The Silvered Serpents

In full disclosure, I will admit almost always my favorite book in any book series is always the first one. This is probably the case because I live for character introduction, world development, and the care that authors take to make sure readers understand. After I read Gilded Wolves, I did not know what to expect. This is the second in a series and can I just say OH MY WORD! This was GRIPPING! I could not wrap my head around one part when the next part would come and I would gasp again! The plot moved quickly but not so quickly that you could not keep up. It was face-paced, intriguing , and kept me on the edge of my seat.

I loved the twists and turns in this book and some things that truly threw me for a loop (in a good way!) When I finally finished, I was already lamenting it was over and wanted to know where these characters would go and do next! Highly recommend this book and series.

The publisher generously provided me with a copy of the book upon request on NetGalley. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

The Silvered Serpents (The Gilded Wolves #2) doesn’t even come out until September 2020—and I’m not one to brag, but I’ve already read it!
Séverin and crew are left devastated by the (no name mentioned) death of The Gilded Wolves. Now they are headed into another complicated journey—this one in Russia. This new adventure is as magical as the last, but the emotional aspect is deep and haunting. The world-building and craftmanship of the world is as unique and imaginative as in book one, but the intensity and emotional arc in The Silvered Serpents is off the charts! Roshani Chokshi has woven imaginative creatures and mythology in a beautiful, adventurous package—and it’s stunning! The banter between Séverin, Laila, Enrique, and Zofia is as witty and fun as in book one. It was like being back in a room with old friends. Bu that plot twist—oh, no! I can’t even wait for the next book, this is wholly and entirely unfair!
*I received a copy of The Silvered Serpents from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review

This series is such a pleasure, and this book was just a fun read. I loved the first book, The Gilded Wolves and the introduction into this magical almost underground world or Houses and magic. For how good I felt that book one was, The Silvered Serpents, as a sequel was delicious to read and to continue the story. The group of characters in this story are smart, funny, fierce and all unique and they are such a joy to read about. Roshani Chokshi knows how to weave this tale of mysterious Houses and the quest for this lost artifact. It's very much a search for the Holy Grail kind of adventure. I did love the mystery behind who the Fallen House was and to figure that out was a fun and interesting shock. The story is almost Gothic-like and I loved that undertone throughout the book. I loved this book, and I absolutely cannot wait for book three now.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I was accepted for this ARC I was over the moon. Yet, I didn’t read it right away. Why? Because the release date is so far away! But, I decided I might as well read it now before it burns a hole in my pocket. It has also weaseled its way into my heart like its predecessor. It is not only going to be a long wait for this one to come out, but for the third book to come out as well. HOWEVER, I read a character I thought was coded into the aro/ace spectrum, and that took a turn and I am severely disappointed. I was really hoping it wasn’t going to go that way, and in the end, it sucked some of the enjoyment out of the book for me.

Chokshi’s writing is beyond amazing. I’ve always loved it, and am always happy to read it. There is something that clicks with me, and it resonates so strongly that I can’t even believe it…I just can’t. Chokshi is great at putting a mix of dialogue and description together, and it comes together beautifully. The world comes alive as she writes it, and it is a lovely one to boot.

The pacing in this book was good. Saying this as someone who liked the first book (5 stars) I felt the pacing was even better in this one than the previous one. It all felt that it flowed smoothly together and I really enjoyed that. There is little that I can despair about in terms of pacing. It all came off without a hitch. And the pacing, is what helped make this book. You were anxious to know what happens next…

And that is part of the superb plot! This book is a lot more straight forward than The Gilded Wolves was. It is far less confusing, and not nearly as daunting. It isn’t so much a heist in this one as a treasure hunt. Which is <i>almost</i> as good. As the plot moves on you’re left wondering what is happening, what is going, on and OH MY GOD every ten pages. You never know what is going to happen. I loved that, and I loved that about the first book as well. There is something satisfying when a plot brings in characters and it works for them all. And this plot worked for everyone. As they hunt for this mysterious book, lots happens, and I prevaricate because I do not want to spoil this book at all! It is so much better left unknown and you just sit down and read it!

I love the characters. Not so much Séverin in this one though. Séverin was definitely my least favorite character of all this time around. Okay, that’s not quite true, but of the main cast he was. Enrique remains my favorite of all. Also Zofia is super amazing. And Laila. Let’s just go…with LOVE THEM ALL. All their characters in this have a little growth, and it adds to the plot.

There were a few things I was…unhappy with the direction they took in the relationship department. One of them at least – I’m a little unhappy about because I thought the character represented something else. I don’t want to spoil too much, but it honestly brought down the rating for me overall. I love a good relationship drama, but I felt this one was done poorly and it didn’t sit right with me. This is all personal preference of course, so I’ll be interested to see how it turns out in the next book. (As in…I hope it turns into a poly relationship. My heart would be much more relieved about that.)

I liked it a lot. There is a lot to love (except that one relationship aspect, it felt shoved in) in this book. And the next one will be amazing, no doubt!

Chokshi has done it again. She has written a beautiful novel with many surprises and a diverse and interesting cast of characters. This is a definitely must for fans of Six of Crows, or fantasy, or history, or...well....reading. This book has so many appeal factors. My only complaint is that we have to wait so long for the third installment!

I absolutely freaking loved this book. I loved the Russian setting, the new characters we found there, and the shenanigans our crew got into. The story developed in such an engaging way that I could not put it down and I did not see the twist coming until the very end. These characters are so near and dear to me and they're so thoroughly developed that I scream and cry right along with them.

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

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 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!!

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!

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.