This story is smart, clever, and very entertaining with a great heroine and endearing side characters in this coming of age and finding one’s place in the world story. This story takes place 1792 France, before the revolution, and England when alchemy is becoming dangerous to practice. Alchemists are trying to be the first to create of the Philosopher’s Stone. The stone supposedly turns any base metal into gold, cures all ills, and wards off aging for the holder. The downside, the Alchemist’s Curse befalls the unworthy, which most alchemist is, it drives the maker mad. Theosebeia “Theo” Hope is one of my favorite female lead characters. For 17 years old Theo, alchemy if the family business and she more than proficient. She is intelligent and naïve, but as the story progresses, she learns from her mistakes, takes responsibility for her actions as well as finds her strength and confidence. I love this story and would be more than happy if this becomes a series.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I was excited to read something different and this book did not disappoint me.

Though the pacing leaves a lot of room for improvement, this is a creative and compelling debut from Samantha Cohoe. I'm surprised at the amount of romantic drama, it was at often times distracting, though not poorly done. An interesting new voice to fantasy and I'm curious to see what Cohoe does next.

'A Golden Fury' is the story of a young Alchemist desperately trying to create the philosophers stone to save the lives of her family and friends. Her perilous journey is one that involves espionage, heartbreak, madness, and love.

I was a little skeptical that a young adult book about alchemy would be an enjoyable read, but to my surprise I liked it! Alchemy is an esoteric subject that was once a highly respected craft and I'm glad the author included factual information about it in this fantasy story. The philosopher's stone is an object that is featured and also glamourized in many fiction books, but in this story the darker implications of creating the stone was the focus.

The characters were fierce and feisty and it wasn't a juvenile young adult story that I was expecting. It was a story that contained some dark topics and violence, but could have incorporated more details about the philosopher's stone itself and alchemy in general, because at times it seemed like the story was mostly about characters losing their minds.

Overall 'A Golden Fury' was a quick action packed read that fans of young adult fantasy would enjoy.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an eARC of A Golden Fury in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Unfortunately, the writing style was weird to me, I could not see the story flow, got confused and bored pretty early in the book, and for all that had to give up.
The premise f the story seems quite interesting and I would love to rate it higher, if it was not for the writing style.

I might try finish reading it again in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley for the e-arc!

Rating: 3.5

When I saw this cover and read the synopsis I thought, now this could be a breath of fresh air. A GOLDEN FURY was a well-written book with an intriguing plot involving alchemy (which we don't see enough of) and a girl who will do anything to break free of her controlling mother and absent father.

Thea is an alchemist who has worked with her mother in creating the powerful Philosopher's Stone, but before anyone can use it, Thea's mother goes mad and destroys it prompting Thea to leave the country and stay with a father whom she had never met. After a situation, Thea flees and goes off to find her friend (boyfriend?) Will, who turns out to be someone else entirely and she is forced to create the stone, which

Which, writing this review, is now what I have discovered is the theme of the book. At least, in my opinion.

Ok so this book gave me Tris and Katness vibes and that is to say that the main character's are almost devoid of emotion. Although, let's give Katniss some credit. She'd been through some s#$t. Anyway, the characters all seemed very flat and nothing truly set them apart from one another. Honestly, the one one I truly cared about was my cinnamon roll Dominic.

Although I didn't love the ending, A GOLDEN FURY was a departure from your typical YA. It just did not wholly engage me the way I thought it would. Which is a me problem? I do wish to see more from Samatha Cohoe int he future. She is one to watch!

This is the kind of novel that slowly wraps around you, pulling you in without yanking. I didn't realize how utterly gripped I was until I tried to wiggle free. The tension wasn't barreling into me so much as sinking into my essence much like the obsession with the stone in the story. As I slowly worked into Thea's world, like her, I found my heart torn and my loyalties tested. It's a wonder she still had a kindness in herself for anyone after what she went through with almost everyone she encounters. Also like her, I found myself trusting and caring for those who might not deserve it or at least only moderately deserved it. I think at some point I cared for every single one of the secondary characters around her. That said I did have favorites as Valentin and Dominic wound around my heart the quickest and tightest.

While relationships, ranging from familial to friendly with emotions ranging from romantic to bitter played a big role in the tension and propelling the story forward, the system created around alchemy and the stone were utterly fascinating and felt authentic, allowing me to dip into the magical aspects as easily as the human ones. There were some beautifully terrifying parts as the work with the stone altered things for those working on it. The story has a nice range of tone, with a dark foreboding hanging in the places between hope and terror.

It's a stunning debut, making me excited to see what's next from Samantha Cohoe.

#agoldenfury #netgalley

I had a hard time getting into this book and ended up stopping. I may try and finish reading it and come back to review at some point.

