Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Taste of Gold and Iron

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

57 reviews

amy_in_the_city's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

I'll admit I struggled a bit to get into this book for the first 100 pages or so, but once I was in, I was IN. The main couple had me kicking my feet rooting for them. I loved all the characters in this book and thought they were wonderfully developed. They could have made Tadek a villain or dreadfully boring, as the romance genre tends to do with exes, but they made him so fun while still giving him depth and complexity. I like his friendship with Kadou, and I can't wait to read his book! I want to be Commander Eozena when I grow up, and Zeliha was an awesome badass ruler.

The romance in this was such a delicious, angsty, slow burn. Evemer was so stoic and reserved, which made it all the more fun to see him fall so hard for Kadou. I appreciated the anxiety representation with Kadou and that it didn't make him any less of a badass. He still defended Evemer whenever needed, and I loved seeing a prince also defend his bodyguard. A big theme in their relationship is reciprocity, and I love when couples feel like a real partnership.

There was enough action to keep the plot fun and exciting, but I do wish the villain wasn't so obvious from the start. Also, while this was a fantasy, the fantasy elements are used very sparingly. The ending felt a little bit rushed, and I do wish we got to see a bit more of Kadou and Evemer together as a happy couple. My overwhelming love for the romance and the characters overrides any of these quibbles though, and I know this is a book I'll come back to for rereads.

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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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tinyelfarcanist's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-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

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aplpaca's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-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

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amarreth's review

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adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0

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keresian's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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

5.0

Okay listen - LISTEN. I stayed up til 2am to finish this. I was hooked. There's so much simmering behind the scenes with world building. The plot is phenomenal. The brilliant way Rowland has woven in gender and sexuality, love and familial bond. I love this book and this world - this is a tough one to beat for favourite of the year.

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nicjmorrow's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This is a beautiful fantasy story with a cool magic that is mundane to the world, a complex political backing that makes the world so real, and a slow burn romance that will make you rip through a long book like it's nothing. The only thing that would have made this book better is Kadou telling his sister in the end <3 honestly a fav book of this year.

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