Second books are often seen as filler—the saggy middle in a trilogy. In this sequel to THE GILDED WOLVES, Roshani Chokshi not only avoids this stereotype, but she ups the ante considerably, raising the stakes for each of the protagonists as they are thrown into an elusive and fantastical ice palace in Russia on the hunt for a historic item that will solve each of their most desperate needs. 

It is hard to say what is best about THE SILVERED SERPENTS, but Chokshi’s characters are certainly high on the list. Chokshi seamlessly brings together characters from different regions of the world, belief systems, sexualities, and social classes. Every single one is lovable and stan-able in their own right, and together, they form an equal-parts-love-and-banter team that’s impossible not to root for. Whether driven by desperation, ambition, or love, each character has relatable and believable motivations—even in their cruelest moments. One of the most wonderful things about this series is that gentleness and vulnerability are presented as strengths, not weaknesses, a welcome offering in a genre that has often trended toward celebrating a gritty ruthlessness.

Each character has been made a misfit or underdog by historical processes of colonialism, racism, and other forms of exclusion. Chokshi offers a compelling underlying commentary on coloniality that is relevant both historically and contemporarily, amid current struggles against imperialism, racial injustice, systemic violence, and extremism. Some further situating of Russia’s role in the colonial history of the Order of the Babel would have been appreciated (though, admittedly, would perhaps have turned off non-history buffs).

The cast of dashing nerds, a glittering setting, steampunky magic, swoony but messy romances, and historical factoids will hook readers right away. It seems that there are fewer puzzles than there were in THE GILDED WOLVES, which may disappoint some riddle lovers but could be welcome to those who get antsy in between action-driven scenes. Fans will absolutely love the tender moments between those in the book’s found family, and love-to-hate the parts where things all go so stupendously wrong.

What was THAT????
I kept reading and reading even though i had hw and finals!! COULDNT STOP!!
I gave the gilded wolves 5 stars and this too, but THIS FIVE STARS WERE ANOTHER LEVEL!!!!
The book was PERFECT!!!! Everything i needed!!
Made me cry, mad, sad, and HAPPY AT TIMES!!
It mostly broke my heart to be honest but i’m fine with that!
What i’m not fine with though is waiting FOR A WHOLE YEAR TO GET BOOK THREE???? 😭

Roshani Chokshi said that I will write a book that is so beautiful, intense, and so painful and it will hurt you so so bad, that you will sit their and be in awe of this world and these characters while sobbing your eyes out.

And that is exactly what she did. She brought beauty and she brought pain.

In this book we return to the glamorous 19th century world of The Gilded Wolves. Here we experience another riveting tale filled with danger, darkness, mystery, and heartbreak.

They are each other’s fiercest love, greatest danger, and only hope.

Séverin and his team (Laila, Zofia, Enrique, and Hypnos) while having successfully thwarted the Fallen House suffered a great loss of their own, and in turn are haunted with grief and sadness which has torn them apart.

Desperate to make amends, Séverin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long lost artifact — The Divine Lyrics, a book that contains the secrets for rejoining the Tower of Babel and promises to erase suffering, and guilt but it also promises access to the power of the God.

Thus they travel to wintry, icy Russia where they encounter crystalline ice animals that stalk forgotten mansions, broken goddesses who carry deadly secrets, and a string of unsolved murders, which makes Séverin and his crew question whether an ancient myth is a myth after all.

As hidden secrets come to the light and the ghosts of the past catch up to them, the crew will discover new dimensions of themselves. They experience many highs and lows, a lot of laughs and sweet moments but also a lot of pain. But what they find out may lead them down paths they never imagined.

This is a tale of love and betrayal as the crew risks their lives for one last job.

Review:

Roshani Chokshi wrote an extremely beautiful story with captivating and complex characters, dialogue, vivid descriptions, and a well executed plot. This book was filled with so many painful moments. All the characters are visibly grieving the loss of Tristan in their own ways, and it just made me so sad reading about them hurting. I hated that they were hurting. I wanted to bring them all into a group hug because they deserve some hugs.

There were definitely several moments that made me happy. Any scene with Hypnos had me smiling like an idiot. The ZofiaEnrique scenes made me so so soft, and their banter had me grinning so hard. Zofiais my cinnamon roll, she is so precious i could cry thinking about her. The EnriqueLailaZofia scene after finding out what she has been going through made me cry. You see the crew struggle with their grief and emotions, but you also see beautiful individual growth.

