The Gilded Wolves

(The Gilded Wolves #1, By: Roshani Chokshi)

SUMMARY:

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.
Expected Publication January 15th 2019 by Wednesday Books.*

REVIEW:

I gave this book 4 stars. This read was a fun play on a historical heist, meets treasure hunt, with characters brimming with personality that jumped off the page. It felt like a less violent, but equally witty version of Six of Crows had a baby with an Illuminati book. Be ready for action, puzzles, and many moving parts all experienced through a crew of glorious nerds.

The best part of this book was the characters - hands down. Enrique the brilliant historian, Zofia the socially awkward mathematician, Laila the gorgeous people-pleaser, Tristan the emotional botanist, Hypnos the mysterious aristocrat, and Severin the chided ring leader with a chip on his shoulder. The group was diverse and they were each magnificent in their own unique ways. Personally, I couldn’t get enough of Zofia (she stole my heart 😍), but honestly they all stuck with me. There is more than one taste of forbidden love (which is always intriguing) and a constant and fierce sense of loyalty and friendship underlying the entire plot.

The writing in general was unexpectedly beautiful. Roshani has a gift with words, both with the entire flow of the story as well as the individual prose. The story is broken up into multiple POVs (each chapter follows a different character), and while this usually feels scatter brained, I loved it in this book. Each POV allowed for further insight into that particular character, yet they all managed to flow together seamlessly.

The plot was filled with moving parts; puzzles to solve, sneaky plans, historical references and magic. My only complaint was that at times, the puzzles were a bit obvious and felt cheesy. That being said, the ultimate goal that the puzzles were solving was rooted in a serious issue that felt appropriate. The pacing was just right and the focus on wit and intelligence (vs. outright violence) was refreshing and fun.

Overall, I am left dying for the second book and will be tortured until it arrives. This book solidified Roshani as one of my favorite young female YA authors, and I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

* Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing and ARC in exchange for my honest review!