River's Reviews > Running Close to the Wind

4.5/5

They believe that the stories and histories of the people who live here are valuable and important and worthy of being remembered.

This was an absolute blast! I have never had so much fun or laughed so hard whilst reading a book! Alexandra Rowland is so skilled at writing such a vast array of emotions and such different, yet equally enjoyable and compelling, stories!

I loved A Taste of Gold and Iron unfathomable amounts, which is also set in this world, but Running Close to the Wind takes place in a completely different location and has an incredibly different, more light-hearted, tone. I adore both of these books for wildly different reasons. It is such a talent to be able to write across different subgenres and different tones like Rowland has done across only these two books (I am yet to read their other works).

The first thing I have to say, that I so eloquently wrote down in my notes, is: PIRATES! Literally what more could you ask for than a fun, rambunctious, goofy bunch of queer pirates? I can think of nothing better! The whole cast is so lively and vibrant, every single one of the characters we meet along the way have such bold and memorable personalities. They're all so much fun to read about! (That truly is the word of this review, fun, it perfectly encapsulates every thought I had whilst reading!)

One of its comp titles is Our Flag Means Death and if you like OFMD please read this, I beg you, you will absolutely love it! (And if you don't like OFMD... what's wrong with you?)
There's something so freeing about reading about pirates (or watching a show with pirates) even if it's romanticised for all our viewing pleasure; they're outcasts, criminals, people who cannot exist in society, and so they find escape on the seas. This particularly resonates with people from a whole host of marginalised identities and is why pirate stories like these are so important, pirates stories where the main characters are disabled and BIPOC and queer and genderqueer, and of so many varying situations which make their participation in society so much harder and therefore the pirate's life at sea so much more freeing. And this emotion, even in a story as hilarious and whimsical as this one, still punctuates each movement and really adds to our love and affection for the characters.

It is by far the funniest book I've ever read, I was absolutely crying with laughter. It's just hilarious and so silly in the best possible way! As with anything humour-related in books, it will of course be quite subjective as to whether or not you'll like this type of humour, but I think it's incredibly funny and I think most others will think the same. I just kept bursting out laughing!

I don't even know how to begin summing up my thoughts about this book, I just feel such an overwhelming sense of love for it. I had the best time reading it and eagerly await reading it all over again (you're all so lucky, getting to experience it for the first time)! The characters were phenomenal, they had so much personality and wit and joviality. I also loved that we navigated more complex situations in their relationships and guarded emotions; for all its humour, this book was never one note, it still had a whole lot to say. The plot was so much FUN from beginning to end, it's so hard to put down, I just wanted to read and read and read!
My favourite out of context moment is: glowing blue dogs. Come back to this and tell me your favourite absolutely bonkers moment once you've read it!

I wholeheartedly recommend this story, it is the most fun you will have reading anything! And as I so eloquently already said: PIRATES!

Here we are—for now, for at least today. Here we are, as splendid as we can manage, because we might not be here tomorrow, because we won the right to do what we are doing on the tip of a blade—and because they should know, all those people out there in the world, that we were here and proud and free and that they couldn't and can't do a thing to stop us.

Thank you Tor for an arc in exchange for an honest review. (Seriously, thank you!)