Now that ending. All I did was cry my eyes out the last couple of chapters. Roshani said do you know pain? Well think again. I am very unstable after that ending. I NEED THEM ALL TO BE SAFE EATING SOME COOKIES AND DRINKING SOME WINE AND BEING HAPPY.

Overall, I LOVED THIS BOOK. If you want to read about a beautifully crafted world rich with history and characters that will make you giddy, but will bring you a world of pain then this series is for you. Would 100% recommend it!!!

Having to wait till next year for the finale *deep sigh*
I NEED THEM ALL SAFE ALL OF THEM!!

The Silvered Serpents starts a few months after The Gilded Wolves. Our main characters are off doing their own things as they try struggle to deal with the consequences of their first adventure. This sequel is much darker than the first novel. It has you nervous for all of your faves as they are faced with conflicts brought on by others and amongst themselves. I loved getting the different points of view of the characters and they really have such distinct voices. This book hurts your heart and is such a beautiful continuation of the series.

We get more background on each of the characters which was really helpful to understand their decisions. I love the new setting of The Sleeping Palace. It sounded both beautiful and terrifying. I was on the edge of my seat the entire book and was completely taken by surprise with the twists (I usually really love trying to figure them out and did not see these). I am truly excited but also very nervous for the next book. Laila, Zofia, Enrique, Hypnos and Severin have a long path ahead of them before they have their happy endings if that is what is in store for them.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

For me, The Silvered Serpents is a solid 3.5 stars. We are following the crew through their grief and the different ways they are dealing with it. I felt like the whole book was just sad and angsty. Laila and Severin were still doing the push and pull in their relationship, and it was exhausting to watch because Layla deserves so much better. Severin is still the character I dislike most. I also found myself disliking Hypnos more and more in this book. Most likely because I don't think Enrique deserved to be treated like that by him. Laila, Zofia, and Enrique are still my favorite characters in the story.

Now onto the plot: it was a little sparse. The story was stretched out so long for the amount of plot points that were actually in the book. **SLIGHT SPOILER BUT NOT ANYTHING SPECIFIC** There were puzzles and things like in The Gilded Wolves, but the reader doesn't get to work them out or even see them in the process of working out the puzzles. That was my favorite part of The Gilded Wolves and the reason I was so excited to read this book. So I'm pretty disappointed. **SLIGHT SPOILER OVER** I also saw the plot twist coming a mile away, which was a little annoying. There is also a death at the end that was pointless and really annoyed me.

What did I like? The atmosphere and descriptions. Chokshi has a very beautiful writing style that really transports you right into the location. I also appreciated the continued discussion of colonialism and its effects. Zofia really brings it home as being pretty much the top tier character in this book. Laila really frustrated me, but I felt so much for her and her struggles. My poor bean.

All in all, I will be reading the next book in the series, and seriously crossing my fingers for puzzles to help solve. If the reason you loved The Gilded Wolves was the characters, I definitely think this book will be one you'll like more than me, as I was really in it for the plot and puzzles.

Last thing I need to say is that Severin can meet me outside so I can dropkick his dumb ass.

Séverin and his crew are back in this sequel to 2019's The Gilded Wolves - a dark return to the world that Roshani Chokshi has crafted so well. With higher stakes, boiling drama, deadly secrets, and rising tension, The Silvered Serpents brings with it a page turning mystery that hurts the heart and touches the soul with its complex characters, layered story telling, and stellar world building. And if that's not enough to float your boat, how about we add some witty banter, magic, plot twists, and an eye popping cliffhanger to the mix! This book truly has it all. Don't be late to this party. Make sure that you are here with us so we can all scream about book 3 together!

I must start off by saying - the entirety of “Part IV” ... *aggressively needs paper bag to breathe into* That was Intense™. Before starting part 4 of the book (chapter 25-epilogue) please listen to my advice and make sure you set yourself time to sit and read the whole thing because your body will be shaking with the inability to put this book down. Wide-eyed emojis don’t even compare to how wide your eyes will go.

Anyway, regarding the entire story, I was pleasantly surprised! It starts off feeling like it’s very much matching the tone and feel of The Gilded Wolves. It was apparent it wasn’t going to suffer from the dreaded middle book syndrome. It actually ended up being even better than The Gilded Wolves.

Of course now I have to endure the hair-ripping, midnight pacing, constant clock checking wait for book three.

