I was really excited for this book and I was a bit disappointed because this was one of my anticipated reads but I had a difficult time reading this book especially like how slow and confusing the book was in the beginning....

I was so disappointed with this one! I had been so excited to read this ever since I heard the premise. It sounded like there was everything I loved in a story in this book. Some of the things I really did like were the representation of queer characters and mental health specifically anxiety. But I just had a lot of trouble reading this.

Starting this book is very confusing and very difficult to follow. It feels like you were dropped in with the very little context. It starts off with Kadou going to hunt and a huge accident happens that results in him getting a new bodyguard. But there is very little explanation or description of what happens. I was unbelievably confused as to what was going on that warranted such a big reaction and why any of the stakes were so high from this. It just didn't make a ton of sense which really hindered my understanding of the story. He left me confused about what were these people's actual jobs, where were these places, and what any of them meant.
I also feel like there was an unbelievable amount of name and word-dropping. There are a lot of words that are just dropped in with no explanation or definition. It makes it very hard to understand who these characters are. Not only that but there were a lot of names and people mentioned with very few contacts for who they are in relation to anyone else.
Personally, I was just unbelievably disappointed with the execution as it sounded like there was a lot of potential in this plot and story.

TW: Severe panic attacks, kidnapping, violence

5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
WOW! WOW! WOW!

I AM IN AWE!! Oh my goodness I’ve had to give myself a day to compose my thoughts about this book. I loved it so much I cannot even think about how to put it into words. Every character felt so real and their trials felt so personal.

GOD EVEMER AND KADOU UGHHHH UGHHHH!! KINGS!!! Their romance was one for the ages because hot damn. I couldn’t get enough from day one to the end. This is slow burn, enemies to lovers, like close proximity. Everything you could want and my god did it deliver. I am not one for slow burn or no I am not. However, this book made me love it. It felt like the perfectly timed slow burn romance. It was organic and subtle. I feel so fiercely protective over these two characters and I just want more and more about them.

Now, I cannot fail to mention the side characters because WOW. WOW. WOW. WOW. No matter how much I wanted to squeeze the life out of Tadek at times he was such a good character. He made me have some doubts throughout the beginning but he stands true. I loved all of the details of these side characters and their personalities.

The world building and story telling were amazing! I felt like I was in this world and I could see these people and this scenery. I cannot wait for everyone to be able to read this! When this is released I need EVERYONE to go out and get a copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with a copy for a honest review!

The romance? 10/10. Tension??? 100/10. The angst!!!! 1000/10. THE UNDYING LOYALTY TO A POINT OF NEAR SELF-DESTRUCTION BECAUSE THEY CHERISH EACH OTHER SO MUCH? Breaks. The. Scales.

The characters are SO lovable. We have our anxiety-ridden prince who’s secretly a badass and our late-bloomer stoic bodyguard who’s internally a little high-strung. (Also the prince is the only one that can read the bodyguard’s emotions???) Yes PLEASE. Their romance is beyond-words-amazing. Genuinely one of the best romances I have EVER read. The way that other people love Delilah Green is the way I love this book.

The banter is just exquisite!! I found myself having to put the book down so often just because I couldn’t stop laughing. And I don't just mean a giggle here and there. I was full-belly laughing repeatedly throughout the book. The side characters are such a staple part of the story’s tone and often add so much lovely and well-earned humor. (Especially Tadek, who though he started the book off on a bad foot, became my favorite character by the end of it. He reminded me of Taako from TAZ or Tal from The Unspoken Name in his character type, and y'all know I always love those characters.)

When I first saw the tags listed above, I was most excited about the "kissing to avert suspicion” - and don’t get me wrong, it was everything I could’ve hoped for and more - but I was surprisingly taken in by the "oaths of fealty" and the “what we owe each other” conversations. These were fairly new tropes to me, but they really cut straight to my heart. Some of these moments had me in literal tears.

