I’m afraid this book is a DNF for me… I absolutely adored A Taste of Gold and Iron, and this book set in the same world was my most anticipated read of this year, and when I got an e-arc I was so happy! But I’m afraid I have one major problem: I really hate the main character. He is The. Worst. I was hoping the character growth would redeem him somewhat but that has yet to happen. There is a lot of humor in this book and while that normally is my thing, I thought it was a bit too crude at times and also a bit too much. I should’ve known though as they obviously are pirates, but it just isn’t my cup of tea. Add to that that all “th’s” were missing from my copy (let me tell you there are A LOT of those), and the plot wasn’t engaging so far. However, this is just my opinion, I’m pretty sure many people will find this very funny and engaging and a fun mindless read, it just wasn’t for me but I’m really particular with humor, and I also didn’t expect this going in, know that it is very different from the character depth of ATOGAI and that it has a different writing style, too, and should really be read as two standalones in the same world.

I received an e-arc through Netgalley but my opinions are my own.

DNF at 13%

I gave it about 50 pages but now I'm certain that I'm not gonna like this book, so DNF it is. The vibe of this book is silly. Very silly. So silly that Avra did not have one serious conversation (even though being in serious situations) and that there were sex jokes in almost every conversation. I don't like these kind of jokes (to me they often feel inappropriate), especially in a normal non-flirtatuous conversation.

The story could be great though, I don't know since I DNFed. If you like a very lighthearted and silly book about pirates, this book might be for you.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I don’t really know what to say when it comes to this book. The writing was well done and the world building is really easy. It is a fantasy pirate novel. This book had me laughing constantly and at first glance the MMC Avra Hevalçi seems dumb as rocks but somehow he always seems to pull it together when the situation requests it of him and is really smart in those. That book has numerous sexual innuendos and it made me question constantly why I was reading this book, because those sexual innuendos seemed ridiculous at times and had me constantly saying WTF out loud. I highly recommend this book to anyone that needs something different from the norm and a book that makes them lough constantly!

Told from the perspective of Avra, an intelligence officer turned pirate, _Running Close to the Wind_ is a fantasical romance just over 400 pages, and a relatively quick read.
This book is really heavy on the romance. It was mentioned every 15 pages or so. While I usually like romance, I felt like in this case it was quite explicitly sexual and did not add a lot to the story, except make Avra a bit annoying to read about. Less focus on this would also have allowed the characters to be more developed, which I would have enjoyed reading as the bits of Julian's and Teveri's backstories that we did get were quite interesting and helped me understand their motivations better.
However, I liked the concept of this story as a whole. I would recommend this to someone looking for a lighthearted, funny pirate romantasy that has a happy ending and isn't dark and gritty.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC!

When I picked up this book, I expected the same melancholy, slow and sweeping romance from A Touch of Gold and Iron. I adored that book and was excited to read about a gorgeously tortured pirate. However, Running Close to the Wind is incredibly different from the author's previous book, which I wouldn't have minded, except for me it didn't work. I didn't find it funny, and it feels like it was written purposefully with a comical tilt, especially the main characters, who I didn't enjoy reading about.

I'm disappointed this book didn't work out for me but I'll still be keeping an eye out for any more of the author's work.

Well this was an utter delight!
I was thoroughly charmed and amused by one of the main characters in particular whose antics and metaphorical observations were refreshing and endearing. Gloriously dramatic and decadent this really did transport and hold me captive throughout. I adored every character and their interactions with each other. The tenderness and rawness shown was both beautiful and gut wrenching. Highly witty and addicting I could of happily carried on following this excellent crew!
Thanks to Pan McMillan and Netgalley for the advanced digital copy all thoughts are left voluntarily.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel for an honest review. It is set to be published in June 2024.