The Silvered Serpents is a wonderful continuation of the series! It had the complete package of being intriguing, action packed, romantic, and of course, mysterious. One thing I believe was done exceptionally well was the character growth. They all faced their own personal demons in a multitude of different ways, which helped me better understand them and their motives in the second book.

I do hope the physical book as more of the printed puzzles/pictures in it as the version I had did not, but I loved that addition in the first so hopefully that will be the case for this one!

Overall, if you enjoyed the first book, you are going to love this one! I can't wait for the third installment to come out!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary eARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this opportunity!

I’ve been waiting for this book for AGES because the last few pages of The Gilded Wolves is massive cliffhanger after cliffhanger. And holy hell did this book not disappoint.

After the death of Tristan all of our characters are a little fractured. Séverin is a lot colder than he was before, Laila stopped baking, Zofia has retreated back into her shell. The foundation that they built for themselves and the life of heists and secrets has come to a crashing halt, and they’re not too sure how to start over again.

But as they all reunite to stop the Fallen House and save Laila, they learn to move on and rebuild the relationships and trust that they had before. It’s heartbreaking, its breathtaking, and absolutely wonderful.

There’s so much I want to say about this story, but so little I feel like I can say without giving away spoilers.

But I will say this: I adore the relationship building soooo much in this story.

Laila and Séverin trying and fighting against rebuilding what they started. Enrique and Zofia’s relationship, Hypnos and Enrique. Hypnos and Séverin. It’s all so beautiful and realistic, something you don’t see enough in novels nowadays.

The world building in this book was also AMAZING. The quest to stop the Fallen House and get the Divine Lyrics brought the team to Russia and it was so beautiful. (Have I been using that word too much?) I loved the new ways of traveling introduced in this book, the added information about how magic works in this world, and I loved absolutely every single thing about the Ice Palace. Seriously, from the guard animals, to how to access the dining room, the palace was just so well thought out and so creative and if I wasn’t 100% sure I would die in it, its a place I would love to go to.

Some parts of the story were a little predictable, especially in relation to Séverin’s past, but overall it was very entertaining to read about.

And of course, it ended once again with massive cliffhangers and WHAT THE HELL moments, so I need book 3 immediately.

I enjoyed this second book to the series much more than the first. I felt the characters were better developed and flowed well with each other. We got to see into the person of these characters more and what they brought to the adventure. This second installment was much easier to follow and the overlapping histories of the artifacts weren’t as distracting as the first book. I’m devastated where the book left us because I am only assuming the worse and now I have to wait to see what happens. But I’m happy to say I’m looking forward to the next book!

Roshani Chokshi’s The Gilded Wolves was not my favorite book of 2019. I loved the world-building and some of the characters, but I found the main protagonist, Severin, mostly unlikeable. But the intrigue of the plot and the heartbreaking ending of that book hooked me enough to want to read The Silvered Serpents.
The Silvered Serpents begins with Severin’s house in disorder. He has hardened his heart after the death of his brother in order to protect himself from further tragedy. Unfortunately, his team – Laila, Zofia, Enrique, and Hypnos – don’t know the reason for this new cold demeanor. And so they keep secrets from him – and each other. Their continued quest for an artifact known as The Divine Lyrics leads them to the heart of Russia and The Sleeping Palace. But they are not alone, and there is a traitor in their midst.
I enjoyed The Silvered Serpents a great deal more than its predecessor. Chokshi is adept at world-building, and the descriptions of the Sleeping Palace and its contents are beautifully-rendered. I also enjoyed the continued development of the rest of the team. Laila was my favorite character in the previous book, but Enrique and Zofia are more fully-developed here. Chokshi’s characters are truly diverse, which is refreshing in YA literature, and her plots are truly complex. While I figured out a few of the plot twists in advance, there were quite a few unexpected developments that kept me guessing.

The Silvered Serpents is far superior The Gilded Wolves in both plotting and characterization. And the book’s ending has ensured that I will be returning for the next installment – in spite of Severin. He still hasn’t grown on me. Maybe he can redeem himself in the next book?

DNF @ 66%
actual rating: 2.5

The Gilded Wolves was one of my favorite books last year but this was so disappointing. I have been trying to read this for a week and a half and just cannot bring myself to spend any more time on it. I'll round it up to 3 stars because I realize that I'm here complaining about YA tropes in a YA book and I think my love of the first book is still coloring my opinion a little, but it is just such a frustrating book. The first book had such a good group dynamic and then I open this one up and find out that literally half the page space to dedicated this awful romance between Severin and Laila. It's Kaz and Inej all over again, except at least the Six of Crows sequel still managed to have a decent plot that encompassed all the characters even though some of them were in relationships with each other.

