I had put off finishing and reviewing this title because of the huge difference in publication dates across the world.
So, while many places have had it for a few months, down here in Australia, we barely got it in time to fit into Christmas stockings.

While I had thought, to start with, that SIlvered Serpents was the conclusion of a duology, I am more than happy to have been left with a cliffhanger. The character growth has been beautiful, and delicate. The secrets and lies between everyone have been exquisitely painful. and the writing has remained as lush and full of glamour and abandon. Chokshi has woven her tapestry of writing with cleverness., Especially with the multiple points of view, and narrations from the different characters, the many cultural backgrounds, and the representation of Zofia as neuro-atypical. And, Oh, the misunderstandingsand missed chances., Chokshi has succeeded in giving the reader just enough to be hungry for more (Plus, the beautiful description of food makes the reader plain hungry).

I often find myself harder on the middle book of a series than the beginning or ending, 4.5 because of the cliff-hanger ending, but I'll up it to 5 because of how much it made my heart hurt.

Roshani Chokshi is one of my favorite authors, and she did not fail to sweep me off my feet with this book. Some of the plot was a bit predictable, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story. I love these characters and this world.

This book was such a good follow up to the first, and has set lots of different plot points up for a very exciting book 3! Our main characters are just as funny, loving and deadly as before, and this plot was so twisty and fun to read about

The Silvered Serpents is an enthralling follow-up to The Gilded Wolves! An enchanting alchemy of mythology, clever puzzles, history, and gripping storytelling deliver new dimensions to the phenomenal cast. The stakes are more heightened than before to preserve the group’s friendship and intense love for one another. This sequel is darker, more mysterious, dazzling, leaving you wanting the next book right away!

What made this sequel so captivating was how Chokshi masterfully fleshes out the characters vulnerable, intimate sides, even the depths to their souls in ways we now realize, we’d just barley scratched the surface of in TGW.

Chokshi’s writing as always is descriptive, poetic, lush, giving this sequel almost a fairytale-like quality. I'm a big fan of this series and Silvered Serpents was truly a top tier sequel. I'm eager to see what happens in book 3.

The Silvered Serpents is a fantastic sequel to The Gilded Wolves filled with heists, history, mythology, and much more! Chokshi dives deep into the crew’s heads adding lots of new layers to their characters! Love, friendship, intrigue, and grief weave their way throughout this book that takes the crew to the heart of a Russian palace! The Silvered Serpents is a sequel you don't want to miss!

[Read an ARC]

I love this book and I love this series so much!!!!!!!!!!! Definitely enjoyed this one more than the first, and I'm super excited for the next book in the series!

Another fantastic addition to a universe already very full of incredible characters and history. I think I fell even harder for the gang the second time around, discovering more secrets and more bits of them that made them so real and darling to me. I cannot wait to see what the final book has in store for us all.

I have really missed the company of Severin and his team members, his friends if I may say, after “The Gilded Wolves” was over. Then I requested and got an ARC of “The Silvered Serpents” but I didn’t have the time to read it. I even got the hardback once it was out, this is how much I wanted to read this book. I’m so glad I finally found the time to go through it. I love them all and now I cannot wait to see what will happen in the last book!

The balance in that little group of them has changed after the events of “The Gilded Wolves”. It has given them time to think and try to understand the world and their current situation. Severin is very aware of their current situation and his own emotional state. So he gives everyone the time they need. That is until he finds a lead to his next adventure, his next acquisition. For this one he needs all his team members, all the people he trusts with his life and he cannot spare any one of them. He does his best and he gathers everyone around him again. They need to go through this last job all together.

“When the devil waged war in the heavens, even angels had to fall.”
― Roshani Chokshi, The Silvered Serpents

This time they leave Paris and they find themselves far away, in the icy heart of Russia. There the find a heartbroken merchant, a hidden palace that is rumoured to be full of treasures and crystalline ice animals. And if that was all they found. The came across deadly secrets and a series of unsolved murders, all of which make Severin’s team wonder whether an ancient myth is just that, a myth, or something far bigger and worse.

“Most myths are just truths covered in cobwebs.”
― Roshani Chokshi, The Silvered Serpents

First of all I have to say that this is one of the few sequels that captivated my attention even more than the first book. Given that I knew all the main characters from the first book, I have invested in them, emotionally, through each and every page I read about them, their past, their feelings and their lives initially in “The Gilded Wolves” and now in “The Silvered Serpents”. After the ending of the first book, it was difficult for Roshani Chokshi not to give more details about her characters. It would only serve the plot and would make the reader understand why she has followed that specific path in the second book. The guilt one felt, the need of another to make something of himself, the feeling of belonging a third one was craving, the longing of a fourth one to restore everything back to normality, whatever that may be and the necessity of a fifth one to live. They all became clear in the first pages of this book, but only because of what was shared of them in the first book. The character development was amazing, allowing the reader to get not only a glimpse of their personal struggle, but to read their souls like open books. See through all their flaws and weaknesses.

