The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

“Sometimes the only way to take down what had destroyed you was to disguise yourself as part of it.”

Rating

Review

Yeah I'm not gonna go too deep into this, just explain my reasoning.

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of this book back in July. And I, sadly, was really disappointed by it.

When the finished copy came out yesterday, I grabbed a kindle edition and began reading it next to the arc, checking for specific differences that I felt would be necessary for me to enjoy the story.
Unfortunately, they weren't there.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, so I'll be as vague as possible. For my reading, so much of this fell flat: the characters felt like echoes of ones I'd read before (in a way that had me wondering how obvious the inspiration is allowed to be before it's a blatant ripoff), the puzzles were explained away in such a way as to make it feel like a Gen Ed lecture. Not to mention most of the things the characters were explaining was very basic stuff that I knew and, given their backstories and time period, they shouldn't need two pages to explain to their comrades. :x

I also felt that certain aspects of the storytelling were done for the sake of effect without realizing the consequences of it. There's a plot line concerning Laila that would have been much more effective if not explained so early, and not been directly after a scene that brings intrigue to her motivations. There are flashbacks involving a character that completely missed the mark for me and, after the 4th or 5th, felt cheap. The puzzles, while fun, could have benefited from more time before being solved, to give the reader a chance to try them for themselves (this is a nitpick, clearly a reader could close the book and try, but why would they bother when the answer lies on the next page almost every time?).

I think that's the crux of the issue for me: where the heists and characters in Six of Crows (the comparison is unavoidable) led the reader on a rollercoaster of emotions before giving them a satisfying conclusion, The Gilded Wolves gave me the answers before I'd started to care or predict my own, which simply took the fun out of it.

If you love this though, I'm glad. There's nothing inherently juvenile about the prose, the characters have a wit about them, and I can see the atmosphere being completely engrossing for some. It just wasn't for me. <3