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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
(4.5) i am screaming crying throwing up. sometimes you spend 90% of a book complaining just to give it 5 stars idk what to tell you
the writing was better and less awkward than book 1.. and the character work is so glorious like séverin alone deserves 5 stars... but also there are a bunch of ridiculous things, like, why is hypnos never using his powers? (it's a plot hole at this point) and also THE PLOT TWISTS?
i guess the main plot twist was supposed to be obvious to the reader from the start and that kind of works but it just became frustrating at some point CAUSE LIKE. the author wants us to think these characters are smart but then WANTS ME TO BELIEVE SEVERIN DIDN'T FIGURE IT OUT IMMEDIATELY WHEN HE SAW THAT DESK? i won't take this slander. my man's smarter than that... justice for séverin
the writing was better and less awkward than book 1.. and the character work is so glorious like séverin alone deserves 5 stars... but also there are a bunch of ridiculous things, like, why is hypnos never using his powers? (it's a plot hole at this point) and also THE PLOT TWISTS?
i guess the main plot twist was supposed to be obvious to the reader from the start and that kind of works but it just became frustrating at some point CAUSE LIKE. the author wants us to think these characters are smart but then WANTS ME TO BELIEVE SEVERIN DIDN'T FIGURE IT OUT IMMEDIATELY WHEN HE SAW THAT DESK? i won't take this slander. my man's smarter than that... justice for séverin
#1. The Gilded Wolves - ★★★★
#2. The Silvered Serpents - ★★
"Love did not always wear the face one wished it would. Sometimes it looked downright monstrous."
I can't even rate this book...I feel so bad but it's a low rating. My expectations were so high and I'm in the minority with not enjoying the follow up to The Gilded Wolves. Instead, I'll leave my thoughts here.
The Silvered Serpents is a very slow burn story with events unfolding at a glacier pace. Each character get sufficient page time and I found them even more developed and fleshed out than even the first book. The characters were as loveable as always and the world-building was atmospheric.
The tone feels much more darker and more mature albeit a little over angsty at times. Likely because. However, the plot of The Silvered Serpents didn't reel me in this time. The strength of this series is the cast of diverse characters in a fantastical backdrop but the heist, the scheming, the mystery felt...okay.
I often felt that The Silvered Serpents focuses so much on the internal conflict that once we get to the main, overarching conflict I actually felt a bit underwhelmed. This style of writing made the the pacing feel more passive. I wanted to see the characters evolve in real time. I wanted to see them take risks. I wanted to see them in action. Not just watch as events happen to them. There were too many long paragraphs of flowery prose preventing this from happening.
The writing was definitely beautiful, as you would expect from a Roshani Chokshi novel. The most attention grabbing aspect of this story, for me, was the Secret Palace and all the action there that charts a new course for the next installment. Every character has something to lose or something to gain in the race to have the power of the gods. I think this will hopefully give the final book a lot to work with in terms of wrapping things up.
Update:
I also wanted to add other thoughts after further digesting my reaction. I think the main reason I struggle with this book is that I personally don’t see the necessity of having all POVs. I never felt like I was growing with these characters individually. The Silvered Serpents may have been better if it was third person omnipresent—a book with one character’s main perspective but a little bit of observation into the minds and motivations of the other characters. Unfortunately, the plot and story just felt fragmented while I was reading, which affected my enjoyability.
#2. The Silvered Serpents - ★★
"Love did not always wear the face one wished it would. Sometimes it looked downright monstrous."
I can't even rate this book...I feel so bad but it's a low rating. My expectations were so high and I'm in the minority with not enjoying the follow up to The Gilded Wolves. Instead, I'll leave my thoughts here.
The Silvered Serpents is a very slow burn story with events unfolding at a glacier pace. Each character get sufficient page time and I found them even more developed and fleshed out than even the first book. The characters were as loveable as always and the world-building was atmospheric.
The tone feels much more darker and more mature albeit a little over angsty at times. Likely because
Spoiler
the effects of Tristan's death still linger with the crewI often felt that The Silvered Serpents focuses so much on the internal conflict that once we get to the main, overarching conflict I actually felt a bit underwhelmed. This style of writing made the the pacing feel more passive. I wanted to see the characters evolve in real time. I wanted to see them take risks. I wanted to see them in action. Not just watch as events happen to them. There were too many long paragraphs of flowery prose preventing this from happening.
The writing was definitely beautiful, as you would expect from a Roshani Chokshi novel. The most attention grabbing aspect of this story, for me, was the Secret Palace and all the action there that charts a new course for the next installment. Every character has something to lose or something to gain in the race to have the power of the gods. I think this will hopefully give the final book a lot to work with in terms of wrapping things up.
Update:
I also wanted to add other thoughts after further digesting my reaction. I think the main reason I struggle with this book is that I personally don’t see the necessity of having all POVs. I never felt like I was growing with these characters individually. The Silvered Serpents may have been better if it was third person omnipresent—a book with one character’s main perspective but a little bit of observation into the minds and motivations of the other characters. Unfortunately, the plot and story just felt fragmented while I was reading, which affected my enjoyability.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Holy fucking trauma. Everyone, EVERYONE has so much baggage, they need a second plane to carry it all. The goals to all this feel very reasonible, but suffers from the problem of: IF YOU JUST FUCKIN TALKED TO EACH OTHER, YOU WOULDN'T BE STUPID! Also, the antagonists in this one are so glaringly obvious, you're just screaming the entire time for them to fucking open their eyes. I will say that the puzzles and riddles in this book are displayed on the pages so you can follow along and it makes me thing I'm losing something from not having the book in front of me all the time. So would definitely recommend reading, not listening. Though the audiobook is spectacular.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Abandonment
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-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
I think it says something when you laugh at people almost dying lol, idk if I even want to read the next book but I will just because I don’t like leaving things unfinished
I wish my love had been more beautiful.
oof. this was a very page turner of a book. I expect nothing less for a sequel from a fresh, intricate, and quite unique in story telling that is The Gilded Wolves. This book riled me in super fast with its moderately fast pace, and funny interactions that keeps the upbeat-ness the same as the previous book, but you can tell that it all gets somber and all sad here. I mean, look at the cover, it's all ice and vines and everything. I ultimately like this book considerably less, but that's because i just feel a lot that happened in this book could've been more "summarised" as in, it was very dragged out. sometimes I just want it to get to the point already.
the settings and places used in this book were again, very much confusing on the first read. at least, to me. everything happens really fast and my monkey brain couldn't comprehend the action scenes mixed in with info dump on what the scene looks like, and also with that sultry and dense writing-style, my brain had to pause a lot of times just to comprehend each high-level vocabulary that was going on.
as for characters, the pushing and pulling from Laila and Severin was ... something. I was liking it, then hating it, then got tired of it, but got excited every time they share a moment together. It was filled with tension alright. i am at cloud nine but then pain, but then happy again. that also applies for zofia, enrique, and hypnos. like are you kidding me? why are you playing with my feelings too?
I AM SO MAD AT SEVERIN. you know what, I am going to forever be mad at him. he had no business doing all that throughout the book. NO. I AM JUST SO MAD.
anyways, i enjoyed it all in all, the writing style still is brilliant and my book is full of notes and bookmarks because of it.
NOW I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE FINALE BECAUSE WHAT. WAS. THAT. ENDING.
I think this is one of the best books I read this year, that's so crazy. I honestly thought I'd never finish it, but it was incredible!