If the plot in this book was stronger I would probably have been able to get over it here too, but I feel like the other characters don't have much to do except I guess help solve the puzzles to move the plot forward. If you're really into YA and romance then you'll probably still like this but unfortunately, much like I did with Kaz, I rubbed my grubby little aroace hands all over Severin as soon as I saw him and cannot make myself even mildly care about him and Laila as a couple.

An enjoyable sequel to the Gilded Wolves. Sevrin and the group is still reeling from the events in the last book (spoilers!) and struggling to come to terms with the death of Tristan. The never ending quest for the Divine Lyrics takes them to a fantastical ice castle in Siberia in search of the lost treasure of the Fallen House. While the book is packed with adventure, I struggled to grasp the motivations of Sevrin throughout the story. To be plain, he's a jerk to all of his friends, and stops communicating, causing a majority of the problems. Zofia, as usual, was my favorite. Her quirky charm is simply infectious.

TW: anti-antisemitism, child abuse, body mutilation, self-harm, gore, violence.

This was one of the best sequels I have ever read and it only cemented my love and appreciation for The Gilded Wolves trilogy.

There is no question in Chokshi's skill in crafting compelling characters and scenarios where we're on the edge of our seat, hoping for the best. It's impossible not to love them, share in their pain and sorrow, waiting for things to get better. I can see Séverin, Laila, and Zofia so vividly between the lines of each page, I know what Enrique fears and what Hypnos desires the most.

I say it's one of the best sequels due to how action-packed it is, the story quickly continues where it left off and there is no time to catch your breath. Simultaneously, it's a slow narrative where you learn what each character is dealing with emotionally as they try to grow from their experiences. And I was always on the edge, anxious about what could happen next. All I can say about the ending is that I screamed into my pillow and then cried because I have to wait to read the conclusion.

Truly, there's nothing I disliked from this: from the characters to the enigmas, the beautiful writing, and the atmosphere of a cold palace near the Ural mountains. The discussions about colonialism, tokenism, white people's belief that they have a right to strip away another culture's identity and artifacts, and how society pits girls against each other and raises us to hate one another.

I love this so much and I highly recommend reading this trilogy. There are not enough words to explain how incredible it is.

Once more we get to face the challenge of a heists/treasure hunt wit the amazing group (family) under Severin's command and this time, the stakes are extremely high!

In this second installment of the Gilded Wolfs Trilogy, we star by following our 5 main characters in the aftermath of events of the previous book, dealing with loss, frustration and secrets (a ton of secrets!!!) that threaten to break the family apart (or is it to bring it together? it all depends!)

The group will then have to face a new challenge as treasure hunters (starting with a heist off course) and travelling to the Russian capital St Petersburg , meeting new and stingy characters, rejoining old relatives and traveling to the coldest depths of Siberia, where a new riddle awaits to be decoded in hope to recover a godly treasure that might provide the answers to all needs.

Along the story, Roshani Chokshi grace us with her amazing writing, taking us as spectators of the personal struggles, weaknesses and innermost secret fears of each of the characters, making us care more (as if we did not lock our hearts with them in the first book) for this broken found family and hoping they could see better times (which obviously will not happen since this is the second book in the trilogy)..

I very fast read that will snarl your senses and keep you to the edge of your sit until the last page (and then leave you hanging on an unexpected cliffhanger)!!!

All in all, and excellent read!

A copy of this book was kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Losing Tristan has devastated Séverin and his team but their grief must wait as they are facing another tragedy, Laila is running out of time. Séverin has recalled the group for one last mission: discover the location of the Sleeping Palace, find the lost treasure of the Fallen House, and hopefully find The Divine Lyrics along the way. Lured by the possibility of reclaiming his true inheritance, Séverin has placed his needs and desires above those of his friends, and this time, he may have finally gone too far. Long held secrets come to light as the group forms an unlikely alliance with someone from Séverin’s past, and many players are far from whom they appear. Full of magical adventures, ancient puzzles, and incredible feats of Forging, The Silvered Serpents is an intensely compulsive read that shouldn’t be missed. 

