My Rating: 3.75
Goodreads summary: https://bit.ly/2RRB1hj
My Thoughts
The Gilded Wolves was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I honestly don’t
know how to feel about it. As one of my most anticipated releases, I was expecting a lot, especially when it was being marketed as a combination of Six of Crows and National Treasure, both of which I’m trash for. For me, it felt like reading two different books. I wasn’t the hugest fan of the beginning but the second half of the book was action packed, nail-biting, and overall amazing. The first part was a 3 star read while the second half was a solid 4.5/5 stars. Overall, I’m giving this book a 3.75/4 stars but until I reread, it’s probably going to stay at 3.75?
The first half of the book was really hard to push through. The plot was really overwhelming to understand with all of the historical/cultural/religious references and the magic system of the world. I often ended up having to reread bits of the beginning half because the complexity of the magic system made things confusing and also because I didn’t quite catch the references that were being thrown at me. I think that those with more historical, religious, and cultural insight might have enjoyed the first half of the book more than I did.
I think one of my main problems with this book is how it began. The story jumped right into an action scene where we were introduced to some of the main characters and right away, I was starting to get confused with distinguishing the characters. I had a hard time trying to differentiate some of the characters, especially Severin and Enrique, because they seemed to have the same personalities.
This book also promoted a lot of romantic tension that will have readers wanting more. In the first 150 pages, I really didn’t care for the romantic pairing in this book. While I found some of their interactions in the first half to be filled with “some” romantic tension, most of the times, I was just annoyed. I feel like if you want to market a nail biting romance, you should cement the romantic tension and intrigue in the beginning of the book instead of repeating the same inner dialogue between the two characters every single time they encountered each other. While I understand that the “event” they both often reflect on is quite significant for them, it got quite boring to read about.
Now, after you hit the half way mark, shit hits the fan, excuse my French *pun intended*.
Somewhere along the way, things definitely picked up and I went from feeling overwhelmed and somewhat disappointed with this book to screaming out loud and feeling emotionally wrecked for and with these characters I’ve somehow got emotionally connected to.
I started to connect with the characters more and as I read more from their POV, I got to learn all about their quirks and differences. I absolutely fell in love with Zoya and she honestly might be my favorite character in this book. I’ve heard from some sources that Zoya may have autism and while I’m not sure how accurately this is represented, I definitely loved reading from her perspective the most.
The one thing that Roshani Chokshi outdid herself and others is with the inclusion and talk of diversity. While many YA and other fiction are including more diverse characters, the talk of diversity and how it is to be diverse and “different” from the norm is not so much addressed. Roshani Chokshi’s writing really stood out in the passages when characters addressed topics of being mixed race, religiously ostracized, racism, and more. As a person of color and growing up as not the “norm”, I found these passages to be especially moving. I also love how she addressed the topic of colonialism in this book as it’s sadly, not a time period that’s addressed frequently.
Also the romance in the second half? Oh my gosh, the tension finally got real and yes, I did end up wanting more. The real winning aspect of this book though is the action scenes. The action scenes are what bring the National Treasure aspect into play. I can definitely see some of the obstacles, riddles, and fights being written into a National Treasure movie. The writing in these scenes had me flipping through the pages so fast. The writing is so easy flowing and visually expressive that it felt like I was the one being hunted down.
The epilogue left me in a state of brokenness. Everything I thought I knew… suddenly I don’t know? I don’t know what to think of anyone anymore, I can’t even comprehend the things that have been unraveled… all I know is I’m scared for basically everyone and I need the second book now.
In conclusion, the first half of the book drags, it’s very dense in information and references but if you hold out, reread some sections, you’re in for a treat. For me, the second half of the book was everything that was promoted. It was full of action that had your heart racing and characters you’ll fall in love with no matter how gray they are. It also focuses on some very important topics such as xenophobia, racism, anti-Semitism, and much more as well as the time period of colonialism that’s not often addressed in fiction.