There are no spoilers in this review.
I previously only read one book by the author, yet somehow I knew I had to read more and when The Gilded Wolves started shaking the entire book blogging community, I knew I had to check it out. A heist set in 1890-Paris with an incredibly diverse cast of characters? French-me is very happy about historical Paris, bookish-me is very happy about the promise of incredible characters, National Treasure-fan-me is incredibly excited about everything else. Ultimately, The Gilded Wolves delivered its promises.
HISTORICAL FANTASY, HEIST, MAGIC…A BEAUTIFUL MIX
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If there is something I already praised in The Star Touched Queen, the author’s previous work I’ve read and can praise again in The Gilded Wolves, it’s the way she builds entire universes and make them live and unfold in front of you in beautiful, beautiful ways. Through the writing, through the interesting world-building mixing historical Paris in the Exposition Universelle time (that’s when the Eiffel Tower was presented and done building, friends. I mean, French-me was so happy about that historical context, very very cool!) and a little bit of fantasy and magical elements. I have to admit that, if I appreciated the setting and the world-building overall, it took me a little bit of time to grasp the mechanisms of it all and to understand the fantasy elements to it, something that slowed down my reading a little bit at first.
Once I really got into it, though, wow. The way the author manages to mix up historical elements, magical elements, artifacts… that was quite impressive. The entire plot reminded me of National Treasure, which is one of my favorite movies of all times and I was completely hooked on the quest, the heist, these characters taking me with them in their adventures and unhooking mysteries of the past to protect the future. I loved it.
AN INCREDIBLY DIVERSE CAST OF CHARACTERS
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You know me, though: I am a character person and if the characters can’t win me over, no matter what the plot is or how good it all is, well it will be a big, massive, no. Here in The Gilded Wolves, however, it is the cast of characters that won me over, even more that the heist, the thrilling plot and everything else and, thankfully, over the confusion I felt at times.
Roshani Chokshi built an incredible cast of diverse characters I really loved and rooted for, each with their own quirks, personality, goals. Told in multiple POVs, the story stood out thanks to the author’s work at making each of the characters jump off the page with their uniqueness. There’s Séverin, half-French and half-Algerian, “head” of the crew and a bit of a reminder of a softer Kaz Brekker, Laila, the girl with a tragic past, Indian, absolutely gorgeous and A BAKER, Tristan, the adorable one with his pet spider and soft character needing protection, Zofia, Polish, Jewish, and most likely on the Autism spectrum having a hard time with social interactions but a brilliant, mathematician brain, Enrique, the historical-nerd, Spanish and Filipino, soft, charming, queer and definitely the cutest, Hypnos, sassy, endearing, queer and a bit of a mess at times, with the best lines and also he’s a POC and yay for a very diverse cast!
THE ROMANCE, I’M IN LOVE
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WHAT. A. CAST. I really loved them all and their interactions were absolutely golden, too.
I loved Tristan and Séverin, the little-brother/big-brother relationship that warmed my heart. I had such a fun time with every interaction Hypnos had with everyone.
I loved the romance and tension between Séverin and Laila from the start and all until the very end, I’m completely head over heels for their relationship and I ship them A WHOLE LOT OKAY. Their romance is slow, complicated, impossible, their friendship is messed-up, they are both very messed up and I adored the tension woven flawlessly through the story, part of it yet not overshadowing the main plot, still and always focused on the adventure and mystery and heist of it all. That was such a good romance and I’m all here for what happens next.
OVERALL
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Fans of historical fantasies will certainly fall head over heels for The Gilded Wolves, fans of great characters should love this incredibly diverse, golden cast. With tension, adventure, action, amazing dialogues, this is a book I’d certainly recommend and one I will absolutely read the sequel of. I can’t wait.
Final rating: 4 drops!
A million thanks to MacMillan International & Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC of this book. This did not, in any way, influence my thougths and rating.
Trigger Warnings: on-page death, mention of parents’ death, racism (challenged), cultural erasure, colonialism, depictions of grief.
Diversity: Bi-racial main characters: Séverin (French and Algerian), Spanish and Filipino (Enrique), French and Black (Hypnos). Indian main character (Laila). Polish, Jewish and Autistic main character (Zofia). Queer main characters (Enrique, Hypnos).
