Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - A Taste of Gold and Iron

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

119 reviews

mirandyli's review against another edition

adventurous funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is a super queer book that has so much queer representation, including characters that are asexual, pansexual, demisexual, trans, using neopronouns... I have truly never read a book with this much queer representation. The fantasy elements have capitalistic imperial undertones, but if you ignore that it's overall a decent read. Very slow at times.

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miraileah's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

5.0. I loved this book, both the physical and audiobook reading experiences were immaculate. The characterization of both main and side characters was excellent, the world building was great, and the plot was interesting and well paced alongside the romantic development. I also loved the depiction of chronic anxiety in the book, it made me feel very understood, and made me desperately want to give Kadou an SSRI.

The characters, both our main romantic duo and side characters, were well fleshed out and came to life on the page. I started the book strongly disliking a character who I really enjoyed by the end of the book. Loved the magic system of touch tasting, what a unique and interesting idea! Also, the nods to the Ottoman inspired world was awesome to read. Finally a fantasy set in something other than Fantasy England! And finally, the mystery plot was a ton of fun. I thought the book was a good length to settle the mystery, feel the stakes get higher and higher, and of course see our main characters come to terms with their feelings.

I think that a comparison to Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell is really fair (though both have very unique worlds and different themes). They both have forced proximity love m/m love stories with one character being a prince, queer normative worlds, and fun mystery plotlines. The moral of the story is that this is exactly what romantasy should be like, and Alexandra Rowland is a new auto-buy author for me.

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cinnamonandpancakes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-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

I am unsure if this book would rate higher if I'd read it as a physical book. I kept picking it up and putting it down, which I don't think helped. This book needs to be read all in one go.

I loved Kadou and Evemer, especially Evemer, and their romance. It was very sexy and compelling. And Tadek was a lot of fun. But I found a lot of the other characters less interesting. Siranos, in particular, seemed to change personality depending on what the narrative needed him to be and that made his plotline quite unsatisfying in my opinion.

The world building was amazing, however, and I loved the focus on material culture. It felt very much like a world that people lived in.

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