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A review by kickassleigh
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
4.0
I wavered on my star selection for this one, and eventually decided to sleep on it. I wanted so badly to give this five stars, especially as I NEVER in recent time read ANYTHING this fade to black (romance wise). But I was enthralled by the story and characters and I really wasn’t expecting that from a physical book (that I really don’t read, I get them as (trophies, so to speak) that has sat on my shelf for literal years.
There were unfortunately a few things that kept me from giving the five star review that it deserved (and really it deserved it for keeping my attention with near zero romance almost the entire time). To name the major ones:
1. The blurb names Prince Kadou’s touch tasting of metals as if it’s a major plot point. It’s not. He does use it but it’s more in the background and I wish it had been expanded on more because honestly (apart from being a queer romance) that’s what drew me in.
2. The conflict was wrapped up in like 4 paragraphs (I’m exaggerating a teensy bit, but VERY QUICKLY). This DROVE the plot for like 350 pages and wrapped up in 1.5-2. Done. All gone. No fighting or anything.
3. At the beginning it took me a bit to catch my stride as I felt I was missing a few chapters and key points. Especially with pronouns of characters. It wasn’t until the end that either I noticed or it explained that çe/çir are nonbinary characters and referred to as Oryasilar. I loved that this was included and so widely accepted in this world/book (aka no different than anything else) but I was terribly confused until I just decided it obviously meant SOMETHING and left it at that.
4. The way the characters speak to Zeliha and Kadou is so different than any other royal book I’ve ever read. Zeliha is literally a Sultan and Kadou is a Prince and some characters (not Eozena) just run rampant.
5. Last but then I’m done. I can see what everyone is upset about with the ending. Not even an epilogue? I did ‘end’ the way I wanted it to THANK GOODNESS or I may have thrown the book lightly on my couch, but jfc why would you end RIGHT THERE? It’s almost like part of the chapter was deleted! I saw there was an epilogue uploaded somewhere but another reviewer didn’t recommend it, so unclear if I will read it at this time.
TL;DR: I’m VERY glad I took this off my shelf this week when we went on a trip and literally kept telling my husband ‘this is so good, I’m glad I read this’. I’m just sad I can’t give it a 5 star. I really wanted to.
There were unfortunately a few things that kept me from giving the five star review that it deserved (and really it deserved it for keeping my attention with near zero romance almost the entire time). To name the major ones:
1. The blurb names Prince Kadou’s touch tasting of metals as if it’s a major plot point. It’s not. He does use it but it’s more in the background and I wish it had been expanded on more because honestly (apart from being a queer romance) that’s what drew me in.
2. The conflict was wrapped up in like 4 paragraphs (I’m exaggerating a teensy bit, but VERY QUICKLY). This DROVE the plot for like 350 pages and wrapped up in 1.5-2. Done. All gone. No fighting or anything.
3. At the beginning it took me a bit to catch my stride as I felt I was missing a few chapters and key points. Especially with pronouns of characters. It wasn’t until the end that either I noticed or it explained that çe/çir are nonbinary characters and referred to as Oryasilar. I loved that this was included and so widely accepted in this world/book (aka no different than anything else) but I was terribly confused until I just decided it obviously meant SOMETHING and left it at that.
4. The way the characters speak to Zeliha and Kadou is so different than any other royal book I’ve ever read. Zeliha is literally a Sultan and Kadou is a Prince and some characters (not Eozena) just run rampant.
5. Last but then I’m done. I can see what everyone is upset about with the ending. Not even an epilogue? I did ‘end’ the way I wanted it to THANK GOODNESS or I may have thrown the book lightly on my couch, but jfc why would you end RIGHT THERE? It’s almost like part of the chapter was deleted! I saw there was an epilogue uploaded somewhere but another reviewer didn’t recommend it, so unclear if I will read it at this time.
TL;DR: I’m VERY glad I took this off my shelf this week when we went on a trip and literally kept telling my husband ‘this is so good, I’m glad I read this’. I’m just sad I can’t give it a 5 star. I really wanted to.