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.

The queer, fantasy, and pirating elements in this book initially intrigued me, but the execution fell short, resulting in a rather lackluster reading experience. The protagonist, Avra, was particularly grating—his personality and especially his way do things were exhausting to follow, making it difficult to connect with him or care about his journey. The plot's pacing was uneven, causing the story to drag and fail to maintain my interest. Despite its potential for thrilling adventure, the book lacked the excitement and engagement I had anticipated, leaving me bored and disappointed.

Additionally, the book's attempt at humor fell flat, with many jokes coming across as cringeworthy rather than amusing. The narrative felt cluttered, trying to convey too much without achieving any meaningful impact. Overall, the story was bland and forgettable, failing to deliver the captivating, adventurous tale I had hoped for. Despite its promising premise, this book ultimately did not live up to my expectations, earning a middling 3 out of 5 stars.

Not a good but also bot bad. I just don't know what to rate.

We all know I LOVED ATOGAI so I’ve been highly anticipated this new book set in the same world and I’m going to be honest, it wasn’t entirely what I was expecting so I actually found it really hard to narrow down a rating for this one!

RCTTW has a MUCH different vibe/tone to ATOGAI, it’s a lot less serious but I’m not really mad about it like it’s not a direct sequel at all, you don’t need to have read ATOGAI (although there were a couple of nods to ATOGAI!) and I found myself giggling away as I was reading several times. This book truly gives Our Flag Means Death vibes with the way it was so completely unserious and a little bit silly!

I loved Avra, he’s chaotic and ridiculous but in a good way and Tev is the perfect counter to him with how much more serious they were…then there’s Julian who perfectly strikes the balance between them and helps the two of them actually manage to communicate properly! I genuinely really did enjoy both the queer rep (and the queer normative world!) and the poly rep but my one teeny, tiny gripe with this is the lack of romance. I’m not really that bothered about there being spicy scenes or not, buuutt the romance in Rowland’s other work is top tier and I’d hoped for more swoony and fluffy moments, but a lot of the romance in this is (much like the spicy scenes) closed doors.

Ultimately, the romance isn’t really the focus of this one. It’s exes to lovers with a developing poly relationship, which was fun because I enjoyed the banter and the bickering between all three of them, but ultimately it’s a fun, silly little romp as they try to figure out how to make use of the secret that Avra stole and their quest to find answers.

The side characters are memorable, there’s some heartwarming moments (I LOVED Cat’s declaration of his intentions to be friends with Avra!), there’s tension as news of the theft leaks and the Ambassador starts investigating, there’s also a lovely little trip to an island to capture a unique pair of dogs, sea serpents AND a cake competition that I guarantee is nothing like you’re expecting. Oh, and did I mention the haunted turtles? Because I really didn’t see those coming, I can’t lie!

There’s a lot to enjoy in this one and there’s certainly never a dull moment! I really mean it when I say it wasn’t what I was expecting and surprised me in so many different ways, but I genuinely had a lot of fun reading this and it was rare for me not to at least giggle once per chapter! I’ll be honest, yeah it did take me a minute to adjust to the vibes for this one as I had expected a more serious tone similar to ATOGAI, particularly given the cover, and while I wasn’t expecting a carbon copy of ATOGAI it was just such a drastically different vibe to what I’d expected that it surprised me at first but despite the size of this book, I couldn’t help but breeze through it with the easy writing style, imagination and humour.

If you’re looking for the unserious, silly vibes and similar humour to Our Flag Means Death with equally as queer pirates and adventure, then this the one for you! It may be a little bit OTT at times and it’s certainly unhinged, but it was a hell of a lot of fun!

