This is a sequel to the Gilded Wolves. Unfortunately I haven’t read it so I could not get into this book. I believe the story is beautifully written. The writing is very descriptive and I could visualize each place distinctly. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and since I haven’t read the first book I was utterly lost. I got about 50% through it but decided I couldn’t completely enjoy it until I read the first book so that is what I’ll do. Then I’ll revise this review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC In exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the ARC! Took a little while to get into it but once they got to Russia I was sucked in (though as usual for Roshani Chokshi, there were points where my heart was so far into my throat I had to take a break from reading).

This was great! I can’t wait for book three. I needed a little more exposition because it’s been so long since I read book 1 that I forgot who some of the characters are, but I was able to google to fill the gaps. A family tree or something in the front would help.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for the eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! It hurts me that the publication date is so far away now, and I don't know why the date got pushed back. I also don't know why I was convinced that this was only going to be a duology?

Anyway, let's talk about the book. The most important thing to know is that it is 100% inarguably better than the Gilded Wolves. I honestly didn't love that book as it was overdone with prose and long scientific ramblings. She does it a lot more tastefully in this book - Holly Black apparently offered advice on spicing things up a bit and it definitely worked.

There is still some Enrique and Zofia chattering about puzzles and math, then another character often jokes that they don't understand it. I imagine that this mirrors what most readers are thinking, and the book becomes generally a lot more readable. There is still a lot of "purpose prose" but definitely less; descriptions are entirely more concise and the action flows a lot better.

I admire Chokshi for keeping the advice and criticism from book one in mind and making this a better sequel.

The Silvered Serpents has plenty of it's own merits, including the elevation of Laila to my list of top 5 favorite YA heroines ever. She pulled an Inej and loudly, proudly declared that she was not responsible for the soul, fixing, or happiness of some ruined asshole. I mentally dropped the book and started clapping because I despite women that pine over ruined men, often to the point of their own downfall. Laila is amazing. She is the group's caretaker, the cement, the big sister that they all need.

Chokshi gives her young readers credit, something that a lot of YA authors aren't doing. Authors: please spare teens and other readers the endless repetition and pining and terrible inner monologue rambling that I have seen in a lot of recent novels. The YA genre deserves the reading comprehension level that this book offers.

These characters have fixed themselves in history firmly as my favorite heist crew. Enrique and Zofia essentially carried the book for me character wise, along with Hypnos' antics and Laila's amazingness. I am shipping these people and the straightening of the crew that seems to be happening.

The plot itself is more interesting as well, the crew is tracking down the Sleeping Palace and book called The Divine Lyrics, which can make gods or break the world depending on how the artifact is wielded. The architecture, traps, obstacles, and magic in this book had me HOOKED. So did some of the historical references, such as the pogroms, Chokshi is bringing in history and lore that actually make sense to the time period and that is awesome.

One other point that I admire is that this book is a meditation on love, masking as grief. Masking as horror. Concern. Banter. Cake and poison. I fully enjoyed reading her discourses on both grief and love in their various forms of expression and think they are both important themes for young adults. I would hand these books to any kid, totally just RIGHT for the target audience.

The only thing that slowed the book down (for me at least) was how in some chapters it seemed like she had the thesaurus open and was going for the most obscure words she could come up with. To some extent vocabulary in young adult novels is very important, I agree, but there is a point where it slows the story down and just gets unnecessary. She clumps them together too and it threw me off a bit.

I can't wait to get the finished copy so that I can add character quotes and express my love more fully for these amazing people. My best advice is that even if you struggle reading The Gilded Wolves, read this. It gets better. 100% 5 stars all day long

ARC from NetGalley

4.5 stars

I devoured this in a matter of hours. An excellent book two in a series. Full of Roshani's flowery prose. The visuals are, as they were in Gilded Wolves, detailed and gorgeous. The characters further develop. We have some internal turmoil churning inside of most everyone. Mysteries. Redemptions. Admissions. Fantastic.

Here we first see our found family broken and scattered, both externally and internally. They are still roiling from the death of their loved one. It has only been two months, and if you have ever lost anyone close to you, you know that two months may as well be two days for all the pain you still feel. The relationships are in tatters, and through this book we see the characters grow and mend their wounds and develop as humans. They puzzle over beautiful enigmas and as always come together to overcome.

