold, they are impure. If they are impure, they are sentenced to the Death Mandate. Impure girls, alaki, have to be killed many times before they truly die. Deka’s blood is gold. She’s thrown in a cell, killed by her own father. After weeks of death, a woman appears. She offers Deka a choice, stay there and be killed, over and over, or she can come with the strange woman and serve the empire as a soldier. Alaki are inhumanly strong and fast, so the Emperor is creating an army of them. Deka chooses to go with the strange woman. Deka and the other alaki have to undergo grueling training. None of these girls have been allowed to do anything other than serve men. Once they have been trained, they have to hunt Deathshrieks. Is Deka going to be the one to save the empire, or be will she be its downfall? The end was a tiny bit rushed, but overall it was a great book.