The Gilded Wolves was a glittering and lush story of heists and grandeur, with light smashing punch to the feels.
All the chill things. Actually hold up, hold up, this is the least chill book ever. It’s set in the 1800s in Paris with magical artefacts and a super complexly woven history. It also has the most adorable and flamboyant cast ever. I just…[clenches fist] love them so much.
Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for the review-copy!
➸ The plot is a WHIRLWIND.
I get why people compare it to Six of Crows but it had more of an Ace of Shades vibe to me?! The plot is a bit of a heist, but also it’s about SOLVING PUZZLES (aka wait is this National Treasure?!). Severin is trying to regain his title of one of the 4 most powerful Houses, so he’s stealing back his artefacts. Then he gets roped into stealing the Eye of Horus for Hypnos (an ex-childhood-friend) in return for his inheritance back. It has the found-family aspect that we all freak out over in SoC + a glittery Parisian aesthetic + a very complex and twisting history that attaches to the Tower of Babel (my Sunday school childhood says i UNDERSTOOD THESE REFERENCES).
➸ The characters are the light of my little softly beating heart.
THE C H A R A C T E R S. Little flamboyant sassy pockets of delight. They absolutely made the book for me and I enjoyed all of their narrations. The only thing my eye is twitching about is that: their backstories didn’t make a lot of sense. (Like who gave Severin the money to run this flashy hotel?!) But onwards!
✧ Séverin: he’s the leader of this motley crew, the disgraced heir, the thief and schemer. He chews cloves which is, um, disgusting dude. But I guess he doesn’t get toothaches? I loved how openly protective he was over his KIDS, especially Tristan!
✧ Laila: She is tHE MUM FRIEND and Indian and I love her so much. She’s an enigma in public and a dancer + a baker (she always has sugar in her hair) + and when she touches something, she can read its story. She and Severin have a “WE KISSED ONCE BUT WE DON’T LOVE EACH OTHER!!” lie going on.
✧ Enrique: our BISEXUAL NERD SON whom we love dearly. He is equal parts dramatic and will geek out over history and cry when they smash said history to get at the clues (aka: he is the person who would’ve beaten Indiana Jones to death with an umbrella). I freaking love Enrique he is a gift. He’s also Spanish/Filipino.
✧ Zofia: I do appreciate the autistic rep even if she is a total stereotype (but…not offensively? So I guess that counts…although living for the day when people realise autism vs OCD traits are not the, um, same). Zofia is the math genius, the explosionist, the genius who got thrown out of school. Laila just keeps feeding her cookies the whole time and it’s wholesome. She’s also proudly Jewish!
✧ Tristan: the family bABY and they all coddle him it’s so so adorable. He’s the youngest (16) and has pet spiders and loves plants. He’s basically Severin’s baby brother.
✧ Hypnos: He’s the half-sort-of-antagonist who lures them into working for him, but his entire aesthetic is GLITTER PARTY BISEXUAL PRETTY KING and I love him so. He just wants friends!!! He’s like blackmailing them basically but! !!! to get !!! friends!!!
I loved their dynamics! They had sassy scenes and they all melded together wonderfully, plus the glib wove into the heartfelt/serious moments amazingly. MY FAMILY <333 They all totally lived off cookies and crime.
➸ However…I was confused.
I was really really really confused. I love this book, and I fully cannot WAIT for the next one (see tHE FINAL CHAPTER adkslf that revelation has me 8ft into my grave). But the magic system, the super complex history of the world, the actual plot at times…I was just so confused. This zapped a lot of enjoyment from me. While writing this review, I literally couldn’t sum up the plot without rereading the back cover again. I’m just ???? the whole way through the book. It could be me. I could tell the characters’ and the author’s minds were intensely clever.
This is a shiny book of puzzles and magic, of complex tight-knit characters, and thievery with super high stakes. I loved it even though I’m not really sure what just happened haha…my bad.
★★★☆☆
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 | Pan Macmillan | Booktopia | Book Depository
➸ similar titles to try…
Omg I feel like I have to read this purely for Enrique!