I absolutely loved this book. I curled up in my new reading nook with the pups, brewed a pot of tea, and didn’t get up until the book was finished. Reader friends, there are magical animal ice sculptures that come to life to help serve a fancy dinner. What more do you want? Roshani Chokshi’s ability to give readers an immersive reading experience with her gorgeously imagined and intricately described world, complete with all the glitz, glamour, and magic of Paris. Her characters are rich and full of life and you are immediately invested in their story and I spent the whole book with my fingers crossed that everyone would come out safe and sound. 

I am a sucker for a found family and this book does this trope perfectly. Séverin, Laila, Zofia, Enrique, and Hypnos love each other fiercely, are incredibly loyal, and no one is capable of hurting them more than each other. Grieving Tristan in their own ways has led to some fissures in their relationship and the stress over the possibility of losing Laila is almost more than they can bear.  Add to that their own personal struggles and you have a group of people at the end of their rope desperately trying to hold on. 

It’s all so well done. So good. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

Warning:

This book ends on a massive cliff hanger. It’s incredible.

My struggle with The Gilded Wolves did not transfer over to The Silvered Serpents. I started reading this book a couple days after finishing Gilded Wolves because I wanted to keep everything fresh in my mind. Which is a solid plan if I do say so myself!

The book picks up two months after the end of Gilded Wolves. Two months of grief, of distance, and of utter sadness. Our boy Séverin is not doing well.

One of the things I loved the most about this book, was more Zofia and more Enrique! Two of my favorite characters, I 100% ship them together, and I got more time with them! It was so refreshing. Especially as a break up from gloom, doom Séverin and our poor Laila. Their POVs were pretty heavy.

But one of the things I liked the most about book 2 is the ice palace. I loved the imagery of the palace, the animals that guard it, the moments inside. It sounds so beautiful and majestic that I just wish I could live in it! Well, kinda. Maybe take a vacation there!

Overall, the plot was wayyyy better than The Gilded Wolves honestly. Gilded Wolves felt crowded and rushed compared to The Silvered Serpents. I didn't have to try and follow along ten separate paths with different missions all at once, instead, I could focus on one place at a time. It was easier to follow in a way.

But the action is no less. In fact, the magic and the craziness that our characters endure is insane!

This book felt cleaner and even crazier than the first book and it made it a more enjoyable journey to follow!

I'm going to include some spoilers below, but if you can't tell, this book is a 5 // 5 stars for me!

I'm very grateful to NetGalley & Wednesday Books for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.


“When the devil waged war in the heavens, even angels had to fall.”

Well, I'm very happy to tell you that I enjoyed this one more than the first one, but sadly I'll not be able to share much because this is obviously a sequel, so I'll try to do my best to transmit everything to you without spoilers. I like it, I still don't feel like it reaches my heart, maybe because I still feel disconnected from the relationship of the characters and there is a lot of that in here. But I liked the plot more, I think it was more dynamic and the surprising effect was there, I also loved the setting so much, Russia is fantastic, I think it's magical and beautiful, but it also has a lot of danger and that kept me wanting to know what will happen. This is a solid sequel for me, but it's not like THAT impressive.


This time I've noticed a greater commitment to giving us a much more intricate and full of feelings plot, which I appreciate, I enjoyed most of it, even though certain moments seemed to be kind of draining and slow, I think it was resolved very well towards the second half, where I felt much more committed to it and I was all-in in the plot. The author has an undoubted talent with words, so this time I enjoyed the dialogues much more, which I didn't find remarkable in the first book & once I completely loved each atmosphere created and the construction of the world was more solid which I appreciate.


As I've already mentioned, I think that there's a huge emotional weight in this book, largely due to hard and tragic events that occurred in the first one, and all of this gives a kind of gothic and melancholic vibe to this fantasy story. I think it's much more focused on the characters, part that perhaps continues to be a challenge for me in terms of feeling committed or interested in it, yet I can see that there's a growth in it which I appreciate as well. I think if you loved the first book, this will be a great sequel for you.

I try to be very honest with my thoughts about this book, but I want you to know that my opinion is unpopular, so if you enjoyed the story in the first book, I think you'll love this sequel, although it may be a bit slower in pace, I think this one is better balanced in terms of construction and everything feels more coherent to me. I still would have liked more information on magic, for example, but it's okay, I think I should have understood it in the first book lol. Even so, it's all very original and there's no doubt about that.