"Running Close to the Wind" by Alexandra Rowland was not for me, and this rather surprised me because I like queer stories, I love pirates, and I absolutely adore queer pirates.
The premise of the book is awesome: a queer pirate crew swashbuckling under the command of a non-binary pirate captain, with a queer romance or two thrown in for good measure? Sign me up immediately!
Unfortunately, there's precious little swashbuckling happening in these pages--the book reads more like a stand-up comedy act than like a real novel. And *all* the jokes are about sex, which I wouldn't have a problem with, except that when you spend 400 pages making jokes about one single topic - any one topic, really - it gets old fast. Even the funniest joke cannot survive being relentlessly recycled over 400 pages.
The biggest letdown for me was that this book had been advertised as "Our Flag Means Death meets Six of Crows". Now, I haven't read "Six of Crows", but I have watched "Our Flag Means Death", and let me tell you, "Running Close to the Wind" has *nothing* in common with it, except for one copy-pasted catchphrase ("and maybe we can TALK IT THROUGH AS A CREW" on page 14). The humour in OFMD is never mean-spirited, like it is in this book, and all the characters in OFMD are well-rounded and unforgettable, while the characters in "Running Close to the Wind" are nothing more than caricatures. Also, OFMD has a plot, adventures, world-building... all things that are sadly missing in "Running Close to the Wind".

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

I really enjoyed the premise of this book and definitely got Our Flag Means Death vibes from it which I really really liked. I did feel that in some aspects the writing and pacing let me down a little bit, especially near the beginning when I was trying to get into it. Still, would read more from this if it were to become a series and also from the author

It breaks my heart to say that I will mark this as a DNF. I loved Rowland's previous novel, and I was so excited to get my hands on this e-arc.

This sequel vastly differed from the first book, especially regarding the writing style. While this story attempts humour, it falls flat. The banter feels completely off and didn't elicit any laughs from me. While I don't usually mind cursing in a story, in this case, it just felt wrong.

It felt like I was reading one of those m/m romances you can find on a certain e-reader, but without the spice and lacking progress in the romance/action department. The main character, Avra, wasn't even likeable; instead, he was incredibly annoying. How can he be 35 and have such an infantile personality?

And please, let's not compare this story with 'Our Flag Means Death.' Marketers, find another pitch!

Running Close to the Wind delivers queer pirates and mayhem in a hilariously funny, incredibly unhinged, and supremely horny way, set in the same queer-normative world as A Taste of Gold and Iron.

The book is full of adventure, hijinks, the most chaotic characters, a smidge of romance, and it's so funny I nearly strained something laughing.

We follow Avra, a self-professed silly little slut and former Arasti spy, after he steals something very valuable from the Shipbuilder's Guild (remember the break-in in A Taste of Gold and Iron?) and goes running to his on again/off again beau pirate captain Teveri to share his ill-gotten gains. Teveri and the rest of the crew of The Running Sun, including newly added crew member Julian The Hot Monk, have to decide if it's worth putting up with Avra and his antics to possibly make the biggest bounty of their lives.
Throw in sea serpents, a pirate island, colourful side characters, Avra's weird mouth-noises, anti-capitalist sentiments, an impossibly hot monk with a mysterious background who both Tev and Avra lust after, and you got yourself one of the funniest books I've read.

Running Close to the Wind's also given me a new favourite chaos gremlin in Avra. He's a suspiciously lucky, somewhat pathetic disaster of a human who's constantly horny and annoys everyone around him. I fell madly in love with him almost immediately!

Because the book's so nonstop funny it left me wanting more moments of seriousness and depth in order to truly connect with the characters. It sometimes felt like the book didn't know what it wanted to be and the ending left me kind of frustrated. That could partially be related to expecting a different book going in? It's not a romance, it's more of a cozy fantasy pirate adventure with great characters. We drop into Avra's life for a few weeks of chaotic fun and then leave him, Tev, and Julian right when things heat up between them which was a bit of a bummer. And for a book this horny, there's surprisingly, and unfortunately, no sex scenes.