Quick little break from the rambling to air my grievances (aka the 3 reasons that this isn’t QUITE a five star read): :
1. Despite the fantasy world and the constant made-up words, the ruler of the land was called the “sultan” which gave me an ick, considering its a word specifically used for Arab countries. It made it feel bordering on appropriative and it just easily could’ve been a different word.
2. The political plot was mostly shit. I would say it was predictable, but that genuinely feels like an understatement. But the romance plot line was so good it kind of didn’t matter.
3. The ending felt cut just a little short. There was soooo much buildup and it left me hanging just a bit. Like things are resolved? But i would’ve killed for one more chapter or an epilogue. After the impeccably long slow-burn, it just felt a little too rushed.

Despite its flaws, this is certainly a book to love. The characters and their romance really just take center-stage and the rest of the plot just becomes a blur in comparison. And does a plot REALLY matter when you have a god-tier romance? I literally fell asleep last night just replaying my favorite scenes over and over again in my head.

If I haven’t convinced you yet, let me leave you with some quotes:

"If you have power over me here and now, it’s because I want you to have it. I’ll give that to you, and anything you ask for. I’ll give it gladly. Command it of me and it’s yours.”

"It was an exceptionally clear night, and the starlight was silvery on his dark hair, and the candlelight made his skin glow warm, and his eyes were bright and unafraid for the first time in days, and then he smiled like the sudden rise of the king-tide, and he was the most beautiful thing Evemer had seen in all his life, and probably the most beautiful thing he’d ever see.”

"How could he deserve this? How could he ever possibly hope to repay this kind of loyalty? He hadn’t earned this. He would never be good or strong or devoted enough to have earned this. This was beyond anything that Evemer would have expected from his liege—from any liege, even a perfect one from legend. It was too much.
“I’m not worth this,” he whispered.
“You’re worth it,” Kadou whispered back, simply.”

CW: violence, murder, mental health, panic attacks, death, injury detail, drugging, blood, sexual content, childbirth (mention)

Behold the cover. It’s a very good portrayal of the contents of the book. If you think very feels- and romance-heavy high fantasy court intrigue with a prince/bodyguard trope sounds good, you will enjoy! If you’re in it for the intrigue rather than the prince/bodyguard romance, I think you’ll be frustrated. So excellent work to the cover designer for truth in advertising!

I personally found the first third or so of the book a little rough going, because Kadou’s anxiety is SO overpowering and Evemer is really mean to him. The loyalty kink doesn’t kick in for a solid chunk. Once it’s there, though, it’s spot-on! I think fans of Everina Maxwell in particular are going to have a great time with this book.

Romance novels run on plot contrivinces. That’s ok. The main characters will meet-cute, they’ll be kept together by circumstance, and so on. In A Taste of Gold and Iron, Alexandra Rowland deploys some of the clichés of the genre to great effect—then does it again and again until I wanted to laugh, not swoon. Plot machinations—not the characters and their emotions—serve to provide the tension and push the novel along.
That’s frustrating, because in many other ways, Rowland does a great job characterizing outside genre conventions. Seeming cads are given redemption; hidden vulnerabilities are revealed. A Taste of Gold and Iron is a more mature love story than many of its peers. Rowland’s creativity is to their credit.
Unfortunately, the book suffers from the fantasy-romance plague: the plot is not very interesting. The secret villain’s identity is clear all along (less clear is whether this was intended as deliberate dramatic irony) and political drama takes a backseat to interpersonal drama. Characters rehashed the instigating incident of the novel at least five times and I was still confused about what happened.
Rowland’s writing glides over all this, and not in a good way. Passages are told in a montage style; often, the reader is informed just what Kadou and Evemer are thinking. They didn’t quite nail the third-person limited style, as the leads’ voices are often indistinguishable.
A Taste of Gold and Iron doesn’t reinvent the fantasy-romance wheel, but it’s an enjoyable and diverse entry in line with the genre’s flaws and strengths.

From the cover alone I had extremely high hopes for this book and what I hoped for was a fantasy MLM story that had a beautiful world, gripping politics and a main couple that I could fall in love with and that’s exactly what I got.

Set in the backdrop of a world inspired by the Ottoman Empire, A Taste of Gold and Iron follows Prince Kadou as he tried to earn back favour (after an incident that has disgraced him) by investigating a recent break in at the kingdom’s guild.

As part of his punishment the prince is given a new bodyguard, Evermer, who takes an instant disliking to the Kadou.

However, as the two continue their investigations - and deal with Kadou’s mischevious ex-lover, Tadek - their admiration for one another and eventual friendship grows deeper and begins to develop in ways that surprise them both.

Kadou and Evermer’s relationship was so lovely and believable and I really think this is down to the excellent character work throughout this book. Every main and side character felt fleshed out and layered in a way that made me excited to pick up and keep reading so that I could learn more about them.

I loved the characters so much, in fact, that the plot felt secondary to me. Of course the romance was stunning and I found myself rushing through the political plot at times so I could read more about the two MCs.

But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the political element of this book, I do love a political fantasy and getting an understating of this world through the money forging plot was great and excellently paced alongside the main romance.

Overall I just loved this book from start to finish. The characterisation was excellent, the plot was interesting and soothing and the world building was great. I’d love more books set in this universe (a Tadek spinoff?!) and can’t wait for everyone else to experience it.

I couldn’t read this fast enough! This delicious slow burn romance between a delicate prince wracked with anxiety about his duty to serve and protect his people and his stoic bodyguard who begrudges the young prince for an early mistake is so much more than just a romance: It’s also a dynamic, well-designed new fantasy world and a compelling exploration of what it’s like to deal with a crippling anxiety disorder and what it’s like to overcome your mistakes and forge a new public reputation and self-image. I really enjoyed the world, it’s infrastructure and it’s palace intrigues and really hope the author is planning a sequel starring the female sultan of this rich country, Kadou’s sister Zehila. Although I found the character of Tadek a bit distracting and frustrating, I very much enjoyed and learned from the story’s other main characters, as well as its progressive and creative use of gender and power dynamics in this world.

Thanks to NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This one started out promising. A queer fantasy with hints of The Goblin Emperor? While I appreciated the representation of panic disorder and anxiety and mental health, story-wise I felt this just was too long and dragged on. I started losing interest around 60% in. The plot was also a tad predictable, and the villain in the story was no big surprise.

Am I still going to recommend that we carry this in our collection? Yes, because though it didn't appeal to me personally, I feel this is a good fantasy that people will relate to. The main characters (Kadou, Evemer) were well done, and didn't fit the usual character tropes you see. I think representation is important, especially topics such as anxiety and mental health.

‘A Taste of Gold and Iron’ was exactly what I want from fantasy. The romance is central to the story and the mystery/plot takes a slight back burner for the characters to blossom. The world-building and magic system were done very well, detailed enough to set the stage but not so much as to be constantly confusing. I really liked that. The overall plot and mystery were just interesting enough, especially with the metalworking magic and royal family drama.

The best part for me were the characters. Our main couple are Kadou, a shy prince determined to prove his loyalty, and Evemer, a standoffish newly appointed bodyguard. There was plenty of softness and sexiness. Their relationship is so satisfying but the background characters are just as strong. There’s a handful of other bodyguards and a captain of the guard that are just fantastic.

I particularly liked the way things like anxiety and depression were discussed. Kadou has boughts of “cowardice” (seemingly anxiety attacks) and the ways other characters responded to it, especially Evemer, were really well done. The emotional relationships in general really made the book. One of my favorite books of 2022!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Tor/Forge for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up.

SO. MUCH. PINING.

The thing that carries this book is absolutely the mutual lusting from the main characters. The world building was great at the start but did fall off a little. As a friend said: the plot was insultingly simple to predict. I did really appreciate the politics and non western culture inspiration.

Rep: queernormative world, multiple gay male relationships, lots of non binary characters with alternative pronouns.

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC!

Five fabulous stars for this highly unexpected delight ! I don’t usually read MM romance and didn’t realise this was MM until I began reading but the gorgeous cover caught my eye as much as the synopsis .
This was a slow beginning and felt a bit clunky particularly when it came to the tragedy that leaves our Prince devastated and desperate to get back into his sister’s good graces . His new taciturn, driven bodyguard is everything his previous flirtatious one wasn’t but this oh so slow burn romance is absolutely charming with much needed character development and surprising moments of humour . I loved the supporting characters , the background plot with its slight touch of magic although the end felt abrupt . Also I wasn’t completely sold on the way the author tried to get across that it’s ok to identify as male , female or anything in between but the relationship rose above those niggles and I ended up absolutely loving this book
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

ARC was given by NetGalley & Tordotcom in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published before the release date (August 30th, 2022)

Content/Trigger Warnings: On page depictions of anxiety & panic attacks, depression, loss of loved ones, scene of physical & verbal abuse, graphic violence, depictions of blood, graphic injuries, attempted drugging, scene of kidnapping/abduction, on page racial slur (often used towards Muslims)



Oh boy, where do I even begin with this book, this review, and just… everything . This was not it, friends. I feel like the only person in the room who dislikes this book because every review I see is four or five stars, everyone raving of how amazing this book is. I feel like I’ve read an entirely different book and usually with my romance reads, I devour them in a day or so. Nope, nope, nope, big ole’ NOPE! That was not the case and at the end of reading this book, I feel disappointed and frustrated. So much happens and yet absolutely nothing happens! This book could have been everything, but it fell short for me, greatly.

After a a hunting trip gone horribly wrong, Kadou, the prince of Arasht, finds himself feeling lower than he’s ever felt in a long time. Feeling distant from his sister and in a sense, banished from court after this incident, Kadou takes on proving his loyalty to his sister by investigating a break-in at one of their guilds. What Kadou uncovers is much more than just a simple break-in. With his newly appointed body guard, Evemer, they’ll dig deeper into a thickening scheme and maybe even find themselves more drawn to each other than the originally thought.

I really loved a lot of the side characters. The side characters were fantastically done. A lot of these side characters stood out more than our mc and love interest. Kadou’s sister and sultan, Zeliha was a force that commanded attention every time she was in a scene and you could constantly feel the tug-o-war she was having with making certain decisions. Eozena was a really great character that stood out a lot, as well. Captain of the core guard and a close family friend to Kadou and Zeliha, Eozena was delightful to have in scenes. And the banter that would often take place was so good. And probably my favorite, Tenzin, who’s introduced way later in the book was a freaking riot. Tenzin is a truth telling witch and the funny moments she brings to the table was absolute bliss. I adored her so much especially when we get the scene with her and everyone walking back to the palace, pure gold moment! I wish we had been introduced to her far sooner than just getting a few pages with her around. And don’t even get me started on how wonderfully delightful Evemer’s mother was. She was a treat of a side character and definitely underrated!

“I’m getting paid as we speak,” she said with a grin, slouching down into her chair and crossing her arms. “I’m getting paid in chaos.”


The other thing I really loved about this book was the accurate portrayal of anxiety and panic attacks. We see these attacks from both Kadou’s perspective and we can see a lot of the outside perspective from Evemer. I really loved the duel perspectives in this case because you could see how things would begin to unfold within Kadou, but then in Evemer’s perspective we would see how those who are closest to Kadou would feel and see them go from not understanding the situation to doing whatever they can to help. It was really well done and the detail of these scenes was really set the tone so the reader could feel what these characters were experiencing.

However, these were the only redeemable qualities of this book I took notes on. And the more I sat on these notes and processed how this book left me feeling, there were so many problems. The issues from itty-bitty to big were stacked high and I couldn’t just overlook them. So I want to address them and hopefully prepare anyone who’s considering picking this book up.

