Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

45 reviews

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was a beautiful story. I have such a soft spot for serious, measured, bodyguard-type love interests. And I’m not someone who suffers from panic attacks, but I thought the depictions of Kadou’s anxiety disorder were handled well. 

This is entirely personal preference, but I would’ve liked if the pacing of the romance was a bit quicker. I understand it’s a slow burn, but this was a SLOOWWWWW burn, lol. Again, totally personal preference. It was still a joy to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, and Kidnapping

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I originally rated this at 4 stars but after some reflection I bumped it down to 3.5.

Pros

• I could relate very well to Kadou's panic attacks - especially the fatigue that comes afterwards and engaging in small but not overtly noticeable self-destructive behaviours
• Evemer is now one of my favourite comically serious characters in fiction. His journey of self-discovery and self-actualisation was a good chunk of the reason I kept reading tbh
• I forget the exact name of the gender identity used but I liked the inclusion of non binary people as characters

Cons

• The plot stopped towards the end to focus on the romance and wrapped up too easily compared to conflict earlier in the book
• I don't really like how there wasn't a solid breakup between Tadek and Kadou, they just kind of... stopped being lovers/friends with benefits
• Was a bit dense and wordy at the beginning which made it a bit of a struggle to get into but I loved the characters enough to persevere

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Violence, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book SO so muuuuuuuuuuuuch, RTC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Bullying, and Confinement

shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Death

Minor: Death of parent and Vomit

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Classism, Confinement, Cursing, and Animal death

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

adventurous emotional relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This was disappointing, I expected to have more well rounded characters, as well as a compelling mystery/plot to threat to the country, but I got none of those. The romance was also pretty easygoing, I expected to see more trials and more nuance on the power dynamics involved but alas, those were left to the reader’s imagination.

Ps: I found out later about this but an Ottoman Empire inspired fantasy by a white American author left me with a lot of mixed feelings.
I did enjoy the queer normative world though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual content

dododenise's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was exactly my taste. It’s been a while since I took my time and just cherished the book I am reading but I simply didn’t want this book to end.

The story is almost entirely character focused and I loved that. The plot, including politics, mysteries, violence and betrayal served only the characters. Because of that the plot itself wasn’t revolutionary. Instead, there was so much care put into the characters. 

It was a delicious slow burn, with so much yearning and pining. Getting so close to getting together and then pulling apart again and it just pulled at my heartstrings with them. There were so many tender moments between them. The book took its time on long conversation and really developing the characters and their relationships. This was a slow burn perfectly executed. And added to that, a wonderful cast of side characters that I have also learned to adore, including a nonbinary aro ace character who I obviously was a fan of. But all of them found a place in my heart.

Just give me hundreds of books like this and I will be happy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Mental illness, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Animal death

Minor: Pregnancy and Grief

thaliareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have to admit that while I really liked the concept for this book, I think I had trouble with the pacing. I had a very hard time getting into the story at first, but when I did it was enjoyable. I especially loved the characters in this book, even if I did struggle a bit with the plot. I loved how oblivious Kadou was to what Evemer was feeling because of how much he doubts what he is capable of. It is a really good take on how anxiety can affect someone's perspective of themselves and how others see them. Overall, the cast of characters was fun and in the end I liked the story, despite my initial misgivings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

There is some graphic sexual content at different points in the book, as well as some injuries to various degrees of severity. The book confect does lead to the kidnapping of some of the adult characters. Kadou seems to struggle with anxiety that presents with a form of panic attacks and that comes up a few times throughout the book.

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I love the anxiety rep & the gender and sexuality rep. Cuuuuteeee relationship. Decent plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Murder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, War, and Pregnancy

vivavia's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual content, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders