A Touch of Gold
By Annie Sullivan
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: 2018
Content Warnings: a small moment of scalping
Blink
My Review:
Pirates! Thieves! Curses! And maybe one or two love interests!
A Touch of Gold is a twist on the tale of King Midas and the Golden Touch, only instead of being about Midas, it’s about his daughter, Princess Kora. When the king’s gold is stolen, Kora sets out to find it, hoping to save her father’s life in the process, because he has an odd connection to the gold to where he can’t live without it being near.
At first, I was skeptical, especially when the plot started off too fast. Kora meets this duke and instantly falls in love, and she’s already kissing him by the third chapter, I think. It was just too much for me and Kora was too naïve. But then I kept reading, and Sullivan actually addresses the issue, which made me happy.
But! There was one plot twist I saw coming a mile away. Let’s just say that it involved a dashing pirate captain who happens to carry a gold coin in his pocket everywhere he goes…
Captain Skulls, the story’s bad guy, was creepy as heck. So I was disappointed when he was defeated fairly easily. Like, a bad guy like that isn’t going to go down without a big epic battle that may involve a few skulls. And we had that. But it just wasn’t epic enough for me, and his death was somewhat anti-climactic. Same with the twist at the end involving Kora’s uncle. Wasn’t really satisfactory.
Despite the fairy tale originating and Greece and the mention of Greek gods and such, the world wasn’t very, well, Greek. It was mostly pirates. And pirates that made me think of, like, Double Crossbones in nature and not Pirates of the Caribbean. (By the way, Double Crossbones is a must-watch. Best. Pirate. Movie. Ever.)
Overall, A Touch of Gold was a fun and fast read, but it could have been fleshed out more. It’s perfect for fans of all things pirates, romancey and goldish.
I Rate It: 4 stars
About the Book:
Gold is wealth. Wealth is power. Power is a curse.
After King Midas’s gift—or curse—almost killed his daughter, he relinquished The Touch forever. Ten years later, Princess Kora still bears the consequences of her father’s wish: her skin shines golden, rumors follow her everywhere she goes, and she harbors secret powers that are getting harder to hide.
Kora spends her days concealed behind gloves and veils. It isn’t until a charming duke arrives that Kora believes she could indeed be loved. But their relationship is disrupted when a thief steals reassures her father needs to survive. Thanks to Kora’s unique ability to sense gold, only she can find the missing items. As she sails off on her quest, Kora learns that not everything is what is seems—not her companions, or the thieves, or Kora herself.
About the Author:
Annie Sullivan grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and received her masters degree in Creative Writing from Butler University. She loves fairy tales and everything Jane Austen. Her wanderlust had taken her to every continent, where she’s walked on the Great Wall of China, found four-leaf clovers in Ireland, waddled with penguins in Antarctica, and cage dived with great white sharks in South Africa. You can follow her adventures on Twitter (@anniesulliva) or on her blog: anniesullivanauthor.wordpress.com
Paper, Ink, & Lizard 