4.5 Stars
*Thank you to Teenreads.com and Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC of this book. Some parts may have been changed as I did not read the final book. Please know that all of the expressed thoughts are my honest opinions.
The Gilded Wolves was such a gorgeous book; from the scenic descriptions to the lovely cover, it was all fantastic!
Let's start with the characters. There are five main characters, excluding a sixth who comes in a bit later. Each are wonderfully diverse and very distinct. When the characters are all together, they really seem like a dysfunctional family.
Throughout the book, the point of view switched between each of the characters. At first, I wasn't so sure if I liked it, as I find it is often hard for an author to have six separate voices. However, I think that Chokshi was pretty much able to pull it off, even though the voices weren't as distinct as I would have liked. The lack of distinction in the voice sadly made it hard for me to tell who's perspective the chapter was from. Thankfully, there were character names on each chapter that helped me to keep them all straight. The different points of view helped give me insight into each of the character's backgrounds and ambitions; and while their voices weren't the most diverse, the characters themselves sure were! Each character is so memorable, and I loved learning about their history. I adored how Zofia thinks in numbers; when she looks at the world, she is able to see the patterns that make everything work well together. Her voice was probably the clearest out of the group's, and I loved reading things from her perspective, she is just the most interesting character.
I absolutely loved the plot of the book. I have never read anything like it! I loved how the Tower of Babel inspired the story and how everything came back to it. I'm pretty sure that when the tower fell, fragments were dispersed throughout the world. There are people in this world now with a unique skill, called Forgers, that can use the power from the pieces to build, grow, mix, and create objects.
The characters' goal was pretty simple, but there were lots of obstacles to get there. I loved how the book started with the gang stealing from an auction, an act which is fondly called an acquisition instead. The book wasn't full of action, as there were fun, almost group-bonding times. With each character coming from a different background, it was interesting to see what each character had at stake during these acquisitions.
The story was pretty much unpredictable, and I am glad it was. Of course, there were some pretty obvious parts, but I think that the most critical plot twists were a surprise for me.
And the ending, THE ENDING! Oh my gosh, so many things seemed to happen at once! (And it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.) I'm not going to say much, except for the fact that I need the next book in the series now!
Chokshi's writing is truly incredible! The world in The Gilded Wolves is absolutely stunning and so vibrantly filled with details. The idea of having Forged clothing, walls, and even gardens entranced me. They were described in such an excellent way that I was almost able to picture what it looked liked! However, I never was fully able to understand how Forging works, nor what its capabilities and limits were. There was a part that lightly touched on what Forging was and the two types, but I never fully got an understanding of it.
The descriptions of the L'Eden sounds marvelous, and I would love to be able to stay there!
There was one scene where everyone was trying to solve a puzzle, and it was fun to see how they all ended up working together to solve it. One of the puzzles was rather simple, but the other one was a lot more complex, and I enjoyed reading how they put the pieces together.
In summary, The Gilded Wolves is a dazzling book filled with a rich world and memorable characters. The story is unique, and I have never read anything like it before. Forging, which is practically like magic, but isn't, sounds like such a fantastic skill to have. I only had two small problems with the book. One was that the voices of the characters (as the book was told in alternating perspectives) were not as unique as I would have liked them to be. The other very small problem I had was that Forging was never fully explained. I would have loved to know if Forging had any limits and if it takes a toll on someone when they Forge. Overall, however, this book was magnificent. I loved every moment of it, and I can't wait for the next one! I would definitely highly recommend this book to all of my friends.