I received the audiobook from netgalley.
I was excited to dive into this story, because I've read some good reviews.
But this audiobook was the proof that a narrator can totally make, or destroy, a nice story. I liked the characters and the world building, but listening to this was sometimes hard. The way one of the narrators did the accents of the characters was almost painful to listen to.
I would have enjoyed this book way more if I read it instead of listening

I didn’t enjoy the experience of listening to this audiobook. The narrators are unfamiliar to me so I don’t know if it’s them or the efforts at accents.
I didn’t finish the book because it wasn’t what I thought it’d be.
I like the premise though so I do intend to try reading a physical copy.

“Take what the world owes you by any means necessary,” Pride had said.
“The world has a shit memory. It will never pay its debts unless you force its hand.”

This is a book which makes you think about other things. It makes you think about scheming thieves in the shadows, ancient artefacts hidden behind secret corridors and the codes you’ll need to solve to find them. It was the perfect mix of the maturity of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code with some of the deception and treachery of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. This is a sinister book, but it has lots of heart hidden within the history of its characters and their almost familial bond.

Séverin Montagnet-Alarie is a treasure hunter, wealthy hotelier and heir of a forgotten Parisian House. The streets of Paris in 1889 are crawling with ancient secrets and the French Elite known as the Order of Babel. Séverin and his band of misfit experts seek an ancient artefact, a forgotten tome and a test to prove Séverin’s true inheritance as a reward. Turns out they’re pretty good tricksters, all told, but the subterfuge this requires could change the course of history if they fail to tread carefully.

French decadence exudes from the pages in the form of beautiful world building, glittering dresses and majestic architecture; this isn’t to say that the author does not acknowledge the grim realities of the time, with racism and anti-Semitism pouring from the mouths of the corrupt. The writing is stunning, the world building is exquisite and the characters are charming and raw in equal measure.

Séverin’s team of experts certainly feel intelligent, calculating and entirely part of his family, very similar in nature to that of the characters in Six of Crows, which is no small compliment. They each have interesting back stories, unique character development and specialist skill sets contributing to the plot; much of the dialogue is funny, really funny actually, and makes it difficult to not like everyone, even the less desirable Hypnos, a boy from a rival house they end up teaming up with when a theft from his treasury falls through.

The symbology within this book sets this apart from many within the YA Fantasy genre. Chokshi explores Chinese cleromancy, biblical mythology and theories, mathematical lore, Greek mythology, symbology and a touch of magic throughout the novel. This could have easily crossed the line between informative and overloading the reader, but was handled really well and added a really unique dimension to the plot. I loved the inventive and creative ideas of the author, who weaves clues for the reader, diagrams and codes to crack within the narrative. It just felt really well imagined and exceptionally well researched.

My only complaint with The Gilded Wolves was its superficiality. Given that there was so much research, a nod to various myths and legends and cryptography throughout, it’s surprising to report that the plot felt a little bit bare with a few rushed discoveries – it could easily have benefited from at least another hundred pages to give it the depth it truly deserved; to allow the reader to begin to piece things together with more of a challenge.

It’s difficult to not award this with 5 stars, because I think Chokshi completely deserves them after creating something as intricate as this. But the lack of detail in areas which I wanted to read more about just left me feeling as though something small was still missing; The Silvered Serpents should iron this out.

A found family goes on a heist that doesn't resemble Six of Crows' heist at all.

Okay, so this book was amazing. The accents were a bit questionable (but I'm not exactly an expert on accents, so don't take my word on that) but everything else was just wow. I love these characters so much, I don't really know what to do with myself now that the book is over (yay for two more books in the series that are already out). Also, what a cliff hanger! The next book is going to be so dramatic, I can't wait!

Roshani Chokshi deserves all the cookies in the world for creating this world, but mostly for creating Zofia and Enrique (as individual characters that is).

Magical, mystical, mysterious.
An excellent listen overall, but the accents were not up to par (they sounded Welsh at times, Italian at other times etc.) However the actors did a great job with pacing so I'll give them that! I do wish they had just done the audiobook in their own accents so we could avoid moments where a dubious "Indian" accent was brought out.

