Audiobook Review: The Gilded Wolves

Title: The Gilded Wolves
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Read By: Laurie Catherine Winkel, P. J. Ochlan
Release Date: January 15, 2019
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Treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie has long thought himself willing to do anything reclaim his birthright as head of one of the houses of the powerful Order of Babel. Now he has been ordered to find an artifact the Order seeks, he and his team will all be putting much at risk. And, in this retrieval, they cannot afford to fail. 

Out of Ten: 6/10

Review at a Glance: While it wasn't everything I was hoping it would be, I still enjoyed the experience of this Belle Epoque heist story.


Review: I wasn't as into this one as I was hoping to be. It isn't that I disliked it, per say, I was just hoping to like it more than I did. 

I do think part of what hindered my enjoyment of this one was the fact that I listened to this one rather than reading a physical copy. (I am somewhat limited by availability, and the audiobook was what was available). The crux of it is that I wasn't super enthusiastic about the P. J. Ochlan as a narrator for this book. His style was jarringly brusque when compared with Laurie Catherine Winkel's, I think? I think this story might have felt more cohesive had it just had one narrator reading it, anyway. It isn't a dual POV first person as it is (it's 3rd person limited, switching between 4+ characters), so the narrator change just based on gender didn't really add anything to the audiobook as an experience? It's quite possible that it's a matter of personal preference for me but I just... prefer either to have character-designated narrators, or just to have once narrator for the whole thing. 

When I actually managed to get a text copy rather than an audiobook (thank you, libraries!) I did have a more immersive experience than with the audiobook! While I didn't find the world quite as vividly described as the world of The Star-touched Queen... I just found I didn't have as strong a sense of place. Individual bits were really lushly described; the food and clothing (especially Laila's), but the place itself... less so. I mean, I've been to Paris, but somehow I didn't have very much luck in picturing it as imagined in this story.

The characters themselves are vividly conceptualised in that they have very clearly defined and distinct traits. It was definitely a strength of the story, especially given how it jumped from point of view to point of view. While the place itself didn't feel quite as vivid as I was hoping, the characters certainly did! They all have their own strengths and struggles, and it was impressive to see them all work together. I really like friend groups because there's a chance to explore a lot of different dynamics there, and that was definitely a strength of this story. (Found family! The Squad! I am here for this!)

The plot itself left something to be desired for me. I'm a big fan of heist stories in general but I do think I'm a bit picky about them! There's a certain balance about how much of the plan is laid out as groundwork and how much is a reveal as the story goes on, and I don't think this one quite struck it, at least not for me. Part of the joy of a heist story is watching the plan unfold (and inevitably watch it go awry and require improvisation). My brain kept wandering off during major reveal scenes because I just wasn't engaged in the plot of the story in the way I usually am in heist stories. I think this was in part a feature of how vaguely defined the magic system and structure of the world were. You can only really reveal a clever plot with lots of twists one the framework of the world is established because it's all about working within the framework in clever and unexpected ways. The lack of a sense of place in this way weakened the plot itself.

Despite my struggles with parts of this story, I did still overall enjoy it, and I definitely got invested in some of the the characters, so I'm looking forward to seeing where this tale takes them next!

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