There's lots still left to explore and so much more I want from this story - I could easily imagine a trilogy in this universe and I'd eat it right up!

This was a fun book at times, yet others it was too slow.

The characters are all great together and I enjoyed Avra's witch luck.

It had it's funny moments but the story took too long I was bored at certain points. At first the banter was fun but it just didn't stop and became annoying after a while.

Overall an ok read but not great.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I don't even know where to start with this book. Which seems to be a theme among other reviewers.

If you're like me and loved A Taste of Gold and Iron, and were so excited about a new Alexandra Rowland novel you could jump out of your skin, the announcement of this book probably sent you a little feral. Now, if you loved A Taste of Gold and Iron, you also need to know that this book is in a completely different category. While still set in the same universe and world, this book is unhinged comedy centring on a 34-35 year old field agent, Avra, with the behaviour of Pinocchio from Shrek and that tweet about squaring up to a larger man then saying 'I'm just a little birthday boy.'

The pirate Captain Teveri az-Haffar is a sassy, sarcastic and utterly determined character that is the focus of Avra's insane affections. Together the pair, and everyone else who sees him, fawn over Julian. Meanwhile Julian is....mysterious and a walking tease that leaves Avra making 'squee' noises throughout.

There is absolutely no part of this book you should take seriously. If you find yourself rolling your eyes at Avra, his ridiculous attempts at seducing Teveri, or Tev, and desperately trying to seduce Julian, you've got the right reaction. It is ridiculous. I mean, the man literally climbs a wardrobe and reacts like a cat going into a carrier when someone tries to get him down. There are repeated referrals to fighting alley possums that exploit Avra. It's just magically ridiculous.

So the story centres around Avra having stolen these secrets, he goes to Tev and has to work with them and their crew to decipher the secrets and sell to the highest bidder. Between this and his past as an agent, Avra ends up catching the attention of the new ambassador. It's the interactions between the two and a couple interactions with a few of the crew members that really leave wondering 'Is Avra really this childish, sexually desperate man-child with an overactive creative spirit or is it an act?' I'm still not totally sure myself.

Because it's set in the same universe (Chantiverse) as all of Alexandra's works to date, it adds more richness to the world we've come to love. In particular, Tev's coat and the poem, I just adored that. And please know if you start this book and wonder about this cake competition, the pay off on this is incredible. You can tell how much they had fun writing it, and honestly, that's something that shines throughout the book. It's just fun, ridiculous and genuinely perfect for anyone who loves queer pirates and is lamenting the cancellation of Our Flag Means Death.

Actual rating 3.8
Gotta be honest with you: it was not what I expected. Sure, it was fun, light and easy to read, but I found it lacked depth at times. I wished for more backstory, more insight into the other two main characters' feelings. Nothing another 100-150 pages couldn't have fixed.

The language was impeccable, fun and clever. There were blue dogs, and the side characters were really fleshed out (Granny Layla! Cat! My beloveds). The cake competiton was hilarious, easily the hightlight of the whole book.

Again, it just wasn't what I expected going in. But if you want a somewhat unhinged, lighthearted, quick story with lots of sex jokes, then this is for you!

Probably I'm just pissed that Avra didn't get enough cuddles. Sheesh.

