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The Gilded Wolves Review

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It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood. Together, they will join Séverin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history–but only if they can stay alive.

June 2023 Wrap Up

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After January I never thought I would beat those numbers. I thought I had peaked too early but June proved to be the best month ever!

  • I read 23 books this month
  • Genre: 15 fantasy, 4 mystery, 2 sci-fi, 1 romance and 1 non-fiction
  • Gender of authors: 15 women, 4 men and 1 non-binary author
  • Race of authors: 13 white authors, 3 asian authors, 3 black authors and 1 jewish latina author
  • Age range: 10 adult, 9 middle grade and 4 YA
  • Format: 11 paperback, 7 ebooks and 5 hardback.

Challenges

  • Prompt: Middle Grade
    • Hilda – Luke Pearson
    • Luna and the Treasure of Tlaloc – Joe Todd-Stanton
    • Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels – Tola Okogwu
    • Ember Shadows and the Fates of Mount Never – Rebecca King
    • The Tea Dragon Society – Kay O’Neill
    • The Case of the Lighthouse Intruder – Kereen Getten
    • Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones
  • Sequel Challenge:
    • Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels – Tola Okogwu
    • Blue Exorcist, Vol.2 – Kazue Kato
  • Short Story Challenge:
    • The Six Deaths of the Saint – Alex E. Harrow

As is now usual for my wrap ups I will only be talking about the books where I feel that I have loads to say.

We Should All Be Feminists – Chimimanda Ngoni Adiche (3 stars)

I loved this TedTalk when it first came out around 2012. But as I have grown and my knowledge of feminism has changed and grown. I felt this book was only just scraping the surface of what needs to be discussed. It tackles one of the core foundations of feminism but it was not in depth enough for me and not very inclusionary of LGBTQ+, Trans and Non-Binary people.

The Case of the Lighthouse Intruder – Kereen Getten (3 stars)

A super cute and exciting mystery for young audiences. I loved the main character so much. Her determination, her intelligence, everything. I also felt that the book did a great job tackling topics such as bullying and financial difficulties.

A Wizard of Earthsea/The Tombs of Atuan – Ursula K. Le Guin (4/3 stars)

I read the first two books in the Earthsea series on holiday. I really enjoyed A Wizard from Earthsea and I felt very average feelings for The Tombs of Atuan. For A Wizard from Earthsea, I loved the characters, I loved the setting and I loved the coming of age story. I did feel that the story ended very abruptly. For The Tombs of Atuan, I loved the setting and the main character and her crisis of faith moment but the writing was just not engaging at all and I ended up skim reading the ending.

Ember Shadow and the Fates of Mount Never – Rebecca King (4 stars)

I CANNOT BELEIVE it took me this long to read this book. This book was soooo good. It had super strong Alice in Wonderland meets Labyrinth vibes. Super whimsical yet it handled the emotional moments so well. I loved this book so much!

Gwen and Art are Not in Love – Lex Croucher (4 stars)

Back on my romance grind. Now way too many romance books are called rom coms yet they aren’t funny. This book however put the comedy in romantic comedy. It was a historical rom com with a lot of emphasis on the legend of King Arthur which I found to be really interesting. The dialogue was hilarious and witty and I loved the platonic banter between Gwen and Art. My favourite enemies to friends.

Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels – Tola Okogwu (4 stars)

My favourite kids book from last year finally got a sequel and it was just as good. Black Panther meets X-Men. It was action-packed, funny, exhilarating. Again, it tackled those harder topics so well and I loved our core group of kids. It’s always the series I recommend to children. So good! The anxiety rep in this book was especially good.

The Six Deaths of the Saint – Alix E. Harrow (4 stars)

This book was super hyped on twitter early 2023 and I only just got round to reading it. I get the hype, I understand why it is loved so much. So much happens in such a small amount of pages and it is heartbreaking!

Thornhedge – T. Kingfisher (4 stars)

My first ever T. Kingfisher novel and it did not disappoint. A really nice way of re-telling the Sleeping Beauty fairy-tale but in a more gothic and gory twist. I felt that one of the strongest elements of this story was the imagery Kingfisher created with her writing. I could just picture everything perfectly with the way she described things.

Herc – Phoenicia Rogerson (4 stars)

One of my new favourite greek myth re-tellings. Funny, heartfelt and just as easily heartbreaking. This story is told through multiple POV from people in Herc’s life and I enjoyed every second of it. I also learnt so much about Herc’s myth that I didn’t already know which was super fun!

Hilda series – Luke Pearson (5 stars)

So, I read 6 Hilda comics last month and they were the cutest thing I have ever read. The art design is absolutely incredible, the stories are wonderful and whimsical and I love the blend of the modern day alongside fantasy and how they fit and work together. Hilda is an amazing and witty character full of brains and empathy. My favourite comics had to be the last two the Night of the Trolls ones. SO GOOD!

