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thewolfandherbooks 's review for:
The Silvered Serpents
by Roshani Chokshi
#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.