A review by tencurse
The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

this was a fun read (i read it in two days!), but ultimately it needed more polish. the beginning was a slog (did we really need a chapter for each of them as an introduction???) but the ending had me at the edge of my seat. the characters have potential but they all fell flat to me because of the many ways they can be better. i like that it discusses colonialism and imperialism, which is always great to see in a YA book, but yeah, the characters leave more to be desired. it's an easy read but there were bouts of unnecessary exposition and flashbacks, and some scenes needed more of that atmospheric touch. this book also massively lacks subtlety. we get it, séverin wants to be a god! no need to repeat it in each of his POV chapters. just because a book is YA doesn't mean it has to spell everything out for the reader.

all in all, still a fun read, and the ending has me wanting to read the next book sooner than i planned. i just wish it was better.