The Bronzed Beasts

This page contains affiliate links, and we may receive compensation if you click on a link. You can read my full advertising disclosure HERE.

Manufacturer: Roshani Chokshi
Brand:  Fantasy Fiction, Historical Fantasy Fiction
Brew: Ebook
Steeping Time: 400 pages
Tea Service: Personal Choice
Strength:

Synopsis: After Séverin’s seeming betrayal, the crew is fractured. Armed with only a handful of hints, Enrique, Laila, Hypnos and Zofia must find their way through the snarled, haunted waterways of Venice, Italy to locate Séverin. Meanwhile, Séverin must balance the deranged whims of the Patriarch of the Fallen House and discover the location of a temple beneath a plague island where the Divine Lyre can be played and all that he desires will come to pass. With only ten days until Laila expires, the crew will face plague pits and deadly masquerades, unearthly songs and the shining steps of a temple whose powers might offer divinity itself…but at a price they may not be willing to pay.

The Bronzed Beasts wraps out the fantastical Gilded Wolves trilogy in grand fashion.

Just as with its predecessors, The Gilded Wolves and The Silvered Serpents, The Bronzed Beasts is filled with adventure, high stakes, and finding one’s place in the world amongst it all. If you’ve read my previous reviews, I said I was going to wait to read this book until the paperback came out this fall. Obviously, I didn’t make it that far. I don’t like to put too much distance in between books in a series, as I tend to forget the little details that really make a series so wonderful. Instead of waiting, I bought the Kindle version so that I could read while on vacation.

I regret nothing.

The Bronzed Beasts picks up right where The Silvered Serpents ended, and we are once again thrown back into the gritty, magical world we’ve come to know. This time, we leave the frigid landscape of Russia behind and head to the warm streets and canals of Venice. I love that every book takes place in a different country. It’s a fun change of pace that puts our beloved characters into new, unknown places, increasing their challenges just a little.

I enjoyed the pacing of The Bronzed Beasts and especially loved getting to see each and every character come through the fire, as it were. There isn’t one character who doesn’t find themselves absolutely at the end of their rope in some form or fashion, and it made for great character development. Not to mention, the tension is sky high because the crew is on a time crunch. Laila has only days left to live unless they can pull together and save her.

However, I do feel that, again, Hypnos is probably the least of the characters to really see a change. I think we do get a deeper look at him emotionally, but he definitely doesn’t see as much action (in the form of transformation) as the other characters do. Even yet, I still enjoyed his overall arc and he remains in my top two favorite characters, the other being Zofia.

The main theme of this book, and the series as a whole, seems to be about finding your place in the world.

None of the characters are cookie-cutter people and I think many readers will be able to easily connect with their struggles. In my opinion, the crowning achievement for The Bronzed Beasts is watching these quirky, wonderful characters struggle through and finally find happiness and where they belong.

I won’t spoil anything, but I found the ending fitting for this series. It was the sort of ending that sat with me for a while, turning over and over in my mind. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but I love it just as much for that. Life doesn’t always go the way you plan, and the surprises that you get instead can sometimes be far better than you imagined. That’s what the ending felt like for me. Not what I’d have wanted or hoped for, but still beautiful and so very different in a truly wonderful way.

For the overall series, I’d give a 4 Cuppa rating.

It isn’t a perfect series, and I do feel like it could have used some more polishing (especially The Gilded Wolves), but I loved the characters and really came to care for them. If you enjoy fantasy historical fiction that leans heavily toward the YA category, I think you’d enjoy this series as well.

Have you read The Bronzed Beasts? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about it! Want to read it for yourself? Click here to get a copy of your own.
Cheers,
Lydia