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A review by cameronreads
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
4.5
I LOVED this. The kicking-of-feet was real in this one. This was completely utterly and totally a slow burn bodyguard/prince romance done so RIGHT. The slow burn was literally the perfect pacing - although not a lot of aftermath, which I would have loved to see. I’ve seen some people saying it would have benefitted from an epilogue which I totally agree with. The characters were simply WONDERFUL I literally loved all the key ones. Kadou’s anxiety was also so wonderfully portrayed, I loved to see it.
Besides the achillean and anxiety rep, there was also an asexual character and a completely trans normative world, with multiple characters using neopronouns. I loved this, it was really well done!
I liked a lot of the discussions. The world is matriarchal, and fathers are called ‘body-fathers’ unless the mother actively gives them rights over the child, and I loved the discussions that arose from this. I also loved that the two main characters actively discussed the power divide between them, talking about reciprocity heavily. I’m always worried about power divides in romances, but I think it was done really well here.
The plot was definitely predictable, but I really didn’t mind. For me it just gave a backdrop to have this wonderful romance on, and it was plenty of fun. I had a really good time with it, even if I guessed the plot twist before the second main character was introduced.
I do think the choice of setting was… interesting? The book is loosely inspired by the Ottoman Empire, but I think this could have been done a little better. It felt like it was an excuse to use fancy words, but without a lot of work actually being put into the setting itself, and it slightly rubbed me the wrong way. Do take this with a pinch of salt though as I haven’t done too much research into this, I’d like to see what someone more knowledgable has to say first.
Still, this book delivered exactly what I wanted from it. I loved all the tropes used, I had so much fun, and scenes and quotes from this book will be playing in my head on loop. Highly recommend.
Besides the achillean and anxiety rep, there was also an asexual character and a completely trans normative world, with multiple characters using neopronouns. I loved this, it was really well done!
I liked a lot of the discussions. The world is matriarchal, and fathers are called ‘body-fathers’ unless the mother actively gives them rights over the child, and I loved the discussions that arose from this. I also loved that the two main characters actively discussed the power divide between them, talking about reciprocity heavily. I’m always worried about power divides in romances, but I think it was done really well here.
The plot was definitely predictable, but I really didn’t mind. For me it just gave a backdrop to have this wonderful romance on, and it was plenty of fun. I had a really good time with it, even if I guessed the plot twist before the second main character was introduced.
I do think the choice of setting was… interesting? The book is loosely inspired by the Ottoman Empire, but I think this could have been done a little better. It felt like it was an excuse to use fancy words, but without a lot of work actually being put into the setting itself, and it slightly rubbed me the wrong way. Do take this with a pinch of salt though as I haven’t done too much research into this, I’d like to see what someone more knowledgable has to say first.
Still, this book delivered exactly what I wanted from it. I loved all the tropes used, I had so much fun, and scenes and quotes from this book will be playing in my head on loop. Highly recommend.