This is Six of Crows only without the darkness and in Bell Epoque Paris. There are 5 characters instead of 6 who plan heists and skulduggery together- a leader and displaced noble, his closest friend ( a plant mage), a fairly pansexual historian, a baker/cabaret star out of an analogue India (and leader's love interest), a female engineer somewhere on the autism spectrum. And I guess there's a sort of 6th, the guy that's getting them involved in this particular heist in the first place. Everything is very diverse in all sorts of ways which is nice.
The book itself felt more style than substance. The author went to the trouble to create a pretty interesting world, but then used the world as a setting for her characters to have arch dialogue with each other instead of doing interesting things. And there was a LOT of arch dialogue, which I mostly found tiresome instead of charming. All sorts of relationship complications, all sorts of characters lusting after each other who couldn't be with each other for some sort of reason, all sorts of teen drama. You may love all of this if you are an avid YA reader. I am not, although I do enjoy some YA. This was just too very. Too much cutesiness, not enough heist. Or anything else. A waste of an interesting world.

This book was amazing! I really loved all of the characters and their friendship. I loved the story and the writing everything was perfect! Can’t wait for book 2.

The Gilded Wolves was everything I expected and more. The characters were charming and different and each had an amazing personality that it was hard to guess who would end up being my favorite but they were all so spectacular that I picked them all as my favorite. One of the things I loved more about this story was the setup for finding the treasures, I really enjoyed seeing the characters bring out their set of skills. Overall this book is one of my favorites and I cannot wait for the sequel.

First off, the writing was beautiful!!! I felt immersed as if I was truly there. The characters and story were interesting and I am definitely look forward to more from this author!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beyond my expectations!
Thanks to Edelweiss, NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read and review The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi!
Whoa, that prologue! I expect intrigue, deception, action and suspense after reading it and chapter one alludes to all of the above! The complexity of forging and the variety of characters, all introduced smoothly and interestingly, attests to Roshani Chokshi’s writing talent. Severin leads L’Eden, his home full of wayward, talented people. Such as Laila, who’s skilled in baking delicacies, Zofia, her forging talents cause a bit of chaos, and Tristan, who forges diverse landscapes with plants. Enrique’s personality is fun and interesting. Laila is paradoxical with a unique birth story and the group works well together as they try to restore Severin’s birthright. Severin, along with the help of Enrique, manages to steal the compass from Hypnos; the compass that contains a map. The group develops another elaborate plan and as they begin to carry it out, Laila discovers Hypnos lounging on her chaise lounge when she enters her dressing room. She immediately assumes he’s there to stop their plan but Hypnos surprises her when he states that they need to save Tristan and Severin from death within the hour. By the time the story winds down, tragedy has struck and the group is heartbroken and struggling to move forward. This complex story is the beginning of a new trilogy that shows the beauty and horror of the 19th century, as the author’s notes acknowledge. I’m astounded by the fact of a human zoo at the World’s Fair in Paris and can’t really wrap my head around that disturbing reality. My respect for Roshani Chokshi has grown because of her talented writing, her research and her honesty in sharing the process of her story building. The world of The Gilded Wolves is based a large amount on reality, with a touch of fantasy. The dynamics between the characters and the puzzles throughout their search builds suspense and an interesting story worth 5 stars!

Séverin Montagnet-Alarie is a treasure Hunter and maybe more. When he is asked by the Order of Babel to find an artifact, he hopes to find something very important to him, his inheritance. He has recruited people with certain skills to help him. Each is as different as the other, but each special. Laila is important to Séverin in more than one way. Is she too different to love? This book is a treasure in it's own right. I loved it . Twisted is the first word that came to my mind, but in a good way. Can't wait to see what happens in the next book. I received this book from Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for a honest review. I voluntarily read this book.

This book has become one of my favorite books of 2019. The Gilded Wolves was absolutely amazing. Fast paced, great character development, and the plot was so different.

I just couldn't get into the writing style as it was so descriptive and info dumpy. However, the characters were great and loved the laila majnu ref: my Indian heart was super excited to see that! Overall, the plot was great but it was quite confusing and I kept losing track. I'll might give it another chance because the hype is too much!

The Gilded Wolves is a unique story. One-part adventure, one-part heist, and one-part fantasy, this incredibly lush story will transport you to another time.

It’s set during the turn of the 20th century in France (1890s roughly), but in a world that has a magic called Forging. Forging is the ability to enhance or reshape an object, although there are some abilities that allow a person to be able to view things about an object, such as the past. Severin and the crew of L’Eden are looking for the score that can make their dreams come true. When an opportunity arises to get their hands on a treasure map to the kind of score that can solve all their problems, they do what they do best, plan a heist. Of course, things don’t go exactly as planned, and soon there is so much more at stake than they had ever thought possible.

Roshani Chokshi is a must-read author for me. She’s wonderful at prose and writes such imaginatively creative stories. I guarantee that you have not read anything like this before. The setting is early 20th century France, and it’s dirty and beautiful, and her descriptions of everything are just perfect. The cast is a motley group of misfits (My favourite!) who have banded together for a common goal. The best part is that Roshani clearly included a lot of diversity in her cast, which was just a delight to read. Each of her characters has clear goals and personalities and their interactions were just perfect.

Also, I’m totally calling Zofia and Hypnos to be my favourite characters.

I read a pretty early ARC, so there were a few small typos that I imagine will be sorted out for the actual release, but I definitely recommend keeping my eye on this one!

