Welcome to the blog tour for A Golden Fury by. Samantha Cohoe!
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Title: A Golden Fury
Author: Samantha Cohoe
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 10/13/20
Publisher: Wednesday Books | Twitter | Instagram
Categories: Historical Fantasy, Alchemy, Young Adult, Madness
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
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 the French Revolution looming, Thea is sent to Oxford for her safety, to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists.
But in Oxford, 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.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.
My Attention: Took me 3 days to read.
World Building: this is historical fiction, it starts in France, 1792 on the verge of revolution – then we travel to Oxford, England, but the fascinating bit is that we are following a character who is an alchemist.
Writing Style: flowed beautifully, engaging
Crazy in Love: not crazy, but it gets complicated
Creativity: to make the Philosopher’s Stone, you have to be prepared to go mad…
Triggers: violence, torture, harassment, descent into madness, self-harm, cheating/affair
My Takeaway: My sane mind vs. the power of the Philosopher’s Stone? I’ll chose my sanity! Haha
- Thea is not the typical “likable” character. She grew up with no father and a mother who was more into alchemy than being a mother. Thea grew up alone except for Will who was her mother’s apprentice. Thea is smart, she’s talented at alchemy, can speak several languages but really has grown up differently compared to other girls her age.
- The Philosopher’s Stone – this book really delved into it and what happens when someone is close to making the legendary and somewhat mythical Philosopher’s Stone. It’s supposed to grant the owner immense power – but first, Thea sees there is a pattern, people that attempt to make the stone, succumb to utter madness. They hear voices, they get violent, they see things. It’s terrifying and asks the question if the stone is worth making.
- Thea gets threatened to make the Philosopher’s Stone, and she has to make some hard choices. Ultimately she wants to save a few people like her mom, her friend Dominic and her old friend/love, Will. This girl just needed some love.
- Thea’s actions and choices when it came to Dominic was kind of suspect. She didn’t know him well, but he was her first friend outside of Will, who was an old friend she hadn’t seen in awhile. But poor Dominic – he got a raw deal!
- Thea’s dad – glad he tried at the end, but their beginning was so pathetic on his part. Poor Thea, she basically had no one!
- Would have like more world-building, especially because it takes place during the French Revolution! But I get that Thea was basically trapped in a house, in England, trying to make the Philosopher’s stone. But it wouldn’t been nice to get a feel for the time and place.
The descent into madness trying to make the Philosopher’s Stone makes you question if having the stone is worth it. For Thea, a smart but very lonely girl, she realizes the stone is worth it to save the people she loves – but she loses her mind to it, literally. Overall, I enjoyed this entertaining, quick, dark story about alchemy.
🖤 ~ Yolanda
About the Author:
Samantha Cohoe writes historically-inspired young adult fantasy. She was raised in San Luis Obispo, California, where she enjoyed an idyllic childhood of beach trips, omnivorous reading, and writing stories brimming with adverbs.
She currently lives in Denver with her family and divides her time among teaching Latin, mothering, writing, reading, and
deleting adverbs. A Golden Fury is her debut novel.
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