A Taste of Gold and Iron

This was pretty fun. 3.5 to 4 upon 5. I really enjoyed the first half where it felt like a lot of tropes were being subverted and expectations turned on their heads. I liked learning about the world this was set in, the country seeming to be influenced by Middle Eastern culture. I liked how we had a proper problem at the center of it all that was intricately linked to the economics of the place, and Kadou our protagonist having an exceptional talent for touch-tasting metals as well as knowing a lot about economics. I even liked how the romance began as a slow burn.

I did however feel like the second half was somewhat weaker than the first. Certain tropes started coming in, and then I thought the romantic moments were eclipsing and taking precedence over plot development. The set-up for the underlying political conspiracy was such a huge deal in the first half, but the resolution fell rather flat and seemed resolved almost a bit too quickly in favour of having more limelight on the romance. Some parts felt a bit too draggy while other parts felt a bit too quick. It also felt like development for some other side characters were also very much stunted for the sake of the romance. In particular, I was interested to see how Tadek would fit into the dynamic because I had him pinned as a villain from the start, but then I was pleasantly surprised in Ch 5 when he showed enough genuine attachment to Kadou to acknowledge his part in the hunting incident. By the end, it felt like Tadek got reduced to being a sort of jester-like campy sidekick whose purpose was solely for some comic relief, which seems like such a far cry from the depth of potential he had at the start.

Nevertheless though I did really enjoy this book overall and I was pretty engaged with the romance and the dynamics between the two, and I'd generally recommend this to just about anyone looking for a m/m romantasy. The fantasy element in this one is very light though, with Kadou's touch-tasting abilities being the only hint of magic here and even that only comes into the story very rarely.