As I said before, the characters take a step forward in this sequel to bring us many feelings and a dense vibe of secrets, lies, and betrayals, which I love, and all this I think gave a greater dimension and a greater weight to their personalities. Even so, I don't love any of them, but Laia is still my fave in the group and I think she's always the one who has the most to give, her conflicts felt very real to me and I was able to put myself in her place and feel her pain. Severin's plotline got a little more interesting, this character makes me doubt a lot especially in regards to his relationship with Laia, I don't like that, but just as a character, I think he has more to give and it was interesting to know his inner thoughts after everything he had to go through. Zofia is a sweetie and I really like her as a character, I love how her mind works and how she transmits her emotions and I really enjoy following her. On the other hand, I'll have to bring you the most unpopular opinion of all and that's that I didn't like Hypnos here, I think the author wanted to take the character into another level and I'm not sure about it, especially with regard to a possible "ship" that I had about him and Enrique, which didn't work out very well for me. I'm also unsure about Enrique, there's something that seemed quite flat in this book, and I would also highlight none of the secondary characters since they lack weight as such.

Is there a general growth in them? Yeah sure
Was it enough to make me love them? Sadly, not.
I think that this story in general, even when it has very original factors, falls into some cliche with respect to the characters, and I think that to a large extent that prevents me from being able to love them and feel closer to them.


The plot-twists had a very appropriate effect to accompany the story and give it an element of greater commitment and surprise for me, I saw some revelations coming, but there was one that really took me by surprise, so the author could surprise me again, as she did in the first book, which I appreciate very much, I love having that "WTF" effect! and that happened here... so YAY!

Something that I really love about this sequel and clearly it's my favorite thing is the vibe while reading it, I think the author has discovered exactly where she wants to take the plot, which I like, but above all, I love what you feel while you read it, It has a very dark, mysterious, almost dense vibe that makes you wonder what will happen next and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat.


I liked this sequel, I think it's pretty solid, it's still not my favorite thing in the world, and I don't know if I'll read the latest book, to be honest with you, but I'm still glad I read what I read, I think the author is extremely talented, and this plot has incredible potential to explore. I know that if you like the characters and want to know more about them internally, you'll love this book and, above all, you may feel committed to wanting to continue reading about them. It's important to me to have that connection with the characters, so if you had it with the first book, go for it! you'll love the sequel. On the other hand, something that I think everyone will be able to enjoy in these books is the creepy atmosphere at times that it gives, but also that beautiful and almost whimsical fantasy aesthetic that it has at times, as well as that beautiful writing style.

I remember reading the first book two years ago and thinking, "man, it can't get much better than this." Well, I was happily mistaken. The Silvered Serpents picks up after the events of the first book, and we jump right in. The characters continue to be amazing. The writing is dynamic and FUN. And overall, I really loved that I got to come back to creations that I loved so much the first time around.



The Silvered Serpents definitely quenched my thirst from the first book.....and now I can not WAIT for the third!



5/5 Stars

Séverin and his team succeeded, but at a terrible price that still haunts them. He wants to make amends, so the plan is for one last job to find an artifact capable of bestowing the powers of god. Leaving Paris for Russia, there are mysterious ice animals, forgotten mansions, lost goddesses and unsolved murders. The crew questions if the ancient myths are actually myths, and their pasts are catching up with them.

This Russian job is mentioned at the very end of "The Gilded Wolves," along with the haunting loss and secrets that Séverin knows nothing about. While you can read this book without having read the first, it would be a lot more difficult because there isn't as much detail about Forging and the types of Forge magic in this one. We have the new blood forging type, and more ice magic, as the bull of the story takes place in Russia and Siberia. There are more pieces of history sprinkled throughout this heist, upping the ante from the first book; the team is after the Divine Lyrics, a book that would supposedly give the reader the power of God.

Following the first novel, Séverin is a cold shell of his former self and everyone else scattered. The reader knows that he shoulders his guilt by pushing others away, not wanting to rely on them or be relied on. Unfortunately, how he goes about it is painful to read. Everyone else is hiding something as well, from the countdown to Laila's death, one sided infatuation, the need to belong, and the need to appear independent rather than a burden. I wanted to squish them all because of the emotional pain underlying the heists, and the dramatic effects of ice magic and the sacrificed girls that were left behind. The tension kept ratcheting up, and I was in for another shocking conclusion.

I really hope the next book comes out soon. These people are all so shattered by these events, and the world is at stake. Séverin might have a plan, but we don't know it, and he's lost a lot of trust along the way.