A Curse Dark As Gold

Author: Elizabeth C. Bunce

Back-of-the-Book Description: "If you'll allow me to demonstrate, I do think I could be of some help to you here."
I smiled tightly. "You'd have to be able to make gold appear from thin air to be much help to us now, I'm afraid."
"Gold, you say?" he said quietly. "Well, not out of the air, maybe, but--" He reached toward Rosie and drew a length of straw free from her hat. From out of a pocket in his jacket appeared an old-fashioned handheld drop spindle, the kind no one uses anymore, and he sent it spinning with a turn of his hand. Slowly, as we watched, he drew out the straw and spun it--spun it! (CONT.)
As if it were a roving of wool! Rosie and I stood there and watched him, moment by moment, as the spindle bobbed and twirled. Something pulled out from the brown straw and through his knobby fingers, and where it should have gone onto the spindle, the finest strands of gleaming gold threads appeared. Round and round the spindle went, and the gleaming of gold turned with it. I don't know how long we watched it, turning and turning, flashing gold with every revolution. I could not take my eyes away.

My Description: A Curse Dark As Gold is very, very well written. I felt the awe of the golden straw, I felt the excitement of running the Mill, I felt the horror at every setback, I felt the grief of Charlotte's (our heroine) lost father... It was amazing. The story was interesting too, and I cared for Charlotte from the start. It took a while before the whole 'Rumpelstiltskin' part came into play, and the bits when he came back were very far apart. A beginning and introduction was necessary (and it was interesting, don't get me wrong), but it could have been a little shorter.

As Randall (who represented the 'King' from Rumpelstiltskin) and Charlotte fall in love, it's sweet and romantic, but I would have liked a little more time. Also, the troubles in their relationship were very well done and written, but that whole part made me stop liking Charlotte as much as I used to, and the way she could save the mill if only she let Randall help her... Also, at the part when Jack Spinner ('Rumpelstiltskin') tells her it's her son or the mill, she should have not have had to think. She should have taken her son and ran (even though it actually turned out better when she didn't). It made me like her even less when she said 'Give me time to think'.

The climax was good--it ended happily and everything came together--but I was still a little confused. It would have been nice if there had been a scene when they'd gone over everything.

All in all, I liked the book when I liked Charlotte. There were some things here and there that annoyed me, or upset me, and it's a dark book. The beginning is interesting and the whole book is very well written. At the climax I couldn't put it down, but Charlotte's over aversion to superstition was believable for a person, but a person I wouldn't like that much after everything Charlotte has seen. In the end it was also a little confusing... I liked this book, and I didn't like it. I'm not sure what to think.

Pages: 400

Recommendations: To people who like retellings of fairytales or those who enjoy dark mysteries/fantasies. Mainly 13 and up.

Writing Rating: 8 1/2

Story Rating: 7 1/2

Overall Rating: ? (it's really hard to rate this since I both liked and didn't like it... it is a good book, just not perfect for me)

Book #16 of '09, Book #66 of all