Now for the story!
It was so fun and fast paced (once you get past the first 15-20% which was kind of slow) and I love that each character had their own Pov so we could learn more about them. Zofia in particular resonated with me and I genuinely loved her character development in this book.

I do think some parts could have been cut down but overall, it was enjoyable and entertaining!
I'll definitely be picking up the sequel🤩
3.75 stars rounded up to 4!❤️

“History is a myth shaped by the tongues of conquerors.”

CW: Death, emotional abuse, physical abuse, parental neglect, antisemitism, racism, anxiety

I’m a little bit disappointed with my reading experience with this.
I was able to get the audiobook, but wish I’d read it in a different format. One of the narrators felt robotic, and they both put on poor French accents (that often sounded Russian). It really threw me out of the story and, where last week, I wouldn’t put an audiobook down even when I wasn’t enjoying the book, I just never wanted to pick this up.
Heist stories are never my favourite, but I did still enjoy this. I liked the characters and how they each had individual skills that would help with their mission - and I loved that we had smart women.
I didn’t, however, get a great sense of their found family. Often, it felt more like characters that were still just together out of necessity. I would have liked more history to their friendships and relationships.
I liked the premise of the world and the overall story, so I will definitely visit it again - but I think I’ll be trying the ebook next time.

The Story is set in an alternate version of Paris in the year 1889. In this world, some people can forge things and the forging ability is of two types, there’s mind affinity and there’s material affinity. Severin is a hotelier but he is also a treasure hunter and him along with his group of misfits are roped in with the infamous secret society called the Order of Babel to find a rare artifact, which has the power to destroy the world.

I am going with the positive aspects of this book first. This is the first book that I read by Roshani Chokshi and I really enjoyed her lyrical writing style and the use of multiple POV in the narration. However, the best thing about this book is without a doubt it’s characters, they are a very diverse and merry group and each one of them brings a very interesting trait to the overall story. I couldn’t get enough of the characters and the relationship dynamic between them. Severin, Laila, Zofia, Enrique, Hypnos, and Tristan care so much for each other and their banter was such a delight to read.

“Make yourself a myth and live within it, so that you belong to no one but yourself.”

Severin is the leader of the group and the brain behind all the mischief’s, honestly, it took some time but he eventually grew on me, his relationship with Tristan is extremely endearing and I am heart-broken after that ending, they honestly, deserved better. My favorite characters though is Zofia, Enrique, and Hypnos because I found them the most interesting and intuitive of the lot and their respective representation of Autism and LGBTQ+ was done so, so well.

I can’t praise the author enough for bringing this cast of characters together, they are diverse in both their color of skin and their sexualities and all of their struggles pertaining to it felt very real and fresh. The plot isn’t very romance-centric but the tension between certain characters was extremely tangible and delicious. I also loved the relationship between Zofia and Laila. Laila is the mother of the group and she cares for everyone but the amount of care she shows towards Zofia is so heartening and wholesome. Laila is the found sister everyone needs in their lives. Also, Laila is an #ownvoices Indian character, so many cheers to that. Apart from the characters, I also loved the setting of this book, the author does a fantastic job in bringing out the glamour and glitz of Paris to life and I basked myself in the decadence of the city which can be equally good as well as cruel.

I do think that at some places the magic system or rather the heist itself came across as a bit confusing. However, I really had a great time reading this and definitely looking forward to continue with the trilogy. The audiobook is amazing!

This story is so amazing I loved it last year and loved it this year. The narrator wasn't boring but just wasn't a fav of mine. But they didn't make the book unbearable which was great. This story includes my favourite tropes found family.heist. If you love Six of crows I'm sure you'll fall in love with these characters too

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Characters
A sure and fast way to win my heart in any book is a ragtag group of friends that bounce humour off of each other just as frequently as they do ideas. The dynamic within this group had me smiling as I listened to them banter, and the banter itself was nothing short of excellent. It was incredibly easy to fall in love with these characters. They had fantastic chemistry together.

The slow-burn romantic tension between Severin and Laila was electric and I relished every scene they shared together. I also love how they are like chalk and cheese. He's the serious type, mean and moody, while she is quite cheeky and fun-loving. She a performer and she knows how to use her talent and looks to her advantage, even against Severin himself.

