A review by se_wigget
This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria

5.0

 

I like the world-building. It's aesthetically based on ancient Greece—the architecture, clothing, and names—and ditto the climate. Except the pirates wear 18th century garb, how we picture swashbuckling pirates dressing. Music from The Pirates of Penzance sometimes ran through my head, as it does. Steampunk also influenced the book a bit--mainly the automatons. 

 

An aroace protagonist—yay! This is such an ace book. Not only is the protagonist aromantic asexual, but it seems safe to say the same about the other character who has a first-person POV: Alix the automaton who... has emotions. The emotions show on his face. He has an identity crisis, kind of like Pinocchio: is he a person or a thing? Did his father love him or just build him as a tool? Some ace people are accused of being robots or of not having normal emotions, so I think some of that influenced the author's characterization of Alix. 

 

Circa 2011 I was in a graduate publishing program and took a YA Publishing class. I learned that in YA fiction a romantic interest for the protagonist is pretty much required for the genre. I'm glad this book breaks that rule. It shouldn't be a rule. I'm also glad the book prioritizes friendship. 

 

Pretty early in the book, I kind of wanted to say to the protagonist: It's not your fault Dane was able to assimilate and you weren't. You could say he has Stockholm Syndrome. He can be annoying, especially early in the book. Dane needs to check his privileges. He thinks she should have assimilated to the same culture that kidnapped and imprisoned her, putting a shackle on her wrist. Ultimately, I sympathized with him; he's also having an identity crisis after deserting the military. It gave him an identity and a purpose... and as a runaway and rebel, he no longer has that. 

 

Having a purpose in life... being kidnapped or abandoned... love ccx and acceptance... these are themes in this book. 

 

Thanks to the pirates, music from The Pirates of Penzance keeps running through my head. "A life not bad/ for a hearty lad,/ though surely not a high life./ Though I'm a nurse,/ you might do worse,/ than make your boy a pilot." 

 

Ah, I guessed right about Matthias—chapters ahead!