He is truly A GIFT 😍😍
Umm, so like THIS SOUNDS INCREDIBLE. And allll the book covers in the ‘You may also like’ have fonts with fancy swashes haha I love that. Cannot wait to read this Cait – thanks for letting me know about it!
Yesss, fantasy covers are so nice these days, right?! But eep, I hope you get a chance to try it!
Ooooh I really want to try this book, especially after seeing the ones you compared it to because I loved Six of Crows and The Last Magician! So I’m excited to give this one a try!
Thanks for the review, Cait!!
It sounds like it’ll be totally up your alley then!!😍
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK. LOVE THIS REVIEW TOO. I get your confusion! I agree that everything was a lot to take in but I still want to devote my life to loving this book and its precious characters. I adore these stabby children so much and I can’t believe I still have to wait for a long time to read book two. I thank Roshani Chokshi for everything that she writes. I ADMIRE HER SO MUCH.
I just finished reading Descendant of the Crane and I love it to bits but I DO HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ADAM. I’m confused of everything and I’m one step away from questioning my existence. It’s a cleverly-written book with court intrigue, magic, betrayals, and stabby queens. I WANT MORE. I WANT A SURVIVOR’S BADGE FOR LIVING AFTER READING IT. Everyone should read it and shriek with me.
yesss exactly that!! I feel like loving the characters totally cancelled out any annoyance I had with misunderstanding the plot.😂So I will eventually reread via audio and see how I go lmao. And ohh I have the Descendant of the Crane to read soon too! I AM HYPED.
YES!
I read Flame in the Most by Renee Ahdieh. I loved it (Mulan vibes) but it was kinda confusing… She was running away from bad guys then worked for them? Idk?!
And I’ve read Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokhi
And I loved it.
And I bought it and I’ve been rereading it again. I really loved the spiderman pj’s the tbh but it was still FAB.
I still need to read Flame In The Mist 😂 I heard so many negative reviews for it though fajdksla I just put it off like the weak potato I am. ARU SHAH IS MY FAVOURITE CHOKSHI BOOK AHHH. Aru is adorable and I love her.
I just got this in my FIRST EVER Owl Crate, and I am SOOO excited to read it!!! But now that you’re saying you didn’t get a lot of it, I’m nervous, too! GAH! Well, here’s to just going along for the ride?!!?!!!
Ahh I have the owlcrate edition coming and I’m excited to see it!! I think maybe I will do better on audio? My brain seems to mesh with facts better on audios anyway.😂
This book has been ALL OVER TWITTER. Six of crows is one of my absolute favourites. I should really re read it you know. Maybe I will give this a try. Thanks for the warning about the confusing plot
It has been absolutely massively hyped that’s for sure!! I wish I loved it entirely, but I think a reread later will help with my confusion. 😂
I can’t wait to get my hands on this!! I have a hold for it at my library but there’s a wait list 😭 the only other Roshani Chokshi book I’ve read is Aru Shah but I loved it so much I just read all her other books! Thankfully she only has this and a duology so catching up should be pretty easy.
A book that I love but also confused me is The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King. Like I love this series, but sometimes the magic and faeries are just so detailed and illogical and I am very much confused
Aru Shah is my favourite of hers too!! I didn’t really click with The Star-Touched-Queen but I kind of want to try it again because the writing was super beautiful. (And I actually surprisingly kept up with The Cruel Prince! I’m shocked too lmao, usually I am left in the DUST.)
I’m a bit hesitant over this book and Ace of Shades because how similar it is with Six of Crows. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good heist story and I certainly don’t mind reading more of them, but um, can they be a bit different? Like do all heist has to be pulled with a crew consisting of 6 people who are so different??
But anyways. I’ve been hearing great things about this book, praising the diversity and the characters. Yet there are also some mixed ones about the plot and pacing, so know that you’re not alone Cait 😀 Great review!
Yeah I get that! I’m a total sucker for heist stories though (literally my favourite things haha) but I get that they can seem repetitive. For this one though, its’ really really different to SoC and I was always confused with SoC and Ace were compared because Ace doesn’t even HAVE a heist in it?!
