The Gilded Wolves
Roshani Chokshi
3/5
Mixed feelings about this one. I love the historical fiction element, I love it when magic is thrown into history in cool and interesting ways like the forging thrown into this book. But on the other hand, I'm kind of confused about a lot of what happened. Books with so many protagonists don't usually click with me because it's hard for me to connect to so many characters. The plot follows Zafia, Séverin, Laila, Tristan, Enrique, and kind of Hypnos, a motley crew who start as treasure hunters and end as heroes. That's such a general description, but like even at this point I'm not a hundred percent sure who was the main villain or like boss battle of this story. Like I get it and I know who the villain is, but he also feels like he was just kind of randomly inserted at the end and I'm just still trying to figure out how this book is going to be a series. It felt like a mix of The Naturals and the Percy Jackson books.
It's also annoying here because we have five (maybe six if you count Hypnos) main characters who all live and work in this hotel, and then one character is clearly getting the least page-time and least plot development, then boom guess who dies at the end, you got it, the one who existed only to push the others to their ultimate destinies. I hate it when authors just straight up use a character like that, maybe this person will get depth beyond their death, but it feels like they were just a tool.
The ending was also super obligatory. We have that whole obligatory, "push them away cause I've been told love is bad so I'll use the boss-insult of all insults so they won't love me anymore" thing going on, and then a bunch of random time jumps to make up for the lack of plot.
I did love the characters though- the characters along with the setting really won the three stars for me. My favorite was probably Laila because she can literally do it all. She's cool and strong and all but she still bakes and does make-up and likes pretty dresses. She's unapologetic unlike other female characters written to achieve this balance, she just does what she loves. The whole crew is just very diverse and I like that, it makes everything more interesting. Zofia was also a favorite, I think she's somewhere on the autism spectrum (though that could just be me reading into it) and has sensory overload issues and social anxieties and such, we get to follow her as she tries to figure out how to balance all of these characteristics with her desire to succeed and bring success for her little sister.
That's barely anything about the amazing qualities of these characters. We also get a lot into mixed heritage and the whole "wanting to belong" thing along with a bunch of other great character lines. If you read this book for any reason, do it for a bunch of characters who are anything but basic. I don't know if I'd really push anyone to read this book though, just because of how confusing and roundabout the plot lines are, it's not a super exciting read. If you can handle all the confusion, then it might be the book for you. If you're like me and prefer a single or double perspective in a book, you might have a hard time getting into it.
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