I think overall this is a decent YA fantasy as a second book. It has pirates and mythology which I think the genre is lacking overall. That is great  for me. Reading this though I felt we were in Kora’s head too much. There needs to be a balance between thoughts and talking to show the environment and what is going on in the world. I also felt some side characters fell flat. There when needed but no actual personality. The world building also lacks overall. I would get glimpses of this world and I would be interested but then it would stop. I could never fully immerse in the world. I think the writing is okay, but just does not flow as well for me or even compared to the first book. Kora as the main character is a strong heroine but I think she gets hurt or attacked a lot I know she’s what people are after but do they never see these things coming? I think it just became too noticeable for me. I have read great fantasy and bad fantasy. This lies somewhere in the middle. It’s good, but it could be better. The cover is amazing just as the first book..

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

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Blink Publishing Co for letting me have a chance to read and review this fun book. This was a continuation and sequel to A Touch of Gold and it was a bit of a slow start, but then picked up and got into lots of fast-paced action and enjoyable storytelling.
The story continues in this book about Princess Kora and her father, King Midas, with his curse of turning everything he touches to gold. The King is still trying to deal with his curse and how it messes with him and his mind with the help of his daughter, Kora and she is still trying to be okay with herself with her golden skin and her situation as King Midas' daughter.
While it started a bit slow, at first, some parts picked up right where they left off like with Kora and her relationship with Royce. Also, there's some unrest in the kingdom with Kora and her father, King Midas, as rulers with the people being afraid and nervous of the magic and the curse and then at a party, some satyrs and creatures show up and start attacking everyone to go after Princess Kora because Dionysus has put an order out for her to be killed. Dionysus wants her and her father dead and their kingdom burned so Kora has to set out with her group of friends to find out why Dionysus wants her gone and how to stop him. 
Princess Kora goes out on a quest with her friends to see if she can remove the curse from her father, save him, their kingdom and stop Dionysus with his plans to destroy them and the kingdom.
This turned out to be a bit more exciting and fun than I thought after they left to go on the quest because then they had to seek out the Oracle, figure out riddles, go after the Gorgons, seek out and get help from Poseidon and Triton and ride the Pegasi to get to the island where Dionysus resides.
As a lover of all things to do with mythology, I loved this book even more than the first one. It was very entertaining, enjoyable, and fun to read. I wanted to read more and I liked how the story ended, but there were a lot of tense parts and some high stakes as they went along too.
If you read the first book, A Touch of Gold, and liked it, you'll love this one too. I would recommend reading this, but make sure to read the prior book of A Touch of Gold first so you'll get more out of this one. Make sure to keep this on your list and read it when it comes out, it's a fun and entertaining read!

A Curse of Gold started off pretty slowly for me. About half-way through, though, it did get a bit better. Which made me pretty happy since I really enjoyed the first book and was super excited to dive into this one. 

Now you still meet the same people you met in the first book, they just have a new mission. Kora is out to get God Dionysus. Of course she can't just show up on his doorstep and smack him or anything. No, she has to go on this adventure with her crew/friends and try to defeat him any way possible.

Like I said, the first part of this book is pretty boring. Nothing really happens.. except like one little fight which did nothing for me. Then there's some tension among the crew but it was to be expected. I still do love Kora and Royce together and I obviously want more from them... but for some reason I didn't get that? Yes, they love one another but I just wanted to see them being together you know.. whether it's killing someone, talking, or I don't know - ANYTHING!

Other than that, we do end up meeting Triton and Dionysus. Triton was a nice addition/surprise for me and I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. Like, maybe.. it's just a trick? Also, it just kind of seemed a bit to easy for it to all go that way? Eh, it was still good though.

In the end, it was pretty good for a sequel and I'm not sure if there's going to be another book or not. If there is, I will gladly read it just to see what else can be thrown my way.

A Curse of Gold is the second book following Annie Sullivan's A Touch of Gold.

A Touch of Gold follows Kora on a mission to find the missing gold of her father's that was stolen and to return it to Lagonia.

A Curse of Gold follows Kora to find Dionysus and prevent him from destroying her homeland, Lagonia. This book really delves deeper into the characters Kora, Royce, Hettie, and many others.

Kora encounters a lot of greek mythological creatures, oracles and Prince Triton. 

Second books can get lost sometimes with plot lines but this book was great, way better than the first. 

If you like Greek mythology, fast past adventure this is for you.

