Review: The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi Blog Tour

Title: The Gilded Wolves Series: The Gilded Wolves #1 Written by: Roshani Chokshi Published: January 15, 2019 by Wednesday Book (Macmillan) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Set in a darkly glamorous world, The Gilded Wolves is full of mystery, decadence, and dangerous but thrilling adventure.  Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, 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 will need help from a band of experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can't yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too much.  Together, they'll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay alive.

The Gilded Wolves was one of my most anticipated books of 2019. I mean, come on, it’s a total me book. Not only am I a huge fan of historical mysteries and heist novels, but I have been wanting to read a book about Belle Époque Paris for ages. This book seriously checked all the boxes and it is written by an author I have enjoyed in the past. It was a no brained for me. And while there is a lot to like about this book, it didn’t end up being a book I loved.

One thing I did love however is the setting. Belle Époque Paris was indeed the setting I was dreaming of for a book like this. Roshani did a great job of establishing the historical time and place. Starting of course with the backdrop of the Exposition Universelle and all the majesty and mechanics it brought Paris. This was the year the Eiffel Tower opened and I loved that Roshani showed how many Parisians hated it. But she also didn’t shy away from the more negative aspects of the Exposition and the time period including the “Negro Village” and the mistreatment of minorities and those deemed lesser. It gave the book a lot of depth and accuracy in terms of the period. The contrast wall the more obvious because of Roshani’s writing. She’s always done a great job describing the beauty of a setting and transporting the reader there and this book was no exception.

But the actually setting was only the beginning of the world in this book. There was also a really interesting magical system. The book is an alternative universe and what makes it that way is that this is a world where people have the ability to Forge which allows them to control a substance or a person. It was sort of similar to bending in Avatar: the Last Airbender. I liked the overall concept but it just didn’t feel fully-formed as a magical system. I like my magic to have rules, which this did, but those rules need to be explained. The reader needs to understand how the magic works. They need to see it in action. But I didn’t feel like we were able to see Forging as much as I would have liked. There were a few opportunities where we saw someone mention a Forged object or talking about how they could Forge but I would have liked to see it used in a bigger way. I think this was just a case of the author telling instead of showing when it came to the world-building.

The other thing I liked about this book was the characters. This is a book full of a diverse cast of characters including those of different races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations. Each of the characters had their own backstories and their own way they were trying to prove themselves. It was easy to root for them and want them to succeed so that they could overcome adversity. Although I do think that there was a lot of info-dumping in the beginning when it came to introducing the characters. Most of them had perspectives so it was a bit overwhelming to learn a ton about one and then switch to a different person. But the weird thing is, I don’t think one perspective was more interesting or engaging than the others. I think Laila might of been my favorite because she’s the one I want to know more about but all of them were compelling which is hard to do. That I think is a testament to how likable the characters were.

However, my biggest disappointment with this book was with the plot. I was so pumped to read a heist novel, especially one with a historical spin. And there was definitely a heist aspect to the story, and those were some of the best moments for me. I loved the puzzles and the near disasters that came with trying to steal something. However, it felt a little too easy. They knew every answer almost right away and then they would explain everything in such detail that it would take me out of the story giving the background of things like the Fibonacci sequence and the golden spiral. Heists are hard to do because you really need to have t all planned out walk a fine line between surprising your readers and giving them the knowledge to figure things out. This just didn’t do a great job of walking that line for me. Many of the reveals were not big surprises and I felt like some of them were too easy even for the characters. But I might just be hard to please when it comes to a heist. I tend to be good at solving things so maybe it was just me.

All in all, this was a good read, it just didn’t blow me away. It had an engaging setting and likable characters, I just wanted a little bit more surprises and magic.

I give The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi 8 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are new to heist novels and you want to read a book with a subtle mystery and historical fiction with diverse characters then check this one out. But if you are looking for a thrilling adventure of a fantasy heist this book might not be the beat choice.

Have you read The Gilded Wolves? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Crossing Over: Fantasy Heist Stories

Hey all. It's been awhile Crossing Over post. If you're not familiar with Crossing Over it's a feature that stemmed from my desire to recommend an adult book with crossover appeal based on a YA or sometimes Middle Grade book that are similar. I hate that we pigeonhole books into a specific age range and so I try to combat that. Plus it's basically an if you liked, then try but for crossover books. It runs once a month (usually) here and I pick the books based on the theme of what I'm reading. So this month my focus is fantasy and honestly this should be the easiest one to come up with but somehow it isn't. Maybe it's too general. But then the perfect idea hit me, heist stories. I love a good fantasy heist. It's the perfect combination between fantasy and mystery. So here you go...

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
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I really enjoyed this series. It's super fantastic and fill of action and magic and adventure and mystery. It really has everything. And the sequel is even better. I am still not over that ending! This is a book that combines a bunch of different elements that you wouldn't think would work well together and they do. For one thing, it's got an amazing world that is full of magic and adventure. I fell in love with this world in the Grisha trilogy and loved exploring it even more in this book. Plus it's a book that is super dark, which I enjoyed.

The best thing about this book however is the characters. It is a book full of interesting and likable characters. It alternates perspectives between a handful of characters and they are all fantastic and dark and terrible people. I mean it is a book about thieves and the criminal underground so you know they are terrible people. But you still totally root for them especially when they go through terrible things. And they really go through some terrible things. It doesn't seem possible that they will get out of the dangerous scrapes they get into but somehow they do and somehow they want them to.

And it's a heist novel so there is that fantastic aspect. My favorite heists are ones where all the clues or elements of the heist aren't revealed until the very end. I love when you think they are going to fail and then suddenly something falls into place that makes it all possible. This is that kind of book. It really is a great series that combines adventure, mystery, and fantasy really well.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
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This book and series came very highly recommended. So many of you fellow bloggers who love the same books as me, love this series. I  enjoyed the first book but haven't continued reading the series for no particular reason that I didn't have holes in my TBR. It's super fantastic and full of action and magic and adventure and mystery. It really has everything! This is a book that combines a bunch of different elements that you wouldn't think would work well together and they do. For one thing, it's got an amazing world that is full of magic and adventure. But it's a subtle kind of magic which is cool. Plus it's a book that is super dark, which I enjoyed.

The best thing about this book however is the characters. It is a book full of complex and likable characters. It alternates perspectives between a handful of characters and they are all fantastic and dark and terrible people. I mean it is a book about thieves and the criminal underground so you know they are terrible people. But you still totally root for them especially when they go through terrible things. And they really go through some terrible things. It doesn't seem possible that they will get out of the dangerous scrapes they get into but somehow they do and somehow they want them to.

And it's a heist novel so there is that fantastic aspect. My favorite heists are ones where all the clues or elements of the heist aren't revealed until the very end. I love when you think they are going to fail and then suddenly something falls into place that makes it all possible. This is that kind of book. It really is a great series that combines adventure, mystery, and fantasy really well.

These are both good examples of books I think can combine genres really well. It combines fantasy and mystery in a way that is thrilling and interesting. It really seems like an obvious choice though too because of the really dark with complex characters that you root for despite them being theives and rogues, not to mention that they're both heist novels so there is that. I think the main difference though is that with the Gentleman Bastards/Lies of Locke Lamora series is more of a long game. I'm not entirely sure what to say about it though because I've only read the first book.

Have you read Six of Crows and/or The Lies of Locke Lamora? What did you think? What steampunk novels with crossover appeal do you like? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Book Review: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

*** This is the second book in a series. If you have not read Six of Crows beware of spoilers and proceed with caution. Also... READ SIX OF CROWS! It's amazing. Here's my review! ***

Title: Crooked Kingdom Series: The Dregs #2 Written by: Leigh Bardugo Published: September 27, 2016 by Henry Holt Co (Macmillan) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: When you can’t beat the odds, change the game.  Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

After having such a not great reading month is September I think I am officially out of my reading slump. Because guys, this book was so fantastic! So so fantastic! I loved Six of Crows and so I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next in this series. Excited and nervous. And no surprise here, but this was just as amazing and enthralling.

The best thing about this series is probably the characters. This is a book full of a diverse and quirky cast of characters and everyone of them is complex and likable. But everyone of them is also incredibly dubious. These are dark and devious thieves and murderers and yet you love them so much. They walk that fine line between good and evil, which makes them my favorite kind of characters. We get perspectives from all six main characters here and it definitely makes for an interesting narrative and helps you connect with each of the characters making. Them even more sympathetic. I wanted to see them all succeed and come out on top. I wanted to see them all celebrating at the end with waffles.

But this is not the kind of book, née series, where things go perfectly. This is the kind of book where things go horribly wrong and you have to compensate for that with the next plot and scheme that means you'll win in the end. But that kind of plot is so compelling and I loved that about Crooked Kingdom. This is a book so well plotted and that things slowly start unfolding to reveal things that you didn't expect. With this book I didn't even bother to figure out how it was all going to end because I knew I would never be able to predict it. And I love predicting how things. But the charm of this book is that it is unpredictable.

The other amazing thing about this book is the world. I am a big fan of the Grisha magic system and I will always enjoy seeing it at work. There are also still some surprises when it comes to Grisha powers which was an amazing addition to the magical system. In addition to the magic, this world has a great setting. Instead of taking to a new part of the world, this book narrowed it's focus to Ketterdam. Which honestly was a great call. We get to see more of the dark and gritty underworld of the city which made for the perfect setting for this dark fantasy heist novel. I'm such a fan of this universe's world and Leigh does a great job building and explaining it with every passing book.

On the whole Crooked Kingdom was everything I was hoping it would be.I have been nervously anticipating this book for a year now and I am happy to report that it was just as amazing as the first book. This is an amazing series with complex characters, a great heist plot, and a dark fantasy world and Crooked Kingdom was a great ending to that series. But honestly I still want more!

I give Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo 9.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: BUY! f you loved Six of Crows then you will love this book, it is a great ending to an amazing series. YA fantasy fans should definitely check this series out. But even if you don't read a lot of fantasy and you like well-plotted and interesting mysteries especially heist novels, check this out.

Have you read Crooked Kingdom? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts? Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!