Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

15 reviews

mmefish's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This is book… is not good.

First of all, it’s super messy. Roshani Chokshi attempted to include too many things in the narrative, but none of them were written well. Info dumping does not stop until very late in the book and I had to constantly re-read entire paragraphs to make sense of the erratic descriptions.

The characters: at first, I enjoyed reading about Enrique and Zofia (I did not care about the rest of them), thinking that their personality traits will lead to some character development. But no. We finish right where we started. 
THE JOKES. WERE. AWFUL. The banter got old very fast and pretty much everything Hypnos said was terrible.
The romance. In short: “we wanna fuck”. There was one good moment
between Enrique and Zofia but then it got lost in a love triangle with Hypnos (really?).
The plot. We’ve seen it million times. And it includes many accidents when someone’s foot/hand slipped. 

In conclusion: there is really nothing redeeming besides the diversity of the cast. Oh yeah, the book is also supposed to talk about the atrocities of 19th century France (according to Author’s note) but… it does not, not really.
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hippocapybara's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Beautiful descriptive language carries readers through the story like the unpredictable current of a flowing river.
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phdpageturner's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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alouette's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

another complex book that it's hard to sort out my feelings for. time for a pros and cons list!

pros
  • the diversity!! most of the main cast was bipoc, some were also queer, and zofia (my beloved) was on the autism spectrum. that last one was really awesome to see because rarely have i come across books about characters with ASD in which their mental disability isn't the main focus but rather just a part of their character. loved it.
  • banter and character dynamics! their interactions were fun with also plenty of complexities and depth, and i was rooting for them the whole way.
  • the whimsy and the magic system! while it was confusing, it was also intriguing. the puzzles they solved + the magical inventions they used were fun to follow in each individual instance, and i liked the illustrations as they made new discoveries. it helped me visualize what was happening and get more immersed.

cons
  • confusing worldbuilding. the intertwining of actual history with heavy fantasy elements was interesting, but we were thrown into it with little preamble and even the baseline of the main plot got hard to follow at times. the flowery writing was lovely for my imagination but did not help when trying to understand what was actually going on.
  • a lack of character development. now, i don't mean that the characters weren't plenty rounded, just that they weren't dynamic. everything about them was pre-established (again, we're thrown right into this world abruptly) and they've all known each other for years. while this made for some fun dynamics, it meant that i sensed little change in any of them by the end.
  • the villian...
    he really came out of nowhere and i didn't even understand what the heck his magical blood powers were. when they talked about the stealing of House Kore's ring being an inside job i was expecting some betrayals, not this weirdo...
  • the ending... quite rushed and disappointing.
    tristan deserved so much better in terms of character development and time devoted to him, and then it felt like what happened to him was absolutely brushed past, both the trauma he suffered and then his actual demise. still don't know what the heck was up with the birds, the reveal that he was killing them was super rushed and not explored.
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cnohero's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 I almost DNF'd this one. I liked the characters and I think the premise seems interesting but it just wasn't carried out all that well. I sort of had to push myself to finish it. 
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