Sequels can be a hit or miss in any kind of series. So it’s always with squinted eyes and a dose of suspicion that I pick one up. Half the time my suspicions are correct, and I can’t even get past the first few pages.

Thankfully, A Curse of Gold made it past my suspicions!

Now that Kora has achieved her goal of setting out to find her father’s gold, she had a whole new adversary to face—one that she had been fighting against since the beginning. Dionysus, the god who had cursed her father, who had in turn cursed her. Dionysus will stop at nothing to keep Kora from fulfilling her goal by sending powerful warriors after her and her kingdom.

From the beginning, I was drawn in. The pace isn’t as quick as I would like, but still held enough of my interest for me to see it to the end. I loved seeing a whole new side to the world, and also having many questions answered about Kora and Dionysus. There are many things I could go on and on about but won’t for fear of ruining the plotline!

I will say, though, that this sequel will not disappoint! I would give the book a full five stars if it hadn’t been for some points that just irked me. I won’t say what, but there were several moments where the answer to a problem was right there and it took the characters several pages to find it. Other than that, I found A Curse of Gold to be a fantastic ending to a lovely duo of books!

NOTE: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved A Touch of Gold, so when I saw the sequel I jumped on the chance to read it and continue the tale! The book did not disappoint. It starts where the last one left off, as Kora has returned home from her last adventure, only to soon find herself in the middle of another one including gods, sea monsters, and a new group of friends. It takes everything that worked in the last book, characters, action, and adventure, and turns it up to create something even better and a solid final part of this duology. Overall I loved the book and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to finish off the series.

This was an okay finale for this duology. I didn't know that the first book would have a sequel and I was pleasantly surprised when I found it out. This wasn't as good as the first one. but the characters were still enjoyable and the writing was great. 

recommend if you enjoyed the first one and want a more definitive ending for this story.

The first book was such an amazing surprise and can be a stand alone, but I was excited to know the story continued! LOVED this book! Exciting, who doesn't love a good story with a ship and adventure? What a great story of friendship, adventure and a strong heroine. Loved it. Will be adding it to my classroom. Annie Sullivan has become that "auto" buy author where her books become some of my favorites!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Curse of Gold started off pretty slowly for me. About half-way through, though, it did get a bit better. Which made me pretty happy since I really enjoyed the first book and was super excited to dive into this one. 

Now you still meet the same people you met in the first book, they just have a new mission. Kora is out to get God Dionysus. Of course she can't just show up on his doorstep and smack him or anything. No, she has to go on this adventure with her crew/friends and try to defeat him any way possible.

Like I said, the first part of this book is pretty boring. Nothing really happens.. except like one little fight which did nothing for me. Then there's some tension among the crew but it was to be expected. I still do love Kora and Royce together and I obviously want more from them... but for some reason I didn't get that? Yes, they love one another but I just wanted to see them being together you know.. whether it's killing someone, talking, or I don't know - ANYTHING!

Other than that, we do end up meeting Triton and Dionysus. Triton was a nice addition/surprise for me and I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. Like, maybe.. it's just a trick? Also, it just kind of seemed a bit to easy for it to all go that way? Eh, it was still good though.

In the end, it was pretty good for a sequel and I'm not sure if there's going to be another book or not. If there is, I will gladly read it just to see what else can be thrown my way.

I received an ARC of A Curse of Gold through NetGalley and was so so excited! I loved A Touch of Gold with treason, love, and magic. The sequel lived up to my expectations phenomenally. There are some series where the sequel feels forced or doesn’t follow the same character development, which was a huge disappointment. That is not the case here. I highly recommend picking this book up if you are interested to see where Kora goes next!

Sullivan has a magical way with words and worlds. Readers will find the return to her tale of curses, gold and pirates a heart-pounding adventure worthy of the classics.

This book was a sequel, and I didn't realize that. Since I never read the first book, I didn't quite get everything, but I didn't need to read the first book to enjoy the beautiful, lyrical writing, powerful story, and fascinating characters. Great book!

ARC kindly provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Where did that come from!

A Touch of Gold was one thing but boy wait until you read its sequel! This was everything I wanted from a book intertwined with greek mythology. I found that the characters were more well-rounded and that the mythological aspects were much richer than that in the first book. I was obsessed with Triton, Dionysus and Poseidon which provided a really fun and interesting tale I simply couldn't resist.

