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caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
5.0
Thanks to Tordotcom Publishing for the free advance copy of this book.
- A TASTE Of GOLD AND IRON is wonderfully lush, quickly building both an intriguing world and compelling slow burn romance.
- It's really an incredible feat the way Rowland has made the romance the tensest, most electric part of the story when the political plot is full of secrets, backstabbing and the fate of the dynasty hanging by a thread. But when Kadou and Evemer have even the barest of touches, all that fades to the background.
- This book is also wonderfully queer. Not only is the central pair achillean, but queerness is fully accepted, there are three genders with an in-language set of pronouns for them, nonstandard family structures, and an ace secondary character.
- A TASTE Of GOLD AND IRON is wonderfully lush, quickly building both an intriguing world and compelling slow burn romance.
- It's really an incredible feat the way Rowland has made the romance the tensest, most electric part of the story when the political plot is full of secrets, backstabbing and the fate of the dynasty hanging by a thread. But when Kadou and Evemer have even the barest of touches, all that fades to the background.
- This book is also wonderfully queer. Not only is the central pair achillean, but queerness is fully accepted, there are three genders with an in-language set of pronouns for them, nonstandard family structures, and an ace secondary character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Medical content, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
literarycavy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
bookstarbri's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
Finishing this book has broken my heart. I found myself truly never wanting it to end. Its pages were filled with so much beauty that I truly am sad to leave this book behind. It surprised me in so many ways and I already know with certainty it will be in my top reads of the year.
For starters, the writing!! The prose in here was absolutely stunning and I found myself constantly pausing to reread lines because they just hit me so beautifully. Rowland puts words together so delicately that they have to be savored. I took my time reading this. It’s mostly a slower paced book for sure (though it is also quite suspenseful and moves really quickly at some points). A Taste of Gold and Iron is the perfect example of how you can write a slow paced book that isn’t boring. The whole time I was guessing what could possibly happen next and where some thread of the story was going. I loved the slow build we got and spending a lot of time with the characters in meaningful moments (something we don’t often get in fantasy).
I also intentionally read this slowly so I could spend more time with these characters. Kadou and Evemer are simply perfect. They come together in the most wonderful of ways, a romance that is painful and meaningful and raw. Getting both of their povs (in third person) was perfect. They both handled the situations thrown at them so differently, but also brought out the best in each other as the story went on. The side characters were great too. I especially love Tadek who I couldn’t get enough of. He was a mess and I appreciated his "friendship" with Evemer a lot as well.
The worldbuilding of this is just awesome. We kind of just get thrown into it all which I loved. There’s not a lot of explaining of terms and system customs, but Rowland writes in a way that makes picking all of that up really easy. I LOVED the religion behind the gods, the queer normative world, the diversity was wonderful. Women were often in positions of power (in fact, the sultan is a woman). There's also many nonbinary characters and a lot of use of nonbinary pronouns, which was spectacularly done. So, overall, I loved everything about this fantasy world. I was fascinated by this world and I would love to see more of it, honestly. I especially liked the idea of the khayalar and their bond with the royals. I know this book is a standalone and doesn’t really *need* a sequel, but I would buy a sequel to this in a heartbeat. And I felt like it ended in a way that would easily allow for another part to this story. I already miss Kadou, Evemer, and Tadek, and would LOVE to see them again in another book!!
My only minor complaint (and it’s so minor that it didn’t bother me enough to effect my rating at all because everything else was so perfect to me) was that I would’ve liked to see a longer scene play out when finally confronting the main antagonists of the story. It felt like that part ended a little quickly despite all the buildup to it. But again, this is such a minor gripe, it doesn’t matter that much to me.
I loved this book with all my heart!! Thank you to Alexandra Rowland for 1)writing it, and 2) providing an arc of it along with Netgalley, and Tordotcom in exchange for an honest review!
For starters, the writing!! The prose in here was absolutely stunning and I found myself constantly pausing to reread lines because they just hit me so beautifully. Rowland puts words together so delicately that they have to be savored. I took my time reading this. It’s mostly a slower paced book for sure (though it is also quite suspenseful and moves really quickly at some points). A Taste of Gold and Iron is the perfect example of how you can write a slow paced book that isn’t boring. The whole time I was guessing what could possibly happen next and where some thread of the story was going. I loved the slow build we got and spending a lot of time with the characters in meaningful moments (something we don’t often get in fantasy).
I also intentionally read this slowly so I could spend more time with these characters. Kadou and Evemer are simply perfect. They come together in the most wonderful of ways, a romance that is painful and meaningful and raw. Getting both of their povs (in third person) was perfect. They both handled the situations thrown at them so differently, but also brought out the best in each other as the story went on. The side characters were great too. I especially love Tadek who I couldn’t get enough of. He was a mess and I appreciated his "friendship" with Evemer a lot as well.
The worldbuilding of this is just awesome. We kind of just get thrown into it all which I loved. There’s not a lot of explaining of terms and system customs, but Rowland writes in a way that makes picking all of that up really easy. I LOVED the religion behind the gods, the queer normative world, the diversity was wonderful. Women were often in positions of power (in fact, the sultan is a woman). There's also many nonbinary characters and a lot of use of nonbinary pronouns, which was spectacularly done. So, overall, I loved everything about this fantasy world. I was fascinated by this world and I would love to see more of it, honestly. I especially liked the idea of the khayalar and their bond with the royals. I know this book is a standalone and doesn’t really *need* a sequel, but I would buy a sequel to this in a heartbeat. And I felt like it ended in a way that would easily allow for another part to this story. I already miss Kadou, Evemer, and Tadek, and would LOVE to see them again in another book!!
My only minor complaint (and it’s so minor that it didn’t bother me enough to effect my rating at all because everything else was so perfect to me) was that I would’ve liked to see a longer scene play out when finally confronting the main antagonists of the story. It felt like that part ended a little quickly despite all the buildup to it. But again, this is such a minor gripe, it doesn’t matter that much to me.
I loved this book with all my heart!! Thank you to Alexandra Rowland for 1)writing it, and 2) providing an arc of it along with Netgalley, and Tordotcom in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol and Blood
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