Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Gilded Wolves

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

32 reviews

thedambookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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silodear's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I didn’t hate this book (as many in my book club did), but to say it was well written would be a lie. That being said, if I sort of closed my eyes halfway and suspended my disbelief about the many many many elements of the story that didn’t make sense, I dare say I enjoyed the ride.

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blueberry0531's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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quillify_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.5

Everything in this book is designed to appeal to a Western audience, make it easy for their comprehension: the barest exploration and impact of colonialism, easy to pronounce names, cookie cutter characters that fit your favorite tropes, a romance built purely on sexual attraction that an allosexual audience can consume without much critical thinking. And most of all, erasure of a significant chunk of history.
In Ms. Chokshi's own hypocritical words: "When we revise the horror and sanitize the grotesque, we risk erasing the paths that led us here."
No offence, but that is what this community does every day by promoting and recommending this book.

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nadas's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

This is probably because I really had high expectations for this, but I feel a little let down by it.

It started of really interesting. I liked (most of) the character interactions , the world and its magic system and how it connects so many mythologies from around the world (even when it got really confusing to follow because of just how much information and details are introduced all at the same time that made it impossible to even remember what was going on 🙂). I loved the atmosphere there were times where it was so immersive I could feel myself in the characters place.
The heist that spanned most of the book was also so much fun and I loved it so much I thought this was going to be a new favourite.

The last 20% it completely lost me. I did not enjoy it one bit. Everything happened so fast and was somehow not interesting at all. I did not like how this ended and everything leading to this end felt rushed and not enjoyable to the least.
Also, even though I enjoyed the character interactions through out the book, I still found myself not caring very much for them??

when Tristian died I honestly could not care less....the whole scene made very little sense to me and we never get a chapter from his pov for some reason?? maybe I missed something but I honestly dont get why we never got a chapter from his pov

I will still be reading the next book in the series just to know what actually happens after the reveal at the end and because I'm very confused right now after that and I don't like that.

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onamoonbeam's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

hghhh.. characters
this is the first all words book i have read on paper in. years?? so like. what a time. i also have a bad habit to skip over words and read too fast so i may have missed a few details. but
i did not really understand what was going on with the puzzles but i love zofia's and enrique's dynamic and also both of them individually. i guess my main gripe here is that

Tristan just had such major death flags around him the whole time like he never seemed like a main member of the group, just someone who Severin cared about enough to spur character development. i really liked his biologist role tho. wish we got to see more of him

me when the. sequence is fibonaccing!!!!
the italicized bits of severin's previous fathers at the beginnings of chapters were very good
and what a cliffhanger! i feel like we've only seen a bit of this world so far and i want to see more holy shit

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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

5 ⭐ CW: violence, descriptions of blood, pet tarantula, child abuse, slavery mention, human zoo mention, death of parents, antisemitism mention, subtle racism

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi is book one of the Gilded Wolves trilogy. This is the second Chokshi book I've read this year, and I loved it! I flew through the story and now I wish I had the next book!

We get different POVs from each of our characters: Séverin, our ring leader and hotelier trying to get his inheritance back; Tristan , his brother in all but blood who owns a pet tarantula (why did no one warn me about this?!) And loves gardening; Enrique, the historian who is trying to find his place in the world when he fits nowhere; Zofia, the Jewish, neurodivergent engineer with a debt to pay; Laila, a performer with a secret and a quest; and Hypnos, the Patriarch of House Nyx (although we don't get his pov until the end).

This was such a fun read! It's like if Six of Crows met Indiana Jones/antiques roadshow. The story is set in the Beautiful Era in Paris where opulence, science, and industry are flourishing. Chokshi gives us such an illustrious setting, but doesn't shy away from the horror that was also present at this time due to racism and colonialism. We get a heist and found family trope. All each of these characters want is to belong, to have a family, for them to all be together.

I loved all of the character moments we get throughout the book. I love all of the small, but loving things they do for each other. Like Laila makes sure she is always clear with her instructions to Zofia and brings her favorite cookies. Séverin is our broody, handsome guy that keeps pushing his feelings down about Laila (serious Kanej vibes). Hypnos is my favorite! He's charming, annoying, and chaotically bisexual. I love how flamboyant he is. I really need for Hypnos, Enrique, and Zofia to be poly.

So. Many. Mixed. Race. Characters! Both Séverin and Hypnos are the sons of enslaved women and French noblemen, and this plays a role in how they are treated in society. Enrique is Filipino and Spanish, but his features appear more Spanish and so he suffers from not feeling Filipino enough and we see this reinforced when he is brushed off by the Illustrados. I also didn't realize that Chokshi herself is mixed race, being Indian and Filipino. I think this is also the first book I've read that had Tagalog in it.

Now I need to get my hands on book two! This definitely a new favorite for sure.

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