Review: The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

The Silvered Serpens is the sequel to The Gilded Wolves, which is a magical heist story set in pre-WWI Paris following a large cast of characters that deals with colonialism and power very interestingly. I felt very conflicted about that book; there were lots of things I did really like, but an equal number of elements that I didn't like very much. I gave the first book 3 stars but knew I was going to read the second book because I was interested in enough of the story to continue. I don't like half stars (I could write a thesis about my probably overly strong feelings on this), and even if I did, I am a firm believer in rounding up, but I certainly liked this book more than I liked the first one so I am giving it 4 stars.

I am going to jump into some of the things that I didn't love about this book. Séverin, I don't really like this character very much. I did say in my review of the first book that he was very Kaz Brekker in that book, and I will say that there is certainly far less room for Six of Crows comparison in book two, but in this book, part of my issue with his character is why I didn't like Will Herondale in Clockwork Angel, I don't like the trope where a character is hostile towards others because of a terrible secret. And Séverin doesn't even have an exception to that cruelty that would help see why the other characters like him. Obviously, they like him because of past action and have tremendous empathy towards him because of the death of Tristan in book one, but I really still don't like that trope. He is cruel towards the only people who like him, makes decisions for all of them, and the logic of it all is not explained in this book. It just doesn't work for me. I also just found his chapters far less interesting than I found the other characters' chapters. I wanted to get out of his head and see what was happening elsewhere almost every time it was his POV.

Another trope that is not for me is the 'we love each other but cannot be together for fear of hurting the other' Séverin and Laila just don't work for me. I like Laila, but the only reason I want her to be with Séverin is because she wants to be with him. I surely do not get the reason she loves him back. I do like his trope on occasion, but I am not a fan of this execution of the trope.

I am going to go read some reviews of this book by bi or gay men and see how they felt about the representation in this book because I felt a little weird about Hypnos character arc in this book. Gay men are very often portrayed as flighty and unable to form a serious romantic attachment to others, and I just felt weird about that being a big part of Hypnos in this book. It does seem like we are going to get more from Hypnos in the last book so I will be interested to read that.

I do like seeing couples change over the course of series; seeing people realize they do not want the same thing out of a relationship is valuable and an interesting plot and character point. But I am not going to say that it didn't make me feel weird that the gay man doesn't want a relationship and is using an emotional attachment to get something for himself, while the end game partner is a very dedicated and attentive girl. I also feel weird about this because I think it is excellent representation to show Zofia being attracted to Enrique and not phased by him being bisexual. Bi men are so often dismissed by women in anything romantic, so I absolutely love seeing a bi male character being shown as desirable. Also, these are my favorite characters of this series, which adds another layer.

I really adored Enrique in this book. His chapters might have been my favorite (I also loved Zofia's). His character growth and dedication to his friends really make his chapters excellent. I especially loved the way his shame over not being heard was presented in this book. It was heartwrenching to see him dismissed in different ways and built to the endpoint of the book very nicely. I liked that Enrique got to make his own decision on his relationship with Hypnos and that it was not colored by affection for Zofia but on its own self contained dynamic.

Speaking of Zofia, I do still really love her. I loved her conflict in this book. She has so many stressors, her ill sister, self-doubt, the increasing antisemitism in Europe and Russia at this time, and her desire to help her friends. She pushes so much of the plot forward and had great badass moments in this book. I also intend to look at some reviews by autistic and Jewish folks to see how Zofia is received. I am specifically interested in seeing where this book is going with someone of the religious plot lines and how that interacts with different faith systems.

One of my critiques of book one was I found the foreshadowing very heavy-handed. This could be because I am 27 and this is YA, but I felt like it was very strong even trying to factor that in. I didn't have as much issue with it this round; I thought the one related to the divine lyrics was a little strong, but I also think that could be tied to my classics education, so I am iffy about this! I will say I was surprised very much by one of the twists in the book!

I very much did not like the new character, who was basically a cartoon character. I was absolutely baffled by the way he was written. He really seemed to literally belong in a children's cartoon. I also thought the reveal about the matriarch of House Kore would have had more emotional resonance if she had more page time. She was in this book more than the previous books, I certainly was interested in her character, but the end would have hit better if I had more time getting to know her before the reveals start happening.

Something else I really did like about this book was how creative Chokshi was with this world. The platonic ideal of book two in a trilogy involved widening the world, and I really think she did that very well in this already very wide world. Even when I didn't love a character whose point of view I was reading from, I did really love the world building elements being laid down. I think they serviced the plot excellently, but that they also just really served to root this story in time and in the magic of the story. I really like the way Chokshi writes descriptions of physical objects, and I think she is excellent at having each point of view character notice and interact with the world differently. It was excellent for the world and for the characters.

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads and The StoryGraph. I would clearly recommend this book! Especially if you, like me, were middle of the road on book one, I would suggest you continue with book two. I am very curious about where the series is headed and look forward to finishing The Bronzed Beasts when it is out in September!