Enrique became a very east favourite of mine. He's such a strong character and bursting with personality. If Severin wasn't present, Enrique could certainly carry the weight of the story on his shoulders. He's the funny one. Bisexual and dripping with wit. He adds a light touch to every dark scene he's in.

Zofia was a pleasant character. Loved seeing a Polish girl included, and one with my great-grandmother's name, no less. She's a logically-minded genius mathematician. Her understanding of emotions is little more than a chemical reaction in the brain, but she's still very capable of feeling those emotions. And her lack of getting jokes makes her the perfect double-act with Enrique. Again, chalk and cheese, but on a much more extreme level.

Tristan was probably my least favourite of the group. Not because I didn't like him, but mostly because I just never really felt like I knew him. All the characters had goals, motivations, fears and desires, and I understood all of them perfectly. But with Tristan, I never connected to him like I did the others. He sort of felt like he was just there and didn't seem to contribute much. He shone the most when he was with other characters, bantering with Enrique, for instance. But take the other characters away from Tristan and he becomes very bland and inconsequential.

Hypnos was a joy, obviously. Like Enqriue's personality on acid. He's gay, gregarious and ostentatious. Larger than life and born without a single fuck to give. For someone initially introduced as the bad guy, there's never a moment to not like him. He's fabulous from the word go.

The representation in this group of characters is incredibly diverse, in race, ethnicity, sexuality, and neuro-divergent.
Although there were quite few moments where the characters just reminded me too much of Six of Crows. Like Severin and Laila were so clearly Kaz and Inej. The tall, dark, brooding man with the plan and the multi-talented Indian girl formally working within an exotic trade of some kind. Plus there's Laila's ability which makes Severin cringe away from her touch. Much like how Kaz couldn't stand to be touched by Inej.
So yeah, In the beginning, they felt very similar, but thankfully, the more time I spent with these characters and the more they grew, they started to feel like their own being rather than cast moulds.

Setting
Set in France 1889.
The world-building is flimsy at best. Its strength lies solely in the fact that it's based on an alternative version of our own world, with our own histories and mythologies. It's Paris. All we need do is imagine Paris. Very little is done to build upon this foundation. If this were a secondary world, it would fall apart.
In general, the world feels more fantasy than historical. It seems like it's trying to be both but how can it, when it's set in 1889. There is literally a way people spoke back then and yes, I know this is a sort of fantasy version of France 1889, but sticking to the conventions of 1889 and then building on that would have felt far more authentic to the time period. I'm almost inclined to say I think an entire fantasy world would've been the better choice, but, as I already mentioned, the world-building was so thin already that a fictional world would never have been able to sustain itself. It would have simply collapsed
I've little ore to say about the setting as there was little supplied in the first place.

Plot
Okay not gonna lie. I think the plot itself is probably the book's biggest weakness. Fortunately, I'm the kind of character-driven reader that will overlook a LOT of plot flaws in exchange for loveable characters.
I found the plot to be very difficult to follow to the point where I didn't know what the hell was going on at points. I really think it needed to cut back and be more focused. It tries to be so many things, a personal stakes heist story, a mythology mystery, an Indiana Jones style adventure, then a high-stakes save-the-world story. It wants to be all the stories at once and, honestly, I was sold with just personal stakes heist. All the extra elements confused the plot and muddied the narrative a little making the over-arching plot difficult to follow.

The real villain of the story isn't introduced until too late into the book which sucks out much of the tension and stakes, despite how high they are. I felt I never had a firm grasp of the villain's motivations either. Like, what exactly was he trying to accomplish? and why? I think that's the biggest question.

I did enjoy the plot, and there were certainly some twists towards the end that surprised me, but ultimately didn't create the emotional response that it probably should have. This doesn't affect my overall feelings of the book, however. I liked it, I just wish I understood better what the hell I just read.


Writing Style
The writing itself is quite gorgeous. The prose is very well delivered and there are certain lines, normally regarding the sexual tension between Severin and Laila, that were just delicious. Despite the muddled plot, the pacing is rarely off, constantly moving and changing, evolving as the story does. Between the action scenes, the scheming, the heisting and the banter, there's no room to be bored in this book.

