To be honest I was not the biggest fan of the first in this series. I was given the chance to read an ARC through Netgalley and I got excited. But, unfortunately, my excitement died as the story “progressed”. I say progressed with quotations because there was barely an movement in the story line. I felt like there was too much explanations given for the surroundings, the setting. I will not be reading the third book in this series.

absolutely adore this cast of characters. The setting and the world is so beautifully written, I just want more and more when I read

I was very much looking forward to this second book. While I enjoyed the first, I felt much more invested in the characters in book two. The main characters are relate-able, the suspense is palpable, and the emotions are high in this thrilling fantasy. The cast is fascinating, with backstories that are still unfolding, and mysteries yet to be solved are very intriguing. I will definitely purchase the sequel, and will recommend it to my fantasy readers!

This book had me speechless. This is one of the best sequels I've ever read and it quickly became one of my favourite readings of the year.

The characters we know in The Gilded Wolves aren't the same, they're changed by trauma and loss and each deals with it in their own way. The dynamics were even more interesting and complex and oh, the third book is gonna be even more so. I cannot wait to see where Roshani Chokshi takes this story but I know its gonna be a hell of a ride.

Chokshi's second novel in "The Gilded Wolves" series was leagues better than the first. It's one of those story lines that just takes a little longer to really develop, so book one fell a little flat with me. Book two, though? So much more engaging.

The events of book two pick up right after those from book one. Severin and the gang are continuing their search for the book that holds the secret to divinity, The Divine Lyrics. Chokshi begins with a chapter for each of our four POVs (Severin, Laila, Enrique, and Zofia) describing the motivation for searching for this text. While in the first book of the series, I felt like it took us awhile to get this from the side characters, it's clear from the start why everyone is making the choices they're making. Their quest takes them from their home in Paris to Russia to find the Fallen House's hidden cache of treasure, which for me was a welcome change from book one. While she maintained all the puzzle goodness, it is less trite and forced.

There were two issues for me: Severin's character and the love triangles. I acknowledge what Chokshi does with Severin after Tristan's death at the end of book one, and the motivation for his new-found "bad-boy vibe", but it didn't translate well until the very end of the book for me. I thought she could have done more to convey this in subtler ways. And there is not one, but TWO "love triangles" here. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but one made me violently angry and one seemed unnecessary.

This one was definitely more of a page turner for me. I had to put it down last night to finish the last 40 pages because I knew I was not going to be able to handle how this one ended. I will most definitely be reading the third book of this series.

I did not read The Gilded Wolves first, and it made it hard to follow the storyline. It was well written though and entertaining once I got into it.

Hi, my name is Skye, and I would absolutely die for all of the main characters in this book. I love these characters so freaking much. Roshani has done a tremendous job portraying each character’s distinct voice; you always know whose POV you’re reading. Their arcs in this book are beautiful. Seeing how each of them handles grief was heart-wrenching and utterly relatable.

Roshani has outdone herself with this book. This book definitely didn’t succumb to the “second book” syndrome. In fact, I think it’s better than the first book! There was never a dull moment. I loved this book from start to finish. The setting, the world-building, and the magic are all fantastic. Roshani excels at painting a vivid picture in your mind when it comes to setting.

I will say my shipper heart was anxious throughout this whole book. However, I have a pretty good feeling that both of my ships will sail in the next book! Woo!

My only complaint is that I need the next book now because that ending was CRUEL. Do you hear me Roshani, that was cruel of you to do to me?! Grudgingly, I will admit that the ending was cruel in a beautiful way. That’s all I will say about it because of spoilers. If you’ve read this book and need to vent to someone, message me.

Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about this book. I definitely recommend this series to everyone. If you’re a fan of fantasy and history, then this book is right up your alley. Roshani does an amazing job of staying true to the time period and the setting while also throwing in her own unique fantastical elements.

Phew what a ride.

I ended up getting the NetGalley ARC after I read the first one in the series. There’s a lot of death and the appearance of death in these books, so tread lightly.

Great concept and the more we learn about the characters the more I like them. There are some things about the world that is a little unclear to me, and that might be because there is another book in the trilogy coming out (hopefully soon!)

I got to the end of it and was like — “that’s it? Ugh....” but in a way where I wanted to keep reading and was sad that it ended. Also, cliffhangers...

Starting shortly after the devastating end of book 1, we return to Paris and the group around Severin.
Everyone deals differently with the loss of their friend and that is the main reason for friction we get to experience in the team. Thankfully a new acquisition comes along and everyone has to work together for them to survive.

In the first part of the book I just wanted to take each and every character and give them a good shake, because I just couldn't stand how they acted around each other.
For me, one of the highlights of `The gilded wolves` was the group dynamics they had. And to see them falling apart was just too sad to watch. But thanks to the wonderful writing I could understand, why they acted as they did and even though I didn't like it, it was a perfect fit for their circumstances.
The story was captivating, answering quite a few of my open questions from book 1 and had so many surprises I didn't expect. The tempo ist fast and sometimes the team stumbles from one fight into the next, always keeping the suspense high. The slower chapters bring wonderful breaks, where we get to learn more about the characters feelings or get to solve a puzzle along with the group.

My only problem after this near perfect read: Now I have to wait far too long for book 3!

A good example of a second-book-in-a-planned-three-book-series that falls kind of flat. Lots of clunky and unnatural dialog between the characters, whose sole purpose seems to be to dump necessary information onto the reader so that the next action sequence can occur.

Many readers enjoy Chokshi’s flowery writing style. I like it in small doses, but you can expect a lot of passages like the following as you read:

Séverin. A silhouette of silk and night, a boy with a mouth made for kisses and cruelty. A boy who had once conjured wonder and came too close to touching her heart. Laila reached for her hate like armor, but he was too fast.

Chokshi creates a beautiful world inspired by 19th century Europe, and this bridge to the final installment in the series was passable, but doesn’t stand well on its own merits.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for the digital ARC.

The Silvered Serpents is the second book in a fantasy series by Roshani Chokshi. Other reviews suggested that it was not necessary to read the first installment to enjoy The Silvered Serpents. However, I struggled to get a grasp of the story, relate to the characters, or engage in the events. After forcing myself to read most of the book, I finally gave up. I may come back to this one after attempting the first book in the series, but definitely won't read it otherwise.

I absolutely loved this follow up to The Gilded Wolves!! Chokshi has the ability to make these complex characters so realistic, yet fantastic at the same time. It was so nice to see all of theses charters together again- and see some people ones enter the story. The plot of the story seemed to move a little faster than the first one, which I loved. We also to see more talents from each character, and more romance.

If you haven’t read Gilded Wolves, do yourself a favor and pick it up! It’s an adventure that will not disappoint!

I picked up my copy of Gilded Wolves from Owlcrate and could not put it down! The writing is beautiful and the complexity of the characters had me fully engaged. However, this book was even more amazing than the first. The cover is stunning and the writing had me turning pages well into the night!

I highly recommend this series!

AHHHH SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!! I honestly knew I was going to love this one before I even started it. The Gilded Wolves was one of my top reads from 2019 so I can only guess that things will get even better as the series progresses. Not to mention that anything Roshani Chokshi writes is beautiful by default. So thank youuuuu Netgalley and the publishers of this beautiful book for giving me the opportunity to read this book and review it!

Like I mentioned above, just about everything Chokshi writes is like a poem. The vivid imagery, the deep characters, and the overall flow of it all just takes you away and puts you right in the book. Make sure to set aside all other activities because you wont want to put this book down.

I had a little bit of a time trying to remember the ending of the first book but easily fell right back into the swing of it once I started reading and everything came back quick enough. The banter between the characters has stilted a little since there was a rocky ending between the gang at the end of book one. Which led to some really awkward and tense meetings when they tried to bring them all back in the same room. But still, they knew they had to do it for poor Tristan.

I felt bad for Severin, not only did he lose his brother, but in the end his friends all seemed to be turning on him as well. They no longer felt like he was looking out for them and maybe he deserved it a little. But it was hard to not feel like they were giving him too much of a cold shoulder. He was just doing his best. And omg the tension between him and Layla was high. I almost couldn't stop cringing at all of their encounters.

Even through all the bad, this book was still so amazing. I loved the new setting and the different characters added to the storyline. I knew something was up with one of them from the beginning. I wont say who, but I KNEW IT!

And of course we are left with another EPIC cliffhanger to keep us all anxiously waiting for the third book to finally relieve the stress of not knowing how this ends!!!!!

LOVE IT And I CANT WAIT for book three!!!!!!

I am so, so glad that I received an advanced copy of this novel. Just like the first book of the series, this sequel was truly a rollercoaster of a story and I can't wait to finally be able to have a copy of it in our library. Also, that ending cliffhanger!

Ladies and gentlemen we have a big winner!!!! I proudly declare that I finished one of the best books of 2020 right now!

I cannot believe how much I loved this book, I gave four stars to the first one and but when I compare two of them, it’s only fair to give this one ten gazillion stars because this is so so so so sooooooooo much better. Can you hear I still slap my forehead for waiting too much to get this into my hands? BANG BANG BANG(Yes, my skull is too thick! Made by more woods than flesh!)

