The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves #2)
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: September 15, 2020
Pages: 416
Available Through The Book Depository & Bookshop
Cover Design: Kerri Resnick
Summary: 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 rumoured to grant its possessor the power of God.
Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into 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.
A tale of love and betrayal as the crew risks their lives for one last job.
*Minor spoilers, but overall a spoiler-free review*
My Rating: ★★★★☆ ½
My Thoughts: The Silvered Serpents is an enthralling follow-up to The Gilded Wolves! An enchanting alchemy of mythology, clever puzzles, history, and gripping storytelling deliver new dimensions to the phenomenal cast! The stakes are more heightened than before to preserve the group’s friendship and intense love for one another. This sequel is darker, more mysterious, dazzling, leaving you wanting the next book right away!
The Silvered Serpents is set months following the travesty that left the crew haunted. While each member is attempting to lay down their own roots, persisting despite the trauma of Tristan’s death, the Order pulls the team together again for one more job.
Brought to the heart of a long-secluded palace in the depths of Russian winter, The Sleeping Palace and search for a legendary tome called ‘The Divine Lyrics’ promises a radiant future for each of them, especially for the crew’s enigmatic leader Séverin Montagnet-Alarie.
“He was doing this for them.For his friends…so he endeavored to feel nothing at all…” (21, The Silvered Serpents, Roshani Chokshi).
My lovable crew of 19th-century puzzle solvers were just suffering so much in this book, but it was all in the name of love okay? The relationships, both romantic and platonic, allow us to see the inner desires each of them seek and the fears they must face to get there. Its great to see how the group dynamics evolved as each of them were undergoing their own change too (+ the banter of course continues)!
During the crew’s time spent apart, Zofia was back in Poland looking after her ill sister Hela, Enrique continued to build his reputation to meet with the Illustrados, and Laila, burying the truth of the limited time she has left, continued her job as L’Engime. While Séverin is rooted with a deep fear that he will be left behind as the crew carries on.
What made this sequel so captivating was how Chokshi masterfully fleshes out the characters vulnerable, intimate sides, even the depths to their souls in ways we now realize, we’d just barley scratched the surface of in TGW. I’m not entirely sure how much I want to talk about in this review (because spoilers), but my hope is that I get across just how brilliant Chokshi is at the navigating the character development in this sequel!
Séverin quickly learns there’s a price to pay for the inclination of power, even in his pursuit to become a god. Laila is coming to terms with her existence and mortality as the race to find ‘The Divine Lyrics’ can change everything for her, even confronting the love she has for Séverin. Zofia, doesn’t want to be seen as a burden, but she’s coming to better understand the energy, emotions, and banter of the group. Enrique is trying to continue proving himself as a historian along the way and is reminiscing on what motivates him to stay with the group, even navigating his feelings for Hypnos and Zofia. And then poor Hypnos, just wants to find his place in the group and stumbles a bit along the way.
As the crew reaches the palace, via a well-hidden pair of spectacles, you see that each acquisition along the way allows for the crew to evaluate their own skills and test the relationships they have with each other. Zofia and Enrique as we know, didn’t always get along in book 1, but let me just say that changes a lot throughout Silvered Serpents (every moment they had together warmed my heart 💖).
What fans of the first can appreciate is how Chokshi really dives deep into each of the characters heads to examine more of their past, their desires, and how their handling grief, among other feelings. Their seclusion in the palace makes for lots of intrigue and forces the cast to confront different layers of themselves.
If you loved the lore and mythology of The Gilded Wolves, this sequel builds on that in a very interesting way, as always with lots of fascinating puzzles and history!
Chokshi’s writing as always is descriptive, poetic, lush, giving this sequel almost a fairytale-like quality. You feel like your right there alongside them and everything from the wintry setting, atmosphere, and our cast just comes to life. The tension, intrigue, mystery, and captivating aura of the story make the pages just fly by. I also loved how metaphorical the description and storytelling was for each member of the group’s story arc, it was brilliantly done!
Also a very minor spoiler here, but its just something I really wanted to talk about, the more I realized how it was such a big part of Séverin’s journey and its the idea of forgiveness. Without spoiling, he continuously reflects on what happened to Tristan, but what always lingers is the knowledge that what he’s doing will be for the good of the crew. Similarly when someone from Séverin’s past tags along, they have to come to terms with the significance of their past decisions and what it takes to make amends.
