THE SILVERED SERPENTS - Roshani Chokshi

5 stars

"I wish my love was more beautiful."

Just take my heart, rip it out, grind it into shards of ice, and burn it. This sequel was spectacular but I CANNOT FORGIVE IT for doing what it did. What a beautiful, terrible, heartrending piece of fiction. Everyone should read it.

Writing: ★★★★★
Plot/Pacing: ★★★★
Character development: ★★★★ 1/2
Enjoyment: ★★★★★

This book is a sequel, and so my review will have SPOILERS for the first book in the series. Please don't read if you don't want SPOILERS for The Gilded Wolves. You can read my review of The Gilded Wolves here.

*****

...Are they gone? Good!

Alright, so let's just dive right in. First off, how dare she—the author has done us dirty, folks. Roshani Chokshi has written such a beautiful world with wonderful characters, and she keeps hurting them! And now we have to wait a whole year for the next book. Brutal.

The Silvered Serpents picks up shortly after the events of The Gilded Wolves. The team is fractured beyond repair following the surprise death of Tristan, one of their own, and all of them are (not) coping.

Severin has decided that the best way to not fail his friends again is by... failing them every day with a numb, cold caricature of himself. Laila is quickly approaching her birthday and knows that her days are numbered—she needs to find the book that can keep her alive. Zofia, Enrique, and Hypnos are caught in Severin and Laila's crossfire and it's not looking pretty—and they all have dramas of their own.

And then the group gets a lead on the Fallen House's Sleeping Palace, which seems to hold the answer to all of their problems. It has The Divine Lyrics, the book Laila desperately needs. Severin is also newly interested in the book, but for different (darker) reasons. And the rest of the team just hopes that this quest will lead to a happy ending.

But the night gets darkest before the dawn...

Filled with heists, drama, intrigue, stunningly lush descriptions, and shocking betrayals—this sequel has it ALL. I could not believe the amount of character development and plot development that Chokshi was able to cram into this novel. It doesn't even feel forced—it's that well written.

Like in The Gilded Wolves, this series' focus on the grim underbelly of colonialism and Western "might is right" politics was a cutting commentary, and that increases with this novel too. I love the diverse backgrounds of the crew and how their backstories unfolded to reveal more secrets and some interesting tie-ins to the discussion of race, class, and politics.

My favorite aspects of this series continue to be its world building, the setting descriptions, and the nuanced relationships between all of the characters. (And the angsty romances? SO WELL DONE.) Each of the POVs adds an extra layer of secrets, intrigue, and motives... and in this installment in particular, it was fascinating to see the pieces of the pie assemble into the final conclusion.

Which, without giving away any spoilers..... that conclusion gutted me. And was extremely surprising. If you thought the ending of The Gilded Wolves was big, strap in. This one is bigger.

I can't wait to see what Chokshi brings us next.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.