Our gang is back in business for another mission, both of them suffering from grief, toughened up, more serious and their bond got tightened. Severin is haunted the ghost of his great loss, building more walls around his heart not to show his feelings. He cares his teammates, especially one of them has the most special place in his heart but “love does not wear the face we wish” and he is about to learn it from the hardest way.

This book is darker and grimmer than the first one because the characters’ deep pain about their big loss following them behind like an ominous dark cloud and affecting their judgments, actions, mood swings. Of course witty dialogues and never ending sarcastic comments between Hypnos and Zofia thankfully save the most parts and makes us smile. I already admitted that I fell in love with those team members at the first book. Every one of them were developed realistically make you feel like you have friends with them in your real life and you want to hang up with them, drinking coffee, talking about last twitter trends (okay I shut my mouth before I wear straitjacket again. Did I say again? Ups! Okay I should get a drink and stop typing.)

The rising tension of the book can make you say goodbye to your nails, to your hands and maybe entire arms. Stop biting them and concentrate on the pages! And I have to say something about incredible writing of Roshani Chokshi : the first book is great start but this book gave me skyrocket effect with its fast pacing, incredible story progression, exciting development, all those twists made my head spin so much and I’m still dizzy and confused right now! With her perfectly written, magical, philosophical, intriguing book with its amazing political references, she is taking you to a journey around Russia. She definitely worked her skills to create magical journey and made her words twist and dance around the pages, captivating us with this well-crafted story that we wish it never ends.

And after last revelation, I splash a big ice bucket on my head but I am still in shock, talking nonsense. Yes, I didn’t see it coming and I cry out louder in the middle of the night. My husband is begging me to stop screaming. But I cannot! Because this is torture to wait for what’s gonna happen next.

I feel so lucky to have a chance to become one of the first readers of this book and I hope I will be also the one of first ones to read the upcoming work. (Last time I felt the same when I had to wait for two and half years for last season of GOT! Luckily I’m sure my waiting for this book will not result with full of frustration. This author is too gifted to write anything wrong.)

So when I talk about loving middle books in a trilogy, it's because of books like the Silvered Serpents. It took an incredible story and raised the stakes to new levels. It's strongest feature being the relationships between the characters of the story. Roshani Chokshi took her time to flesh out the characters, their motivations, and their struggles. Which helped immensely with plot development because as things started happening, you had that inner knowledge of the character's fears and it made everything feel more stressful. Also the main gang are all my babies and I just want to take them somewhere far away and let them live happy lives.
In terms of plot, the story didn't pick up pace until about 50% through and that was honestly my biggest issue with the story. Once the plot picked up, the it was more engaging and all the slow build-up paid off. Plus you got SO many answers to the questions you had in Gilded Wolves. There was a lot more world building in this story because there are tons of lore and mythology drops throughout the entire book that provide more clarity about the world in this story. I finished the book feeling shocked but also thrilled because I can't wait to see what will happen in the final book.

A great sequel that rises the stakes even higher than before!

Being with these characters again...I felt ALL the feelings. For me, the most engaging and interesting chapters were Laila and Séverin but I think that's also because I find their romance so angsty and just so captivating that it outshines anything else. I love, love, LOVE how despite there being romance plots in this book, these characters' arcs are not wrapped solely in who they end up with. Each character is their own individual person. They have fears, wants, desires out of life that makes them so integral and important to the plot. Everyone plays their part and honestly, these characters are so multi-dimensional that I feel like I know them. I love this friendship group so much I honestly could just take an entire book about them living together and just hanging out every single day.

I found the plot really intruding but I will admit that I guess where certain things would go from about half way through the book. So in some ways, it felt predictable but that is not necessarily a bad thing because while there were some things I could predict, there were many others that left me surprised by the outcome.

The ending has me shaking for the third book and I truly do not know how I'm going to wait for the final book! I think fans of the first book will not be disappointed by this book and I can't wait to see everyone's reactions!

I had previously discovered Roshani Chokshi's writing in the Rick Riordan Presents series. When I saw this book, I knew I wanted to check out Chokshi's voice in a universe all her own...and I was far from disappointed. This book is enchanting, and I love (yes, love) the inventiveness of this author. I'm looking forward to reading new words by Roshani Chokshi again very soon.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Silvered Serpents picks up where The Gilded Wolves left off and primarily takes place in Russia. Severin's grief made it feel darker and less light-hearted than The Gilded Wolves which I was glad for since The Gilded Wolves seemed to be lacking some gravitas for the situation. I also found myself becoming more and more interested in Hypnos and Sofia and less interested in Severin as he continually distanced himself from his friends.

Overall, I enjoyed this 2nd one even more than the 1st one and more than a little miffed at having to wait so long for the 3rd book.