Roshani Chokshi, The Gilded Wolves, Published by Wenesday Books, January 15th, 2019.
Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.
To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will need help from a band of experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can’t yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too much.
Together, they’ll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay alive.
Did you read The Gilded Wolves? Do you want to?
Did you read any of Roshani Chokshi’s books? Do you want to? Let me know in comments!
I’m currently reading this one, and I just love it so much already!
AHHH I’m so happy to hear it! I hope you’ll love it until the end – that ending destroyed me, too. And I love these characters SO much <3
Happy reading Clem! <3
Thanks! I can’t wait to see how it ends!
I can’t wait to see your reaction with that ending, to be honest haha. I hope you’ll love it 😀 (and keep me updated!)
I will! It’s really awesome so far ?
it’s so good to know that you enjoyed this one, marie! this was on my backburner TBR, but i may just consider bumping it up especially with all the good things i’ve heard, especially here! happy reading!
Ahhh yay! This makes me very happy to hear, I hope you’ll end up loving it 😀
Thank you so much! <3
Aahhh, I’m so glad you enjoyed this one! I’ve been hearing so many great things about it, and I can’t wait to read it soon! ♥️ I’m also more of a character person, and the characters sound AMAZING.
Now, if only I can finish The Wicked King… ?
I can’t wait for you to read it, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did <3 The characters were amazing, they certainly have my heart <3
Thank you so much for your comment! 😀 and happy reading!
oh this sounds ridiculously excellent. I have read star touched queens but not her other books–yet!–because they’re quite hard to find in New Zealand and India. However, this sounds so good, so I definitely want to read it. A HEIST AAAA (also how excited are you about the six of crows adaption on netflix?)
It WAS excellent, I loved it SO much. I hope you will be able to get your hands on this one at some point, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it! <3
Oh I am SO very excited about the six of crows adaptation, also a little bit nervous, because I can't help it hahaha. 🙂
Wow literally That’s awesome review ?Marie ?☺
//I can’t wait to read it soon //
Oh thank you so, so much! I hope you’ll love it 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it Marie! I was initially skeptical as it sounds a liiiitle bit too similar with SoC, but most of the reviews I’ve read have been positive and it definitely bumps up my interest in this book 😀 Lovely review Marie <3
Oh I get that feeling, but honestly to me it didn’t feel like SoC at all – the similarity for me really was in the crew that gave me SoC vibes, but even then each character seemed unique to me 🙂 I hope you’ll love it 😀
Thank you so much! <3
I want to go into this book as blind as possible so I only skimmed your review, but I saw enough to get me really really excited for the release of The Gilded Wolves (not too much longer now!)
Diverse character and a historical fantasy heist? I can’t wait! I’ll have to come back and read your review in full once I’ve read this book, but I’m glad you enjoyed it Marie. 🙂 ❤️
I can’t wait for you to read it, Beth! I really hope you’ll love it as much as I did 😀
Thank you so much <3
I’m impatiently waiting for my copy to come in at the library, and reading your review made me anxiously check my place in line for the 1000th time in the past two days! (Still 16th….grrrr…) I love me a good historical fantasy, and this sounds right up my alley! The cast of characters sounds so amazing! 😀
Ahhh yes this makes me very happy! I hope that the 16th people will read this book really quickly and that you can get to it soon <3 I hope you'll love it 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment <3
This is such a wonderful review! I’m so excited to get my hands on this book so I can fall in love with the characters and the magical setting ❤️
Oh thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed my review <3 I hope you'll love the book as much as I did 😀
That was such a great review, Marie! I loved the premise of this book and the amount of diversity definitely makes me happy. I am definitely not the biggest fan of fantasy, but I know you’re also a contemporary reader, and I trust if you enjoyed it. And the historical setting sounds amazing indeed; I know so little about French’s history, so I’m sure I’ll learn a lot. Once again, lovely review! ?
Oh thank you so much Lais, this makes me so happy <3
I hope you'll give this book a try, I had such a great time with it and the characters just won me over, they are all amazing <3
Wonderful review, Marie! I am so glad that you loved this one because I absolutely adored it! The characters in this book are so precious and… alive. I didn’t care for the romance as much (not sold yet), but everything else. Yes. More please.
