Curses and queens. Pirates and kings. Gods and magic. The final saga of a princess cursed by Midas’s touch, a vengeful Greek god, and a dazzling kingdom in the balance. After barely surviving thieving, bloodthirsty pirates and a harrowing quest at sea to retrieve her stolen treasure, Kora finds readjusting to palace life just as deadly. Her people openly turn against her, threatening to overthrow … threatening to overthrow her as heir to the throne due to fear of her magical powers. When Dionysus puts out a challenge to kill the girl with the golden touch and burn down her kingdom, it’s not just her future on the throne in danger. Kora’s life and entire kingdom are now on contract.
With no other choice, Kora sets out to find Dionysus, journeying to the mysterious disappearing island of Jipper. If she wants to save her kingdom and have any chance at reversing her father’s curse, she will have to enter into a deadly game with Dionysus, the greatest trickster the world, or the underworld, has ever seen.
A Curse of Gold:
- Is the highly-anticipated sequel to A Touch of Gold by author Annie Sullivan
- Is an enchanting and captivating fantasy adventure/fairy tale retelling, perfect for fans of The Wrath and the Dawn and Cinder
- Is told from the perspective of Kora, King Midas’s daughter and a strong female protagonist
- Features a beautifully decorated cover
- Will have strong appeal to readers ages 13 & up
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With a dive into Greek mythology, this book twists and turns with the gods, Midas’ touch, and a heroine, who is hard not to root for.
Kora is determined to break the curse set on her father (and by blood, her) thanks to Dionysus. But it’s not an easy task as she runs up against creatures and gods alike. Luckily, she’s not alone and even finds help in unexpected places.
Note: I did read the first book in this series and would highly recommend that the series be read as such. This second one can be read as a stand-alone, but it does take some time to sink in, and the characters will seem different if book one was read first.
Anyone who enjoys tales with twists on Greek mythology is sure to enjoy this one. The gods are sneaky and cruel as always, but there are several surprises too. Plus, I enjoy the fact that this is a retelling of Midas’ Touch…a tale I haven’t seen a lot of retellings on yet. The book is packed with action and doesn’t leave a moment for boredom. Kora has her hands full, not only with the gods, but with her seafaring friends as well. I especially enjoyed Titus’ place in this book… it was an interesting twist on his character and did help to make Kora even more likeable than before.
Romance. There is some, but it doesn’t steer the entire plot. Not by any means. Kora’s main goal is to break the curse, and that’s what this tale is about. So, anyone hoping to smolder on this end, will be disappointed. Still, there is some there, and it adds a sweetness to the tale that would be missing otherwise.
While I enjoy Kora’s adventure, I did find many things a bit rushed. Not in the sense that it was confusing or too quick, but rather, the action scenes and other moments could have simply been built out a bit more. So, I felt hurried along when I would have loved to linger.
But it’s definitely worth a read to anyone who enjoys these types of retellings.
I received an ARC and enjoyed reading quite a bit.
You dive right back in with this book and like I said, I totally binge read these two novels. This one started off a little slower but once it picked back up I was into it just like the first. I love Kora and Royce and this new novel was an adventure all its own. This novel was the epic quest and a perfect fit for YA readers who love a little romance thrown into this reads with heavy dosing on the adventure. I loved where the book went and I definitely want more in this world.
A Curse of Gold is a YA fantasy romance with much seafaring adventure and Greek mythology.
Everything is going well in King Midas’ land, until Dionysus sends his minions to kill Princess Kora and her father because of Kora’s gold touch. So she and her Captain set out to stop Dionysus himself.
A Curse of Gold was a good follow-up story to A Touch of Gold. Both books were complete stories in themselves, but I thought it was a great sequel. The characters were memorable, the romance was sweet, and the plot was adventurous and entertaining. I thought the challenges that the characters had to face through each section of the novel were well thought-out and exciting. The author made great use of the Greek myths to create her own story.
I received a complementary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
A Curse of Gold is a fantasy adventure read complete with Greek Gods, pirates, mythical creatures and curses! This is book two in the series but can be read it as a standalone. There are some references to past events from book one but not enough to take away from this book. I enjoyed the story. It’s a great read that will take you to faraway places. The characters were pretty great as well. Kora is a great character! I loved her quick thinking and her determination to accomplish her goal while still caring for her friends. The rest were fun and had me smiling. This is my first Annie Sullivan book and it won’t be my last! I will be looking into the first book. I give this 4 stars!