I learnt a couple of things from the Afterword of the hugely entertainingly filthy Running Close To The Wind that helped me recontextualise it. First Rowland wrote A Taste Of Gold And Iron, which is set in the same world (though there isn't really any crossover). I liked A Taste Of Gold And Iron, and noted that it was fundamentally a romance in Ottoman fantasy trappings, I liked the way she balanced the personal with the slowly building plot, and that she had a really good way with character interactions, particularly the transition from antagonists to lovers. The second key point from the Afterword was that Rowland realised this story only worked as a comedy, which her previous book in this world absolutely wasn't (swooning romantic melodrama, something that Rudolph Valentino would have happily kholled up for). My minor problems with Running Close To The Wind come from its comic undertones, its relentless patter distracting a reader around the more tense bits of plot (fighting sea serpents, defending cakes). That's a minor issue because for the most part Running Close To The WInd is the kind of horny pirate love triangle that can take in imperial spies, sea warfare, glowing dogs, and most importantly an absolutely deadly cake competition in its stride.

Our viewpoint character is Avra Helvaçi, an ex-imperial spy who has stolen a very important secret and now wants to sell it via his beloved ex, the pirate Captain Tevari. The problem is Tevari doesn't want Avra back in her life as he is an obsequious nymphomaniac who values sex above all else, safety in particular, and will not take no for an answer. Throw into the mix Brother Julian who has severed ties from his order who is most certainly being played by Austin Butler, attractive to all despite a vow of celibacy (part of his severing ties, as his order encouraged sex to such a degree that he once pleasured fifty-two people in one night). So on the one hand we have pirates escaping sea serpents and intrigue around the secret, and trying to be recovered by the Empire, but we also have constant bickering between Avra, Tevari and Julian, plus other crewmates, the rival pirates, and so on. The book's flow can be choppy and it is just a matter if timing sometimes as the bickering is often very funny, and the insight as to the protagonist's relationships shows a lot of nuance (there is a lovely breakdown as to the stages of sex and what Avra and Tevari are good and bad at). World-building is solid and Rowland also builds some lovely comic scenarios - not least the annual pirate cake competition at the end which will be succour to anyone who had had food stolen by a seagull. So while I sometimes found the early sections a little difficult to tune into (they really do argue about sex all the time), it also was a joy to watch this mess coalesce, and certainly the last third I burnt my way through. Any problems I had with it, I want to excuse for the difficulty, and also the imagination on show. Lots of horny fun.

Avra is a loveable, chaotic, horny hurricane, and this book was utter perfection. A beautiful cast of queer pirates and a mountain of luck pull the plot along in what should a most ridiculous and unbelievable sequence of events, and yet Rowland manages to make it fun instead of annoying. I loved every single moment of this book.

Avra's formerly field agent in the Ministry of Intelligence has stolen something that's kept secret from everyone. He goes to a pirate Cap. Teveri who's his kind of his ex and Tev plans to sell this and before sale they're to prove the authenticity of the secret where things go into dangerous territory.
The author tried too much to make this book fun and introduced something supposedly hilarious in almost every other sentence. Some characters were memorable but Avra just annoyed me beyond words. The plot is weak and takes nothing seriously making it really boring.

Thanks a lot for Netgalley and Publisher for this advanced copy.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but the comedy in this book just didn't work for me. Avra was such annoying character. Instead of answering some questions, he was just talking nonsense for a half of chapter. I didn't like how the author trying so hard to make me laugh with all those long bad puns. However, the cover was so pretty!

Today is my stop on the tour for Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland 💖 Thank you so much to the lovely Olivia & Pan Macmillan, Book Break UK for my gorgeous copy and for having me on the tour!

I absolutely loved reading A Taste of Gold & Iron, it was one of my favourite reads last year so I knew I was going to love this book - I just didn’t realise how OBSESSED I was going to be! 😂

I was full on belly laughing in the first 10 pages, this book is so outrageously FUNNY and I had the best time reading it! It matched my sense of humour so perfectly, I really needed a story like this! It was so full of fun and whimsy and you can really feel the heart & soul that Alexandra Rowland put into it and filled it with so much joy!

I loved the characters so much! Our main character Avra is so chaotic, I love him and his lucky tendencies that he denies 😂 And our poor non-binary captain Tev and how they kept being frustrated by Avra and the beautiful Brother Julian 🤣 I could honestly read a whole series following these characters and their mischievous adventures!

It is so fitting that this book is dedicated to Terry Pratchett, he would’ve LOVED this! I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this book since I’ve finished it and it just really reminded me of why I fell in love with reading!

