This story based on the tale of King Midas and his golden touch was a phenomenal adventure that dragged me through the mind of a girl turned to gold by her father and his curse.  The characters pranced through my mind and the world building painted a vivid story that left me wondering what happens next.

The main character, Kora struggles to find her place in a world that is disgusted by her mere presence due to the golden hue of her skin.  In this story we see her go beyond the girl who is afraid and resigned to the hatred that surrounds her to one finding her acceptance and way in the world. She begins to realize that her curse does not shape her and that she can be free and in control.  It was phenomenal as a reader to watch Kora's growth and I loved her character even if I was at times annoyed by the fear that seemed to consume her.

The other side characters added a vivid array of emotions and flaws that made a complete cast.  I will state now that I knew immediately who the love interest would be and that the Duke (slight spoiler here) was not all that he appeared to be.  In the romance aspect, the tale was predictable but besides that, I loved pirates and their effect on the tale.

Besides the characters, the world building was gorgeous.  We see pirates, a lawless island, and sea creatures which all added to this stunning book.  Not to mention, the evil pirate of this tale who's obsession with skulls was fascinating.  I will say that this book did not do a good job of sticking to Greek culture or history but if one simply takes the tale out of Greek context and sees it as a separate world it is perfect.

So, in the end, despite its flaws, I loved the tale of King Midas' touch and the resulting consequences of the golden touch.

Truthfully, I found the writing to be a bit unpolished. Lots of adverbs and telling instead of showing, and at times the dialogue was stilted. I loved the premise of the story, but found it hard to really get into because of the writing style. Others may enjoy it more than I did, it just was not my cup of tea.

I'm so often asked for clean fantasy books and Annie Sullivan is always high on my list of recommendations. A Curse of Gold is no exception!

This epic retelling was just as much a roller coaster as A Touch of Gold! Kora and her friends don't have time to take it easy in this book with the stakes being higher than ever. Her father still ill, her kingdom in the balance, and her people angry - Kora must decide what is best for her kingdom, even if it's not what she wants for herself.

The relationships in this book are so wholesome! I can't mention too much without spoiling, but Kora and Royce are just the sweetest.

Thank you so much to net galley and the punk for sending me a copy of this book! I love this author and I loved the first book so much this one did not disappoint and it gave so much of a more grown up Percy Jackson sorry!

No review text to copy/paste here as I had read the book and interviewed Annie for my podcast AIC Stories back when the book was released. She was terrific to chat with and the book was a treat!

While I enjoyed the first, I had a hard time getting into this book. I found the writing to be lacking, the characters flat, and the beginning uninteresting.

A Curse of Gold was a really good conclusion to the series. I love Greek Mythology, so this was a great read.

Kora has just gotten back to her kingdom and the father she saved when the palace is attacked and she learns Dionysus wants her dead. She must track him down before he causes more destruction and find out what he wants and how to stop him. I love retelling, and this book continued the story so well! I didn’t know where the story would go after the first book, but the author nailed it!

I received this book from Netgalley, and read it not realizing there was another book before this. As I was reading the recap of what had already happened, I did think, "Wow that all sounds interesting, the book should have started there." Then I look it up and saw I was an idiot, so. :)

That said, I still really enjoyed it! It follows the daughter of the King of Midas, of the golden touch Greek myth origin. I liked Kora. She was determined and willing to put in the work and her gold powers were interesting. I liked Royce, too, and thought they made a good pair.

I thought the parallels between the quest to find the Oracle and to take on Dionysus were cool, although maybe a little heavy handed. Younger, less experienced readers would probably like it, and I bet it would be interesting to teach in an English class.

Overall, I'd recommend it to fans of Greek mythology or fans of quests in general. Reading level is probably on the slightly younger side, but there are also battles and such, so your mileage may vary. I do plan on going back to read the first one, so I liked it enough for that, and I'll probably keep an eye out of other books by the same author.

This is my first official DNF. I truly loved a Touch of Gold and was so excited to get started on this and was completely floored by how much I felt I was forcing myself through the work. I felt like I was being dragged into reading it and I was bored and frustrated. I wanted to love it and I really, truly do not DNF books but I just couldn't make it through. Maybe one day I'll try again and have a better experience.

This was a solid conclusion. I didn’t get the first so I had to find it. The world building definitely got so much better!

Loved this one as much as the first. The author is adorable and I love following her social media pages. These were such fun reads!

This saddens me because I adored A Touch of Gold so much, but A Curse of Gold was a DNF for me. I found that I was having to force myself to read it and it was putting me in a slump.

It is not as good as the first one where the characters grew and relationships were center. Royce takes a back seat. But the adventure is still fun.

I really enjoyed Sullivan's Tiger Queen, so I was excited to read this series as well. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a nice followup. Perhaps a bit slow to start, but it picked up speed. The latter half was quite engaging. I love mythological retellings and this one was pretty great!

Unfortunately this book series did not work for me,I thought the first book was ok and wanted to give the series another chance.I truly tried to get into the book, but it did not keep me engaged and hence I was unable to be invested in it :(

I hadn't realized that this was a sequel at first, but it's still enjoyable. Has an intriguing and original plot line, and a cast of awesome characters.

I enjoyed this book more than the first! I thought the first one was good, but this conclusion was addictive! This is a simple YA, very easy and quick to read.
I love King Midas retellings, and it's so rare to find one (especially one this good) I really recommend it to anyone who loves this trope.
I particularly enjoyed the addition of characters coming from Greek mythology. That is another trope I adore.
The writing is similar to the first one, simple and easy to get into. I loved the descriptions and the world-building.
I will definitely be reading more of this author.
If you enjoy retelling with a twist, I recommend you read this duology!

Thank you to NetGalley for a free eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Annie Sullivan’s first book of this series A Touch of Gold when I read it last year and I enjoyed this sequel just as much. I love that she added a lot more mythology to this one, which I felt lacked in the first one! She has a very unique writing style and her characters are enjoyable.

The issue I had with this one was that the action felt very rushed over the 5 days it takes place. It made it so the world building and the romance fell flat throughout the story, but I do think overall it’s a very cute series and wrapped up nicely.

In comparison to the first book, this was a disappointment. The mythology behind the story offered a great potential, but I felt like this sequel didn't quite use the best of the original story. At first the whole plot of this book made sense, but by the close end, it felt like the characters were going in circles instead of dealing with their problems straightforward. The ending was also a bit disappointing, but some of the character development saved this book for me.