The first thing I want to point out is something minor, but also a huge issue that had no place being used in this book. About 21% into this book, a racial slur is used that is very often used and offensive to Muslims. I really don’t care if the excuse is, “Oh, the MC was drunk, was trying to start a fight, and so they’re going to say these kind of things.” I really don’t care what excuse someone tries to use to justify this because it doesn’t take away the fact that this word is completely unnecessary and hurtful/harmful, but also the fact the author specifically chose this word despite there being plenty of other options instead. It was a lot cringe for me and it soured my reading mood pretty early on in the book.

“The knowledge that one wrong word spoken in fear to someone offering comfort could send shock waves through the whole, like ocean waves after an earthquake.”


My biggest issue with this book has to do with the writing and the duel perspectives. I’m really hoping in the final version of this book, these issues will be done a bit better or even more fleshed out. Usually, I don’t mind books that have two or more perspectives, but it bothers me immensely when the two perspectives blur together and it takes two to three pages before you realize you’re in a different perspective. Typically, perspectives are broken up into their own chapters, sometimes even labelled from who’s perspective you’re in. This is also done very often with books that flash between past and present. However, this is not the case in this book. One chapter holds both duel perspectives and are only broken up by dotted breaks. Sometimes it can take a couple of paragraphs to even a few pages before any distinction is made of who’s perspective you’re reading from. This at times ruined the reading experience for me because it was so hard to tell who’s point of view I was in. A lot of the time the perspective of Kadou and Evemer blended together because some of the time this blending of perspectives would happen in the same space and time as certain events were unfolding. It was really frustrating and it made it hard to enjoy the reading process.

Speaking of characters, this was another issue for me. If you noticed, I never mentioned anything I liked about our MC or the love interest. That’s due to not liking either of them, at all. I found no redeemable qualities for either of them. While I love the accurate portrayal of anxiety and panic attacks in Kadou, that doesn’t make up for everything else about him. Kadou was like watching a train wreck happen. With how much he boasts about all the education he received and how he was trained into being a weapon if necessary, we see those skills one time. Otherwise, we spend countless of moments of him scrambling, not thinking things through, and even causing scenes where he literally causes dangerous situations to unfold because he refuses to actually think and plan. Evemer, on the other hand, felt like a brick wall and it didn’t help that he spent 75%-80% of the book constantly trying to shut down his feelings, his emotions, kept his speech more on the professional side of things, and also spent probably 50%-60% of the book judging everyone except Zeliha. This made it really hard to connect with him or even feel any empathy towards. I did like he was a hard worker and dedicated to his job, but that’s all I really liked about him.

While I really don’t like ranting or complaining about books, since we’re already here, I might as well mention that the people behind everything is revealed pretty early on. Actually, they were revealed just slightly before the 50% mark and kind of killed the entire mystery that was behind the guild break-in. We also have an entire magic system that is never flushed out, we get glimpses of people who have special abilities, and that’s about it. We never see these abilities come into play in big scenes and if they do, the scenes are always very brief and we never really see the full extent of that kind of magic/abilities. Which the world building was even more hard to get behind because it often times felt like it was trying to do too much at once and felt confusing. With that being said, I think that played a huge part it why this book was such a slow read and why I skimmed sections because things felt very dragged out or even at times, an information dump zone.

“I don’t expect I’m going to stop wanting you.”


I also want to take a moment to address the romance in this book. I know a lot of readers say it’s a slow burn and yes, it’s a slow burn alright. The romance is so slow that nothing exciting or even romantical actually happens with Kadou and Evemer until the 70%-75% mark. Although, I wouldn’t even really classify this book as a slow burn romance or even a romance in general. You can’t take the last 30% of a book and call it a romance. For the majority of this book, there was no chemistry with either of these characters. And as I already mentioned with the characters, love and attraction was the furthest thing from both Evemer and Kadou’s minds until the 70-75 percentage way I just mentioned. It just wasn’t what I expected for a romance and for me personally, it was very lacking and at times the romance felt more lust driven than love driven.

