Early Review – A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy/Alchemy
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: October 13, 2020
ISBN-13 : 978-1250220400
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone―whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold―but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness.
While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of a revolution looming, Thea is sent to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists.
But there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse―instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die..”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone story, I got a copy of this through NetGalley to review.
Story (4/5): This started out a bit slow, but as it continued I was really drawn into the story of Thea’s search for the Philosopher’s stone and the horrible repercussions on those who try to make the stone. This is all set against Thea’s struggle to be respected and to find the father who doesn’t know about her existence. I loved all the detailed descriptions about alchemy!
Characters (4/5): I enjoyed Thea as a character but despaired of her blindness where Will was involved. She is a strong and smart character but has some huge blind spots. I also enjoyed some of the side characters; like the manipulative Will and the caring and stubborn Dominic.
Setting (4/5): I really enjoyed the setting here, it’s set in both France and England in 1792. Many of the nobles are fleeing France and the German are set to invade. We go from countryside France, to Oxford, to Londan and the story was well blended in with the surrounding historical events making it very believable.
Writing Style (4/5): In general this was very readable and very well written. I thought it started a bit slow but once Thea leaves France the story picks up quite a bit. All the alchemy parts were really well done and I enjoyed that this book into the “science” of alchemy a lot.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this story. It starts a bit slow but is a really well done historical fantasy with lots of details on alchemy. The characters were well done and the story is intriguing. I enjoyed how well it was blended in with the history of the time and I loved that this was a stand alone book too.