“What he had done had not looked like love.
But then again, love did not always wear a face of beauty”
― Roshani Chokshi, The Silvered Serpents

The plot was even more brilliant than the first book. The main characters all have a plan of their own, but they find themselves teaming up for one last job. One that they all expect to gain something from. Different angles give different perspective but they don’t fail to be a team and work as such. They will question their judgment till the very end, but sometimes the sacrifices needed for a higher cause, are not always being understood by everyone.

“Love did not always wear the face one wished it would.
Sometimes it looked downright monstrous.”
― Roshani Chokshi, The Silvered Serpents

“Love did not always wear a face of beauty.”

THIS SERIES. It’s breaking my heart. It is beautiful, heart wrenching, ugly sobbing beautiful.

It takes place a few months after The Gilded Wolves. Laila, Severin, Zofia, Enrique, and Hypnos are deep in grief over losing Tristian. You feel each through each chapter. No one is themselves. This book hurts. Each is trying to find comfort somewhere else.

They travel to Russia hunting for the Divine Lyrics, seeking The Sleeping Palace. It’s rumored to be the Fallen House’s secret treasure trove, but hasn’t been seen in years. Hoping the Divine Lyrics are hidden within, they meet new evils and must find their ways back to themselves and each other.

I HIGHLY recommend Roshani Chokski. These books are lyrical and beautiful. You’ll feel the Russian winds, the freezing ice palace, the all encompassing grief, the glow of hope. I’m in awe.

Initially, I had a difficult time motivating myself to read this series. I started, restarted, and finally made it through the first book. I found that it was more slow storybuilding than immediate intensity. The plot twists and characters were interesting and enjoyable to read.

My heart broke for the crew. Each character has his or her own issues, not only related to their grief. They dealt with feelings of belonging (or not), relationships, guilt, and building friendships. I found the feelings and behaviours more realistic than many other series'. The personalities are not pretty or affectionate. They are raw and brutally honest. They do not lead you to believe that the end will be easy or that all will be forgiven. They lead you to believe that the end will be a mess of tears, recriminations and guilt. I must know how the series ends, although I cannot imagine a "Happily Ever After" scenario.

Thank you to Netgalley and St.Martin's Press for providing a copy of this e-book for review.

The Silvered Serpents was a sequel to The Gilded Wolves from Roshani Chokshi, I, unfortunately, did not discover this until midway through this book. I've never read a book in which I didn't like a single character, however, I simply couldn't find a single character likable in any way. The book overall wasn't for me, but the plotline was strong and the writing was good.

After tragedy struck Séverin and his friends a few months ago, Séverin has become completely consumed with the need to destroy the Fallen House. He knows that the Fallen House is driven to unite the Fragments of Babel, and so he turns his attention to locating a relic known as The Divine Lyrics, a book that contains the secret of magically mending the broken pieces of the Tower of Babel. Séverin and his team must race across Europe to decipher riddles and clues and find the relic before either the Fallen House or the other Houses can beat them to it. But what Séverin hasn’t told the others is that his goal isn’t to safeguard The Divine Lyrics; he hopes to be able to wield the power of the Fragments himself. After all, a person with the power of a God has the power to undo their past mistakes….

Once again, this series is here to completely sweep me off my feet with my love for the characters. I had some problems with THE GILDED WOLVES, but I completely adored the found family contained within. It’s a testament to the first book that I remembered almost every character as soon as they were mentioned, instead of my usual head-scratching as I tried to place people from a story I’d read almost two years ago. The one weak link character, Enrique (who I honestly had to go back and confirm was a POV character last time), gets way more time to shine in THE SILVERED SERPENTS, and surprisingly became one of my favorites. Enrique is a shy historian who just wants people to acknowledge his existence and listen to him, and his attempts to find love in both the wrong and right places were utterly endearing.

The overall plot of THE SILVERED SERPENTS is a fantastically fun adventure, a treasure hunt that globe hops a little bit before settling into unraveling the mysteries of an ice palace. The author continues to have a weakness when it comes to moment-to-moment action, however. I found myself occasionally rereading a few passages trying to understand how a character physically got from Point A to Point B as there was no description of them doing so. This is a book where things tend to just happen, with a bit of handwaving to the actual steps in the process. It’s a testament to how strong I found the character work (or perhaps how much I prioritize good characters over everything else) that I found this handwaving a minor inconvenience rather than something that completely broke the book.

