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A review by fhirdiad
The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi
3.0
Love does not always wear the face we wish.
3.5 rounded down.
The sequel to the Gilded Wolves absolutely suffers from middle-book syndrome; a lacklustre plot weigh down a lot of the more interesting elements surrounding the character development and tension. But beautiful writing, interesting mystery and a wonderful cast of characters had me speeding through this in two days.
Overall I enjoyed this and felt like being with these characters again was like sinking into a warm bath. Everyone apart from Hypnos (we’ll get to him in a second) feels very solid as a character. Their interactions aren’t as entertaining in the sequel, but I enjoyed the more mature development in their wants and motives and how they spoke to each other. Unfortunately this book is grappling with their grief for the large majority of it so it feels a bit like a slog. Sometimes it felt like it was more miserable than it needed to be and Severin particularly relies on tropes in this that are so typical of YA and so unlike the unique first book. Hypnos is the only character who really lacks depth, and now we’re two books in and considering his main drive is to be part of the group, he felt incredibly irrelevant in this. Also, the lack of development or scenes and ultimate shelving of Enrique/Hypnos was so jarring considering where the first book leaves off, and I worry even more than I already did that a m/m relationship will be nothing more than the jumping off point for a m/f one. But Zofia growing to trust herself and her developing bravery was so lovely to read, the Enrique, Laila and Zofia dynamic is everything to me and Enrique as a character is so compelling. His desperate need for people to be interested in what he has to say is something that hit very deep for me and just like the first, he was my favourite in this book.
I felt like plot and the general threat of the Fallen House in this are where the book really falls short. Plot twists are dressed up far too much as mysteries considering how unsurprising they are and the majority of this is shoved in the last 20%. I did enjoy the atmosphere of the Palace; the ice creatures and the mystery of these statues of young women and the ghost stories surrounding them was very eerie and when the book has the characters putting together puzzle pieces and treasure hunting, it’s the most interesting and the best paced and I flew through the book for that reason. But because the dynamics of the group are so unlike a Team this time, we get a lot of good introspective character scenes but as a consequence, a less solid plot.
I think if you’ve read enough YA Fantasy you’ll be familiar with the pitfalls of the Middle Book and will likely still enjoy this as I did. The characters are wonderful and even when I wasn’t loving some characterisation (cough Hypnos and Severin cough) it’s refreshing that they felt a lot more mature than in the first book and than other characters in the same genre. I also can’t stress enough how beautiful the writing is and how it carries a rather bland plot. Book 3 will have some extra work to do to make up for some of the less impressive parts of this one, but... still good.
3.5 rounded down.
The sequel to the Gilded Wolves absolutely suffers from middle-book syndrome; a lacklustre plot weigh down a lot of the more interesting elements surrounding the character development and tension. But beautiful writing, interesting mystery and a wonderful cast of characters had me speeding through this in two days.
Overall I enjoyed this and felt like being with these characters again was like sinking into a warm bath. Everyone apart from Hypnos (we’ll get to him in a second) feels very solid as a character. Their interactions aren’t as entertaining in the sequel, but I enjoyed the more mature development in their wants and motives and how they spoke to each other. Unfortunately this book is grappling with their grief for the large majority of it so it feels a bit like a slog. Sometimes it felt like it was more miserable than it needed to be and Severin particularly relies on tropes in this that are so typical of YA and so unlike the unique first book. Hypnos is the only character who really lacks depth, and now we’re two books in and considering his main drive is to be part of the group, he felt incredibly irrelevant in this. Also, the lack of development or scenes and ultimate shelving of Enrique/Hypnos was so jarring considering where the first book leaves off, and I worry even more than I already did that a m/m relationship will be nothing more than the jumping off point for a m/f one. But Zofia growing to trust herself and her developing bravery was so lovely to read, the Enrique, Laila and Zofia dynamic is everything to me and Enrique as a character is so compelling. His desperate need for people to be interested in what he has to say is something that hit very deep for me and just like the first, he was my favourite in this book.
I felt like plot and the general threat of the Fallen House in this are where the book really falls short. Plot twists are dressed up far too much as mysteries considering how unsurprising they are and the majority of this is shoved in the last 20%. I did enjoy the atmosphere of the Palace; the ice creatures and the mystery of these statues of young women and the ghost stories surrounding them was very eerie and when the book has the characters putting together puzzle pieces and treasure hunting, it’s the most interesting and the best paced and I flew through the book for that reason. But because the dynamics of the group are so unlike a Team this time, we get a lot of good introspective character scenes but as a consequence, a less solid plot.
I think if you’ve read enough YA Fantasy you’ll be familiar with the pitfalls of the Middle Book and will likely still enjoy this as I did. The characters are wonderful and even when I wasn’t loving some characterisation (cough Hypnos and Severin cough) it’s refreshing that they felt a lot more mature than in the first book and than other characters in the same genre. I also can’t stress enough how beautiful the writing is and how it carries a rather bland plot. Book 3 will have some extra work to do to make up for some of the less impressive parts of this one, but... still good.