Blackmailing to get friends is my aesthetic. (Though I swear I do not do that in real life. Bad form.)
But it’s like…??? How else do we get friends??? HOW.
Okay so I’ve been horrible and not commenting at all (though I did read your posts religiously) so here I am!
I wasn’t a fan of The Star-Touched Queen but this book just sounds SO up my alley that I have a very strong need to read it like yesterday. I’m starting it tomorrow! The characters sound fantastic. And heists!!! I sense squad goals.
BEEEEE.💛💛Never apologise!! You have an adorable little squish in your life and I can imagine you’re super busy!! fajksdlad it’s nice to say hi again though!!
I also wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of Star-Touched Queen but this one was much better for me. 😍I think you’ll really like Enrique and Hypnos!
I’m so happy you enjoyed these characters so much, Cait! I really adored them all and they made me love the book so much. I adored their dynamics and banter and Séverin and Laila, just ahhhhh. I loved them all <3 But 200% agree about the confusion, I felt a little confused about everything happening and the way things worked, too and it took me a little while to get into it because of that. But these characters ahhhh, LOVE THEM.
Wonderful review! <3
It’s an unfortunate quandary when the characters are like the most adorable things of life buuut the plot is confusing.😂i’m SURE I’ll do better when I reread haha.
OMG I kinda really wanna read this? I’ve been meaning to try a Roshani Choski book 🙂 Also also I have a friend named Laila!! So this should be fun
You should! I like a lot of elements of her books, although I think her MG Aru Shah has been my favourite so far!
I saw a GoodReads update from you and thought this book had something to do with wolves, so I got very excited in 0.5 seconds. Alas, it seems there are no wolves – but it does sound really interesting, and I’m curious to explore 1800s Paris.
Not like REAL wolves. Like metaphorical wolves.😂
Heists and magic and found family, sounds good to me!
Also as an aside, I like your new front-page banner style with the solid color bars or the orange/green text, it looks great.
Aw thank you!! I was wondering if anyone would notice.😂It was definitely time for a change haha.
This is on my TBR – love the cover – but I am even more excited that there is puzzle solving involved!
It’s really well done and clever!!
I’ve got the audiobook of this one from the library (having been super-intensely anticipating it for months) and I’m trying to get used to the narrators. I’m so excited to meet the cast of characters! (And the heist… I adore heists… a normal amount for a very law-abiding citizen, which I, of course am. It sounds like it might wind up needing to be read twice in order to totally catch onto the nuances of the plot, though.)
I’m not sure if it’s just ME who is totally clueless and confused though?! I’ve seen mixed reviews for it but heeeeck, I was TRYING to pay attention. 😂 So I don’t know what happened. But I’m excited for the audio, because I absorb things better that way!
I 1000% agree with you on the Ace of Shades vibes! I am so glad you enjoyed this book, I did as well!
Ace of Shades is so so good!! I can’t stop thinking about it!
Neither can I! A friend sent me her OwlCrate sampler for KING OF FOOLS and I have been staring at it for a week! I want to read it so bad but I also don’t want to have to wait 3 months to read the full book lol
Omg I hadn’t thought about that but you’re totally right, like how in the world was Séverin suddenly able to just run a fancy hotel??? This was never explained?? But I loved all the characters so much that I honestly didn’t mind that there were a few things that didn’t add up, haha. I loved your review Cait, and I’m so glad you liked this book too!
I have…so many questions 😂 like maybe it was off-handedly mentioned and I just missed it? But like if he’s disgraced and has no house/family…then shouldn’t he have no money either?!
I’ve been on the precipice for this book for so long. Like, I know I want to read it. But also. I don’t want to GO through it?? (Ig it’s my recent Just Read Contemporary mood™).
Anyway, I’d read it just because of that Enrique description lol 💛
JUST DO IT. YOU WILL NEED TO. 😭💛💛There’s so much preciousness and Enrique is literally the epitome of my soul. I adore him.