This one interested me as soon as I saw the cover. It is absolutely beautiful and made the idea of reading the story of these two very intriguing to me!
So thanks to the author, as well as Tordotcom via NetGalley for the (beautiful) review copy!
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.
A Taste of Gold and Iron is the story of Kadou, who is the prince of Arasht, a nation which prides itself on the legitimacy of its coinage. Kadou, among others in the nation, have the ability to ‘touch-taste’ precious metals, so it is generally easy for their country to find forgeries. Kadou is caught up in an embarrassing incident with the Sultan’s baby-daddy, and gets himself in trouble with his sister, the Sultan. To prove his loyalty to her, he decides to help with the investigation with a break-in at the Shipbuilder’s Guild, with his newly appointed bodyguard Evemer, who doesn’t appear to like him very much. Together they uncover quite the conspiracy, and many shenanigans are had!
I loved this book! Kadou was such an easy character to cheer for, because I see a lot of myself in him. He suffers pretty terrible from an anxiety disorder, or… something probably closer to panic disorder. He doesn’t seem to realize what it actually is, or anxiety disorders are rare in this world, because he tries to make light of it, and labels it cowardice. Evemer is a character that I wasn’t sure I liked at first, because he seems very strict and stiff, but as the story went on he absolutely grew on me.
The prose was lovely, and the world that it described was easy for me to imagine. Kadou has some very rich clothes, and imagining all the different looks he gets to show was interesting.
All told, as I said, I loved this book! I would recommend it to anyone who likes a low fantasy with wonderful characters taken on an adventure. I had 5/5 stars of fun with this one!
superstardrifter 
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