Overall, as I mentioned in the beginning, so much happened yet nothing happened all at the same time. Honestly, I wish I could go back in time when I hit the 50% mark, convince myself to ‘dnf’ this book to save myself the trouble of reading this book like I was originally going to. This just wasn’t the book for me, but it really could have been everything and it just missed the mark horrendously. But hey, I read this book so you don’t have to! And if I’m being fully honest, I don’t recommend this book. I think there are other fantasy and romance books that are out there that have better established magic systems, have better slow burn romances than this one does, and don’t leave you with more questions than when you started.


The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

I love how so many things happened in the book. I could not keep myself from the book because it was so good

A prince with anxiety is placed in charge of an investigation of counterfeit coins while also dealing with the fact that he’s at odds with the body-father of the queen’s new child that leads to him being placed under more scrutiny and under the dutiful watch of a cold and handsome bodyguard. Kadou is the shy prince of Arasht, gifted with the ability to sense metals and being able to tell whether a coin is ocunterfeit or not. When he is put in charge of the investigation he soon discovers there is a deeper conspiracy and corruption going on in the court and he’ll have to overcome his issues of anxiety in order to face the truth. With him is his newly appointed bodyguard, Evermer, a guard who barely tolerates him and dislikes him. Together they’ll have to learn to build trust with one another if they want to crack the case as well as their new feelings for one another. First off let me start by saying I was really interested in the premise of the book but sadly it fell apart for me. The pacing and story is all over the place, while being a long, there was no actual real content in the story... the romance went from instant dislike to a sort of insta love. The whole “mystery” and conspiracy barely went anywhere and was quickly resolved, and the ending was abrupt, it would definitely benefit from an epilogue of some sorts. I always appreciate representation in books but for some reason I just couldn’t connect to Kadou. Kadou has severe anxiety and insecurities, and while its always great to read about characters with representation, the crippling lengths to which Kadou went with his and how every chapter was an anxiety attack, self doubt. panic, and the fact that his only method of solving this was drinking or just backsliding with an ex... really did not endear me to him. As someone with anxiety myself, I just couldn’t connect to Kadou. This one just didn’t work for me, but despite that, definitely give it a try if you like fantasy romance with a bit of political conspiracy and LGBTQ representation as well as mental health representation.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tordotcom for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

“Reciprocity was a thing you had to learn. Someone had to tell you, first, that you deserved to be treated well, before you knew you knew it for yourself.”

Every once in a while, a book comes along that just bodily sweeps you off your feet; A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON has done that, making me trip head over heels as utterly and irresistibly as Evemer and Kadou fall for each other. This queer fantasy romance was the perfect blend for me: a rich, Ottoman Empire-inspired setting, plenty of political intrigue, a dash of economics and ethics, a sprinkle of magical abilities, and a central bodyguard/royalty romance overflowing with loyalty, passion, and mutual sacrifice.

The plot, in brief: Kadou, the shy, anxious prince gets a new primary kahya, the stoic, immovable Evemer, who resents what he sees as the prince’s role in the recent deaths of several other kahyalar. Kadou is navigating tensions with his niece’s body-father and trying to unravel the dual mysteries of a break-in at the Shipbuilder’s Guild and a spate of counterfeit coins. Kadou is a touch-taster, meaning he can sense qualities of metals through his skin, and Evemer is a fiercely dedicated bodyguard and studious strategist. Evemer and Kadou dive headlong into getting to the bottom of things and saving the kingdom, and guess what! They fall in love!