A Curse of Gold picks up from where A Touch of Gold left off whereby Princess Kora has just returned back to her kingdom and saved her father from illness. What they don't realise is while one journey is ending, another is just beginning. They will need to battle sea monsters, Gods and make a few new friends along the way to beat the new threat set on destroying Lagonia.

I found that I liked the characters a whole lot more than in the first book. Royce proved himself a worthier love interest for Kora than what was seen before in book 1. I enjoyed reading about their dynamic more and felt like Annie Sullivan, the author sold their relationship a whole lot more to the point that I was convinced they really cared for one another instead of what was hinted at earlier.

I also appreciated how much better the action scenes were in comparison to A Touch of Gold. I was underwhelmed in the previous novel with the action scenes and the reasons behind some of the choices the characters made whereas in this one I was engrossed in the action and felt like the characters definitely developed and matured in how they handled situations.

My only negative... THAT ENDING. If you've read it you know exactly what I'm talking about. That one character deserved so much better. I would 100% petition for a third novel to be written just to see that character again. He instantly won my heart over and I wanted the absolute best for him. I was just so heartbroken by the ending I wanted to burst into tears.

All in all, so much better than A Touch of Gold I would be happy to die for these characters I loved them so much and wanted to hug each and every one of them.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.2 STARS

Unfortunately, the e-book's formatting made this book unable to be read. I look forward to reading the full book when it comes out.

After receiving this book, I went and read book one. I think that is a huge advantage to enjoying this story more. I only wish I liked this one better. It is completely subjective but I just couldn't get into it. I liked book one just fine. But reading this I was mainly bored and not interested in the plotline. 
Again, I would recommend the book to all YA fantasy readers. Especially if you like a retelling. 
The cover is absolutely stunning.   

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion!!

I received an e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for a review.
A Curse of Gold is the 2nd book in sereis (the first being A Touch of Gold). I do not recommend it as a stand-alone.  Content wise, I was hoping for more story and less young girl romantic thoughts, but it is a YA Fantasy book. A solid 3 stars out of 5.

A Curse of Gold is the sequel to Annie Sullivan's A Touch of Gold.  I won't spoil all of the plot of the first book, but King Midas is featured heavily in this duology and the action is seen through the point of view of his daughter, Kora.  I picked up A Touch of Gold before reading this and I really did enjoy it.  I can see why it is geared more toward the 13+ age group.  I have been a lifelong fan of YA novels and firmly believe that they can still be enjoyed at any age.  The one thing that pushed this one firmly into YA was the romance.  I liked it, but is was maybe too sweet.  

The relationships and characters were built up more from the first book, which I appreciated.  Although a few other reviews have mentioned that the pacing was not great, I found it to be great.  The action began from chapter one and it felt like it didn't stop.  Kora not only went on a journey to save the kingdom, she also learned along the way how to rule.  Her father is in failing health and she understands that no matter the outcome of her journey, she will one day take up the mantle as leader of Lagonia.  

One of my favorite lines was about love:

"…remembering that wise Queen Teragram wrote that there is no ocean that can separate love, for it is a feeling and not a location."

Quotes like this pop up often in the narrative and I think they really drive home the notion that Kora needs to learn from the past so she doesn't repeat the mistakes of those that went before her.  Kora wants to make the world a better place and save her people, to do that she must learn from other kings and queens.

In both books, I enjoyed the story and the exploration of mythology!  There's an oracle, islands were monsters live and of course some swashbuckling.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes mythology and firm YA novels.

I received a galley copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you to NetGalley and Blink for a copy of this book!

Free ARC from NetGalley.
I read the first book A Touch of Gold last month and enjoyed it a lot.
Book 2 takes us on another journey to fight the curse inflicted by Dionysius on main characters father that has affected her personally for many years now.
While we meet the old favourite characters there's also new additions that take a while to grow on the reader.
This is another action packed story that unfortunately seems quite rushed compared to the first book. There's too much happening over the course of a few days. 
All in all an OK story but not my favourite

This was a good sequel and end to this duology, and was certainly a fun adventure book that was relatively easy to read! The prose of this novel was simplistic, and therefore did not distract from the plot or over- complicate the narrative which I appreciated. This was an interesting take on mythology that made for a quick and easy read!

In this novel you see the dynamics and relationships between characters develop further, which I enjoyed reading. However, I did have an issue with the plot and pacing. I felt that the character development was perhaps hindered a little by a plot that had too much going on. This in turn threw the pacing off a little which was a little disappointing.

Overall, this was a quick and fun read. Though it wasn't without its faults I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested!