Gold and Gossamer

by Riley S. Quinn

The Mage King of Avonbend is meant to be untouchable. With his throne balanced on the precipice of the human and fairy world, Dante is the sworn protector of the Talamherra he knows from the Talamherra he doesn't. But he cannot help feeling that the formidable Fairy Queen who lurks beyond the ruins and rivers of Avonbend's borderlands is not truly the threat that human legends describe her to be. When he finds himself in need of a favor, he dares to ask for her generosity, in hopes of saving his own people from a mysterious blight. The Fairy Queen questions why the Mage King would not turn to his own allies in such a time of uncertainty, but she is never one to stay in the dark for long, and is eager to lure this ambitious king into the shadows of her dominion. When a rivalry blooms from her refusal to aid him, enflamed by his desperation for victory against her, the Fairy Queen offers up a different one that leads to a truth that Dante is not yet prepared to unveil. The webs of secrets, oaths, and intrigue that await Dante in Fairyland are all at the mysterious queen's fingertips... and now, to his bewilderment, so is he. Dante knows one ruler will have to yield to another eventually, but perhaps it will not be the enemy they expect... and the fates that await them are more intertwined than he ever dared to imagine.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy

318 pages, Hardcover

Published November 8, 2025

Reviews

[Sugarplum · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I’m on page 123/313 of my book and I was trying to push myself to finish but I’m calling it quits. I was really excited to read this book especially because I seen the author’s animations on their TikTok but there are just too many things I’m not liking about it and I don’t think that it’s going to get better. I’ll list them.

Plot: Honestly the plot of the book is too flimsy for the book length. Usually by page 50 I would be hooked on a book but again I’m on page 123 and for some reason I’m not all that interested in the story. Every chapter so far is about Dante trying to figure out this blight situation or Fighting with the Fairy Queen. Every once in awhile something new will happen( the tournament ) or we’ll learn something new( Dante’s mom, lore about the Fairy Queen ) but it gets brushed over so fast that it doesn’t really leave an impact which is another problem I have. I think things in the book happen too fast. There is absolutely no build up or tension for anything so I feel like I’m getting whiplash every chapter.


Characters: Pretty early on in the story I realized that I didn’t like Dante. He’s supposed to be a king but he doesn’t act all that kingly. For example, he says his actions are for his kingdom but I’m not entirely sure he even likes them lol. I mean he certainly doesn’t like his council and he constantly ignores Elvine’s advice, and most chapters that I read so far he’s not even IN his kingdom. Also he’s always frustrated and annoyed. Seriously in every chapter he’s upset about something like can you smile lol. The Fairy Queen is fine for the most part but I felt like she was softening up to Dante a little too quickly in my opinion. She had this Maleficent feel in the beginning but then she kinda turns into Invisigal from dispatch.


Conclusion: The concept is really interesting but the execution is not so great. I think this would be a nice book to read if you’re looking for quick and easy fantasy book read.

[Amelia Rikstad]

Few books make me want to cry because they aren't out yet. This is one of them. November can't come soon enough :(

[eesha]

guys i’ve been following this story on instagram for so long i can’t believe it’s coming outttttttttt

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It felt very quick to me! Fav character is by far Taniya. Would love to learn more about the war she had with her parents.

I wish Quinn delved more into Dante and Elvine's friendship as it just felt a little one sided from Elvine at times.

Also, the person who wrote a review previously, stating that for someone who loved his kingdom so much he was barely in it was right about Dante!

I hope there will be more books set in Talamherra, as I feel there's so much more to be told.

[Victoria Vela · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was good! It’s very entertaining and I read it all within the day. If I were to give it a critique I would say that at times it felt like events were being told to us rather than shown at time and Lumina’s motivations kinda felt like the Joker at the end. But overall though I think the book set out what was wanting to do, which was to make a fun fantasy story.

[Sunny ☀️]

YESSS ITS FINALLY HERE (<- same guy who requested it on instagram)

I'll review it when it comes out nyehehhe >:D

[iyredism ੈ✩‧₊˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the feels!!!

Okay so, to preface, I followed this author’s IG story about the book (so all the art and animatics, extra bits of info, and the like). I enjoyed what I saw on there. The author., Quinn, mentioned once how this book would’ve been a cartoon, if not for monetary restraints, iirc. I understand why. The writing focused heavily on imagery—which I enjoy, because as a writer I struggle with that myself—and the world and aspects like that. Did the characters have their arcs? Yes. Could more have been done with said arcs? Also yes.

I will be honest. I had a fun time reading, but this novel wasn’t something I felt I could…simply look past all its flaws, yk? I paid money for it, as I couldn’t get it from a library (love indie authors), and while I enjoyed it, I do feel a cartoon would have brought more from this story.

The characters were nice, but—and this is where I fear I get a bit nit picky, but it’s a product I ended up buying, so I’m allowed my opinion—a lot more could have been done with them. Dante, king of Avonbend, I feel like the love for your kingdom was shown more on IG than in the book. His motivations were a bit too quick to come into his own things. That wasn’t worded well. He went from this is for Avonbend to this is for me, quicker than…I would have expected? And yes, the reasons why are valid. But also, I sort of wanted more of an epic fantasy feel to this book. It was more comedic, and I enjoyed that, but…I’ll stop there.

Spoilers below:
I do wish for more of the antagonistic characters, we got more explanations and details. I’m sorry, but Dante’s ex? Woman, what was that motivation at the end?? She herself said to the Fairy Queen that they were alike, just not in the ways that she would have preferred. I wanted to see those parallels more!! And maybe I missed it, because I was excitedly reading, but maybe I didn’t either.

Spoilers end:
There are more things I could say, but I won’t. I enjoyed this book, but I also recognize my expectations for it carried a lot of my thoughts and feelings about it. I would like to see the world explored more in future novels, if that happens.

[faith donaldson · Rating 5 out of 5]

enjoyed it, but i feel like bc i’ve seen these characters so much on instagram there’s something fanfic like abt reading the actual story. like i still enjoyed it and had questions, but bc i already knew a bit abt the characters and their dynamics it took some the initial (idk the word lol might edit this) mystery/suspence from the story. overall was good, i had fun. yeah

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely agree with Sugarplum on the feeling of lack of buildup, which is strange because the characters do have clear motivations and stuff they work towards. The chapters feel almost episodic, where I wasn’t very motivated to keep reading. This isn’t to say I disliked it! Not at all! I found this book to be very fun and charming, and audibly reacted all throughout. I do think, however, that the best way to read this book is a chapter or two a day. I read a chapter before bed every night and found that worked for me.

The prose itself was neat. I really liked some descriptions (dress fabric “hissing” on the ground, ash fallen like lace), although it sometimes feels a little too flowery. Characters speak in a very fantastical way, with long (LONG!!) monologues and old fashioned wording. Because of this, sometimes the dialogue would take me out of the story a little— a certain backstory monologue from Dante felt like it would’ve been more engaging as a flashback. (I know, I know… most people don’t like flashbacks for some reason… maybe I’m weird…)

A TEEENY tiny petty wee little nitpick would be that dialogue mostly ended with periods before the tag, and while I thought that was a stylistic choice at first, there were some moments where dialogue ended with the conventional comma (noticed most near the end). The tag “said” is also barely used, which once noticed is very distracting. 🙈

But yeah! Altogether it was a fun, fantastical book that I enjoyed reading. Getting to look through the author’s art with the context afterwards is also super rewarding!

[Xavier Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of if not my favorite story of love and war.

A truly beautiful story. I enjoyed every bit and even the ending left me satisfied without aching for more. I enjoyed every moment and emotion I read and felt.

[Maranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read with a delightful (mostly delightful, there's a few rotten apples) cast of characters, wonderful magic and delightful fashion. I had a fun read, though the writing is filled with all kinds of details, important ones and minute ones that do tend to drag on a bit and may be offputting for others. But it didn't ruin the book, though it was often tedious, it just might not be for everyone.

The blooming romance between Dante and the Fairy Queen had me giggling and kicking my feet. If my man don't want me to be his nemesis and have weekly battles, I don't want him!

This is a solid 4.75 for me!

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mimi

BEST BOOK EVER! LOVED EVERYTHING BEGINNING TO END PLEASE READ AND SUPPORT HER PROJECTS🤍🤍🤍🤍. I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH

[Cielo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Moment Of Mixed Feelings. (MAJOR SPOILERS)

I will probably come back to edit this, as I’ve just finished the book. I wanted to give it a higher rating because of how much I loved the cast, but it was hard to look over some things.

Starting off with the good. Like many, I found this book through the author’s social media and fell in love with the art that came with it. Just like the art, I was enraptured by the world building in this! I loved the concept of mages and how their magic was labeled as “Intent” to not call it for what it was, as Taniya pointed out in some moment. I found the themes of “how much magic can we practice before we are labeled as something dangerous” with glamour being forbidden ie. fascinating. Dante’s self discovery in “really challenging himself” against Taniya was also a great theme! Also coming to understand that The Hall Of Crowns would never really help him, that he was deceiving himself in a life of complacency. I also enjoyed Taniya’s development as a character, I feel that she was the one we got to understand the most with better pacing. The character dynamics and the overarching themes across the story were well developed and I throughly enjoyed it (specially the Pim, Lark, Elvine, Taniya and Dante squad moments). I also enjoyed the character personalities and interactions, it was endearing to see them come to life on the page. I would also like to say the prose was enchanting. It definitely felt like a world full of magic and the poetic scene setting was wonderful to picture.

Where the book started to lose me was with the pacing, the lack of buildup and the telling rather than showing. I understand that the entire reason Dante and Taniya’s nemesis dynamic began was because he made her a promise, and those are bound to faeries. At least to me, it felt like they grew fond of each other too quick and there was never really much of an “enemyship” between them, contrary to what we are being told. That is not to say I don’t like Dante and Taniya as a couple, I really enjoyed them together! The pacing was just jarring to me.

There were moments where the book focused too much on minor plot points that didn’t really have much of an impact in the overarching story, and focused too little on more important arcs we should’ve seen more of imo. The biggest example of this to me was the tournament. I’d say the most use it had to the story was introducing us to Kean (loved her, by the way!) but other than that it fell flat. I truly expected to see some introduction or climax building towards something impactful happening from it, but the third battle (which did pull at my heartstrings) never really came back to have a bigger meaning.

On the other hand, there was not nearly enough attention to Dante opening up to Taniya about what Lumina did to him. We were told, and being told what the big bad of the story did instead of showing us through flashbacks or more detailed dreams (as we did get some dream sequences from Dante) was disappointing, unfortunately. It took away emotional impact for me. Which, on the topic of Lumina, maybe it’s me but again, as the big bad, we didn’t get much of any look into her logic other than the final monologue. Someone said she felt cartoonishly evil and I unfortunately have to agree. I do love the themes of callousness and her wanting to destroy Talamherra and herself along with it but not having much of a demonstration of how she got to that point or her motivations for it fell flat for me once more. The scorned princess trope is definitely one of my favorites, so I would’ve loved to see more of the dynamic between Malor and Lumina and how her apathy for her father also tied into her childhood and what caused her to be that way.

Another example of the poor buildup was Alder’s betrayal. I would’ve loved to see some crumbs of his transgressions earlier in the book (if i missed any, do point them out please!) but it was as sudden as it was jarring. Maybe if through Alec’s birthday we could’ve gotten a deeper look into Elvine’s family and their dynamics (could’ve been a brief scene of Elvine bringing the gift to Alec and seeing how her father treated Alder vs her). We saw the emotional impact on Elvine, but we never really got to let the betrayal sink in before the story moved onto the next point. I will say I did not expect it and was surprised. I thought it was interesting and I would’ve liked to see it explored. I understand not everything can be explained through scenes because it could draw out things — but I found this to happen most often with things that were crucial to the plot. This story does a lot of monologuing instead of showing.

All in all, the world building was fantastic, the character dynamics were fun, the side cast was endearing, and the romance between Dante and Taniya was very charming. Where this story falls flat for me is the pacing and buildup, as well as the telling instead of showing. I’d recommend this book for anyone looking for a more casual, breezy read. I am definitely planning to keep up with the authors future work because I’d definitely love to know more about the world and how it works.

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

*not a completed or very coherent review yet, i'll be back to edit bc there's so much to say!*

This book was so SOO amazing! I've been begging for a book/series ever since Riley S. Quinn started posting her art and animations on instagram and I'm so SOO happy I was finally able to get my hands on the ebook! Where to even start? I immediately fell in love with the poetic prose, the rich dialogue, the characters bursting with life and personality, and the themes of prejudice between opposing forces, finding one's purpose, love, care for the environment, loyalty, and self discovery.
It was honestly such an awesome experience to see our beloved Taniya, Dante, Elvine, Pim, and Lark come to life on the page in all their own unique and exciting ways. I especially loved the role reversal as far as Dante and Taniya go, with Taniya being the 'shadow fae' of sorts haha, always ready with razor sharp wit, an undeniable sense of humor, and immense power at her fingertips, while Dante is the zealous and naive king with an immense love for his ppl who charges in first and asks questions later. Elvine almost embodies the tired and fond energy of a mom, always trying to keep her king from doing things the whole kingdom will regret haha. And Pim and Lark too in their own ways as far as Taniya is concerned.
Oh and another thing that I absolutely loved is that it's very rare to find fantasy books where the main conflict is rooted in environmental issues but it's done so well here and gives a sense of urgency when you think of all of the ppl who would lose their lives without a reliable food sources and a sense of joy when even the smallest seeds start to grow.
Would've definitely given this a 5 stars but I felt like the plot started getting a little jumbled and not as engaging in the 2nd half, although the finale picked up great!
Anyways I'm rambling and incoherent bc there's so many things I loved about this book and I hope the story hasn't ended here. I'll be back to edit when I've gathered my thoughts together.