I haven’t read the first book, but I thought the character developments were bland. Obviously this being book 2, I missed out on the development of them in the first. However I really didnt like this book, it wasn’t very exciting to me. I hope others like it more than I do.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
A Curse of Gold by Annie Sullivan is the second novel in her retelling series of the tale of King Midas. Now the first book was excellent, you can see the review here, but this novel surpasses its predecessor in some ways because it delves deeper into Greek Mythology.
An Imaginative Retelling
In this story, Dionysus is invading the Kingdom of Midas. His goal is to stop the prophecy from coming true so that he can win a bet and reawaken the Titans. To do this, he has to kill Kora. Kora’s golden appearance already lent itself to be a strong element in the storytelling.
However, what makes A Curse of Gold stand out is the inclusion of the Greek Gods in this novel. The Gods were not prominent in the previous novel, only mentioned in passing, but Sullivan has made them more tangible to the reader and the characters. Sullivan has imbued the story with more magic this way, not only by including the Gods but other figures such as Satyrs, and the Oracle, giving readers a story that is more reminiscent of a Greek adventure.
There is a little more fantasy in the novel with the inclusion of the Gods and these mythological figures because there is more magic. Yes, it is still an adventure story because Kora and her friends have to embark on this journey to find Gods and a mystical floating island while also learning more of themselves in the process. The magic of the storytelling keeps the momentum and pace of the story steadily moving, growing, building up to such an incredible adventure filled with addicting magic and fantasy.
Intriguing Characters
It was fun to see the Gods bought to life in this novel. Triton especially made an excellent addition to the group. Sullivan once again reminded readers of her strong talent with characterization because she imbued Triton with so much personality making him relatable to the reader.
Bringing back the cast of characters from A Touch of Gold also adds more tension to the plot. These characters are still reeling from the events in the previous novel, creating much tension between them.
Most of the tension arises between Kora and her cousin. Once again, her cousin shines in this novel, and the two have switched roles, balancing each other out perfectly. Kora is more outgoing, no longer hiding because of her skin while her cousin hides away. However, what makes their role reversal different is the cause and effect of the previous novel. Kora is strong-willed and confident while her cousin is drowning in her rage, grief, and sorrow. She was always a headstrong character, so seeing her energy highlighted in a new way creates much turmoil, adding depth to the dynamics of the plot.
While their dynamic was central in the storytelling, all the character dynamics are not lacking. There are so many emotions going on between the characters, adding depth and growth to them as individuals. These characters are all dealing with the pain from the previous novel in different ways, and the introduction of new characters such as Lenny and Triton, give the dynamics more richness. They give more layers to the character dynamics, ultimately making this a story as much about the characters as it is about the adventure.
Final Thoughts
A Curse of Gold is a brilliant sequel and conclusion to this imaginative retelling of the tale of King Midas. There is so much imagination and creativity that has gone into this novel, and with strong emotions driving the characters forward, the reader will be hooked from beginning to end.
Three and a half
So this book (which is a sequel) has Kora the daughter of Midas still fighting to save her father from his curse. His health and indeed his position at Court are declining when Kora is viciously attacked by one of Dionysus creatures. Kora and Royce set sail to find the fabled Oracle in the hopes that she can tell them where Dionysus hides and that they can finally get him to remove the curse of gold that is slowly draining the life of Midas away !
Hands up confession time because I haven’t read the previous story A Touch of Gold but I quickly caught up to the fact that Kora had retrieved her father’s stolen gold and also faced off with his treacherous advisor. Now she’s on a quest traveling not only to face the Oracle but in order to get to Dionysus she needs the help of none other than Triton ! I honestly hadn’t expected that and whilst the Gods are not known for their kindness I did like the way Kora never gave up on Triton. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author wove mythical creatures into this book and Kora was an absolute delight. I also loved that the couple seemed so in tune and right together. However I was not convinced that Royce felt mature or indeed old enough to be this swashbuckling sea Captain because even his crew felt extremely young. I know I’m a little older than the intended age group that this is aimed at so do take that on board. I think if I’m blunt I definitely preferred the second half because the pace definitely picked up but that ending ! Oh why did it have to end like that ? Perhaps this will become a trilogy because I’d certainly like to read more.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair