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A review by ericadawson
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
tense
fast-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
3.5
I received this book in a Good Reads giveaway, but I'm sharing my review here.
I won't say I necessarily had high or low hopes for The Gilded Wolves, but I had read Star Touched Queen by the same author. I must say, her writing has improved. She still managed to hold onto the prose without making it as thick and clunky as in the previous book.
Unfortunately, the prose did get a little too poetic and forced at times. For the most part I could ignore it, but other times I would wrinkle my nose. The characters were nice--Zofia is my favorite, then Hypnos--but Severin's personality falls a little flat, as does Laila's. Unfortunately, they get the most POV scenes out of all of the characters. I found myself often forgetting what Severin's goal was, or why he and Laila couldn't be in a relationship. It was giving me very strong Kaz/Inej Six of Crows vibes.
I liked all the side characters more than I did the two main ones. Enrique, Hypnos, Tristan, and Zofia all seemed to me to have more to offer. Hypnos was too cartoony, at times. I think that a more subtle approach to his wanting to be friends with everyone would have been better. I liked his flair and his dramatics, but sometimes he would a discordant note in an otherwise tense scene.
The plot felt like a series of fetch quests, which confused me. Some room/spatial descriptions (like the catacombs) also confused me, so it was difficult to tell what was going on. The action scenes, in an attempt to make sure everyone was remembered, ended up having too many moving parts. The worst was when Enrique and co attempted to get into the library, and in the final fight scene of the catacombs.
Overall, the plot wasn't really fast so much as it had a lot of different things going on at once. It was one item to grab and then another and then another, with some humorous team dialogue thrown in. The end of the catacomb fight felt very "We saved the world, team! Let's be happy!" It was just very blunt with a jarring wind down.
The book also has a decent number of false betrayals/deaths, etc, which annoy me because those only work well exactly once.
The magic system was confusing. I'm still not entirely sure how Rings work or what they even look like. I like the aesthetic of the worldbuilding, which was very strong, but the opening chapter or so was more info dumpy than explanatory, so it felt like I was reading a text book. I'm not sure on the relevance of the title of the book.
I won't say I necessarily had high or low hopes for The Gilded Wolves, but I had read Star Touched Queen by the same author. I must say, her writing has improved. She still managed to hold onto the prose without making it as thick and clunky as in the previous book.
Unfortunately, the prose did get a little too poetic and forced at times. For the most part I could ignore it, but other times I would wrinkle my nose. The characters were nice--Zofia is my favorite, then Hypnos--but Severin's personality falls a little flat, as does Laila's. Unfortunately, they get the most POV scenes out of all of the characters. I found myself often forgetting what Severin's goal was, or why he and Laila couldn't be in a relationship. It was giving me very strong Kaz/Inej Six of Crows vibes.
I liked all the side characters more than I did the two main ones. Enrique, Hypnos, Tristan, and Zofia all seemed to me to have more to offer. Hypnos was too cartoony, at times. I think that a more subtle approach to his wanting to be friends with everyone would have been better. I liked his flair and his dramatics, but sometimes he would a discordant note in an otherwise tense scene.
The plot felt like a series of fetch quests, which confused me. Some room/spatial descriptions (like the catacombs) also confused me, so it was difficult to tell what was going on. The action scenes, in an attempt to make sure everyone was remembered, ended up having too many moving parts. The worst was when Enrique and co attempted to get into the library, and in the final fight scene of the catacombs.
Overall, the plot wasn't really fast so much as it had a lot of different things going on at once. It was one item to grab and then another and then another, with some humorous team dialogue thrown in. The end of the catacomb fight felt very "We saved the world, team! Let's be happy!" It was just very blunt with a jarring wind down.
The book also has a decent number of false betrayals/deaths, etc, which annoy me because those only work well exactly once.
The magic system was confusing. I'm still not entirely sure how Rings work or what they even look like. I like the aesthetic of the worldbuilding, which was very strong, but the opening chapter or so was more info dumpy than explanatory, so it felt like I was reading a text book. I'm not sure on the relevance of the title of the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood