Sadly I can't finish the audiobook, I swapped my phone and the netgalley app didn't keep the download.
Based on how far I got and the sypnosis I think my rating is correct. I hope I can borrow this from the library in future.

The narrator did an excellent job and had me hooked. Interesting story and world created, and I look forward to reading the sequels

This was such an interesting and incredible read, there was such depth and intrigue. I found myself completely entranced by the story.

I really loved this book, the dynamic between the characters and the found family was everything I could have needed. I loved the characters so dearly and I am excited to read anything else written by Roshani Chokshi. The narrator is also extremely enjoyable!

Gilded Wolves is such a rich parallel history with magic and mayhem and i fell entirely in love with the feeling and complexity that the world already felt like it had in just a single book, even within a few chapters. The characters mixed well and had a mysterious quality i adored.

The narrators voice was lyrical and fitted the narrative with a velvety smoothness

I really loved this book, the dynamic between the characters and the found family element just warmed my heart entirely !!! I loved the characters so dearly and I am excited to read anything else written by this author !!

Firstly, I absolutely adored the audio of this title, and feel it was the correct format for me. The audio element really helped me feel immersed in the French setting.

Séverin is the disinherited heir to one of the magical houses of France, and he will do anything to win back what is owed to him. Along with the motley band he’s collected, he sets out to hunt down an ancient artefact protected by the Order of Babel, but things don’t quite go to plan and they soon find themselves in mortal peril.

I loved Séverin and the rest of his found family - they all have their own reasons for being involved, but are ultimately so loyal to one another which I adore! - as well as the unlikely friend they make along the way.

Their adventure through France was interesting, and I was intrigued by the magic system (forging) and the way it seems to vary in other cultures. I hope that in future books we might get to see a little more of the variety of magics around the world.

I wouldn’t call the ending a cliffhanger, but it did make me want to read more and find out what will happen next, and I fully intend to read the rest of the trilogy at some point.

Overall, The Gilded Wolves was an enjoyable YA heist fantasy, and fans of the genre will surely love it.

I absolutely had no plans of starting this series until next year and then BAM I was approved for this ALC and now I am hooked.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author, for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The world of Gilded wolves is set in Paris and starts off with a mini heist leading into the wider plot. Séverin Montagnet-Alarie is a thief. He is the heir of the House Vanth that was declared dead when he was disinherited by the other factions of the orders of Babel. Séverin is in the hunt for Horace eye that will lead him to the Babel fragment, which then he will use to resurrect his house and claim his rightful place as the patriarch. His motley crew of wolves include Laila, Tristan, Enrique, Zofia and Hypnos, the family that will steal your heart and who you have no choice but to fall in love with.

Gilded wolves as an audiobook can be quite dense at times, with multiple POV's, references to Biblical and Greek mythologies, Chinese cleromancy, mathematics, logical puzzles, so and so forth. It's quite brilliant as an after thought, how his story is brought together. But nevertheless, once I got deeper into the story, I could not stop listening.

I can obviously see how this trilogy reminds people of Six of crows. The cold demeanor of Severin, the will-they won't-they sizzling chemistry of Severin and Laila, the loyalty, the friendship, the love, the heist, the need to belong, and the thirst for adventure all reinforce the similarities. However, Gilded Wolves goes farther into that by diving into impacts of colonialism, what it means to live as a biracial, Asian, Jewish, queer or neurodivergent person in a world represented only by straight white people. Hence, the story is so much more complex than just heists and found families and diverse representation. It delves deeper into how being 'different' in the world that wants you to conform, creates struggle both out in the world as well as within you. I will say the success of book 1 in any series is when the reader runs to find book 2, which is exactly what I did! which means this deserves 5 full stars!!

This was a genre that I don't read often, but that didn't take away from any enjoyment. The cast of characters in this YA fantasy and their quest kept me hooked. I'm sure YA fantasy fans will love The Gilded Wolves.

Thank you NetGalley for the free audio in exchange for an honest review.

I love heist books and I was love YA Fantasy novels so this audiobook seemed right up my alley.

It was a slower burn that my usual reads and took a while to get going but once it did it was a decent book. It is not a slow book but it was not a fast book either. The first 2/3 didn't leave me wanting to devour the rest of the book which is a pity because at its core this is a really good book. But something just didn't connect with me in the way I expected it to.

if you are in to YA historical heist fantasies then this might just be the book and the series for you.