This has joined my favourites list and has been a great read to kick off the summer!
Including a hilarious cake competition, glowing blue dogs and a treasonous secret - Running Close to the Wind is a wild and enjoyable ride! 💖

Ahhh this book was like joyous soul food for me. Felt like it just got better and better as it went along.

Misfit pirates, farcical antics, sexual tension, and a hell of a lot of word vomit. Im here for it.

The ridiculous, farcical vibes were just my kind of humour. Honestly the cake competition might be one of my favourite book moments ever. I was howling with laughter.

I have a super soft spot for main characters like Avra, who just blurt out all the thoughts in their head. I loved that initially he might seem quite shallow and silly, but you slowly get to see more of his vulnerabilities, his cleverness and the deep care he has for those around him.

Really enjoyed all the dynamics between Avra, Tev and Julian. How different they all were made for such fun interactions. My one tiny niggle is it would have been nice to get a little bit more of them all happy together at the end. However, I loved all their teasing and toying as their relationships developed. Slow burn is how I like my romance and this delivered!

Although very different in tone, I’ve really enjoyed both of Alex Rowland’s books set in this world. I need more!! Felt like I could read another 400 pages of this story, I wanted more time with these fun characters!!

The humour is probably not going to be for everyone, but this was a huge hit for me.

First of all, this book is indisputably Fun. Really, really fun. Romp is the word. Pirates, schemes, hijinks and shenanigans. Lovely!

But I did find that I had to be in the right mood to read it - because Avra is SO hyperactive! His narration can be a little overwhelming sometimes, and I admit that I related quite a bit to those around him (I'm not fetching the tar barrel though, he's fine).

I found myself thinking that if anyone wanted an adventure with a highly-caffeinated Jack Sparrow, this would be perfect!

I enjoyed it but didn't took it too seriously as there's a MC who's very lucky but also a sort of Peter Pan, there's twists and pirates.
An enjoyable and entertaining fantasty story that kept me hooked and made me laugh
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

After painfully mediocre "A Taste of Gold and Iron" Alexandra Rowland's book is again a let down. It probably tells a lot about my taste and how it's incompatible with their stories. I need action, it's borderline offensive to write about pirates and make them so dull. Nothing happens in this book, it's 100% vibes and sex jokes. I found Avra quite amusing at the beginning, like a perfect blend of Jaskier and Stede Bonnet, but his constant horniness and resulting humor becomes tiresome and repetitive after a couple pages. I do appreciate Rowland's style, I believe they write funny and witty dialogues but their reluctance for the characters to actually experience something fun is what kills their books for me. This is probably the last one of theirs I'm reading.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.


.Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland is a story of Pirates and a former government agent who have a secret that allows ships to sail on the ocean, during a period of time which is unavailable for any other nation,

I have been trying to write a review for Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland for a few days now and nothing clear is coming to my mind that can be put in an organised way for this review.

As this has not come this review may be disorganised but maybe that is what the book wants to be.

The main thing that comes out of the novel is horney pirates. The novel in a way reminded me of modern take of movies like teenage commodities movies that come out occasionally with an awful lot of innuendo and overly flirting but when the action got real it was a fully closed door novel.

Not that this is a bad thing in fact Running Close to the Wind is a modern take on this as almost every character if not all is LGBT+, where everyone is comfortable in their own skin.

As for the writing of Alexandra Rowland, it did take me a while to feel comfortable with their style, and it never became one that I was able to disappear into the story for some reason.

However after about 20% the story did start to flow in my mind having said that there were times when not finishing the book was a possibility.

However the way Alexandra Rowland crafted her 3 main characters Avra a former government agent who seemed to have brilliant luck, Julian the very attractive monk and Teveri the captain of the ship.

Were all well defined and had interesting characters which compensated for the plotline of having an important secret to sell rarely had me turning the page.

All this means is that while Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland is ideal for readers who prefer more of a book that is character driven than one that relies on the plot.

