A review by orionmerlin
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Characters – 8/10
I’ll give credit where it’s due: the cast is vibrant, diverse, and packed with personality. Séverin is the broody, revenge-driven mastermind; Laila is the mysterious, tragic beauty with a heart of gold; Enrique is the history nerd with a sharp tongue; Zofia is a socially awkward genius who doesn’t have time for nonsense; and Tristan… well, he likes spiders. A lot. While I enjoyed their banter and relationships, some characters (cough Tristan cough) felt underdeveloped, and certain dynamics—like Séverin and Laila’s oh-so-tortured romance—relied a bit too much on telling instead of showing. Still, they’re a loveable bunch of misfits, even if I occasionally wanted to shake them.
Atmosphere/Setting – 7/10
Welcome to 1889 Paris—except don’t get too comfortable, because this book is way more interested in explaining secret societies and magical artifacts than letting you actually feel the city. Don’t get me wrong, the setting should be stunning. There are opulent hotels, lavish parties, and deadly heists happening under the city’s gaslit glow. But too often, the world-building gets bogged down by info-dumps about the Order of Babel and the mechanics of Forging, making me feel like I was studying for an exam instead of sinking into a lush historical fantasy. When the book actually lets the setting breathe, it’s great—I just wish it had spent more time letting the atmosphere speak for itself rather than stuffing it down my throat.
Writing Style – 8/10
Chokshi’s prose is gorgeous—sometimes too gorgeous. She clearly came to serve poetry, and while I appreciate a beautifully written book, there were moments where the metaphors were so heavy-handed that I felt like I needed a machete to hack through them. At its best, the writing is lyrical, immersive, and filled with clever dialogue that keeps the characters distinct. At its worst, it’s so flowery that I forgot what was actually happening in the scene. If you like lush, atmospheric writing, you’ll love it. If you prefer things straight to the point, you might need a bit of patience.
Plot – 7/10
A high-stakes heist with a found family crew? Sounds amazing, right? Well… kind of. The setup is thrilling, the premise is golden, but the execution? A little messy. The pacing is inconsistent—sometimes dragging through world-building dumps, other times launching into high-action sequences so fast that you barely process them. The puzzles and riddles were fun, but the solutions often felt way too convenient. The ending? A bit of a rushed letdown, honestly. The book spends so much time setting up mysteries that when it finally starts revealing answers, it feels like it’s running out of pages. I wanted to be gasping at the twists—instead, I was mostly just going, huh, okay then.
Intrigue – 8/10
Look, I was invested. The mix of magic, history, and secret societies had me intrigued from the start, and I needed to know how everything would play out. But did I race through the book at breakneck speed? Not exactly. The pacing hiccups and over-explained world-building slowed me down, and while the twists were fine, they didn’t always have the impact they should have. Still, the stakes were high, the characters were fun, and the overarching mystery was interesting enough to keep me hooked.
Logic/Relationships – 7/10
This book wants you to believe in its deep emotional connections, and sometimes it succeeds—but not always. Séverin and Laila’s romance should have been heartbreaking, but instead, it felt like I was being told how tragic they were rather than feeling it. Enrique’s love triangle had potential, but it never quite reached the depth it needed. On the plus side, the found family dynamic was solid, and their interactions did feel genuine (even when they were bickering like exhausted siblings). The magic system? Creative but a little too flexible. The rules seemed to bend whenever the plot needed them to, which made things feel convenient rather than clever.
Enjoyment – 8/10
Despite my complaints, I did enjoy this book. It’s an entertaining mix of puzzles, betrayal, and heist shenanigans, wrapped in a gilded historical setting with a diverse cast. But did it fully live up to its potential? Not quite. The pacing was uneven, the romance needed work, and the world-building sometimes felt like reading a research paper. That said, if you’re here for lush prose, high-stakes adventures, and witty banter, you’ll have a good time—as long as you don’t mind wading through some excessive descriptions and a plot that doesn’t always stick the landing.
Final Verdict: 7.5/10
The Gilded Wolves is good, but it could have been great. It nails the found family dynamic, delivers a fun historical-fantasy heist, and serves up some solid twists. But it also stumbles with its pacing, drowns in its own world-building, and doesn’t always let its emotional moments breathe. Still, if you like books with Six of Crows vibes, fancy treasure hunts, and characters with too many secrets, you’ll probably enjoy the ride—just be prepared for a few bumps along the way. 
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