I just wish I was more invested in the characters than I was.

This is a fantasy book set in 1800s Paris, and our main character is effectively a treasure hunter. He agrees to search for this mysterious lost artifact in return for being restored his rightful place as Head of his household.

He has to gather up a crew of various friends and allies and they are not the only ones searching for this artifact so things get a bit dangerous.

This is a completed series, but the audiobook which was provided for review was only released at the beginning of August. As an audiobook, I struggled with this as the male half of the duel narrators had a very unnatural, odd way of reading the narration - like every line was an isolated voice very line on a documentary.

Once I got into it I did enjoy the story but I will continue the series in physical book format.

4 stars for the story, 3 stars for the audiobook

Full review will be posted soonish and I'll add links to blog as well.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating: 4.5/5

I had no plans of starting this series. After hearing from many readers about this book, I was curious to see what’s in it.
Listening to audiobooks always feels new to me, especially with two narrators. Listening to this book on audio, though, was divine.

I can’t express how much I enjoyed reading about our ragtag group. They made a great team. Whenever they’d start solving a puzzle I’d pour myself into the book to see how the pieces fit. I don’t know how did they do it but their extrapolations were splendid. They kept my brain busy even after a long day.

I can’t wait to be back in this world again. Im extremely grateful to the publisher for the ALC of this book!!

I’m sorry, but this was hands down the most horrible listening experience I’ve ever had. I listen to an audio each week at least, but these narrators were just terrible.
The male narrator sounded like he was reading the news and for a story which is set in Paris, to use a French accent while speaking English for EVERY character?! It makes no sense! He basically narrates the whole book with a French accent, when in reality these characters just speak their own language!
I liked the female narrator more, but for her to NOT do the accents for the same characters…
It all just didn’t make any sense to me and I had to DNF this audio.

For what I listened to I can definitely say that this is a gripping story with lots of characters you can easily fall in love with! The world building was easy to understand and I really liked the magic system in this.
This one I’d definitely for fans of SoC/ CK!

I still don't quite know what I want to rate this, for now I'm going with four stars because I definitely don't think that the book is perfect, it was still a very enjoyable reading experience. I enjoyed the cultural
aspects of this novel, particularly how it was handled in the historical setting. The
Gilded Wolves provided an interesting conversation on colonization and the impact that it has on people. I loved the way it deals with cultures and people in our reality and not a fantasy.
Speaking of the fantastical elements, I appreciated how grounded they were. I feel like this definitely reads more like a historical fiction than a fantasy, though it
was clear to me that Chokshi had spent a lot of time thinking about the fantastical elements and how they would play into the reality. It was really well done.
I was fan of the characters and their dynamic. It was really what made the book so enjoyable for me. What I didn't like was there never seemed to be tension. There
were moments I felt that that's what we were going for, but even in the final act of the book when arguably the big battle is going down it just didn't feel like anything
bad was going to happen. I can't say that bad things don't happen to characters over the course of this narrative becuase that would be a lie, but I can say that
it never felt as though bad things might happen.
I would recommend this people, particularly if you're a fan of interesting group dynamics and found families . I also think that centering marginalized identities in historical fiction, let alone in fantasy, is and always will be important. And it's a fun time. So really you lose by not giving this story a shot.

3.5*
The Gilded Wolves comes up as one of the most frequent suggestions when you’re trying to find your next heist read after Six of Crows and rightfully so, it will definitely quench that ‘dynamic-high-stakes-mission-found-family-banter-and-shenanigans‘ thirst – if that’s all you’re looking for.

Set in 1880s Paris, it presents an intricate story (intervowen with flashbacks) of a group of 5 (well, 6) diverse quirky miscreants with various skills, magical abilities – and agendas - on a mission to steal a securely guarded object to help a dodgy magical society and earn back the protagonist’s inheritance, only to find that, of course, it’s all about ~the friends, complications and trauma~ you encounter along the way. In truth, this story is actually much more convoluted (and sometimes meandering) than that but that’s all you need to know as an elevator pitch. By the time we meet our main characters, they (sans one reluctantly accepted ally) are already an established tight-knit team but their complicated history (with their own identities and each other), hidden secrets and ~repressed feelings~ may or may not come in the way of their success.