Zofia, my ASD lovely, I adore you. You didn't what I wanted you to get, but the breadcrumbs have been dropped, and there is no spite like a me scorned, so I have a feeling Ms. Chokshi will allow me this in the last book. ;o)

The twist at the end wasn't really a twist at all. I saw it coming a mile away, but it didn't take from my enjoyment. At the very least, it gives us a possible redemption arc for the following book, and I do love those so very much.

I am thoroughly stoked for the next book whilst being simultaneously depressed about it, because this book hasn't even been released yet. Weep with me these tumultuous tears of both joy and despair.

Gilded Wolves felt like a magical pony ride compared to Silvered Serpents. The fantasy felt more fantastical, the ride was more roller coasterish, and pony was definitely more serpent-like.

And I am saying all this feeling still slightly drunk from this book hangover.

“Zofia nodded and had the irrational desire to wish that some words could be solid and picked up off the ground and held close, so that she could reach for them whenever she needed.”

Although I loved the plot, and the heist, and the world, to me, the characters and their relationships with each other, make these books. My heart broke over and over for each character, Hypnos and Zofia, Laila and Enrique. A sad Severin. I was angry and frustrated, and yet wanted to hold each one, and let them weep into my shoulder. Then I would laugh as Hynos would be flippant or Zofia dry, or Laila biting. My emotions were thrown around like at a ride at a carnival, and whether my dizziness comes from being intoxicated on the book, or spun on the coaster, I’ll take that drink or ride that ride again.

I have liked roshani chokshis books in the past but I don't think this series is for me. I wasn't a big fan of the first installment or this one to be honest.

I haven't read the first book in this series and I think you should first, while I enjoyed reading it I had some trouble following the plot.

The disadvantage to having an ARC of The Silvered Serpents is that I'll have a long wait for the next book! I loved this sequel to Gilded Wolves, which picks up a few months after the end of that book. You really need to have read it first to understand The Silvered Serpents, as the fractured relationships in here only really make sense when you know the back story.

That said, Severin, Laila, Enrique and Zofia are on a new quest, with the help of Hypnos (who has some great character development in this book), this time going to Russia in search of the secret treasure of the Fallen House - which has the potential to save Laila's life, although Severin has other hopes. The loss from the end of the previous book is damaging them all in different ways, particularly Severin as he seems to be turning into the bad guy. There are puzzles to be solved, and fabulous social situations to be navigated, an Ice Palace to be explored and new allies to be trusted (or not).

It's quite a twisty story, but beautifully written and with sympathetic characters that you want to get to know and be friends with. Definitely worth reading and I look forward to the next book after that ending!

Okay, so it's taken me several days to get my thoughts together enough to write a review 😀. Thank you firstly to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC, which was actually the first ARC I was lucky enough to receive and which I've sat on for months, until I got around to reading The Gilded Wolves first. Which was just amazing. And I was so happy that I was able to immediately pick up where that left off, and start on The Silvered Serpents.

Roshani Chokshi has the most beautiful way with words and her world building was just wonderful in these books. It took me a few chapters of The Gilded Wolves to get everything in place in my head, but by The Silvered Serpents I was fully immersed in the world of course.

Imagine a mix of all the best parts of The Da Vinci Code, Indiana Jones and Ocean's 11 (and 8, 12 and 13!), with a smidge of Harry Potter thrown in for good measure, plus the amazing imagination of the author in creating so many plots and subplots and more plots within those plots. Then put all of that together with the most incredibly diverse, lovable, flawed, misunderstood characters, with so many interwoven, overlapping, angsty relationships and you have some idea of what you're getting with this sequel.

Darker than The Gilded Wolves, with the expected CH ending (and certainly no HEA for any of our favourites, but there is hope so don't despair....), The Silvered Serpents is a MUST READ recommendation from me - but do read The Gilded Wolves first 😍.

Five ✨✨✨✨✨ all the way!

#NetGalley #TheSilveredSerpents #WednesdayBooks

The second book in Chokshi's Gilded Wolves series is a maddening blend of mesmerizing settings, stellar writing, her amazing cast … and utter depression. Somehow the grim mood and vibe seething through everything and everyone just left me at the end with nothing more than, "well, wasn't that utterly dismal."

Maybe there's hope somewhere for these peeps.

*Review to be posted on my blog on 8/22/20**

*4.5 STARS*

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I don’t know what I was expecting from this book but wow, I waited to read this arc because the publication got pushed back but I’m glad I finally did read it!

