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.

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.

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.

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

Wow, what a wonderful cover, the crown looks a little bit like the Baratheon crown from Game of Thrones. But the story is very good.

I was really excited to read this one considering that I really enjoyed "A touch of gold".

So, this time Kora goes after the God Dionysus to make him cure her father and save her kingdom and the entire world from destruction.
During her quest she meets the Oracle, all sorts of mythical creatures (satyrs, gorgons, etc.), she learns more about the Gods and even meets some of them: Triton and Poseidon.

The story begins very slowly. For the first 70-80 pages we had only stories, nothing really happening. But after they leave to find Dionysus everything becomes crowded as they are over and over again attacked by different sea or land creatures.

Also there were some things I didn't like in this book, such as:
- Kora kept telling us what she was thinking and always explaining things in her mind, without letting us know them from actions and words themselves
- very annoying (for me) were all of those quotes from journals of past rulers. They kept popping up at the wrong times.
- Hettie was an absolute obnoxious brat the entire book
- and Royce was barely there. I was expecting to see more of their relationship in this book. Yes he loves her and is always there for her but I wanted to see them more together.

A pleasant surprise was Triton. Besides his good looks and acting like a spoiled brat he was very funny 🤣 and in the end proved to be a really good friend.

In the end it was a fun book to read 😊
Received a copy of the book from Netgalley.

Title: A Curse of Gold
Author: Annie Sullivan
Pub. Date: September 22, 2020
Rating: 4

This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Just like with book 1, I loved this book. I loved the drama, the high stakes, the tension. I probably took too much pleasure in the trials and torment these characters had to go through. But I always think a story is better when nothing is ever easy. This whole book was a giant test of figuring out what you want, who you are, and striving to achieve those things, despite the unfavorable outcome.

Kora and Co. don’t have it easy this book, the stakes are higher than ever, her kingdom on the brink of desolation, her people angry and upset and not believing she should be ruling alongside her father.
My favorite aspect of this book is the relationship between Royce and Kora. I can’t exactly tell you why, not even vaguely, without spoiling it. But Kora’s whole journey in this book is about trying to be a good ruler, and even if she – personally – got everything she wanted, would it be what’s best for her and her people? It’s very much, what is she willing to sacrifice if it means saving her kingdom. I desperately wish we’d had more, cute, there for each other moments.

Which brings me to my only complaint about this book. Just like with Touch of Gold, I wish this book had been longer. With the introduction of more Greek Gods and myths interwoven, I feel like this band of characters could go on so many more adventures. So, either a slight slowdown of the pace, or give me more books – I’d gladly read them. I have so many questions – most revolving around Triton – I need to know what happens in the future!
It would be so interesting to see Kora, Royce and Co. travel around and face off various Greek Myths or deities.
I loved reading these books – they’re just so much fun and so enjoyable. The stakes are high, but don’t require tons of mental gymnastics to keep straight, you can just sit down, relax and follow Kora on her journey of figuring out who she is, and claiming that power, owning who she is.

I highly recommend picking these books up. I don’t think you can go wrong. Touch of Gold and Curse of Gold are just fun as hell reads, and I’m always a sucker for Greek Mythology anything.

Roses are Red, Curses are Gold

Hey everyone! Welcome back to this lackluster blog site where I cannot seem to get my crap together. I want to apologize for my silence over the past few months. Graduate school has been a major buzz killer.

But…
NO.
MORE.

I am happy to announce that I’ve officially graduated with my Master’s degree in Creative Writing!!!

Now that we got that over, let's dive into new books that have been keeping me up until the wee hours of the morning. Being a huge fan of mythology and old folktales, this next book was another satisfying read that made me wish my father cursed me.

Young Adult author Annie Sullivan continues her story in A Curse of Gold, the sequel to A Touch of Gold. Sullivan takes readers on another thrilling and exciting adventure with King Midas’s daughter, who he accidentally cursed his daughter. Not only did he turn his daughter, Princess Kora to gold, but he also cursed her with the ability to absorb gold and turn anything she touches.

Sullivan opens the sequel just months after they returned from their first adventure. Princess Kora is no longer afraid to show herself as she returns to Lagonia and helps rule the kingdom alongside with her father. That is until a group of mystical creatures attack the castle, seeking her death. Kora must once again carry the burden of trying to save not only her father but the people of Lagonia. She must gather her allies, which includes her cousin Hettie and her lover Royce. They sail out on an adventure to find the mystical island of Dionysius domain, where they must face the god that cursed her father in the beginning. Come along on a journey that takes readers to the palace of Poseidon’s son Triton and the Gorgon island.

This story is one of my favorite retellings because it takes the point of view from a different character in the old tale. Readers get a new perspective as they see the despair and strength Kora lived with since she was turned to gold at nine-years-old. You see the transition of her becoming a forgotten princess to an outstanding queen that is ready to rule her people! Kora’s determination to put others’ needs before her own is the true definition of sacrifice that will inspire readers all around the world. This story is more than just a warning of greed. It’s about showing acceptance for yourself and others in your journey in life. Kora never let fear prevent her from accomplishing her goals. Her golden curse transformed into a golden savior as she found love, guidance, and friendship.

I hope you give this series a try! I promise you won’t regret it!

Here is the link to the first book A Touch of Gold available where all books are sold.

A Curse of Gold will hit shelves on September 22, 2020! (More than enough time to catch up!)

I’m going to try and post a book review every Friday, so keep watching for new exciting tales that will take you to places beyond the stars!

Talk to you soon!

-Kylan

I had a lot of fun returning to this world - I flew through A Curse of Gold just as quickly, if not faster. It's a really entertaining read perfect for those who enjoy mythology retellings and the world is really well developed. There's friendship, revenge, politics, and so much more.

received this as an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I did quite enjoy reading the second book in this duology. After facing down the pirate, fixing her relationship with her cousin hettie, falling in love and saving her father Kora is taking her place as a princess and future queen. when the palace is attacked by Satyrs that were sent to kill Kora. Her and Royce must go and find the Oracle to figure out why Dionysis is after her and how to stop him from destroying her Kingdom..
Kora has to bargain with Gods, and face down Gorgons all the while trying to reach a dissapearing island.
The stakes were higher in this book. as Kora is givin a vision of what will happen if Dionysis is allowed to make it to the shores of her kingdom.. Basically everyone will die including Royce and Hettie. Everything did feel like it was happening pretty fast, but they did only have a few days before Dionysis attacks her kindgom so it didn't bother me to much..
Kora, Royce and the crew get to meet Posiden and his son Triton. who are both kind of douchy. but Triton really ends up redeeming himself in the end..
While I love Kora and Royce my new favorite character is Tritons pet sea monster, whose name I can't remember at the moment.. At first he was sent to sink the Royces ship, so Kora turns him to gold...
Triton makes an agreement with Kora to turn him back, and it turns out his like a giant sea monster puppy dog. That likes to sit on Tritons lap, lick him and play fetch..
I thought the ending of this was really good, while I was hoping for the reappearance of a certain character everything else ended just how I wanted it to..

I loved A Touch of Gold and was so excited to get the chance to read A Curse of Gold early.

We are thrown into the action almost right away and it doesn't stop. I was on edge the whole time. The new characters we were introduced to were great and it was so nice to see the friendships that were formed in the first book still holding strong as well as new ones!

I felt like it was a sweet conclusion to the duology.