The books I read but did not mention:

  • Hooky – Miriam Bonastre Tur (DNF)
  • Lemon – Kwon Yeo-Sun (DNF)
  • Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones (DNF)
  • The Mimicking of Known Successes – Malka Older (2.5 stars)
  • Uncle Paul – Celia Fremlin (3 stars)
  • The Tea Dragon Society – Kay O’Neill (3 stars)
  • The Hunter’s Guild: Red Hood, Vol.1 – Yuki Kawaguchi (4 stars)
  • Cards on the Table – Agatha Christie (4 stars)
  • Blue Exorcist, Vol.2 – Kazue Kato (4 stars)

Herc Review

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This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labours, his endless adventures…everyone’s favourite hero, right? Well, it’s not. This is the story of everyone else:

Alcmene: Herc’s mother (She has knives everywhere)

Hylas: Herc’s first friend (They were more than friends)

Megara: Herc’s wife (She’ll tell you about their marriage)

Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc’s labours (Definitely did not hide in a jar)

His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims. It’s time to hear their stories.

May Wrap Up 2023

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A pretty solid month for me with some new found favourites that I am adamant will make it onto my Top 10 books of the year!

  • I read 10 books this month
  • Genre: 6 fantasy, 2 literary fiction, 1 sci-fi and 1 mystery
  • Gender of authors: 7 men and 2 women
  • Race of authors: 5 asian authors, 3 white authors and 1 latino author
  • Age range: 5 YA and 5 adult
  • Format: 9 paperback and 1 hardback.

Challenges

  • Prompt: High Fantasy
    • The Burning God
    • Elantris
    • Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol.1
    • Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol.5
    • Claymore, Vol.1
  • Sequel Challenge:
    • The Burning God
    • Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol.5

Elantris – Brandon Sanderson (DNF)

I am devastated to say that I DNFd my first ever Brandon Sanderson book. I never thought I would see the day where I would do so! Unfortunately, while this book had interesting characters and plot, the pacing was just so incredibly slow and boring that I could feel a reading slump forming. So I had to put it down. I don’t think I will ever go back to reading it.

Termush – Sven Holm (2 stars)

A dystopian novel re-issued for modern day audiences. This book was fine. It was a lot shorter than I expected and I felt that its page count put it at a disadvantage. I wanted more detail, more exploration, just a lot more. This story felt very surface level and I blinked and it was over.

The Mill House Murders – Yukito Ayatsuji (3 stars)

Another instalment in Ayatsuji’s Locked Room mystery series. I preferred this book a lot more to the first book in the series, The Decagon House Murders. Better atmosphere, more engaging characters, a plot which genuinely shocked me and I felt satisfied with the ending rather than stumped.

Claymore, Vol.1 – Norihiro Yagi (3 stars)

This is my official read through of the manga after I watched the show last year. I think if I didn’t already know the story – this rating would be higher. But I thought the story and the world was engaging and I look forward to reading more. I do believe this series might have been discontinued though so we shall see how many volumes I can find.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol.1 – Hayao Miyazaki (4 stars)

Also a manga I picked up because I watched the adaptation first. This time round though I enjoyed the manga a lot more. The artwork is beautiful as per for Miyazaki and I love Nausicaa with every fibre of my being. I will say though. that the plot is hard to follow at points so despite its beautiful art, clear striking message about protecting our planet I have to deduct a star. Sometimes I had no idea what was happening!

Lies We Sing to the Sea – Sarah Underwood (4 stars)

Despite me saying I was going to stop reading greek myth re-tellings… here I am! This book had a lot of people talking back when it was announced so I was interested to see my thoughts on this book. I ended up really enjoying it. I loved the setting, the characters, the plot. It was so far removed from what I was expecting it to be. For clarification, this book is not an Odyssey re-telling. It takes inspiration from the death of Penelope’s handmaidens at the hands of Odysseus and says what if? The book is set hundreds of years after the Odyssey and it’s only mentioned a handful of times. The book truly focuses on the characters of the present than the past.

The Burning God – R.F. Kuang (4 stars)

The final book in the ground-breaking Poppy War trilogy. Overall, it was good but it was not my favourite book in the series. I had the ending spoiled for me last month so that defiantly hindered my enjoyment as I already knew what to expect. I also think this book’s plot was the weakest of the 3 books and I wasn’t as engaged as I had been with the others.

Trust – Hernan Diaz (5 stars)

An unexpected favourite here! Very Great Gatsby meets Succession vibes. This story tells the story of a billionaire and his wife; their relationship, rise to fame, their philanthropy and her illness. This story is told 4 times, in 4 different ways. As you read this book you try to unearth whose version of the story is actually true. I thought it was incredibly impressive for an author to take the same story and write it in so many different ways with different narrators and through different mediums. I felt like I was solving a puzzle.

Yellowface – R.F. Kuang (5 stars)

Probably, my favourite Kuang book to date! I have a more detailed review up on my blog but this book was just so incredibly engaging and exciting. I loved being in the mind of someone as complicated and unlikable as June. It was so interesting to not be following the hero of the story but the villain. Delving into the failings of the publishing industry was very interesting indeed (though I do wish Kuang went even deeper).