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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
team pitbull is looking into this matter
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content
Minor: Infertility
Well fuck, this book ruined me. More to come.
As someone who read book one, saw the potential, I eagerly grabbed an arc for book two when it was free on NetGalley. Well, I actually grabbed The Silvered Serpents prior to owning book one, but when I read it I dove right into book two.
Oh. Just... OH. What a book. What an absolute treasure of a book. The history, the characters, the plot? Like, damn, way to kick it up a notch.
This book ruined me. Honest to god it did. There was times I went 'oh no' or 'oh my god, no' out-loud. (If I told you they were all Severin and Lalia related scenes that'd be a spoiler enough.) But honestly, the focus of this book has to do with them.
Severin is up there with Kaz Brekker in terms of literary men that have these levels of darkness to them. Severin, however, is OBSESSED with becoming a god, to basically become that of which he got a taste of - an angel or a demon, you pick. Bitter over the loss from book one, he vows that he would change himself to fit the needs of the passion to save the people he loves. Poor Laila has to watch him slide down this slippery slope into cutting off all his emotions, his ties, and his humanity until he gains his god-status. Which she is totally unaware of his true desire to do so. Actually, every one is!
The other characters all have suffered in their own ways. Hypnos and Enrique, a will they/won't they relationship. Zoya and Enrique, a will they/won't they relationship. And poor Laila, what is to become of her.
I can't say any more, but that ending ripped the heart out of me. I hope that the wait for Book 3 is not as long and if you're looking for something to give you that Six of Crows / Crooked Kingdom feeling, this is it.
As someone who read book one, saw the potential, I eagerly grabbed an arc for book two when it was free on NetGalley. Well, I actually grabbed The Silvered Serpents prior to owning book one, but when I read it I dove right into book two.
Oh. Just... OH. What a book. What an absolute treasure of a book. The history, the characters, the plot? Like, damn, way to kick it up a notch.
This book ruined me. Honest to god it did. There was times I went 'oh no' or 'oh my god, no' out-loud. (If I told you they were all Severin and Lalia related scenes that'd be a spoiler enough.) But honestly, the focus of this book has to do with them.
Severin is up there with Kaz Brekker in terms of literary men that have these levels of darkness to them. Severin, however, is OBSESSED with becoming a god, to basically become that of which he got a taste of - an angel or a demon, you pick. Bitter over the loss from book one, he vows that he would change himself to fit the needs of the passion to save the people he loves. Poor Laila has to watch him slide down this slippery slope into cutting off all his emotions, his ties, and his humanity until he gains his god-status. Which she is totally unaware of his true desire to do so. Actually, every one is!
The other characters all have suffered in their own ways. Hypnos and Enrique, a will they/won't they relationship. Zoya and Enrique, a will they/won't they relationship. And poor Laila, what is to become of her.
I can't say any more, but that ending ripped the heart out of me. I hope that the wait for Book 3 is not as long and if you're looking for something to give you that Six of Crows / Crooked Kingdom feeling, this is it.
Even though my love-hate relationship is strong with The Silvered Serpents predecessor, The Gilded Wolves, I loved the concept of the story and really wanted to give the series another try … especially with the deliciously wintery premise of its sequel. This is a wonderful sequel - excellent narrative, exceptional, strong-voiced characters, trademark Roshani humour that I adore, and a really fun setting. However, I strongly suggest a reread of The Gilded Wolves before diving into The Silvered Serpents as this sequel assumes a great deal of remembered knowledge from it. Unfortunately, I had not, and so spent most of my time trying to “catch-up”, keeping me at a great disadvantage and I found that I could never fully sink into this story. Exacerbating this frustration is the glacial plot - nothing really happens action-wise until about 200 pages in. Overall, I know I didn’t enjoy this sequel as much as I could have. Whether you’re a fan of The Gilded Wolves or struggled like I did, this book definitely delivers a crisper, sharper story … as long as you do your homework first.
Full Review Here: https://www.aotales.com/content/review-the-silvered-serpents
Full Review Here: https://www.aotales.com/content/review-the-silvered-serpents
Searching for an elusive, and perhaps mythic, treasure in a secretive manner leads the fractured crew of treasure hunters to Siberia in Roshani Chokshi's The Silvered Serpents.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
After the tumultuous exchange with the Fallen House, Séverin and his assorted team of treasure hunters dispersed into their own worlds to grieve the loss of one of their own as they try to get on with their lives. But when a lead surfaces that might just direct them to a long-lost and vastly rumored artifact that could provide the powers of a god, Séverin manages to pull the team back together to follow it. Leaving behind the glamour of Paris for the icy tundra of Russia, the team investigates an abandoned hidden mansion filled with ice animals, handless goddesses, and Tezcat portals in pursuit of the mythic artifact that seems to become less mythic and more real as they delve deeper and reveal surprising truths.
Jumping quickly back into the lives of the team members, the story picks up and starts running headfirst into the next adventure, which has has much higher stakes. The world-building and the development of the characters and their interpersonal dynamics within this novel was better than the first, though it was still quite localized to specific places and situations rather than all-encompassing; the more descriptive, introspective, and emotional nature of deepening the investment in crafting the characters reduced the amount of witty banter throughout the story but it's still there - just in smaller doses. There was quite a lot of repetition within the text, especially regarding the muses and their various remits, which felt over explanatory without an appropriate payoff for doing so. I appreciated the independence and choice afforded to Laila throughout the story as she was provided the agency to determine who knew about her life's secrets, and, more generally, the enhancement that some of the characters had toward asserting themselves and advocating for their desires was well-done and a fitting inclusion within the heavily emotional tone of this novel.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
After the tumultuous exchange with the Fallen House, Séverin and his assorted team of treasure hunters dispersed into their own worlds to grieve the loss of one of their own as they try to get on with their lives. But when a lead surfaces that might just direct them to a long-lost and vastly rumored artifact that could provide the powers of a god, Séverin manages to pull the team back together to follow it. Leaving behind the glamour of Paris for the icy tundra of Russia, the team investigates an abandoned hidden mansion filled with ice animals, handless goddesses, and Tezcat portals in pursuit of the mythic artifact that seems to become less mythic and more real as they delve deeper and reveal surprising truths.
Jumping quickly back into the lives of the team members, the story picks up and starts running headfirst into the next adventure, which has has much higher stakes. The world-building and the development of the characters and their interpersonal dynamics within this novel was better than the first, though it was still quite localized to specific places and situations rather than all-encompassing; the more descriptive, introspective, and emotional nature of deepening the investment in crafting the characters reduced the amount of witty banter throughout the story but it's still there - just in smaller doses. There was quite a lot of repetition within the text, especially regarding the muses and their various remits, which felt over explanatory without an appropriate payoff for doing so. I appreciated the independence and choice afforded to Laila throughout the story as she was provided the agency to determine who knew about her life's secrets, and, more generally, the enhancement that some of the characters had toward asserting themselves and advocating for their desires was well-done and a fitting inclusion within the heavily emotional tone of this novel.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
my brain's on again which i guess means book plot twists don't surprise me anymore BUT i got the found family content i love so much from this series so i'm a happy gal
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Better than the first book. Still don't know how they ended up in Russia though . . .
not me finishing it in one go, it was so so good, i couldn't even put it down for just one second. the fictional universe as well as the lore is insanely interesting and well researched, but i gotta admit that i'm a little bit skeptical about this bizarre love rectangle between zofia, enrique, hypnos and séverin, i really liked enrique and hypnos together in the first book :/
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
Takes a minute, especially compared to book one, but these nerds are just as fun and lovable the second time around.