I simultaneously want to yell about all the things I adored in this book - the lush descriptions! The matriarchal social structure! The mental health rep! Eozena the fierce captain and Tadek the outrageous flirt! The devastating, captivating slow burn! The “oh damn I guess I have to kiss you to save your life” escapades! The sea serpents whose breeding season apparently disrupts all trade for months at a time! - and also just shove it into your hands and tell you trust me, read it, you will have no regrets. It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, but soon I was grinning with glee at all the absurd and somehow totally believable gay, crime-solving shenanigans Kadou and Evemer get up to and the found family they make along the way.

If you love deliciously complex power dynamics and vast fields of queer yearning, this book is for you. If your favorite books include WINTER’S ORBIT or A MARVELLOUS LIGHT, this book is for you. If you love staying up until 3am reading a 100K fanfic tagged “swearing oaths of fealty”, “hurt/comfort”, and “gay hair washing”, then goddamn this book is for you. I mean, just read this quote: “I’m yours…My hands, my heart, my breath—yours. Every part of me. That’s everything, that’s all of it. I want you to have it; take it.” YOUR HONOR I AM A GAY PUDDLE

Thanks to Tordotcom for the review copy! This book is out 8/30.

Content warnings: anxiety, panic attacks, violence/injury, kidnapping

This novel digs deep on the interiority of anxiety and wraps you in how fraught conversations and relationships feel from the claustrophic confines of a mentally ill mind. This felt particularly heavy in the start of the book but balanced decently with world-building and character introductions in the latter third throughout. The main relationship/romance was the major focus throughout the book but evolved in what felt a realistic and natural way against the backdrop of their society. My favorite bits were easily the casual conversations between a few side characters, one of whom in particular had more emotional nuance than anticipated and I grew to love him the most of the cast. The author delivered some truly excellent humorous dialogue and I would have loved even more of it! I think this book will resonate well with audiences familiar with anxiety who prefer character-driven stories to extensive world-building and plot focus, but I enjoyed it quite a bit and will seek out more of the author’s fantasy work in the future.

A gay fantasy love story? You tell me if that’s worth the read! I literally cannot wait until this is released so I can get my hands on a physical copy and reread and annotate it

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am having Major Feelings about this book. I absolutely loved it and tore through it in less than 48 hours. It ruined my bedtime. It ruined me emotionally. It made me laugh with joy and cackle like a little gremlin because it was absolutely hilarious and incredibly clever. The queernormativity was a breath of fresh air and effortlessly done, as well as the use of unique non-gendered pronouns, çe and çir (so cool!)

The world building in this book was fascinating in that it really did not care if you understood what was going on— it threw you right into the action and took you along for the ride, but also made it easy enough to understand the main tenets of Arast society. Although we didn’t hear a lot about the other nations and their customs, there was still loads of political intrigue, and of course, our main counterfeiting scheme. It reminded me a bit of Tamora Pierce’s Bloodhood, in the best possible way re: the fantasy elements and the counterfeiting plot, but then also mashed up with the royalty / forced proximity tropes and M/M romance of Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell. A winning combination, in my opinion.

The general plot line of the story was very linear and standard in structure, with not a lot of twisting and turning. Despite this, the story always kept an even pace between the personal developments between Prince Kadou and Evemer, and new breakthroughs in the case. It didn’t need a giant shocker reveal to be gripping— I still couldn’t turn the page fast enough to find out what happened to all my favourite characters.

And speaking of. Wow. What an amazing cast of diverse, complex, and fascinating characters. Of course the heart of the novel is our chronically anxious Prince Kadou, and I felt for him deeply. I could really understand his struggles and it was also so easy to see how and why his relationship with Evemer took the course it did. I also adored our supporting cast: Tadek, Eozena, and Melek were all favourites of mine and had a great span of representation between them (pansexual, Black, non-binary, asexual).

I could continue on, but I think I’ll just end with this: you gotta read this book when it comes out.

It took me a while to sink into the world building and politics of this story. Took a while to get going but once it sinks its hooks into you, it doesn’t let go. Fantastic to see how LBGTQ+ people and themes is incorporated in. Definitely worth a read and a reread!