I requested this ARC just because I liked a previous book by Alexandra Rowland and did not read the description so I went in with no expectations at all. When I saw that it had a countdown I panicked a bit because I am a mood reader but unlike a lot of fantasy books I felt dragged into the story from page one and that is to do with the unusual protagonist of the story. Where other heros growl and purr at their love interests, Arva screeches. To the point where a grown pirate starts to break down crying and twitching. He is a short, skinny man of 35 who climbs on top of wardrobes to pose alluringly, flirts aggressively and pathetically and is just overall the most ridiculous, hyperactive, hilarious little weasel on a sugar high who does not know when to shut up.
The story is set relatively shortly after A Taste of Gold and Iron but instead of the royals, we now follow a pirate crew who needs to get to shelter (and to the cake competition!) before the sea-serpent boinking season while trying to crack a state secret.
The captain of the ship is Arva's ex, Teveri, a very grumpy and disgruntled person. Their relationship is so dysfunctional that - and I find this rare in books - the third person in their little group was so absolutely necessary to balance those idiots or they would probably not have gotten a single thing done.
I loved the book so much and was in such a good mood while reading even though I've had quite an "off"week. Perfect book at the perfect time. I highlighted so many funny scenes and while with all the screeching and whining it should not be made into a film, I will go preorder a physical copy right now and am tempted to start an instant reread! The book is cheerful and low angst despite the treason plotline (and despite how dreadful all the cakes are, except for Mistress Navya's) and the ending is quite open, so a lot of space for either a sequel (yes, please!) or Imagination.

#RunningClosetotheWind #NetGalley #alexandrarowland #Arvahelvaci

When I read A Taste of Gold and Iron, about a year and a half ago now, I thought that such an amazing book - the kind that I will desperately and shamelessly thrust into the hands of anyone I know and a great many people I don't purely for the opportunity to have more people to talk about it with - was the kind of thing that a single author could only produce once in their career. Let me tell you, I have never been more glad to be wrong than I was reading Running Close to the Wind. In fact, I might go so far as to say that this book was even better. I am writing this review at two o'clock in the morning because I am dead certain that I cannot possibly sleep until I have shared how fantastic this book is with the world.

I cannot begin to express how much I loved every single character. Most of all Avra, who is possibly the whiniest, neediest and most annoying chaos gremlin that anyone's imagination could possibly produce (and I mean this in the most complimentary way possible). I oscillated between wanting to kiss the man and strangle him, often in the same sentence, and most of the other characters felt much the same way. He's horny as hell (everyone is), he has somehow managed for fifteen years not to get fired from a job that he possesses no discernible aptitude towards, he's so suspiciously lucky no one will ever play a game of chance against him but he's still luck-agnostic, and a professional hired by his own government to investigate him once told his superiors that there was not a single thought in his head. He is 5'4" and even if this had not been explicitly mentioned in the text, you could tell purely by the energy that radiates from him at all times. Imagine the ultimate sad wet cat of a character, but give him a sense of self-importance and absolutely no impulse control, and you will come close to conceptualising Avra Helvaçi.

And what can I say about Teveri? Wonderful character. Perpetually in a state of very understandable mild irritation towards Avra, even when they are considering having sex with him. Frequently much more than mildly irritated by Avra's existence, especially when he is making annoying noises for attention (also very understandable). They're the captain of a pirate ship that they claimed after everyone on it died from the plague. They are definitely insane and I love them for it. I would say that Avra is their number one enabler, because whatever crazy ideas they have on their mind, he probably has a worse one, so theirs seem quite reasonable given the options. They have neither the time nor the patience for anyone's bullshit, and their crew would probably follow them to the end of the earth, but every single crew member would be bitching about it the whole way there.

Oh and Julian, the monk. Everyone is attracted to him. It's a whole thing. It was a great running theme, and honestly got funnier the more people who met him and immediately agreed that he was hot. He utilises this, largely with gleeful abandon, though mostly manages to come across as very monkly about it whenever anyone other than Avra is paying attention. He swore a vow of celibacy to join a monastic order which requires its disciples to give up the thing that most occupies one's thoughts. He does sciency things despite seemingly not knowing all that much about sciency things, except relative to the rest of Teveri's crew. He once had a conversation about maybe killing some important people, and nearly got executed over it. After finding out that the holy site he originally left his monastery to seek is now an establishment that serves curry, he seemingly just decided to stick around, and you know what? Good for him.

Underlying all three of these characters, though, is something that I absolutely delight in seeing: the core beliefs that they live by, the things that they will not compromise. It was just so evident that so much thought had been put into these characters, who they are, their past, their principles, what led them to where they are now. Don't let the comedy deceive you. This book was crafted, masterfully, and I don't doubt that for every little detail that makes it onto the page, there are another ten behind it that exist for no purpose other than to shape who these people are.

