This was an average read. I rather enjoyed the plot but there was nothing really special about this book that I liked. I wished it could have been shorter, the pace quicker, and the writing to have been more engaging.

I have swung wildly on my thoughts about RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND as I read it. I wanted to love it - A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON is a stunner of a book and one I keep wanting to re-read. But that just didn't happen here, and I kept debating between DNF'ing and desperately wanting to know what happened next. I'm hoping this review will help me work out what I think of it all.

Let's start with the good - the book is bizarre in a "I can't stop laughing at how preposterous this all is and yet still works" kind of way. The finale is centred around a cake competition everyone takes so seriously and utterly commits to, despite the ridiculous rules. Avra has the most absurd "luck" so terrible situations go his way.

The book commits wholeheartedly to every absurd part of its plot and set up, and that's why it works. It gets through everything with exactly the same "this is happening and it's going to roll down a hill like a boulder that miraculously avoids every single person of note, smashing into a few paint factories along the way for some extra colour." This means you have to accept everything or nothing, and because it treats everything the same, nothing feels like it's breaking credulity.

At the same time, I really did not like the main character, Avra, at all. He was so irritating and pathetic, with his only goal wanting to bang his ex - and willing to make a nuisance of himself in furtherance of that goal. I didn't see why that would make him attractive - but apparently it had worked enough in the past for him to try it - or what other goals he had.

I didn't know why I was meant to like him or root for him when he had one goal that felt like a massive hang-up and an inability to move on, effectively pestering someone into sleeping with them, which is a big nope from me. It felt like someone who wouldn't take no for an answer and had no respect for boundaries.

This also meant like I felt there was no tension between them (thank goodness for the monk for providing relationship tension and chemistry). I want tension between characters in a romantasy!

After writing that out, I think the tone of the plot worked for me, and was enough to keep me reading despite wanting to shake the main character and tell them to snap out of it.

I absolutely fell in love with each character and the world building, however the pacing of the book kind of threw me off. I am very excited to read more from this author in the future!

The premise of this was great - I love a pirate story, and the story does hook you in, wondering who these characters you’re just met are and what the backstory is.
I have to admit, though, I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style. It’s very informal and chatty and while you do get a very clear impression of who the MCs are and the voices are very clear, I struggled to follow the story - almost as if the narration got in the way. It felt quite wordy and the pace was slow as a result.
I didn’t find Avra a particularly compelling character - he just sort of annoyed me. He felt a lot like the sidekick rather than the protagonist, despite the fact that it’s his story. Similarly with Teveri, the character just didn’t grab me. I get that they’re quite a closed book and play their cards close to their chest but it just made me feel as if I didn’t really know who this character was.
I can see this book doing well, with the LGBTQIA+ rep and the fantasy elements but it wasn’t for me.

I quite enjoyed this one, it was such a different writing style and perspective than I'm used to. Avra as a main character is hilarious when he's not being incredibly annoying and I really enjoyed the diversity in this one as well as it's frank discussions on sex and sensuality that still felt believable to the story.
What I didn't enjoy was that it ended extremely abruptly, I'm not sure if there's intended to be further books but it doesn't appear so right now and it felt like a lot of the plot was still left waiting to be resolved, it very much ends in a 'let's see what happens' place. But perhaps that was intended, with the real crux of the book meant to be focused on character development and interactions rather than a detailed plot.
I would recommend this one to enjoyers of humourous fantasy, with a caveat that while Avra does grow as a character throughout, his main personality does stay the same and could be frustrating if you're not a fan of unlikeable characters as I am, so if you find that you're not enjoying his perspective by a few chapters in then this may not be the read for you.

This book was a surprise in a lot of ways. I've only read one other book by Rowland - 'A Taste of Gold and Iron' - and as this was in the same world, I thought there would be a similarity in tone. There isn't. Our main character, Avra, is a chaotic and desperately dramatic character with a tendancy to fall into curious circumstances. Sarcasm, slapstick humour, and desperate flirting abound, and are underpinned by extremely well-fleshed out characters and deep emotional turmoil.

Despite receiving a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I bought this book as soon as I saw it in a bookshop. Wildly enjoyable, but be prepared for Shenanigans.

What a fun romp! Absurdist humour and unhinged hijinks in abundance. These queer pirates are on a fast paced adventure. Surprisingly, despite the rampant horniness and dick jokes, there were no sex scenes (not a good or bad thing, just an observation). My only issue is that the unrelenting humour and tone meant that this was very light hearted and so probably won't be a book that stays with me for very long.

