Carlo finds an ancient map to a long-forgotten treasure and sets out on a journey into faraway lands to search for the fortune. Baksheesh offers to work as his servant and guide him from the coast into the inland city and beyond through the desert. They are also joined by Shira, a girl running away from slavers, trying to return to her home in the mountains. Their caravan is attacked by bandits, and they get lost in the desert. Carlo is mistaken for a foreign prince and held for ransom. Through all their adventures, Carlo wonders if the treasure is even real or worth all this trouble.

The adventure is exciting, and there are tons of twists and turns in the story. There are some supernatural/mystical elements in the story as well, like a hermit who paints the future, and a merchant who sells dreams. But for the most part, they have to struggle through their adventures on sheer luck and their own wits.

I liked the clean romance between Carlo and Shira. They are really sweet together, and I love how Carlo is very protective of Shira even though she can handle herself in tough situations. 

There is a lot of violence and descriptions of dead bodies and people being tortured. It wasn't too graphic, but I still didn't care for it. 
There is also a little bit of profanity in this book, which surprised me because I thought it was for middle grade readers.
To see the details of violence and other sensitive content in this book, you can check it out on the Screen It First website! https://screenitfirst.com/book/the-golden-dream-of-carlo-chuchio-1024652