I haven't even talked about the setting! The plot! The other characters! The cake competition! Honestly, I could wax lyrical about this book until the cows come home, and I still wouldn't be anywhere near running out of good things to say about it. To avoid spoiling too much, I will simply say this: if you watched Our Flag Means Death and thought "if only these pirates were even more disastrous as human beings," then you should be running to buy this book right now. If you want a book with a cast so queer that you will forget there could've been people that weren't, this is absolutely for you. If you want something that can make you forget about the world for a little while and potentially start snorting with laughter with great frequency, Running Close to the Wind is a book after your own heart, I promise you.

This is a book of shenanigans. The most wonderful kind of shenanigans, in that almost every single one of them will leave you doubled over with laughter, and yet they still manage to all tie back to the main plot, often in the most surprising ways. The story is definitely a comedy, but it's more than that, too. It's also about found family, being horny for monks who have taken vows of celibacy, and stealing from the government. (I am sort of kidding, but not really.) It balances hilarity with sincerity brilliantly, and rightfully takes its place among my all-time favourite books.

This was the most perfect and absurd book I've read in a long time. Rowland writing was delightful.! I loved it so much, cannot recommend enough

This book sounded so interesting and had so much potential imo, but I couldn't finish it because the arc was extremely poorly formatted. There were a lot of alphabets that were missing in words and the sentence structure was also off with random symbols thrown in between the words. I will definitely be buying a copy when the book comes out though because the little I was able to power through was hilarious AF and I really wanna read this book!

Nautical fantasy, especially involving pirates, is one of my favourite subgenres ever. Any book with pirates immediately peaks my interest, but when it's also compared to OFMD, one of my favourite comfort shows, I just really NEED to read it. I have read Rowland's previous novel set in the same fantastical world, and I admit I didn't like it much. But I'm always willing to give an author another chance, mostly because I WANT to read all the great books. So yes, my expectations going into "Running Close to the Wind" were a mixed bag, but I was hoping for greatness.

After having finished the last pages of this novel, well... I fear that Rowland just isn't the author for me. This new book has entirely different vibes and a completely different tone than "A Taste of Gold and Iron", its predecessor. I don't mind at all, I love it when very different kinds of stories are told in the very same world. And the world here does seem to be an interesting one - we don't learn that much about it, though. The world building is both scarce and superficial and infodumpy at the same time, and it's disappointing because there is so much interesting political intrigue hidden behind chapters and chapters of pure and utter sillyness. Because that's what this book is. Just silly.