THE SILVERED SERPENTS also continues to touch on themes of belonging and the ramifications of colonialism. Although it was less prominently discussed in this book, one reason Séverin formed his group was to take back magical artifacts that the European houses had collected from their various colonies. All the members of Séverin’s group are minorities, constantly dealing with feelings of being othered by those around them or not quite fitting in. On the other hand, there doesn’t appear to be any stigma against LGBTQ characters in this version of the world and the main cast has multiple queer people openly pursing romances.

If you’re a fan of adventures involving a group of people with highly specialized skills, this is definitely a book for you. The group isn’t a fully well-oiled machine this time out, suffering from the emotional ramifications of the end of book one, but they still have each other’s backs when things go sideways. I will make a final note that the villains here seemed a bit moustache-twirling and more a plot device than anything else, but your mileage may vary. THE SILVERED SERPENTS is an excellent and entertaining escape, and I look forward to the finale.

My initial read of The Gilded Wolves left me underwhelmed, thankfully I enjoyed it much more upon a second read. I was nervous this one would be the same but I ended really enjoying The Silvered Serpents right away.

It has a faster pace which I enjoyed, though some parts in the middle dragged for me. The world building is fantastic, it's rich and i'm easily transported there. I was happy to check back in with the characters though ended up being rather emotional and I found I was missing the closeness the characters had in the first book.

The ending has me eagerly anticipating the next book. If you liked the first book, you'll definitely enjoy this one.

*eARC provided by NetGalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review*

I liked Gilded Wolves. I didn't expect to like it, but it charmed me. Thus, I was really expecting to be charmed by Silvered Serpents.

Maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace to read it. I reread The Gilded Wolves before, and I was struggling to finish it. Silvered Serpents was a better, faster read, but it wasn't my favorite. I am struggling to write this review as well.

The book features a very long, slow-paced and uneventful middle; a storyline that doesn't pickup on the promise of The Gilded Wolves' ending, and its own quick ending that's bound to leave the characters in a uncomfortable situation in book 3.

Part of my aversion to The Silvered Serpents is the cover. I know, I know, it's a silly thing and doesn't affect the content or the things the author worked so hard on, but I just hate a mid-series cover change. It just dampens my excitement for the book because I know it won't match the others in the series.

This was an AMAZINGGGG sequel!! I feel like I was able to learn so much more about the characters, especially Severin who I truly love. The plot was definitely a faster pace and less confusing than the first book. It broke my heart to see the crew scramble to be what they once were together and to fill in the missing gap. I must say that Choski's world-building in this book really was phenomenal. I felt as if I was physically there with Severin and Laila in the lounge or somewhere. The heists and betrayals, which I live for, have truly hooked me and that gut-wrenching conclusion has me on my seat for the next book.

Gah, how is The Silvered Serpents even better than The Gilded Wolves? I was so happy to be back with my favorites, Severin most of all! This picks up right after The Gilded Wolves, and I loved every second of it! I was so excited for another heist and to see where the story would go. It's so hard to talk about sequels without spoiling book one, but suffice it to say, if you liked The Gilded Wolves even a little bit, you will LOVE The Silvered Serpents. I have no idea how I will possibly make it through the wait for book three.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

God, this book was stunning. Just as bright and silvered as the title suggests, THE SILVERED SERPENTS takes the entrancing story that was spun so carefully in THE GILDED WOLVES and takes it x100000 steps further into greatness throughout this book. I gasped, cried and shrieked so many times while reading and I'm counting down the months until the third book comes out!

A really solid sequel! This series always feels really fresh, and I love the ensemble cast of characters. The writing is gorgeous, and the story builds onto the previous book so well. Looking forward to the final book in the series!

Full review coming soon.

Roshani Chokshi's The Silvered Serpents is a great continuation to her series. Strong characters, enormous detail, and an engaging story.

Great story and loved the romance. Loved the cast of characters and how the story came to be. Great story and I would read this author again.

I love Roshani Choksih's writing. It's so intriguing and fast paced, which is exactly what I like in a book. Towards the end, I FELT that suspense over who was to blame. I was on the edge of my seat, and the ending, while not being completely satisfying simply because it's an open ending, is going to set up the next book well. Can't wait to read it!

Any big issues would be from how confusing this (and the previous book) can be to get into/understand. Sometimes the characters do things that don't really make sense to me in the grand scheme of things (such as, in this book, the characters finding a desert of sorts). I also can't really get a sense of how old the characters are, but that's not really a problem, just something I've noticed.

It's also been a while since I read The Gilded Wolves, so I'm unsure if some of my confusion comes from not 100% remembering the actions of that book. But I also remember being slightly confused by some scenes in The Gilded Wolves, especially concerning the world building and Forging. Maybe I've forgotten, but I don't quite understand Forging and how it interacts with the rest of the world.

One thing I noticed is the technology that the characters use - they have projections and devices that detect traps. Though these technological developments don't quite match the surrounding environment/setting, it's a really interesting mix.