As I was sent the audiobook by Netgalley, I feel I should mention the audio performances. This book had two narrators, one male one female. The woman was great, injecting passion into every chapter and delivering the line with whatever emotion was required of her at the time. Her various accents, French, Polish, and others felt authentic and each were different enough to differentiate the characters.
The male was a slightly different matter, however. Though his delivery of the dialogue was faultless and his accents were great, the rest of the time he sounded like a news reporter or a voice-over on an advert—no variation in the narration patterns. Outside of the dialogue, he delivered every single line in the same way and it became distracting and grating. Once I'd noticed the pattern, I couldn't unhear it.

And I know narrators can't get every pronunciation correct all the time, but it bugs me when people mispronounce the Polish alphabet. For instance the mention of Głowno. The Ł letter is actually pronounced like a W, not an English L. I hear Ł often pronounced as an L and it bothers me just a little. But I'm glad the narrator got the Polish W correct, which is pronounced like an English V. I don't have a print copy of the book so I can't speak to the actual spelling of the word, but, yeah, it should be Głowno.

Final Impression
I liked it. I had a couple of issues with it, as I said, but I'm nothing if not dedicated to characters I love. Even though I've no clue what happened in this book, I'm willing to follow these characters into the fire once more and read the sequel. I'm just too damn fond of them not to.

THE GILDED WOLVES is a fun heist story set in a historical Paris where magic is controlled by a few, highly secretive families.

I love a well done heist movie and that's what this feels like. I wish we got more heists in books - good thing I have this trilogy to dive into now. We have puzzles and riddles and traps to get past (and a very "I have no idea how they built this on their estate as it feels very Indiana Jones, but it makes for a fun break in sequence" underground treasure vault.)

Zofia was probably my favourite of the many POVs in the book (basically the whole crew, but four get more time.) Though it's not stated, she came across as autistic to me, and I love seeing that rep. Just the daily "what are they doing?" difficulties with communication and custom were so easy to relate to. And her friends who are so considerate. Three dresses put out for whether she wants physical comfort, aesthetic niceness, or distraction? That gestures made me so happy.

It took me a while to get into this audiobook, and I almost stopped listening at one point. And that's not because of the story itself but because of how it's narrated.

The book (set in France with a diverse cast ) has a jumble of accents thrown in one after another. The pronunciation of the French is good, but many of the accents felt forced, over the top, and stereotypical. It got to the point where it was distracting me from the story.

It also flips between American accent for narration (with French words in a French accent tossed in), and then into non-American accents for speech. The constant, rapid flipping was so jarring. I think consistency (either use a French accent all the way through or an American one) would have made it easier to listen too.

However, the longer I listened to it, the more I got into the story. It's just a pity it was so distracting and took me a while to get into it. I might have been able to follow the magic system (which was "babel fragments" letting people do stuff? Somehow?) if I'd been less distracted at the start. Certainly it would have helped later on to know exactly what it could do, but I managed to get by.

The ending was so unexpected. I thought it had ended but then there was about two hours left, and that meant a big emotional shocker could be landed on the reader. And now I need to know what comes next, because we get the sense of how they're all reacting, and I hope they find healthier ways of coping!

The next books aren't out in the UK yet at time of writing, so I'm going to need to find something else to tide me over in the YA sphere until they do!

The Gilded Wolves is set in 1890s Paris when Séverin wants to find his true inheritance, following the Babel story.

"Who could say for certain what occurred in Séverin s head."

Historical Fantasy Mystery is what I like to call it that makes it a little complicated but with codes, mathematics, Greek, Biblical and eastern mythology, what should you expect?!
Yes, one more thing, there are four main narrators, 4 different points of view!

Séverin, heir to the dead House Vanth, run down a Horus Eye to catch a Babel fragment, use his own blood, and family roots to gain his right. In this way, he needs allies, a group, his band!

Laila a beutiful indian dancer with a sinister past. Her Majnoon is Séverin.

Tristan Séverin's brother is in arms if not blood. Lover of Nature.

Enrique a Spanish-Filipino historian banished from his home. Wicked, funny and bisexual.