Oh thank you so, so much, I’m so happy you enjoyed my review <3 I agree that the characters really stood out here, that's really what made the book SO great for me <3 Can't wait to read more 😀
Oooo I’m so glad you liked this! I’ve been eyeing it but I wasn’t a huge fan of Star Touched Queen so I was putting off reading Gilded Wolves. I love a good cast of characters though so it looks promising.
Oh I’m sorry you didn’t love the star-touched queen, I’m hoping you will like that one better, the cast of characters is AMAZING 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3
I’m seeing SO many good reviews of these ones, I’m so excited to pick it up! (At some point. Whenever the library copy comes in.) The cast of characters sounds so wonderful and A HEIST.
Thanks for reviewing!
Ahh, I hope you’ll get to read it at some point, it is such a good book 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3
This is one of my most anticipated release of 2019 and I’m glad to hear you loved it. Great review, Marie ❤️
Ahh yay! I hope you will love it when you read it, Nia! <3
Thank you so, so much for your comment <3
This sounds so, so good! I’m a sucker for anything set in Paris, and I can’t wait to see how the magical elements are incorporated.
It was really great! I hope you’ll love it when you read it, Angela 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
I just started reading this!! I’m like 100-pages in and omg I agree that the world building is intense and honestly…it’s a bit hard to keep up with the rules of the magic?! I’m kind of falling apart there lmao. BUT THE REST IS GREAT!! I love the characters already (100% agree that Zofia seems autistic, and LOVE the brotherly relationship with Severin/Tristan…and omg Enrique is a gift and Laila with the baking!!!! YES!!!) So I’m really feeling like I’m going to adore this one. I got the National Treasure vibes from it straight away too!!
Ahh I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only one, it felt really confusing at times ? yet I’m so happy about the rest of it all, I really got into it and I adored the characters SO much <3 I hope you'll end up loving it!! <3
Thank you so much <3
I love your enthusiasm for this novel! French-Me is happy that French-You enjoyed it so much 😀
Aww thank you my Sweechie, you’re too sweet! <3 <3
I’m really excited to read it! I’ve never read any book set in historical paris. And though I didn’t love the star touched queen I loved the writing style.
Ahh I’m very excited for you to read it just as well! I really hope you’ll enjoy it 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
Sure ❤️?
I have it checked out from the library. I agree with how beautiful her style is but also remembered how difficult it was to get into her pacing. That has held me back from reading it so far. Now, I will say that I love the idea of a heist. For that reason I still have the book. Thanks for such a great review! Insightful, and as always, helpful for me when deciding if I want to read the book!
Oh I get that, yet I found it a little easier to get into than The Star-Touched Queen somehow, pacing-wise. It’s the world-building that was a little bit confusing at first, but these characters were amazing! I really hope you’ll enjoy it ?
Thank you so, so much Deborah, this means so much!! ??
AHH I’ve been hearing so many wonderful things about this book, and I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Now I really think I need to pick it up! I definitely agree with you that I need to really be able to invest in the characters to love the story, so I’m glad to hear that the diverse cast won you over. I’ve been hearing a lot of comparisons to Six of Crows with the whole heist and characters idea, so hopefully, I’ll love it too <3
I can’t wait for you to read that one, Tiffany, I really hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. I had such a great time reading it and the characters were all incredible, I loveed them together <3 I can't wait to hear your thoughts 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
Wonderful review, Marie! I’m so glad you loved this book! My favorite aspect of this book was the amount of diversity in this book. It was really great! I can’t wait to read the next book!
Oh thank you so much Raven! <3 I can't wait to read the next book, either, so excited 😀
This looks so good! And your review was so lovely to read, too. <3 I am all here for diverse casts of characters and also sibling relationships!! Thank you for this review, it's getting added to my TBR. 🙂
Oh thank you so much Olivia! <3 I'm so happy you enjoyed my review, I can't wait for you to read that one 🙂
Awesome review! I always love seeing your thoughts on books set in France 🙂 I didn’t know that the Eiffel Tower was presented at that time. I’ve got my library copy so I’m ready!
Oh thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed my review! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you love the book 😀
I loved this too, mostly thanks to the characters! I hope that there’s a sequel!
Oh same here, the characters were AMAZING 😀 And rest assured, from what I’ve heard, there is a sequel so yay! 😀
Thank you so much for stopping by <3
Can’t wait for the sequel!