First of all, I appreciated the main characters‘ diverse personalities and backgrounds, the fun interactions and banter, as well as the commentary on colonialism, racism and profiteering off foreign cultures which was smoothly, albeit not particularly subtly, blended into the narrative. The Parisian historical setting was distinct and writing beautiful but economical and to the point, if a bit too modern for the story and world it was portraying.

However, I’m not sure I entirely understood the rather conveniently used magic system and my immersion was broken multiple times by the abundant plot and worldbuilding info dumps. I understand that the characters had to appear clever and knowledgeable, especially when figuring out riddles and connecting clues to move the plot along, so I think I would have benefitted from reading this physically rather than on audio, as I’d have been able to retain and visualise the details more clearly.

The book is fast-paced and entertaining if you can keep up with its intricate reveals and twists & turns. Despite the dynamic plot, however, I find that the high stakes don‘t mean much unless you’re 100% invested in the characters, which, unfortunately, I wasn‘t. The characters, albeit likeable enough, never quite leapt off the page for me but I enjoyed their dynamics and how their talents and smarts were utilised in specific situations.
I think the main reason why I didn’t click with this book as much as I had wanted to was because it was trying to pack too much and didn’t have the page count or platform, as a 388-page-long YA fantasy, to delve into any of its elements too deeply. The author tried to incorporate mythology, history, religion, social critique, identity issues and more, into an engaging high-stakes narrative, while attempting to make you invested in 6 distinct characters, their relationships and backstories, AND craft a well realised magic system, AND preserve its vivid historical setting. The scope and project of this book is commendable but I wish it had been written as an adult fantasy series, where the ugliness of the privileged world could fester, magic would be incorporated into the world more smoothly, the characters’s internal struggles had space to slowly bubble to the surface, making them come off less two dimensional, etc.

Still, this novel is certainly on the better and more ambitious side of the YA spectrum and I highly recommend it if you want to kill a weekend with a fast read.

Thank you very much Hodder & Stoughton & NetGalley for the audio ARC, I’ve been meaning to read this for years and am glad I finally ticked it off my list. The narrators did a great job differentiating the characters‘ voices though I think the exaggerated French accent came off almost comical at some points.
I‘m intrigued by the ending enough to continue with the series at some point.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc!

I loved the narrator and this book was a joy to read. I’m so happy to see an autistic female main character, I rarely see myself reflected in media, and this was really refreshing :))

This was a fun, thrilling, fast-paced heist style story with a fabulous cast of characters. A great historical fiction that covered colonialism and included diverse/ characters including poc, mixed race as leads. Laila and Severin had great chemistry and the story around them flowed well. The overall plot was intriguing and pace of narrative brilliant!
I truly enjoyed this! And the audiobook was absolutely fab!

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed the narrator and will be getting the whole series from audible, Roshani Chockshi built an incredible world with very interesting characters. Will definitely be finishing the trilogy.

A YA historical fantasy with a whole host of fun, eclectic characters, shifting friendships and witty repartees that really bring the story to life. There are mysteries and riddles to be unravelled, heists to be brought off and wrongs to be righted. This is definitely one for fans of Six of Crows.

Love, loyalty and a need to belong drive the heart of this adventurous and mischievous gang and reminded me of my favourite gang of thieves, The Crows from Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse. They definitely have a lot to learn from The Crows about heist planning, but their riddles to solve were certainly intellectual ones. I loved the setting of 19th century Paris and the world building was wonderful.

I really liked the depth and diversity of the characters. There is not just representation of neurodivergent, bi, mixed race and Jewish characters, but an exploration of how each character experiences the world and the joys and challenges this brings; from the legacy of fear of Russian pogroms, fighting against colonialism, to discussing being biracial and passing.

Listening to this audiobook was a fun adventure: it was so excellently performed by the two narrators that it felt like a full cast ensemble. Although, I found the voice P. J. Ochlan chose for the main narrator a little grating, but that's just my personal preference.

I was excited to find that the same duo have recorded the entire Gilded Wolves trilogy and that it is available now on audiobook, as I really want to continue the story with them.

Favourite quotes:
- "Tristan, my love,” said Laila with dangerous calm. “If you get in the way of a woman’s battle, you’ll get in the way of her sword.”
- “Fear grew in places unlit by knowledge.”