My only minor critique is that there are a couple new characters introduced and they add lots of dimensions to the story, our cast, etc. but I just wanted more background to them nearing the end.
As with Gilded Wolves, I smiled, laughed, even cried during this book! I fell in love with this crew even more and have a newfound appreciation for each of these books as a standalone in the series, because they each bring new dimensions to the crew we just adore so much! While each chapter is a page-turner, as the pieces slowly start coming together, you just cannot put this book down!
Now as for the ending all I will say is, it will possibly leave you screaming, at a lost for words (maybe both)? Also wanting the third book ASAP!! This sequel really blew me away and I’m psyched to see where the series is leading.
The Silvered Serpents is a fantastic sequel to The Gilded Wolves filled with heists, history, mythology, and much more! Chokshi dives deep into the crew’s heads adding lots of new layers to their characters! Love, friendship, intrigue, and grief weave their way throughout this book that takes the crew to the heart of a Russian palace! Chokshi has delivered an enchanting, captivating follow-up that will leave readers wishing for the 3rd book! The Silvered Serpents is not a sequel to miss!
Also want to give my biggest thanks to the wonderful Alicia @AKernelOfNonsense for letting me borrow an ARC! You are the best Alicia! 😍💗
1. Fierce Fairytales: Poems And Stories To Stir Your Soul by Nikita Gill
2. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves #1)
3. I Hear The Sunspot: Limit 1 by Yuki Fumino ( Sunspot #3)
4. The Phoenix Empress by K. Arsenault Rivera (Their Bright Ascendancy #2)
5. Planting Stories: The Life Of Librarian And Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise + Paola Escoba
It’s been so long since I’ve done a Reading Playlist and I found that these songs really fit well with the atmosphere, magic, and theme of friendship throughout the book!
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves #1)
January 3
1. Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi (TSTQ #2.5)
2.Vengeful by V.E. Schwab (Villains #2)
3. The Royal Tutor Vol. 2 by Higasa Akai (The Royal Tutor #2)
4. Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
5. The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta (The Brilliant Death #1)
6. Satoko And Nada by Yupechika (Satoko & Nada #1)
Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi (TSTQ #2.5)
A Thousand Beginnings And Endings edited by Ellen Oh & Elsie Chapman (w/ stories from: Renée Ahdieh, Elsie Chapman, Sona Charaipotra, Preeti Chhibber, Roshani Chokshi, Aliette de Bodard, Melissa de la Cruz, Julie Kagawa, Rahul Kanakia, Lori M. Lee, E.C. Myers, Ellen Oh, Cindy Pon, Aisha Saeed, Shveta Thakrar, & Alyssa Wong)
“For Teodora DiSangro, a mafia don’s daughter, family is fate.
“The Burning Throne of the Krushan Empire consumes and turns to ashes any who is found unworthy to rule, while endowing the rightful king with immense power.
According to EW, The Gilded Wolves “kicks off an alternately glamorous and dangerous adventure, set in Paris near the end of the 19th century, with the world on the cusp of industry and power, and ancient secrets starting to get dredged up. The book centers on treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie, who keeps tabs on secrets better than anyone. When an all-powerful society seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin enlists a band of experts to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris.”
“The Tesla Legacy follows a precocious young scientist named Lucy Phelps whose fateful encounter in the Tesla Suite of the New Yorker Hotel unlocks her dormant electrical powers. As Lucy struggles to understand her new abilities through scientific experimentation, she is thrust into a centuries old battle between rival alchemical societies.
“Two sisters become unwitting rivals in a war to claim the title of Emperor in this richly imagined, Asian-inspired fantasy for fans of Renée Ahdieh and Sabaa Tahir.
A high-stakes survival story about eight teenagers who outlive an alien attack!
“I had a sister, once…
“We’re introduced to sixteen-year-old Nalah, who leads the fiercest crew in Mega City. But she envisions a life beyond brutal battles, partying in the metropolis’s hottest clubs, and maintaining curfew for the city-dwellers. Nalah dreams of getting off the streets and making a home in the elite Mega Towers, an exclusive residence that has top-tier resources including a school and health center. The teen receives the opportunity to prove her loyalty to Mega City’s founder: she must cross the border and find a mysterious group called the Ashé Ryders. But as she embarks on her journey, Nalah begins to question what she must do to get what she wants. And is a home just where you live? Or who you choose to protect?
“Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.
“