BOOK REVIEW: THE GILDED WOLVES BY ROSHANI CHOKSHI

Set in a darkly glamorous Paris, the book follows a charismatic but cursed heir of a massive fortune as he plots to steal one of three ancient and powerful artifacts of fate. He and his crew will navigate the elite gatherings of secret occult societies, traveling through Paris’ catacombs where they must confront their worst secrets as well as a destiny they never imagined.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

---

REVIEW

Disclaimer: The Macmillan Distribution has given me an E-ARC of the book through the PH Blog Tour hosted by The Royal Polar Bear Reads and Wanderer in Neverland in exchange for an honest review.

♥

In this novel by Roshani Chokshi, she shows us her brilliance with story-telling, character creation, and plot weaving. Gilded Wolves offers a good mixture of fantasy and science fiction with its interwoven ideology on magic and technology. It is safe to say that there is a clear line on Gilded Wolves’ thought on magic and technology that separates it from being only about one or the other.

The writing in this book flows like a calm river. It is extremely fluid, easy to get a grip on, and the transitions between chapters are surprisingly well-made. Also, the jump between each character perspective did not feel heavy in any way. It felt as though you are sitting beside each of them whilst they are talking to the reader themselves telling the reader each of their stories. Moreover, the pacing between past and present led to a more in-depth idea on who the characters are.

Focusing on the character, I find them extremely intriguing. They did not offer what an ordinarily cliché young adult novel character would. They are full of raw and wild emotions that will drag the reader into wanting to know them more; into trying to protect them from their troubled past and challenging present. Each of them unique and intricately made they can easily capture their audience’s heart. Additionally, Roshani Chokshi impressively threaded the disgusting racial hot potato in the story giving light to issues that are not only relevant but are also absolutely important.

Moving on to the plot. With a number of riddles and conundrum, the book has an easily fascinating plot that will make your mind go wild from trying to solve the mystery at hand. It offers a wide variety of sophisticated concepts from mythological sources to general knowledge.

While it may look as though I find this book perfect, of course, I did find a part which I was not particularly happy about. It is not until you are close to the end when the chapters feel as though they are being rushed. It would not have been a trouble if the book was lengthier to compensate for the miniscule downside, though.

Overall, Gilded Wolves has an interesting plot that rises and falls on just the right moment. It is a fast read with an impressive build-up to its crescendo and the characters are made with surprising surgical precision.

RATING

---

TOUR SCHEDULE

January 14, 2019

Rafael @ The Royal Polar Bear Reads
Shaine @ Wanderer in Neverland
Jon @ Wander with Jon
Karlita @ Tale Out Loud

January 15, 2019

Dexter @ Dexterous Totalous
Vivian @ Vanilla Angel Pages
Bianca @ The Ultimate Fangirl

January 16, 2019

Athena @ The Night Faerie
Joel @ Descendant of Poseidon Reads
Ramnele @ Book Dragonism

January 17, 2019

Alexia @ The Bookworm Daydreamer
Justine @ Bookish Wisps
Akisha @ Aki Through Books

January 18, 2019

Leslie @ Bibliophile Kid
Hanaa @ Ramblings of a Bookworm
Rachel @ In Between Book Pages

January 19, 2019

Erika @ The Nocturnal Fey
Avery @ B For Bookslut
Salwa @ Reading Solace

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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. The sequel, ARU SHAH AND THE SONG OF DEATH is slated to release April 30, 2019. Her next young adult novel, THE GILDED WOLVES, is slated for January 15, 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.