Now, I love comedy in my fantasy. I enjoy more comedy-focused approaches to fantasy, too. But "Running Close to the Wind" offers nothing else beyond it, and its comedy is cringeworthy at best. It reads like a weird fantastical sketch comedy, with every situation, every plot point existing purely so that our main character can do something silly.
Speaking of said main character, Avra - I'm not sure I actually consider him a character at all. He is a caricature, he exists purely to be funny in a really really over the top, cringey way. He is not grounded in reality, his flaws are never truly explored. He is OBNOXIOUS. He doesn't act nor talk like an actual person, he doesn't have any depth nor complexity, and I was absolutely flabberghasted when the book told me he was supposed to be a 35 year old man. No grown up man, not even the silliest man alive, would act like him. He's childish and insufferable, and his supposed charm wears off after about 10 pages of having to endure his antics. He'd work maybe as a minor character, a comic relief that our main characters meet at some point, but he cannot carry a book.
Not that the other characters were any better. There are two more major characters in this - Avras on and off lover, the pirate captain Teveri, and the mysterious new part of their pirate crew, the very hot priest Julian. I could not take Teveri seriously at all, and I WANTED to love them because nonbinary pirate captain?? Hell yeah! But they didn't act like a captain and noone in their right mind would follow them. Their captain's log consisted mostly of dirty thoughts about Avra and Julian. Julian, who is just hot and intelligent and celibate but used to be a complete slut, which is why celibacy was the sacrifice required of him when he joined his religious order. The relationship between the three of them never actually conveys any kind of emotional depth, there's just nothing beyond lust. Whenever there seems to be an emotional development you can be sure the next silly scene is right around the corner negating any effect it might have immediately.
All they think about is how horny they are, like 80% of their dialogue is about sex. And nothing ever comes of it either, this isn't a spicy book. There are glimpses of an actual personality between all the sex jokes, visible only once the book decides to finally give us something resembling a plot, but whenever there was finally something interesting about either of them, it was immediately ruined by yet another silly scene filled with sex jokes. We get it, everyone is horny. Please stop, please give me ANYTHING else! The sex jokes aren't even funny, they get increasingly cringey and unbearable. The main joke is just how Avra and Tev keep completely objectifying Julian in the most uncomfortable ways. That's the humour level we're at.
There is also something to be said about how Avra is treated by most of the other characters. They are unnecessarily cruel and abusive, physically but especially emotionally, but it's funny because Avra is just so annoying and he's kinda into it, you get it??

The writing in this is alright, but Rowland relies way too much on (often unnecessary 'funny' filler) dialogue, and the pacing is completely off because of it. For its actual content, this book is way too long.

Mind you, I'm clearly in the minority here. There are a lot of reviewers who very much enjoyed this novel, so take my little opinion with a grain of salt. Still, from purely a craft perspective, this book has too many issues for me to recommend it to anyone. I skim read after the 50% mark only because I was hoping for it to get better, but quite frankly, I should have followed my instincts and dnf'ed this one. 1,5 stars maybe, because the very beginning is a little funny?

i don't know what i'm more happy about — that i got to read this ahead of its release or that i got to read this at all because the book is just. uhhhh. it's. i have EMOTIONS OKAY

this author has been on my radar for quite a while now, i have read three other books by them aside from this one and i suspect that RCW sort of nailed it down for me that i will read ANYTHING they write. i will eat it up and then word-vomit everywhere about how good it was. watch me.

my favourite thing about this particular book is how absolutely unserious and completely unhinged it is. i expected the world-building to be exquisite (alex's trademark, in my opinion), but the way it's intertwined with this absolute delight of the story, where the mc's inner monologue had me constantly look up at the ceiling and sigh with the knowledge that nothing will ever be as funny and good as this, is literal magic. it's horny and unapologetic about it. it knows how to get down and have some real fun!

avra's definitely the star of it all, as well as my life. such a marvellous creature, feral, with no fucking filter and zero inhibitions. i wish i could walk through life the way he can. the horniness of the book is largely (but not fully) his contribution. i love this man to bits.

the author also managed to sneak in some healthy relationship communication and a plot to undermine a whole fucking government. this one sentence should be enough to get you in, if you weren't interested already. this reads like cozy fantasy despite the stakes being actually somewhat high, there's no actual smut involved (not that i would mind tbh), but a very clear-cut throuple is in development which made me want to sob in jealousy for the next ten years.

i also want to say that this is something that my indie-loving friends will appreciate, i think. it has the type of queerness and authenticity i came to enjoy in that particular part of the book community, and i cannot wait for some of you to read this

I absolutely loved Running Close to the Wind!
This book was described as Six of Crows meets Our Flag Means Death and while I still haven't read Six of Crows... Our Flag Means Death is one of my favourite TV shows!
This made me super excited as well as made this book one of my most anticipated releases of this year!

I couldn't put this book down!
It was really well written and I really liked the writing style. Alexandra Rowland is definitely becoming a new favourite author.
The strongest part of the book and my favourite was definitely the characters.
I just really loved them all so much!

I highly recommend reading this book as it was amazing and everyone should definitely read it!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.