Lia Carstairs's Reviews > The Silvered Serpents

I'm okay.

She could not see her hope for what it was, nothing more than a silvered serpent.

I-I'm okay.

Love did not always wear the face one wished it would.

I-

Sometimes it looked downright monstrous.

I AM NOT OKAY.


Thank you Roshani for giving me a heart attack.
What a beautiful way to end 2020.😃

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“You might not be a true muse, but you will live on as inspiration to me.”

I don't know how to write this review without breaking into sobs and screaming at the world. I saw so many friends saying how much this book destroyed them and I believed it...but I also couldn't believe it to be that bad.
Oh how wrong I was.

ROSHANI DID EXACTLY WHAT I BEGGED HER NOT TO DO AFDSFHJDSHDASJ I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HER FOR MAKING MY HEART STOP LIKE THAT—FOR BREAKING ME IN A WAY I DIDN'T EVEN THINK WAS POSSIBLE.

so much for no screaming

I swear, it's like December 2020, was the month of heartbreaking books. sam *sobs* Like "Oh, 2020 wasn't bad enough, so let's make Lia suffer this last month." Yes, torture. How I love torture. ik, ik im being overdramatic BUT I WONT STOP

“When the devil waged war in the heavens, even angels had to fall.”

Everything is not okay. After the events in The Gilded Wolves , everything has changed.

In grief, Severin has closed off all feelings and wants to play...god.

In grief, Laila has stopped baking, dancing, and withdrawn from the others.

In grief, Enrique has busied himself with work and wants to be heard.

In grief, Zofia has left to Poland, and away from memories.

In grief, Hypnos has attempted to be someone he isn't.

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“When a man cannot see a person as a person, then the devil has slipped into him and is peering out of his eyes.”

They're all affected by death, but it is Severin whose been hit hardest. The pain he feels and the way he acts . . . I wanted to sob over the cruelty, I wanted to strangle him...with love of course, but most of all, I just wanted him to see past the darkness he holed himself up in.



As much as I despise Roshani for causing me unrelenting pain, I must applaud her for the way she wrote Severin's grief. It's so beautifully heartbreaking and realistic . Everyone deals with the death of someone they love differently, and I have to say that this is the first YA novel I've seen that's handled grief this way.

Sure, there's the typical revenge and depression, but how Roshani did it is so much more complex and I am just left in awe and pain. Thank you for doing this to me, Roshani.😭👍

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"If surviving meant cutting out her heart, then at least she could do it by her own hand."

While Severin is acting cold and cruel, Laila must struggle to deal with her mortality and savor what time she has left. And with her deal with Severin—to pretend to be his mistress on their mission to retrieve The Divine Lyrics in Russia—it broke my heart watching those two. It broke me even more every time I saw Laila lose hope and the cruel, painful words Severin would say to her . . . ohmygod I wanted to slap him senseless, but knowing the reason behind it also made me want to break down.

So as you can see...T O O M A N Y F E E L S .



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"The light the world perceived belonged to the visible spectrum, which meant there was light humans could not see.
But Zofia wondered if they could feel it all the same, the way she could sense sunshine against her closed eyelids. Because that was how friendship felt to her, an illumination too vast for her senses to capture."

I am very much in love with Zofia. Our engineer here goes through so much growth in this book, I feel like crying not surprising. She learns to be brave even while feeling fear, she learns to go beyond her comfort zone, and the result of that is just spectacular.



Picture this—Zofia riding an ice stag while holding a flaming sword...I don't know about you, but that has got to be one of the coolest scenes I've ever read and I will never get that out of my head.🥺 asdfghfdsafsgh thinking about Zofia, brings unwanted memories of the ending I CANT-

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“He wanted someone who would enter a room and look for him first, to behold him as though the secrets of the world lay somewhere in his gaze, to finish his sentences. Someone to share cake with.”

Enriqueeee, my love.😭 So much hurt and it kills me. He just wants others to listen to him, and there's only one person who truly does. I was on the fence before, but now after this, I'm soooo shipping Zorique. I see way more chemistry between the two, than Hypnos/Enrique.

Enrique has always been my favourite and here he still is. The way he grew to finally see what he truly wants . . . this charming and adorable cinnamon has my heart, and deserves the world. And those last few chapters *sobs* I will never recover.


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“I wanted to be a person I saw only in my dreams, and I named myself for that realm.”

Lastly, there's Hypnos. I have conflicted feelings towards Hypnos. He tried so hard to be someone Severin could rely on, and really wanted to fit in with the rest of the group...so watching that made my heart go out for him.

But then other things made me really dislike him like in how he used certain people. I don't forgive him for that, so it is with much regret that I say that I didn't like Hypnos in this book.😕


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In terms of the setting, I absolutely LOVED how it was set in Russia but, like how krista pointed out, we really didn't get to see much of it since of the story took place in The Sleeping Palace and them searching for clues within that area.

Still it wasn't that much of a big deal, other than it taking awhile for me to get into the story in the beginning, but after that it was so tense and amazing. Also, thankfully the plot wasn't as confusing as the first book, so that made this much more enjoyable.

OH and I'm happy to say that I actually guessed who was the villain. And I NEVER guess right so THIS IS HUGE!! So either I'm getting better, if slowly, at guessing who the culprits are, orrr it was meant to be easily guessed probably the latter...shhhhh let me bask in my glory.


Now excuse me while I go back to dying until Fall 2021.


(4.5⭐)

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Pre-read Review:

Buddy read with my buddies krista ☽✧ and LuminescentFirefly <3

Ready to suffer together :' )