From the book dedication at the very beginning and through to the very last page, the influence of the late great Terry Pratchett on this author is very obvious, and I really wanted to love the irreverent, witty and campy story, set on the high seas and in safe harbours, in a queer normative world, where our outrageous protagonist Avra Helvaçi, former field agent of the Arashti Ministry of Intelligence joins partners with a former lover and their crew to....well the actual plot is largely irrelevant. If you love high jinx in a ship sea monsters and the mayhem that comes from an ever-expanding cast of complex characters you'll probably love this in all its twisty turns. Mild bafflement is a constant companion throughout this book, don't expect to fully understand what's going on at all times. Whether you find that charming or low-grade irritating will depend on the kind of reader you are. If you're after romantasy this isn't really it but it's one for an adult audience rather than YA.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

I wasn't a fan of A Taste of Gold and Iron, but I wanted to give the author another chance, and I figured that if a book with a queer pirate adventure wouldn't sell me on them, then nothing would.
Sadly, that seems to be the case because I truly did not enjoy this and ended up DNFing.

It was certainly different from ATOGAI, which for me worked even less.

The main character was unbearable for me. His whole personality was being silly and making stupid sex jokes that weren't even funny, and it got old VERY quickly.
The writing almost felt like a stream of consciousness at times, and then turned back into uncomfortable humor.
I really tried to enjoy the plot, but I truly could not stand to deal with the MC any longer.

Maybe this is just a me thing and other people will love this, but it definitely was a miss for me.

Okay so after not being able to read the NG ebook due to formatting issues I actually bought the hard copy as I’ve been wanting to read this book.

It is bloody brilliant - so funny, chaotic and just a really fun story. The main character, Avra reminds me a lot of Jack Sparrow from pirates of the Caribbean- just chaos personified. Then there is Tev the Captain of The Running Sun (who is non-binary, and I love that the main love interest is NB) who is just sick of all of Avra’s drama but cannot bear to shove him out of their life and Julian, the hot monk who is also frankly hilarious because he DGAF about Avra’s antics.

There’s politics, scheming, magic, ghosts and Avra’s inherent luck (he’s supernaturally lucky, of course!) plus a whole host of funny side characters. This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read before, but I love it so much.

I was really looking forward to 'Running Close to the Wind' since I made 'A Taste of Gold and Iron ' my entire personality before it even came out so I feel so, so lucky that Pan MacMillan gave me the chance to read an advanced copy. That was a Pride Month present

I love that Alexandra Rowland first wrote a book about the privileged, then the lucky and now the criminals in this world and how much that added to the world-building.

If you are a lover of Pirates of the Caribbean and are still crying and raging at the cancellation of 'Our Flag Means Death' (and that is what I wish on the person who made that unscrupulous and homophobic decision!) you will love this.

My biggest problem with this book was the absence of trigger warnings which I hope will be fixed. No one warned me that I would be laughing, punching the air and clutching my pearls at 2 A.M. when I have to wake up for work at 5 A.M. No one warned me that when I started this book, I would become unable to do or think about anything else going on in my life because Avra's was so much more interesting.

Avra. Avra. Avra. Avra. Avra is all I can think about.

Avra, the wettest blanket of a man, a raccoon made a person, the poorest little meow meow ever written, the smallest man who ever lived, the most pitiful man on Earth, the love of my LIFE!!!!!

I loved Avra as a character so damn much, I wish I could have ten books about him chronicling all his life. Alexandra, I know that will never happen anywhere outside your head and fanfic if I'm very lucky but that is what I wish for and speaking of luck…

I loved how the author used him and his luck to make fun of how most of our favourite fantasy heroes only survived thanks to plot armour and also added a fun unpredictable twist to the story by helping us suspend our disbelief and just enjoy the comedy that ensues at the same time.

Do you remember the tension of the slow burn in 'A Taste of Gold and Iron', you'll find a lot of it here but with none of the repression because everyone in this book is a slut and I love that for them.

