Review: The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

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Series: The Gilded Wolves #2
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Edition: eBook/audiobook (416 pages)
Publisher: Wednesday Books (September 22, 2020)
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
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Synopsis

Goodreads:

They are each other’s fiercest love, greatest danger, and only hope.

Séverin and his team members might have successfully thwarted the Fallen House, but victory came at a terrible cost — one that still haunts all of them. Desperate to make amends, Séverin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long lost artifact rumored to grant its possessor the power of God.

Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into the icy heart of Russia where crystalline ice animals stalk forgotten mansions, broken goddesses carry deadly secrets, and a string of unsolved murders makes the crew question whether an ancient myth is a myth after all.

As hidden secrets come to the light and the ghosts of the past catch up to them, the crew will discover new dimensions of themselves. But what they find out may lead them down paths they never imagined.

My thoughts

I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

In this tale of grief, love and betrayal, Séverin and his friends assemble for one last heist that just might save – or doom – them all.

The Silvered Serpents is a story about longing. Longing for something more, a longing to be anything but who you are, to strip away the pain and loneliness and be something more. In many ways, this novel is an exploration of grief and love and how different people let themselves be guided by those emotions.

Plot and Pacing

The Gilded Wolves was set in golden glittering Paris, but with Tristan’s death, there’s a coldness casting a shadow over this group of friends. The setting reflects this, as the team makes its way to silvery, cold Russia to search for a hidden palace filled with treasure and secrets.

There’s plenty of mystery and elements of the first book start to click in place. I have to admit, I found the first half of the story quite slow and it took me a while to get through, but once the action hit and secrets started to unravel, I couldn’t stop reading!

Characters

Roshani Chokshi is a master at crafting beautifully flawed and complex characters with real arcs that you just can’t help but fall in love with. Every single character is being devoured by longing for something out of their reach. Laila longs to live, Enrique longs to be listened to, Zofia longs to belong.

Séverin takes this to an extreme, longing to not only cease to be human, but be more than human: a god. This desire guides his every action, he’s trying to be more than human because humans are fragile and the only way he sees to protect his friends, is to become a god.

As a reader, this was incredibly frustrating. I perfectly understood his pain and helplessness, but having to see him make terrible choices and continually hurt is friends made me so angry. Throughout the whole book, I simultaneously wanted to hug and punch him. Roshani Chokshi brilliantly plays with the tragedy of Séverin’s wish. It’s his biggest weakness and what ends up hurting him and his friends the most. And that’s what we call character development and great tension!

This book is for you if…

… you enjoy character-driven adventures with a diverse cast and a found-family dynamic.
… you like to feel the pain of characters you love.
… you’re looking for a great fantasy story with many twists and turns that’ll keep you guessing until the last page!