Rating: 5/5 stars

Author: Roshani Chokshi

Stand-alone or series: series (book #1)

Page Number: 384

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi lives up to the hype and more. This book is everything, and has certainly become a favourite. If you didn’t know, this book is about a group of friends who commit a heist to acquire an object that would change all their lives. Along the way, they discover secrets, people, and themselves.

I have a lot of thoughts and things to talk about, but first I must address what everyone says: The Gilded Wolves is NOT like Six of Crows.

Yes, they’re both heist novels, but the fact that people liken these two to each other just shows they need to read more heist novels. The tropes of a group of friends, heists, found family, etc are all well-known tropes that Six of Crows doesn’t own. I do urge people to read the two to make their own opinion, but I found that the similarities are purely those that can be found in other novels. If it wasn’t for people saying those two are the same, it would have never occurred to me.

Also, I want to talk about the representation in this book. Some people say that Six of Crows has better representation than this book.

No.

The Gilded Wolves and Six of Crows both have excellent representation, and they represent different groups. But Six of Crows and The Gilded Wolves are not in the same level. The depth and detail The Gilded Wolves goes into to show racism, colonialism, and representation is more than Six of Crows can ever do. And that’s because Roshani Chokshi has more to say about this all, has experienced and knows more than Leigh Bardugo has and can. Note that I’m not say the representation in Six of Crows is bad, because it’s not. It’s different. I think it’s unfair to even compare the two, but people, of course, do.

One of the parts that really hit was (MINOR SPOILERS) when Zofia and Laila we’re out, and the security guard approaches Zofia and dismisses Laila as her maid.

Let that sink in.

Okay, now that we’ve talked about that, let’s talk about the plot and characters, my likes and dislikes!

SPOILERS BEYOND THE QUOTE

When you are who they expect you to be, they never look too closely. If you’re furious, let it be fuel.

I’m going to talk about each of the characters, since they each deserve a paragraph of my feelings.

First up, my love:

Zofia: I love Zofia. I don’t know how it happened, when it happened, just that one moment I found myself wanting to protect her from all harm. Her chapters were my favourite. The way she talked about math and science . . . it spoke to me. I’m a huge math and science nerd, as evident by the fact that I went and learned how to solve for the golden ratio when Zofia talked about it (I’m not kidding). I learned from Zofia, and I can only hope to be half as smart as she is in the future. Half as eager to learn. Half as brilliant.

I have seen around the book community that Zofia is autistic. I don’t know any people on the spectrum, so I can speak to that but what Zofia thought and said and did matched what I know about autism. I don’t know if it will be confirmed, the book is set in 1889, but I think it did a good job.

I can’t wait to see how she grows and hopefully sets many things on fire along the way.

Laila: a Queen. She is a queen. The descriptions of her outfits, her actions, her personality . . . where can I find a friend like her? She’s the ferocious mama bear of the group. She bakes for them, takes care of them, but is still such a badass and independent girl. She wields her beauty like a weapon. And that ending? Where she made that oath with Séverin? She knew he was lying to her, and now he has to spend three weeks with her as his “mistress” and he’ll be so sorry he said those words to her. I can’t wait to see how that will play out! He really hurt her, and even though I love him, I would like to see him suffer a bit. No one messes with my girls like this 🤷‍♀️

Enrique: I absolutely loved this cute and sassy historian and linguistic boy. Enrique’s inner thoughts about what it feels like to be being white-passing and bisexual was great representation. His historical knowledge is vast and I loved his chapters. His relationship with both Zofia and Hypnos were greatly developed, and I can’t wait to see what’ll happen with those three in the next two books.

Tristan: it was pretty obvious that Tristan was going to die. He was barely involved in the heists and didn’t have as big of a presence as the others in the book. He was certainly cute, he was the baby of the group and I loved his innocence. I shed a tear or two when he died, and I’m certainly sad, but I didn’t really get attached to him that much so I can move on easier than other character deaths. And his death wasn’t in vain or just for the gasps. It has already set up so much for the next book.

Hypnos: Hypnos tugged at my heartstrings since the beginning. His desperation for friends, his hurt when Séverin kicked him out that first time, his ecstasy at being included, and his grief over Tristan’s death . . . man, that was something. He had no one and now he has a group of friends and as a person who doesn’t really have any close friends, seeing characters develop these great friendships makes me immensely happy.

Séverin: I don’t know what to say about him. I love him, of course. His character is very well developed. He was the leader of the group, but he felt like once of them too. He talked to them, laughed with them, and loved them. He wasn’t completely closed off. My favourite part is when he went to Zofia after the heist, and asked for her help. He knows them and is there for them. He’s a great leader, and I can’t wait to see how he’ll manage his grief and loss of his brother, and everything that’ll happen in the next book!

About the plot itself. I loved the heists, I’m a sucker for big mysteries and plot twists. I didn’t get the whole “omg I did not see that coming” experience from this book, though. I would have loved some more unexpected plot twists. But the plans were very fun to see play out.

The writing can be a little overwhelming and descriptive sometimes, but it’s also very magical and beautiful. I found myself wanting to underline so many sentences. I know I’ll reread it so I can do that.

It’s my first Roshani Chokshi book, and it won’t be my last. I’m absolutely in love with this book, and recommend it so much!

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts on it? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Thank you for reading and see you next time ❤