A Historical Fantasy With Potential
The Gilded Wolves was a historical fantasy set in a mystical 19th century Paris with a diverse crew and an atmospheric world. The cultural and sexual representations of the six characters of the story were vast and broad, encompassing many different roles of filling the void of those positions in literary characters and to represent normalcy for and by readers. The overall premise of a heist that will lend all characters their chance at finding something they desperately want really drove the story, and was my main reason in turning the pages.
I loved the depth and pure love that Chokshi wrote into each of her characters and their positions in this story. Each held a particular motive but their cohesiveness as a chosen family really shone through at all times. I would’ve really liked to delve more into their connections as most were formed prior to the novel and because a bit is lost in translation, it read like I was missing pieces to the story. The magical nature to this world was fascinating and really brought the world into motion—both figuratively and literally—and I admired the uniqueness to it. Characterizations and worldbuilding aside, however, there was quite a bit of confusion on my end with the overall plot. The loss of understanding really fell into the flow of the storytelling, and how bulky it was at times. I know that can be difficult to do correctly when dealing with fantasy and historical genres as one, but the information about the world and its attributes (alone and to the characters) could’ve been more easily introduced in order for the reader to digest it better. And maybe pairing down the number of main characters would’ve made it easier to follow the story as it went along, too—which seems blasphemous to say, but could’ve helped keep the astounding amount of info to a decent level. As a gamer, though, I cannot find complaint with the puzzles and treasure hunting aspects as they were my favorite parts, and crucial to bringing forward the strengths of each character—even if at times their method of figuring the answers went completely over my head because math.
Overall, The Gilded Wolves had potential and held substance to carry a novel, but lacked in the execution of it as a whole entity. Over-telling might’ve been a culprit, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what made it harder to understand at times other than it simply did. I’m looking forward to what will come next, and my hope is that the second novel will be more relaxed because everything has already been set up, making it much easier to fall into.
I loved the depth and pure love that Chokshi wrote into each of her characters and their positions in this story. Each held a particular motive but their cohesiveness as a chosen family really shone through at all times. I would’ve really liked to delve more into their connections as most were formed prior to the novel and because a bit is lost in translation, it read like I was missing pieces to the story. The magical nature to this world was fascinating and really brought the world into motion—both figuratively and literally—and I admired the uniqueness to it. Characterizations and worldbuilding aside, however, there was quite a bit of confusion on my end with the overall plot. The loss of understanding really fell into the flow of the storytelling, and how bulky it was at times. I know that can be difficult to do correctly when dealing with fantasy and historical genres as one, but the information about the world and its attributes (alone and to the characters) could’ve been more easily introduced in order for the reader to digest it better. And maybe pairing down the number of main characters would’ve made it easier to follow the story as it went along, too—which seems blasphemous to say, but could’ve helped keep the astounding amount of info to a decent level. As a gamer, though, I cannot find complaint with the puzzles and treasure hunting aspects as they were my favorite parts, and crucial to bringing forward the strengths of each character—even if at times their method of figuring the answers went completely over my head because math.
Overall, The Gilded Wolves had potential and held substance to carry a novel, but lacked in the execution of it as a whole entity. Over-telling might’ve been a culprit, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what made it harder to understand at times other than it simply did. I’m looking forward to what will come next, and my hope is that the second novel will be more relaxed because everything has already been set up, making it much easier to fall into.