A Curse Dark as Gold was a very good fairytale retelling. I enjoyed the characters and the plot itself was very mysterious and intriguing. I felt it was a little too long being filled with some information that wasn't necessary but it did help set the tone and make me understand the severity of the problems. Charlotte is probably one of my favorite protagnists of all time. Her refusal to give up when adversity came as well as her desire to take care of not only her sister but the towns people as well made me care for her a great deal more than I would have. Overall I recommend this book to fairytale lovers.