We return to the world of The Gilded Wolves, but the crew has been torn apart by the death of Tristan, Severin’s brother. They come together again for another mission to find a mythological artifact – The Divine Lyrics. This time their quest takes them to Russia and Siberia. Severin wants it badly to make him and his friends, gods. Yet Laila needs it to stay alive. Once again we have the amazing characters I came to love in book one, but this time they are dealing with grief and questioning their self-worth. The heists, puzzles, riddles, action and surprises make this sequel so much more exciting to me than the first book. But this one also broke my heart! 🥺

What I Liked:

*The characters are what make this series. They are awesome and diverse! I love how they are all different and have fascinating back stories. Enrique is my favorite, but Hypnos really shined in this one too. They are all smart and skilled in their own ways but in this sequel we see their vulnerabilities and it got me in the feels. I am heartbroken for all of them, for losing Tristan. But Enrique and Zophia kept this mission afloat – they had to since Severin and Laila were falling apart.

*The clues, riddles, high stakes, and heists are so much fun to me. I love, love, love Enrique’s inquisitive mind and capacity for memorizing historical information. But there are dangerous moments in this sequel as well and the twists in the story were good too!

*There is so much emotion in this book: grief being a major part of it for Severin and all of them really, but Severin most of all. Also the wall between Severin and Laila was hurting my heart. They love each other but Severin fears love because it can be lost, like how Tristan was. The same for Laila – why love Severin when knowing her life could be lost soon, she doesn’t want to hurt him. They all want love and to be loved yet there is so much fear in it too. The ending gutted me, when love is explained as something that looks different to people – I felt that strongly.

*Hypnos…I mentioned him earlier, but thank goodness he brings such humor to this story. I love him.

Things That Made Me Go Hmm:

*Severin takes a back seat in this story…and he is COLD hearted in this one. He is dealing with grief but wow…he is not the same guy from book one – and I was scared how far he’d gone at the end! We shall see what happens to him in the next book.

*Sometimes there is so much information that Enrique is spewing out, I get lost LOL…which is funny because he mentions he feels like no one cares or listens to him. He is my fave but even sometimes his incessant talking goes over my head…and why am I talking about him like he’s real?! 🤣😍

*Triggers: blood (a new character, a blood forger is introduced), violence, grief

Final Thoughts:

I loved this book more than the first one! It was faster in pace, with another high stakes quest but with the crew falling apart at times. Yet there were funny moments too especially with Hypnos helping them out. I loved seeing the characters deal with their vulnerabilities, which was so relatable. And the thing I take away from this book is love – how it looks different to every one of us but we all want love. Love from family, from a friend, or from a partner. ❤️ But love is scary too because the pain of losing a loved one is hell. There are a few quotes from this book that I absolutely adore but can’t post since it’s an arc…but it made me want to weep, for Severin and the rest of the crew. Definitely looking forward to the next book!

The only book that you need on your To Be Read list is here! And when it comes out, get it ASAP. Chokshi followed one masterpiece (The Guilded Wolves) with, you guess it, another masterpiece!

In The Silvered Serpents, Severin’s desire to become a God-and other things- lead them to a beautiful ice castle in Russia. There is no disappointment in the way that this book is written. Artfully written, it takes you to another place. Sometimes, you’ll hate that place and it will make you sad, but you will love it even more. Absolutely recommend!!

Searching for an elusive, and perhaps mythic, treasure in a secretive manner leads the fractured crew of treasure hunters to Siberia in Roshani Chokshi's The Silvered Serpents.

After the tumultuous exchange with the Fallen House, Séverin and his assorted team of treasure hunters dispersed into their own worlds to grieve the loss of one of their own as they try to get on with their lives. But when a lead surfaces that might just direct them to a long-lost and vastly rumored artifact that could provide the powers of a god, Séverin manages to pull the team back together to follow it. Leaving behind the glamour of Paris for the icy tundra of Russia, the team investigates an abandoned hidden mansion filled with ice animals, handless goddesses, and Tezcat portals in pursuit of the mythic artifact that seems to become less mythic and more real as they delve deeper and reveal surprising truths. 

Jumping quickly back into the lives of the team members, the story picks up and starts running headfirst into the next adventure, which has has much higher stakes. The world-building and the development of the characters and their interpersonal dynamics within this novel was better than the first, though it was still quite localized to specific places and situations rather than all-encompassing; the more descriptive, introspective, and emotional nature of deepening the investment in crafting the characters reduced the amount of witty banter throughout the story but it's still there - just in smaller doses. There was quite a lot of repetition within the text, especially regarding the muses and their various remits, which felt over explanatory without an appropriate payoff for doing so. I appreciated the independence and choice afforded to Laila throughout the story as she was provided the agency to determine who knew about her life's secrets, and, more generally, the enhancement that some of the characters had toward asserting themselves and advocating for their desires was well-done and a fitting inclusion within the heavily emotional tone of this novel. 

