A Taste of Gold and Iron Review

Tws: Kadou is an anxiety-ridden cinnamon roll, who has absolutely no sense of self-worth

The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.

Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen's new child—in an altercation which results in his humiliation.

To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin.

General Impressions

Usual disclaimer: they got me with the cover! That US cover! Ladies and gentlemen, there are not enough hearts in the world to describe it. And the UK one is beautiful as well. And neither of these covers, come even close to how wonderful, show-stopping, meaningful, absolutely unique and necessary this book is.

I knew this book was gonna blow past my every expectation after the first couple of chapters and it only became better the more I read.

There was such richness and vastness from the very beginning without ever feeling like an info dump. The world-building was complex and wholly original and there was such a richness of details that made me truly feel like I was beside these characters at every moment. The plot itself left nothing to be desired as well, keeping me engaged and wondering until the very end.

And as for Kadou and Evemer? The most delicious slow-burn, enemies to lovers, philosophy discussing, acts of fealty giving, pair of hard-headed sweethearts I read in years and all I wanted was to reread the entire book the moment I finished it. The multiple scenes in which they discussed their responsibilities to each as prince and bodyguard/servent/subject were some of the most paradigm-shifting for me because I had never seen a person with power feel responsible for those serving him to such great detail. Alexandra was able to do the impossible by not only writing a noble character aware of its privilege and obligations but one I was able to like and root for, which has very rarely happened.

Their relationship never felt forced or meant to be, instead, they both had to look past their initial misgivings about each other and face up to their true feelings not only about each other but their own insecurities and shortcomings. Their journey from disliking and looking down on each other to understanding, friendship and eventual romantic attraction was a rollercoaster and as easy as breathing at the same time. Kadou and Evemer didn't become magically better because they were together - they became better people because they wanted to be worthy of the other's admiration and affection.

The secondary characters were also a delight and I adored how Alexandra refused to make the easy choice when it came to making Kadou's ex-flame a villain or portraying him as the effeminate evil queer person but fleshed him out completely into one of the best parts of the story. The only want this book left me with was that I wished I had gotten more of Kadou's older sister, the sultan since most of what we got as a reader was a bit unflattering since she and Kadou were at odds for most of the book. This woman was not only busy running an empire but the two people that should support her, her brother and lover were at odds with each other and causing international incidents where people died, after she gave birth weeks before. This woman could not catch a break!

Conclusions

This book had everything: slow burn romance, enemies to lovers, a land inspired by something other than medieval England (god bless!), an original magical setting, no sexism, queer normcore society, third gender and pronouns acknowledgement throughout the entire book on dozens of characters, original societal hierarchy, the *hottest* of scenes (seriously, I don't think it will come as any kind of surprise to discover that this woman writes for Ao3 because DAMN, the level of kinkiness at the end!!!!) and their conversations about fealty and philosophy, reader I can't breathe just thinking about it! Go read this book as soon as it comes out if you cannot read it now and you can thank me later.

Alexandra, ma'am, you own me now.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan, Tor and NetGalley for this DRC.

Rating: 5/5