The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi (2019)
-ARC Review-

YA Fiction | Fantasy
Blurb:

“Set in a darkly glamorous world The Gilded Wolves is full of mystery, decadence and dangerous but thrilling adventure.

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.”
–Goodreads 

Expected Publication Date: January 15, 2019 

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pooled ink Review:

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for sending me a copy for review!

Ahhhh! I just love Roshani’s writing! I love the way she views the world and spins it into story! When she announced The Gilded Wolves I was so excited and I was floored when I ended up with an ARC in my hands! Admittedly I put off reading it for a while because I was too scared that I had built up the book’s premise in my mind and I didn’t want to be disappointed. Well I of little faith… *shakes head*

The Gilded Wolves is captivating from start to finish and written with delicate gilded elegance to boot. A little wicked, a little bold, a little enchanted, and a whole lot of adrenaline-injected panache.

I fell in love with each character and how they work together like a clock made of stolen parts, patchwork and beautiful, witty and punctual, each with their own glimmer of je ne sais quoi. I’ve never had much of a fascination with France personally but this book has made me long to visit, to imagine the schemes and political machinations and laughter amongst friends. Each character in the group, as well as the opponents they face, stand on their own fully dimensional and breathed full of life.

The plot races forwards faster and faster the closer it gets to the prize desperate to taste reward, but it doesn’t rush. Oh no, it never rushes, it simply makes haste. There are the soft moments, the deadly moments, the moments of remembrance, all of which are given a respectful pause in pace. But the banter, the plotting, the challenge, the bright lights and wild music and raucous laughter and swears of vengeance and shedding of blood and promises of love are all whipped together in an addictive frenzy holding you captive until the final page flings you off the cliff of story leaving you in free fall until the next story catches you only to set you off running once more.

The world-building was dazzling, detailed, and refined. We’re given just enough to picture this enchanted setting but not so much as to get lost or skeptical. Instead I fell head over heels into this magical version of France, of Europe, of our world, and I can’t wait to jump back in. But none of this surprises me as I’ve particularly loved Roshani’s ability to craft worlds in all of her books.

So basically…

Roshani Chokshi has done it again! Once more she graces the page with an alluring balance of evocative prose and characters you’ll want to either love or throttle or perhaps even both. Gilded darkness, Parisian mystique, secret history, and a thrilling current of witty banter all ties this dangerous chase together into a must-read for readers everywhere.

Cheers.

P.S. I’ve seen some reviewers calling this just another Six of Crows with a disappointed sneer but I disagree, I say it with excitement! It is it’s own fantastic story but yes, a definite recommended read for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s brilliant criminal fantasy duology.

 Purchase Here: The Gilded Wolves

Similar Recommended Reads: Gilded Cage by Vic James, Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

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Meet Roshani Chokshi!

Roshani Chokshi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen and A CROWN OF WISHES. Her middle grade debut, ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME, released April 3, 2018 from Disney/Rick Riordan Presents. Her next young adult novel, THE GILDED WOLVES, is slated for Winter 2019. Chokshi’s work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Shimmer, and Book Smugglers. She was a finalist in the 2016 Andre Norton Award and the Locus Top Ten for Best First Novel. Her short story, “The Star Maiden,” was longlisted for the British Fantasy Science Award.
-Goodreads

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

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