I've loved previous works by Alexandra Rowland, and A Taste of Gold and Iron is one of my favourite books, so I had high hopes for Running Close to the Wind, particularly as it is set in the same World as AToGaI.
Unfortunately, I didn't connect with Avra, one of the main characters and the main POV character of the story. I found him irritating and immature - he was constantly horny and making sexual jokes and came across mainly as annoying rather than as sex positive. Frankly, I could see why Tev locked him away, and I wouldn't have been mad if he'd stayed locked away and we could have had a different lead instead.

I didn't post any reviews to my socials as I prefer to keep reviews on there positive. Thanks for the eARC.

Not downloaded in time to review due to being locked out of NetGalley. Best of luck, and I hope to read this in the future. :)

Great world building, lovable characters and entertaining writing style. A story that makes you laugh. What more could you want?

Avra Helvaçi, a former intelligence agent, has inadvertently stolen the world’s most valuable secret, forcing him to flee to the open sea. Desperate, he turns to his ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Ḥaffār, to help him sell the secret in the pirate haven of the Isles of Lost Souls. But with a relentless Araşti ambassador tracking their every move, a mysterious new crew member with a vow of celibacy, and a dangerous sea serpent breeding season looming, their plan is anything but straightforward.

This adventure is packed with wit, complex relationships, and a thrilling plot that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The characters are full of personality, navigating not just the dangers of the sea, but also the guarded emotions and intricate dynamics between them. The story is a wild ride that’s impossible to put down—both fun and thought-provoking, with plenty to say about loyalty, trust, and the quest for freedom.

I found myself pulled in by the characters and the world. I love how this author crafts their queer characters. However, where I struggled was the fast-pacing and sense of chaotic-ness to the piece. I felt bounced around, back and forth and needed it to feel more linear at times. I moved from the audio to the ebook and that helped my find my place a bit better.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This is such a fun romp of a novel - what's not to like about pirates? I think your enjoyment of this book probably directly correlates to how annoying you find Avra, but I definitely acclimatised to his character (which is A LOT) throughout the book and I found the relationships between the crew and others living in the Isles of the Lost Souls very realistic. The ending was perhaps a little dissatisfying as I wanted to see how it all panned out, but I understand why Rowland left it there. More please!

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the e-Arc.

I was very excited to receive this as I expected a fun and pirate filled adventure. Unfortunately for me, I do not believe I am the target audience for this book. I struggled from the get-go with the pacing of this book and did not get invested in the majority of the characters. Alongside this, the overly sexual type of humour did not do it for me. The majority have received this book well and loved it, so I believe this is more a case that the writing and humour style are just not for me personally.

A minor note to also mention is that the e-ARC I received had some typesetting issues in which multiple letters were missing from the start of sentences - which also influenced my reading experience of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance reader copy,

I hadn’t read anything by this author before but had heard good things of A Taste of Gold and Iron.

I went into it expecting comedy but also some sort of story which would keep me compelled to continue reading. I found the characters started to get very annoying and the humour missed me a lot.

This was a long read for me but I imagine there are parts that will appeal to some readers.

six of crows meets our flag meets death. It was hilarious with such lovable characters! I need more!

Running Close to the Wind - A queer pirate fantasy adventure full of magic and mayhem by Alexandra Rowland is a fun. light-hearted romp, playful and engaging.

Avra Helvaci has found themselves in a little bit of a pickle with extensive swashbuckling and flourishes. Avra has been a bit light-fingered and got their hands on a devastating secret, meaning there is nowhere safe to hid out until it can be offloaded to the most convenitent buyer. Nowehere that is, apart for the midline, the high seas.

Avra cannot achieve the mission alone and has no choice but to team up with their ex, Captain Teveri Az-Haffar. With a cast and crew of colourful charaters, quick wit and wry humour, I loved every minute of this page-turner


Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan | Tor and the author Alexandra Rowland for this ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

As a huge Our Flag Means Death fan I should have loved this but ultimately I just couldn't get into it and felt no desire to continue reading.

I kept hearing this was a silly book and I love silly, but this isn't the sense of humor that works for me. I gave it a try, but I had to put it down because I need a little bit more than humor to get me through a book. The plot was a bit absurd and for a book that's over 400 pages, that just didn't work for me. If this was a novella, I think I would've liked it a lot more.

Thank you to Panmacmillian/Tor and Alexandra Rowland for giving me the opportunity to review Running Close To The Wind.. This should have been a fun read with swashbuckling pirates and high seas adventure in the pursuit of treasure - unfortunately I couldn't get passed chapter one with the poor formating and disliking the characters. This wasn't the book for me and I tried to read it twice as I should have loved this like a couple other pirate stories I have gobbled down this year. Sadly this one didn't hook me.