This beautiful story is highly enjoyable. The writing flows easily, and the characters feel relatable. The main conflict was interesting to read about, and I would highly recommend the book to anyone who loves fantasy or fairy tale retellings.

I loved reading about a world where magic is forbidden and enjoyed following the story of a character who possesses magic and how she had to hide it so she could continue to live.

The curse La Dame placed on Etta’s family was interesting to read about and had me turning the page to see what would happen next.

Etta is a strong, likeable character. I loved watching her growth throughout the story. It was fun to read about the way she could fight and how skilled and powerful she was without even using her magic. The relationship between Etta and Alex was fascinating and complicated--in a really good way. The dynamic and pull between them was easily the most intriguing part of the story. Alex is a good guy, trying to do his best. I could tell he’s a conflicted character, and that made him more interesting to read about. There’s lots of great tension in this story!

I was expecting the story to follow the traditional tale of Rapunzel, but this story was very different. I wouldn’t say it was exactly a bad thing, it just caught me off guard. But considering that this is the first book in a series, I’m interested to see what happens next and how the story may follow the fairy tale in other ways as the series progresses.

I also would have loved to see more of Etta’s magical abilities. We get to see it a little bit, but I would have loved to see her fighting with her magic more. I suspect that as the series goes on, we’ll get many more opportunities to see her magic coming alive.

Golden Curse is a beautifully written fantasy fairy tale retelling that won’t disappoint. It’s full of action, adventure, loyalty, love, secrets, loss, and heartbreak. The author has created a strong start to what promises to be a fantastic series. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy and find out for yourself how wonderful this story is.