The only part where this book fell short to me was that I wish it had had a LOT more dialogue and communication between the main trio. 'Running Close to the Wind' feels like the fifth book in an unpublished series because Avra and Tev are both in their mid-thirties and have had an on-and-off relationship for an entire decade and while I loved both of those things being represented in a fantasy book because they seldom are, these two characters sometimes seemed like they had never had an earnest conversation with one another in that entire time. They knew things about the other because they were smart and observed the object of their lust and love, but were completely unaware of the other's wounds and feelings and they didn't speak that much during this book either so I got to the end of the book mostly rooting for them individually because they were great characters but I couldn't see them as a couple in a committed happy relationship because they were exactly the same people they had always been so why should I believe it would work this time? Not even the other characters in the book believed them!!

A big part of Tev and Avra's relationship is how Avra wishes to place all the power over his life and body in Tev's hands. But because these characters never talk, Tev snaps at Avra for doing it and Avra just keeps begging and acting up for his attention no matter how mean Tev is to him. After a while, it doesn't feel kinky or spicy, it feels borderline abusive how Avra is denied comfort at every turn.

Those scenes really turned me off because Avra's pitiful persona is just that, a disguise in the arsenal of a man who spent 10 years as a spy. A man who is able to succeed in every environment he finds himself in by being as unassuming or attention-seeking as he needs to be.

I think the character of Julian was supposed to be the catalyst for them to finally understand each other but once again, there was barely any dialogue between the three of them. And Julian presented perhaps the biggest problem I had with this story. Julian was a monk who had made a vow of celibacy and it really, really bothered me how he was constantly being thrust into sexually charged situations and being objectified by everyone around him so much of the time he was on the page that it bypassed disrespect and bordered harassment. The author does solve that problem by the end of the story in a mostly satisfying way but I really wish there had been scenes of honest dialogue between these three characters not only about their romantic prospects but also about their inner struggles, thoughts and feelings so we could see their relationship and their characters evolve organically and see all the reasons why they are perfect for each other rather than just seeing three people who consider the other attractive and are horny. That plus some much-needed introspection would make all these characters so much more complex and fleshed out and their final resolutions packing so much more of a punch.

I needed at least another chapter and an epilogue so I could see these characters as a happy romantic partnership with a happy and adventurous future ahead of them rather than having the book ending so suddenly after the mystery was resolved. But then again I only got a drc so anyone that read the final version let me know, what you thought and if there are any changes.

Oh, and this is a 5-star read of course. Alexandra, I wish I could vacation inside your head.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for this drc.

queer pirates? adventure? a very funny book.
that is however, all it is. its funny. i dont think this is anywhere near as good as a taste of gold and iron.
it was enjoyable but hasn't got much to keep my lingering attention.

thank you netgalley and publishers!

I really enjoyed A Taste of Gold and Iron so was excited to read Running Close to The Wind. I have to say that I think this is possibly even better than Rowland’s other novel but I do appreciate it may not be for everyone. For me I adored the mixture of high seas adventure mixed with comedy. It had me laughing at points and on the edge of my seat at others.

The main thing other than the tone and writing style I enjoyed were the characters. Some were indeed larger than life but they never felt out of place in the story, not to me at least. As we follow the rag tag crew I loved that we got to see more of the characters and how they all worked, or clashed, together. I do think this one is a lot more light hearted than A Taste of Gold and Iron so if readers are expecting a return to that they may be a little let down but I think Running Close to The Wind is something new, fresh and exciting from Rowland.

If you enjoy high seas adventure like Pirates of the Caribbean mixed with a bit more wit this is definitely for you. I certainly loved it. It was nice to have something that toed the line between chaotic (in a fun and good way) and serious.

As always thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy to review and my review is always honest, truthful and my own opinion.

what a rip-roaring, riotous, absolute blast of a book!!! i had so much fun reading this one and i don't think a book has ever made me laugh out loud quite as much as this did.

RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND is set in the same universe as alexandra rowland's other books, but this time it follows avra, our affectionate little chaos gremlin who has inadvertently stolen the most precious secret to the arasti government. the book follows him as he reunites with his (ex?) captain and crew, and is introduced to a very hot celibate monk who spends the whole book testing both avra and tev's limits.

it was fun, it was whimsy, it was a laugh - definitely one for the 'our flag means death' fans with all the joyous delight of alex's writing. absolute 10/10 from me based on reading experience alone.