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I’ve been obsessed with Russia since the Black Widow trailer came out, and then I got a chance to see the Russian ballet perform. Despite my confusion at book one, whenever I found out Séverin and his crew were headed to Russia, I was hooked!!

Silvered Serpents did not disappoint. There was so much Russian culture, from the crisp winter air to the streets to borscht to pretty Russian surnames. The crew even attended a Russian ballet performance!

I’m going to be completely transparent here: I SPED through this book in an attempt to finish it on time for this review. There were plenty of places where I missed spots and was confused, but usually I just kept going.

However, I thought that overall, the plot of Silvered Serpents was so! Much!! Better!!! Than Gilded Wolves. There was wayyy less banter, more puzzles, higher stakes, and DON’T GET ME STARTED on the ending. My head is spinning in the best way.

Gilded Wolves ended on an abrupt note and completely re-shaped Séverin’s character. I was hoping that book two would explain everything and dive deeper into his psychology. I was so, so disappointed.

Séverin’s arc follows the classic annoying villain backstory: “Something awful happens to me and now I’m evil woe is me.” Since I’m writing a villain backstory right now, I was really annoyed by this.

Also, Séverin isn’t consistent. He had his “normal” moments, and then he switches back to being cold and “changed,” according to his friends. All of the characters referred to the events of book one as if they’d happened years before, but unless I missed something, not much time had passed since they were baking sweets and solving puzzles together. Also, Séverin flips between hating Laila and loving her, and he made me so angry and so confused all at once.

FULL REVIEW @ http://charisrae.com/the-gilded-wolves-the-silvered-serpents-by-roshani-chokshi/

This follow up to The Gilded Wolves finds the team processing their grief and on a mission to redeem themselves from their loss. The team dynamics have changed since they are in many ways reeling. Will this adventure bring them closer together or tear them apart?

I love THE GILDED WOLVES so much and I was ecstatic when I received an early copy of THE SILVERED SERPENTS for review! I love the way Roshani Chokshi is able to weave her words together and all her books are just so lyrical and just absolutely stunning. I, of course, love all my characters. I love my crew of nerds trying their very best. We have Séverin, Laila, Enrique, Zofia, and Hypnos, plus a few new characters we meet within the pages. I love the heists that the characters go on, and all of the antics and situations. I also absolutely adored the setting and world-building of this story. While I loved the Parisian setting of book one, I fell head over heels with the icy, frozen feel of the sequel. The descriptions of St. Petersburg and the winter vibes were AMAZING. I loved each and every scene and I NEVER wanted to stop reading. This is definitely in my top two favorite books of the year (2019) along with it's predecessor. I cannot wait for more people to read this story so I can discuss!

The Silvered Serpents pours out emotion. Roshani Chokshi's writing always hits me in the perfect way.

In the second adventure everyone is dealing with emotional fallout from the previous book. Severin can barely keep his cool, Laila is barely managing to hold herself together... almost literally, Enrique needs something no one seems to be giving him, Zofia struggles to share herself and feels like a burden, Hypnos just wants a family and all of these wants and needs intertwine with desire and anger and fear and bravery in a beautiful way.

I like how in this story you can feel even the quiet stakes. Each characters emotions are there and the writing makes it so easy to understand them. There were so achy moments that I adored and the ending is done in such a way that it is satisfying, but also leaves the reader in a moment of suspension. Readers will really feel the stretch of time waiting for the next book!

I need a third book now.
I was lucky enough to get this book early, and I practically devoured it! I started it just yesterday guys, and I’m already done! I loved the first book, and this one has the same tone and style, but I was far more gripped with this one. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.

I was able to get my hands on this book early, and I am SO glad I was. I hadn't heard of this series until I was offered an opportunity to get an advanced copy of the second, so my review is a bit delayed due to having to work the 1st one into my reading schedule.

Let me tell you, the first was marvelous and the second was even better. Chokshi has the ability to grab the reader's attention and just run with it. Still reeling from their loss in The Gilded Wolves, the crew takes on Russia and discovers WILD secrets and mysteries that make the book too good to put down.

Seriously, if you don't already have this book pre-ordered, do it NOW. It's a GREAT sequel to a GREAT first novel.