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bluebreex's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
This book has everything I look for in a fantasy book and I can't believe I didn't pick it up sooner! I love all of the characters, they felt so real and their banter never failed to make me laugh. The alchemical style of the sort of magic system in the world was very intriguing and I cannot wait to see how it is expanded on in the next book! (I also have to mention I loved how a lot of the puzzles that the characters were challenged with were included in diagrams)
If anyone is looking for a diverse heist plot filled with mystery, drama and fun characters I would highly recommend picking up The Gilded Wolves!
If anyone is looking for a diverse heist plot filled with mystery, drama and fun characters I would highly recommend picking up The Gilded Wolves!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Physical abuse, and Racism
tuesdaye's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Xenophobia
sturmhcndss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Torture
Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Violence
lisa_m's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
I usually don't like comparing books to other books because most times they can't live up to the expectations.
This book however reminded me so much of some of my favourite books:
- a found family that reminded me a lot of Six of Crows (especially Kaz & Séverin!)
- a magical Order reminding me a lot of the Shadowhunters
- tattooed vows that reminded me of ACOTAR
- great unique gifts that reminded me of Raybearer
and somehow while reminding me of so many other books and series this book managed to stay unique.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I can't wait for the sequel. The only reason I'm not quite giving it 5 stars is the ending & Séverins behaviour in the end.. Careful: BIG SPOILERS AHEAD! I get that he is hurt and grieving but what he said to Laila is in my opinion pretty unforgivable.. He knew how insecure she was about that and still he said it and didn't even apologise.. so so shitty!! The are both hurt but she did they right thing and overcame her fears while he was just an asshole.
I generally really liked Séverin throughout the book but this just didn't stick right with me..
Also what happened to Tristan was so unexpected and super sad. I usually get emotional very easily while reading but I didn't cry this time. I was sad but not THAT sad. That is also one of the reasons I decided to not give the book 5 stars. It didn't manage to ruin me..
I guess I did like the characters but I wasn't really attached to any of them. I do like though that the other is not afraid of killing of her main characters.
Also I really liked Laila and I think her POV was also always the most interesting to me. I really hope she will stay kind even after what happened because in one of the last chapters we get to see the new her and I have to say I don't like it. She carries her hurt around like a blade and that is so unlike her.
What I probably enjoyed most about this book was the scenery. Paris 1889 but with magic and secret societies.
I still have a lot of questions about the magic system and general world building but I hope that will all be clearer to me when I read the sequels.
I also really enjoyed the Authors Note at the end. What the author said about the Exposition Universelle and "La Belle Epoque" was really interesting. I like that she said you cannot just take the good and ignore the bad and I think you can definitely see that in the book as well. It has the glamour but also the seriousness which you already know I love in my books :)
This book however reminded me so much of some of my favourite books:
- a found family that reminded me a lot of Six of Crows (especially Kaz & Séverin!)
- a magical Order reminding me a lot of the Shadowhunters
- tattooed vows that reminded me of ACOTAR
- great unique gifts that reminded me of Raybearer
and somehow while reminding me of so many other books and series this book managed to stay unique.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I can't wait for the sequel. The only reason I'm not quite giving it 5 stars is the ending & Séverins behaviour in the end.. Careful: BIG SPOILERS AHEAD! I get that he is hurt and grieving but what he said to Laila is in my opinion pretty unforgivable.. He knew how insecure she was about that and still he said it and didn't even apologise.. so so shitty!! The are both hurt but she did they right thing and overcame her fears while he was just an asshole.
I generally really liked Séverin throughout the book but this just didn't stick right with me..
Also what happened to Tristan was so unexpected and super sad. I usually get emotional very easily while reading but I didn't cry this time. I was sad but not THAT sad. That is also one of the reasons I decided to not give the book 5 stars. It didn't manage to ruin me..
I guess I did like the characters but I wasn't really attached to any of them. I do like though that the other is not afraid of killing of her main characters.
Also I really liked Laila and I think her POV was also always the most interesting to me. I really hope she will stay kind even after what happened because in one of the last chapters we get to see the new her and I have to say I don't like it. She carries her hurt around like a blade and that is so unlike her.
What I probably enjoyed most about this book was the scenery. Paris 1889 but with magic and secret societies.
I still have a lot of questions about the magic system and general world building but I hope that will all be clearer to me when I read the sequels.
I also really enjoyed the Authors Note at the end. What the author said about the Exposition Universelle and "La Belle Epoque" was really interesting. I like that she said you cannot just take the good and ignore the bad and I think you can definitely see that in the book as well. It has the glamour but also the seriousness which you already know I love in my books :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Torture
onamoonbeam's review
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
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Colonisation
alexiab's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
HELP I AM A PUDDLE I AM GONE I AM DECEASED 😭😭
Oh my GOD what an excellent start to a trilogy. The characters are incredible and I love all of them with my whole heart, the plot is interesting and twisty and gOT ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT?! the magical world is unique but easy enough to follow, the drama, the humour, all of it is WONDERFUL.
And that ending?! Ripping my heart out more than once, flipping the whole story on its head while also setting up a killer plot for the sequel??
BE STILL MY HEART IM DESPERATELY IN LOVE.
Oh my GOD what an excellent start to a trilogy. The characters are incredible and I love all of them with my whole heart, the plot is interesting and twisty and gOT ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT?! the magical world is unique but easy enough to follow, the drama, the humour, all of it is WONDERFUL.
And that ending?! Ripping my heart out more than once, flipping the whole story on its head while also setting up a killer plot for the sequel??
BE STILL MY HEART IM DESPERATELY IN LOVE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Self harm and Torture
karambit's review
adventurous
challenging
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Murder, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Miscarriage, Self harm, and Biphobia
bettysbookishworld's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed the book! It is not the best oneI have ever read but it has a potential to be one of my favourite series. Even though it did have some similarities with Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, it still had a different vibe to me (less dark, more adventurous and more fast-paced writing style than in SoC).
Let´s start with the things I loved - characters! I enjoyed all POVs and cared about all of them. My favourite one was Zofia as I loved her mathematical and only fact-based way of thinking. Laila was a sweetheart and I loved her! Enrique was smart and funny at the same time which I love about characters. Séverin was my favourite too until the end of the book. So I don´t know what to think about him anymore. Another aspect of the book I liked were all these riddles and puzzles and random facts. That is what made the story interesting and fast-paced. Also the magic system using forging was so fascinating!
But what ruined my excitement from the story was THE ENDING!!! Like why? Tristan´s death was not suprising really and I liked him the least but why did we need to know that he was a psycho killing birds after he died? It completely ruined the character, the vibe of the book and it was such an unnecessary information we could live without. Also, I hate "the love triangle" between Zofia, Enrique and Hypnos (it was unnecessary too and felt really forced). And Séverin being the biggest asshole was a cherry on top and Laila does not deserve to be treated like that!
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, really liked it and even though it had its flaws, I still want to read the other books in this series becase it was very enjoyable read! :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Torture
Minor: Animal cruelty
childoflight's review
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Kidnapping, Racism, Grief, Death, Colonisation, and Antisemitism
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
oliverreeds's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
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
i liked it. i just felt like the book lacked that extra step of vibrancy that really brings books to life. i felt as if something important- some greater substance was necessary for me to truly love this book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture