THE GILDED WOLVES BY ROSHANI CHOKSHI || PH BLOG TOUR

Words cannot express how thankful I am to be a part of yet another PH Blog Tour. Thank you to Rafael from The Royal Polar Bear Reads and to Shaine from Wanderer in Neverland for hosting this tour. Thanks for putting your trust in me again and for choosing me alongside these amazing bloggers!

(Note to bookdragons: I’ll include the full schedule of the blog tour below so y’all can read the posts of the other bloggers included in this tour. DO CHECK THEM OUT PLEASE.)

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play | Book Depository

ISBN: 978-1250144546

Publication date: January 15, 2019

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 is one of my most-anticipated reads of 2019 that’s why I transformed into a shrieking banshee when I got the email that I was chosen for the tour. There’s always this little fear when reading a higly-anticipated book (because hello high expectations) but I needn’t have worried. ROSHANI CHOKSHI DELIVERED A BOOK-SHAPED GREATNESS TO MY LIFE and yes I have found myself a new favorite author.

HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THE GILDED WOLVES:

• Chokshi’s descriptive writing style will leave you amazed and hungry

Emphasis on the hungry part. This book has quality food content that will make y’all drool. All the talk of cookies and cakes made me want to raid the nearest bakery and stuff my stomach with sugar-induced goodness. Chokshi’s writing style activates my senses, her imagery stark and vivid inside my cloudy (yet sort of brilliant) brain. For someone who finds it hard to visualize things, descriptive writing is really a blessing to me.

• It has diverse main characters I would gladly die for

MY HEART IS OVERFLOWING WITH LOVE FOR THESE CHARACTERS I CAN’T HELP MYSELF. The Gilded Wolves has a crew of diverse characters that you can’t help but fall in love with.

— Séverin, the leader of the pack, is the I-don’t-want-to-have-feelings-but-I-do kind of guy™. He’s not exactly heartless but he can be cold when he’s pissed off. I admire him for his cunning plans and the way he has this authority in him that is essential in holding their group together. I can’t wait to see how he grows in the next book. Plus I want to see how his relationship with Laila goes. I HOPE IT GOES WELL. I’m really getting tired of picking up and putting together the pieces of my broken heart.

— Laila is the mother hen of the group and I think all of them are going to starve and perish without her around. I adore Laila because she has this strong personality and charm that can make even Séverin (especially him) fold. SHE ALSO BAKES ALL THE GORGEOUS CAKES AND COOKIES which are important in the book of course. Séverin may be the leader but Laila is the glue that keeps their group together. I don’t even know what will happen if Laila doesn’t keep feeding them all.

— Then there’s Enrique. HE’S MY SOFT BANTER KING AND I LOVE HIM WITH EVERYTHING I HAVE. He’s Filipino-Spanish which means a lot to me because I hardly see Filipino reps in books. Enrique is an Ilustrado, which means that he’s a part of the Filipino educated class who sought reform during the Spanish colonization in the late 19th century. The Ilustrados and the fight for freedom from the Spanish colony have been in my history books since elementary school and I can’t properly describe how important it is to see my history and my culture in one of my most-anticipated reads of the year.

I fell in love with Enrique from the first time he appeared. His wit and sass made me laugh out loud so many times that my mom kept on looking at me like I was crazy. He’s also incredibly smart and knows about a million useful trivias. You don’t want to compete against him in history and general knowledge quiz bees. You won’t even stand a chance.

— Zofia is a smol ball of pureness who loves cookies and fire equally. She’s the kind of person who will follow a trail of perfect circle-shaped cookies and will ignite a matchstick using her teeth. She also loves math (yes people like that actually exist) and will probably set you on fire if you mess with her friends. Zofia is a dragon in heart and in soul.

— Then there’s Tristan who loves spiders and plants more than he loves sleep. He’s got this little brother vibes that will make you want to protect him at all costs. It’s no wonder why everyone in the crew will kill anyone who will lay a hand on a strand of Tristan’s hair.

— Another character I love is Hypnos. He’s this misunderstood kind of person who just wants a hug and friends who will care for him. He’s also ridiculously good-looking and just like what Roshani Chokshi said in her Hypnos character reveal: DON’T LET HIM NEAR YOUR BOYFRIEND.

If you want to see official art of these precious characters, read this thread:

https://twitter.com/Roshani_Chokshi/status/1072168027167358976?s=09

• It’s full of puzzles and riddles

The Gilded Wolves will make you think because the characters are constantly faced with riddles and puzzles that can be solved with the knowledge of mythology, history, and some logarithmic sequences. In other words, this book is full of adventure that will not only make your heart race. It will also make your brain turn its gears. Also, The Gilded Wolves has illustrations inside so that the reader can understand and visualize some puzzles. While reading, you can actually feel as if you’re part of everything—a quality reading experience in its entirety.

• ‎I’m all for the mythology and history content

This book will transport you to 1889 Paris and has a heady mix of historical and mythological allusions. It’s got a lot of mythology references okay??? And y’all know I’m trash for that. In a way, you can learn a lot from this book. Expect to know more about the importance of symbolism and logarithmic spirals too.

• WITTY ‎BANTER

THANK THE GODS FOR BOOKS WITH WITTY BANTER. It’s been a while since I read something that made me laugh because of its witty dialogues. Roshani Chokshi wrote characters who complement each other beautifully and that’s a huge part why I love this book so much. Their bond is almost tangible and it makes you think, “I WANT TO BE PART OF THIS CHAOTIC FAMILY. I CAN BE THE USELESS MEMBER WHO WILL SPOUT RANDOM BOOK REFERENCES.”

I don’t think if they’ll accept me but I can only hope. Here’s a bit of an extract from the book and if it doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will:

“Am I pretty?” asked Enrique, plucking at his fake beard and putting his hand over his jowls, wrinkles, and age spots. “Be honest.”

“‘Pretty’ is a stretch. Let’s call you ‘striking.’ Or ‘impossible to look away from.'”

“Oooh. Like the sun?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a train wreck.”

Enrique let out a wounded hmpf.

---

NOW THERE YOU GO. The Gilded Wolves is now one of my most favorite first books in a series and y’all should read it ASAP. It’s hilarious, magical, educational, and exquisitely painful. Just my kind of book. Roshani Chokshi deserves everything in this world and more. LET’S SUPPORT THIS AUTHOR AND THIS BOOK PLEASE AND THANK YOU. I promise, you won’t regret it.

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

 

January 14, 2019

• Rafael @ The Royal Polar Bear Reads
• Shaine @ Wanderer in Neverland
• Jon @ Wander with Jon
• Karlita @ Tale Out Loud

January 15, 2019

• Dexter @ Dexterous Totalous
• Vivian @ Vanilla Angel Pages
• Bianca @ The Ultimate Fangirl

January 16, 2019

• Athena @ The Night Faerie
• Joel @ Descendant of Poseidon Reads
• Rain @ bookdragonism

January 17, 2019

• Alexia @ The Bookworm Daydreamer
• Justine @ Bookish Wisps
• Akisha @ Aki Through Books

January 18, 2019

• Leslie @ Bibliophile Kid
• Hanaa @ Ramblings of a Bookworm
• Rachel @ In Between Book Pages

January 19, 2019

• Erika @ The Nocturnal Fey
• Avery @ B For Bookslut
• Salwa @ Reading Solace

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roshani Chokshi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen and A CROWN OF WISHES. Her middle grade debut, ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME, released April 3, 2018 from Disney/Rick Riordan Presents. Her next young adult novel, THE GILDED WOLVES, is slated for Winter 2019. Chokshi’s work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Shimmer, and Book Smugglers. She was a finalist in the 2016 Andre Norton Award and the Locus Top Ten for Best First Novel. Her short story, “The Star Maiden,” was longlisted for the British Fantasy Science Award.

Have you read The Gilded Wolves? If yes, what did you think? If no, WHAT IN THE NINE WORLDS ARE YOU STILL DOING??? I suggest you pick up this book now!