The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi


Set in a darkly glamorous world, The Gilded Wolves is full of mystery, decadence, and dangerous but thrilling adventure.

Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will need help from a band of experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can’t yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too much.

Together, they’ll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay alive

Publication January 15th, 2019 by Wednesday Books

Welcome to a Paris where magic hides before your eyes. In the story of The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi, we follow the lives of five (six…kinda) friends who are working together to achieve their own personal goals.

Séverin wishes to restore what ripped away from him. Enrique wishes to be acknowledged and praised for his knowledge. Tristan wishes to live a happy life and help his best friend’s dreams become true. Zalia wishes to unwrapped the secrets of her talent. Zofia wishes to take care of her sister and return to University. Hypnos wishes to have true friends.

Each character is an outcast in their own way, each very different but these differences is what makes them an unstoppable team that could change the world. Chokshi’s work could be compared with Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology, but The Gilded Wolves is a whole different level. While Six of Crows was edgy and intense, The Gilded Wolves was dazzling and powerful.

As a woman of color, I identified with each one of these characters and their struggles to be seen outside the outer layer of their body. Especially Enrique. After all, we are more than the outer shell we are forced to display to the world. I felt for each one of them, their fears, their goals, their love, their friendships.

Through the various perspectives, the character-driven story will make you forget that you are reading a historical fantasy instead of a straight out fantasy novel.

You can see that Chokshi took her time to research and learn about the history and lore of various countries to later twist them to make them her own. This attention to detail is much like a fancy dessert at a French bakery.

The prose is like an exquisite delicate fruit tart purchased at that French bakery, each bite worth every penny as you are transported into a world that is exactly and nothing like your own. Chokshi’s mystical writing is poetry to the senses that will keep you captivated till the very last page. I fell so deeply in love with her whimsical writing that I found myself reading certain paragraphs over and over because the writing was a beauty that deserves to be read multiple times.

Chokshi’s The Gilded Wolves is a work of art that will keep you yearning for more after tearing your heart out. Her writing is goals.

If there is one book you should read in 2019, it’s this one.

Personal Rating: 6/5


3 responses to “The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi”

  1. You had me at “character-driven”! I was interested before, but reading that just made me wanted it so much more 🙂

    • Please read it! It is so so so so good! If there is one book you must read this read, it should be this one.

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