Can’t wait either! 😀
If I keep reading positive review of this novel, I’m gonna elect if my favorite before I even read it ?
I loved the author first novel (I need to finish the series) and I think I’ll definitely love this one too!
That would be a first ? I hope that you won’t be disappointed once you read it, it was really fantastic! <3
Thank you so, so much <3
Great review! I thought this was excellent too!
Thank you so much Nicole! I’m so happy you liked it just as well 🙂
This book sounds absolutely thrilling and amazing. There are so many positive reviews about this one, and it just makes me so happy that this book has a lot of diversity in it!? Lovely review! Adding to my TBR <3
Also I'm hosting a giveaway on my blog and twitter, would love it if you entered <3
It WAS a thrilling book, really, I loved every second of it, I hope you will too! Can’t wait to hear what you think of it 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment and oh, thank you so much for mentioning that, that’s so sweet of you! <3
This is an amazing review, Marie! At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to pick up The Gilded Wolves since I still haven’t read The Star Touched Queen, but after hearing so many amazing things I’m bumping all of Roshani Chokshi’s books up on my tbr!
Oh thank you so much, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! <3 I hope you'll get to read that one soon, it was incredible. I loved it even more than the star-touched queen, personally 😀
I have high hopes for both of them!!
You’ll have to keep me updated when you read them 😀
I will!
Read this and really enjoyed it! As you, I did struggle with the world-building a bit though. Sometimes I don’t know whether it’s actually the book’s “fault” or my pregnancy brain, but it seems to be something a lot of reviewers are commenting on. In aaaany case – I’m looking forward to the sequel! [And am SO curious to see what the cover of that one will look like!]
Yay! Glad I’m not the only one that struggled a little bit with the world-building. But these characters, I LOVED them. Oh yes. I’m so curious to see the next cover, I hope it’s as gorgeous as this one!! ?
Thank you so, so much Kathy ?
Great review! This one sounds so good and I definitely want to get my hands on it.
Thank you so much, Ashley! It was a really great book, I hope you’ll get to read it soon 😀
What a great sounding book- so glad it delivered! I really want to read this author’s work- her world building sounds incredible. Wonderful review! Love your pictures as well!
Ahh thank you, so happy you liked my review and pictures! <3 I can't wait for you to read this book, I hope you'll love it 🙂
Aaaah, I’m literally itching to read it right now! I’ve been seeing all the hype around the book and really wanted to read it, but this review is the straw on the camels back, now I know that I *have* to read it ?
AHHH yay, well my job here is done ? I’m so happy to hear that,I really hope you’ll get to read it soon and will love it 😀
This sounds amazing, Marie ❤️
You know me, I don’t often dabble in Fantasy, but your review has definitely made me add this to my TBR! The world building sounds amazing (I love France and I’m forever intrigued by its history) and I love the sound of the diverse cast!
Tristan definitely sounds like he’d be my favorite, I love soft characters and pet spiders. Yay for slow burn romance and a whole lot of mess, it really sounds like an amazing, creative and vivid book.
This was such a wonderful review Marie and I am really going to add this to my TBR ❤️
Oh this makes me so happy <3 I hope you'll give this one a try, it was such a great read! Tristan was one soft, adorable character and I really liked him a lot <3 I can't wait to hear what you think of it 🙂
Thank you so much!
The Gilded Wolves was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019, and I had previously only read one book by Roshani Chokshi but I just knew I’d love TGW. And what an incredible read it was! I absolutely adored it, from story to characters. I don’t why but I thought it was going to be a standalone and it’s only when I got to the end I realized it’s actually a series, and now I can’t wait to read the sequel, it can’t come fast enough 🙁
Ahhh I’m so, so glad to hear you weren’t disappointed by this book, I really loved it just as well 😀 I can’t wait for the sequel, especially after that ending?!!! I need it now haha 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3
I can’t wait to read this book. I am so glad that you enjoyed it so much. I haven’t read anything by Roshani Chokshi yet so I am looking forward to it. This book is the book of the month for one of my book clubs and we all are really excited for it 🙂
AHH yay that’s so exciting! I hope you’ll love it, can’t wait to hear your thoughts about it 🙂