by Roshani Chokshi
rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
published: 15th January 2019
spoilers? none
Goodreads
Wolves were everywhere. In politics, on thrones, in beds. They cut their teeth on history and grew fat on war.
Galley provided by publisher
If you enjoyed Six of Crows, in particular the unlikely found family trope, its heist shenanigans, and general chaos, then you had better be prepared to read (and fall in love with) this book. The Gilded Wolves is a gorgeously written, historical/dystopia/futuristic heist novel (no, that's not an oxymoron), with six wonderful main characters who you can't help but love.
The novel is set in Paris, 1889, and introduces the shadowy Order of Babel, who control Forgery, a form of magic. The Order "collects" Forged items from countries across the globe. Séverin, our main character (insofar as you can identify the main), is the last surviving member of the disgraced House Vanth, consumed with the desire to exact revenge on the Order for cheating him out of his inheritance. When a routine heist reveals something unexpected, Séverin and his team (Laila, Tristan, Enrique and Zofia) are enlisted by the Patriarch of House Nyx, Hypnos, to find a hidden artefact.
What I especially loved about this book was the characters. Firstly, the main cast is really diverse - four of the main six are characters of colour and two are mlm (one is explicitly bi, and allowed to crush on both male and female characters in the book). Though, yes, I do live in hope that one of the girls is going to be wlw as well, but who knows. Secondly, for most of the book, I genuinely couldn't decide which of them was my favourite. Of course, if you know anything about my type of character, you can probably pick out which of them ended up being my favourite, but that didn't stop me loving each of them individually.
Throughout the book, I think I was in awe of how well Roshani Chokshi can develop a plot and her characters simultaneously. Every one of them is fully rounded, and even when you're not in their POV, you can just feel them coming off the page with life. I think that was most obvious for Hypnos because for most of the book he was only viewed through other characters' eyes, but you still get such a clear idea of his character it's almost as if you did get that time in his POV.
I also want to gush over the plot itself for a bit. It's so intricately woven and thought out, and so engaging you don't even think to put the book down for a moment. And then just as you think everything's sorted out now, everything's happy, suddenly Roshani Chokshi pulls the rug from under your feet, breaks your heart, and turns everything upside down, so all you're left with is a cliffhanger, a lot of soggy tissues and at least a year-long wait to find out how it all gets resolved.
If there was anything at all that I didn't like as much about this book, it was the love triangle. I wouldn't have minded so much, but I disliked one of the sides of it. In my opinion, they'd have worked better as becoming really good friends instead of having relationship potential (and then I could escape that particular romantic angst), but I guess I'll have to wait to see where it gets taken in book 2. Also, I know I was expecting more of a historical atmosphere to this book, but it's not really historical so much as a kind of futuristic past (because of Forging), if that makes sense. That it's set in Paris in 1889 is relegated to the background almost, so if you're going in expecting it to be very historical or historically accurate, then you might be disappointed.
So, if I hadn't made it clear before now, this is definitely a book you're going to want to read. Maybe multiple times over just to fully absorb every little detail about it. Just make sure you're prepared for a broken heart.
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