Hypnos a dark-skinned heir of House Nyx. So humous and queer.

Zofia a genius Polish-Jewish girl who hardly understand human and feeling but is very good with numbers.

This is a 4.5-star read, so it's great and I'm going to read the next The Silvered Serpents, but I have my complaints:

The characters are well developed and each of them has their secrets and past, but why do I still feel I don't know what they are going to do, or can't describe them, except their profession?!

The story was about 12 hours, interesting and entertaining to read/listen to, but we were on only one path, maybe this was only a prologue to know the characters and world for the next great books.

The audiobook was okay, two narrators performed well, only the eastern accent was a little hard for me to concentrate on!

Leave up my complaints, this is a good start to continue a charming series!

My huge thanks to Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley for giving me a chance of listening to The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves, Book 1) by Roshani Chokshi, Narrated by Laurie Catherine Winkel and P.J. Ochlan, I have given my honest review.

The Gilded Wolves is the PERFECT historical fiction heist/fantasy story and I will screech about it forever.

Séverin is a wealthy hotel-owner in the dazzling Paris of the 19th century - but there is something that he keeps hidden, a destiny and an inheritance that was taken away from him and that he is desperate to reclaim.
When he is approached by someone who tells him they might just make this dream happen for him, Séverin puts together a team for the dangerous heist. Scholar Enrique, a dancer Laila with a terrible and deadly secret, a genius Zofia, Séverin's own brother and master botanist Tristan, and an heir (and the member everyone is wary of), Hypnos. As they work towards their end goal, slowly and with many unexpected plot twists, you can't help falling in love with these characters and their blooming friendships/relationships.

The Gilded Wolves is a book full of beautiful and vibrant characters, each with their own agenda and dream, fighting tooth and nail to reach them and finding home with each other. I absolutely adored this book with a found family at its center and I will gladly recommend it to everyone - a must read for anyone reading a diverse historical fantasy book with amazing rep and characters to die for! (But do prepare tissues, cause it hits pretty damn hard too!)

This is a very interesting and well-developed book that not only has a diverse and interesting group of characters, but also a very good heist-like plotline that has you intrigued from the beginning until the end.

I really like how diverse the characters are, they have very different personalities that makes this story feel very real. It’s rare to have people who are so different working together in YA books, and it’s refreshing that many of us can find someone to relate to in this book. And every character has a lot to bring to the story, too. It’s not like they are just there to be diverse, as I’ve found in many other books. Here, everyone has a role to play, an important role at that, and the story, and the plot, wouldn’t work without each and every character and their special skills and personality. Are they perfect? No. There are times when I feel like they come across as a little forced, a little too much “look how inclusive this book is”, which also makes the characters at times feel a little like caricatures. But I think that listening to this book rather than reading it helped with that too because the narrator did a good job at portraying the different characters.

I also find that the world is well developed and interesting and there are many aspects of this world that I’d love to further explore.

However, I listened to this as an audiobook, which with the narrators made for a compelling and interesting “read”. I enjoyed this tremendously. But, I also know that if I had tied reading it, I would have most likely put the book down. Reason for that is that I have a hard time with slow books. And this is a rather slow novel that sometimes take a long time getting to the point. It can be a little confusing and hard to understand.

I’d say this is a solid book with good characters and a well-developed plot. So, 4/5 stars.

I absolutely love heists, whether they're in books or movies. They are my favourite kind of story, and The Gilded Wolves did not disappoint. I listened to half of the audiobook and then switched to a physical copy since it was hard to keep up with all the names and maths (my little maths heart loved all the maths though).

The thing I loved most was the group of characters. They're all vastly different. And it was so wholesome seeing their interactions and how their different strengths and weaknesses fit into the whole task. The magic system did confuse me a little. If someone asked me to explain it to them, I probably wouldn't be able to. It was very intriguing though, so I'm really hoping there will be more explanations in the next books.

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

Let me begin by saying I absolutely adore this book. I love the way the real world and the magical world was woven together, the fact that each character was so beautifully crafted and how real the dialogue felt.