**3.5 Stars**

This was like a magical, alternate history version of the Ocean's Eight movies, where a gang of people with different specialties/abilities are gathered by a charismatic leader who hired by a potential enemy in order to steal an exclusive item in an elaborate scam. Woo, that was a mouthful.

I had a very hard time getting in to The Gilded Wolves. I continued to read, even while I was lost on the world building and a little overwhelmed by the many, many characters and flashbacks. Slowly, the pieces started to come together and I finally connected to the story and rooted for my favorite characters. There were plenty of plot twists, betrayals and misadventures to keep me on my toes, this is for sure a story that cannot be predicted- there is no way these twists could be guessed (heck, half the time I felt lost let alone ahead of the game). It seemed as though a LOT was going on in the book for not a whole lot to actually happen.
I would say though that I would not specify this as YA, more just as historical fantasy, since the content and language is adult, where as some of the characters may be on the border of YA age (aka 18 and up).

The story is told from many character perspectives, with four main views. We have Severin the outcast lord who wants nothing more but to redeem his family name and protect his people; Laila the girl who doubts if she is real and can use her sexuality as the most dangerous of weapons; Enrique the flirty historian who is trying to pay off his debts; and Zofia the incredibly intelligent girl who can't understand a single human interaction and has a fascination with fire. Each character was so different and completely unique, with their own quirks, skills and motivations. I will say that Laila was the most intriguing for me, so intuitive and mysterious, basically the glue that holds them all together, and I want to know more...

Hypnose was hands down the best character in the entire book (in my humble opinion)- and he was not even considered a main character ... and he started out as a villain. But yet, he persisted in my heart. He was the comic relief in each desperate situation, the flamboyant character that had a effervescent personality that never failed and I hoped every scene that he would be present. Yep, he made the book for me.

I did not know that this was going to be the first book in a series, I wrongly assumed this was a standalone. But, geez, can Roshani do endings! I was blown away by the last few chapters of the book, it was so stressful and surprising and now I need the next books asap! I have questions!


Review can be found at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

This book was beautiful but it didn’t grab me how I was expecting it to. I really loved the diversity of the cast and especially how much history the writer included in the book, but somewhere it lost me. I wasn’t supper attached to any of them despite laughing with them on several occasions.

I really like Chokshi’s writing though so i will definitely be back for more.

This book was grand! I almost wish I had read it and not listened though. I plan to reread it physically again when book 2 comes out.

It was delightful! Such a grand adventure of sorts and the world building/setting was just magnificent. I can not wait for the next book. I love that I've found new amazing group to follow on their adventures.

I put this book aside around the 40% mark. Parts of it were interesting but I just wasn't connecting with the characters or the story. The writing was beautiful though. I think this is more of "It's not you. It's me." issue. I'm a mood reader and I've just not been in the mood for this kind of story. I'm going to try to pick it up again at some point and hopefully at that time it will catch my attention.

I like Chokshi, she's a good story-teller. This one falls in the middle of her works for me-- not her most fantastic, but not her worst (and her worst wasn't bad, just not as good). The story-telling here is good, intriguing and well-crafted. I had a little trouble connecting with the characters until about halfway through, but finally did connect with some of them. The story took a lot more set up and explaining than I expected, which also prevented me from getting invested until about halfway, but it was worth it in the end. I have many unanswered questions, which is good since this is a series, but hey.

I loved this story! I loved all the characters! I loved all the romances. That ending?! I can’t wait for the next one!! :)

What an absolute ride! Chokshi's beautiful writing is balanced with adventure, mystery and an important Author's Note that is certain to spark a thoughtful discussion. Definitely worthy of a purchase and teens will eagerly be awaiting the sequel (I know I am!)

Yesss!!! This book is a seductive wonder, and honestly I have no idea why people keep comparing it to Six of Crows because the similarities are... rather minimal. Both heist books? Yes. Both morally-grey groups of teenagers? Also yes. But beyond that, they're both excellent books and I adore them.

The Gilded Wolves is a story about a boy why *really* wants the inheritance he was denied several years previous and his friends/employees of his hotel/people who have just kinda fallen in with him somehow are there to help him do it. Every one of these characters is beautiful and precious and needs hugs and pastries and maybe an explosion or two for general excitement.

The world- an alt-Paris, circa the Exhibition Universelle- is gorgeous and rich and, as I said before, seductive. It draws you in and envelops you. It was a liiiittle bit confusing at times, perhaps, but the Houses meshed nicely and I need more information asap. The CLIFFHANGER destroyed me and I'm not. over. it.

Also, Cait from PaperFury's description of Hypnos as a "glitter party bisexual" is perfect and I can't improve upon it. PICK UP THIS BOOK. You won't regret it.

and if any more people say it's exactly the same as Six of Crows and thus boring, send them to me. i'll fight them myself. bc no

I know I was long overdue to read this book, but I was just not feeling and I wasn't interested in it at all when I did read this. Perhaps I'll give it another try in the future, but for now, I have to stop.

Though I wasn't blown away by "The Gilded Wolves," I very much enjoyed my time reading it. I was troubled by the world-building at times, and the switching perspectives, which is a personal struggle for me, but once I was able to adapt to that, it was a lot of fun! I would definitely recommend this to patrons looking for something similar to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Thank you to NetGalley, Roshani Chokshi, and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Historically stunning YA novel with characters that readers will fall in love with. I would recommend this book to fans of historical fantasy.