The prose in this book is beautiful yet also easy to read and so beautifully narrated! Each character is so unique, too. I especially love that Zofia is a neurodivergent-coded character. Her presence makes my heart so happy, especially because it's rare to see a woman with autistic traits in general, but the way her friends treat her is so beautiful too. She's not ostracised, but loved. I'm so, so, so happy to see this rep.

In regards to rep, this is a beautifully diverse cast of characters. Each of them brings so much to the table, but not just their identities: Tristan has a tarantula he loves, Laila is a pastry chef, Hypnos loves shiny things (and, same, my friend, same). They are all just so beautiful and lovable and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book.

The story was beautifully told too, and I think the heist is only the least of it. Because the story post heist? Wow. I am obsessed.

DESPERATE to get my hands on the next two!

I was so into it in the beginning. I loved the setting, the characters, the magic, the history that was involved, the puzzles and enigmas... I was having so much fun, like oh, I'm actually enjoying this more than I was expecting to. And then at some point it all went downhill. I feel like characters made stupid decisions that made no sense, the bad guys were bad just for the sake of being bad and the puzzles and enigmas started to be outright ridiculous.

On the bright side though, I loved the writing. I listened to the audiobook and at times I wish I had the physical copy just to tab my favorite quotes. I also very much liked the characters, Zofia especially, who is implied to be autistic. Enrique and Hypnos brought the wit and fun to the game and I was 100% into the angst between Laila and Séverin. Tristan was the only one I didn't really care about. Overall, the representation in this book was great, especially considering the setting was Paris 1889, so we all know what the race and sexuality standards (for lack of a better word) were.

It was an enjoyable read, but it had started so great that I was a bit let down when things began getting out of hand. I do plan on continuing with the series though, if only to see how long Laila and Séverin last without kissing each other in Russia and to have Zofia be unapologeticaly herself and win Enrique over with her practice flirting.

I really enjoyed this audiobook, the narrators did a great job! I have read this book before but I wanted to try the audiobook form to do a re-read so I could read the final book! I just think this book is unique and different from any of the other YA fantasies I’ve read! I love the found family aspect And that there’s a group of these random people who all come together to solve this interesting mystery and pull off this heist! I love the characters especially Severin! I’m really looking forward to listening to the second book!

This book has so much potential, a magical world to be built with an epic artifact finding mission.

Although I did enjoy this story I have to admit it was really hard to get past the first few chapters and actually know what's going on. Past the halfway mark it got loads better. I think the six characters needed a bit more development but did like the chuckle moments.

I will definitely read the second book to see how it follows up.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with this audiobook!

The Gilded Wolves takes place in 1889 in Paris, during the Belle Epoque. This book does a great job of showing the ugly (read: racist) side of the time. Séverin Montagnet, a succesful thief, needs to be accepted to the Order of Babel and to be recognized as the heir of the dead House of Vanth. He works with a diverse group of people, who have all become family to each other. Together they embark on a search for a magical object that will help Séverin finally get what is rightfully his.

The characters in this book, Séverin, Laila, Zofia, Enrique, Hypnos and Tristan are all amazing. The characters are so distinct from another but the relationships between them is what makes the book. I loved them all. The characters were diverse and it was interesting to read about their experiences in a 19th century Europe.

I loved a mythological and historical elements in this book. I’ve seen people say it was confusing and info-dumpy, but I thought it was woven in seamlessly and I loved those parts of the book. For me they were a nice breather from the fast-paced plot. A lot happens in this book and after a while it did become a little hard to keep up, but it didn’t really hurt my enjoyment of the book.

I didn’t like the audiobook, however. The male narrator pronounced some words (like Severin’s NAME) in a weird way and the audio quality was terrible. I don’t know if this is because of the Netgalley shelf app or because of the audiobook itself, but the sound was grating my ears.

I’ve noticed this book isn’t for everybody but I really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely be reading the other two books in the trilogy

I've been wanting to read this series for ages and I'm happy to have the chance to listen to the audio book.
The narrators are well spoken and are good with pronunciations but the male speaks a little slowly at parts which makes me want him to speak a bit faster at parts.
The storyline reminds me of SOC which I enjoyed but felt it was a little young in the writing. Definitely want to read or listen to the rest of the books.