This was an unexpected read for me. I went in thinking there would be a lot more action than there was. This story was interesting altogether but filled with a lot more romance drama than I expected. The story involves the Philosopher’s stone and the author creates a pretty neat magical realism world. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the story about Thea trying to figure out how to make her place within the world and creating the stone. I just couldn’t really stand her doe eyed blind love for Will and oh boy did I not enjoy Will. I did however like Valentin and Dominic. The story was an overall okay read and wrapped up okay. I just didn’t really enjoy that final twist concerning a certain death and a certain life saved. Overall though, it was an interesting read with a fun take on alchemy and the philosopjer’s stone.

A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe is a terrific debut novel. It was a quick and easy read that kept me turning the pages to find out what happens next. I loved the twists and turns.

This was a fun easy read. I loved the storyline and the characters were great. I loved the twist towards the end.

I definitely recommend this book!

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.

If you enjoy reading Genevieve Cogman's 'Invisible Library' series you will love this fresh new take on alchemy, magic, and an alternate eighteenth century Europe where alchemists inhabit the university town of Oxford and Revolutionary France. This is a world where science and magic are the preserve of men but the secret of the Philosoper's Stone lies in the hands of a gifted mother and daughter pair of alchemists who must survive against both grasping and unscrupulous family and lovers who want their secrets and the evil of the Philosopher's Stone itself. It's exciting and fun to read a story in which the Stone itself is a character and not only a plot device.

The first way I judge a book is by whether it effectively surrounds me in its world. Is it atmospheric? This novel succeeds in that. We're, for the most part, in London during the French Revolution. The main character is Thea, a highly intellectual woman, trained by her mother to be an alchemist working toward the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, a substance which will cure any disease and make gold from lead.
Thea doesn't have a good relationship with her mother and doesn't know her father. When she meets her father, she doesn't think much of him. Thea is so well drawn that her contentious relationship with both parents had me squirming at times. Although I understood and had sympathy with her feelings, I didn't much like her at the beginning of the book. She grew as a character and grew on me.
The race to create and possess the Philosopher's Stone becomes one of betrayal and violence. This is not a story that leaves one feeling particularly uplifted, but it is a compelling story. The ending is tied up well, but enough questions are left to make me wonder if another book is planned. As far as I could tell, this is the author's first published work. It's well done.
Thank you Net Galley for a free advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Amazing premise, promised first third, and then it spiraled out of control. I’m so disappointed. It got so boring and confusing by the end.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press!

I was really excited for A Golden Fury. While I definitely enjoyed it, it didn’t really live up to my expectations. Part of that definitely has to do with the fact that I really detest first-person narration. So I found that a bit grating as I read. I also felt everything was a bit rushed. I would have loved to have gotten to know all of the characters a lot better. I feel as if I just have fleeting impressions of everyone, including Thea, who still remains somewhat of an enigma. I didn’t feel that she had any sort of connection with any character, besides maybe Valentin. She was hurt by her father and Will, and she cared for Dominic, but none of these relationships felt like they had much meaning or carried much weight. I would have really loved to see more of her relationship with her mother, which I found to be the most interesting and complex relationship in the book. I also would have enjoyed a romance, because I am a sap and cannot help myself. Even when Thea believed herself to be in love with Will it never rang true, and I was so preoccupied with waiting for the other shoe to drop and her finally realizing he was a cad.

I think the idea was really interesting, and I think it was a promising first novel. Samantha Cohoe can certainly write well, and her knowledge and intelligence really came through. I loved the tidbits like the brief mention of Egyptian alchemist Zosimos and that Thea was named after his assistant Theosebeia. I just would really like it if it wasn’t in first person, and she spent more time with character development and world building. Anyway, I am eager to read Samantha’s next book, which sounds amazing, I mean who wouldn’t love a 1920’s bright young things meets The Tempest!?!

I will post a longer version of this review two weeks before publication on my Goodreads page, and my two blogs, https://nicbrouillette.tumblr.com/, and my new blog Flea With a Degree https://fleawithadegree.tumblr.com/.

A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe is due to be published October 13th 2020.

Choo choo sounds of disappointment train meets with expired baking powder taste of frustration( don’t ask me how I know expired baking powder taste! It’s another prank story)
After seeing this incredible cover and interesting women alchemists’ story waltzes with magical realism and fantasy with horrific delusional vibes and philosopher stone’s growing power reminds us of Frodo’s ring which turns to people more miserable than Gollum and pushes them into burning alive in their own hell by losing their insanities picked my interest from the beginning.
The beginning of the book: We’re introduced with 17 years old Thea and her mother who are talented alchemists and they are so close to create philosopher’s stone. Thea is sick of her mother’s harsh, loveless manners and her narcissistic personality that forces her living under her mother’s growing ego and mental abuse. Without Thea’s help, her mother cannot finish the ending process of creation and as soon as process completed, her mother has a manic attack and destroys the stone. Thea luckily saves herself from her anger and killing attempt, is sent to Oxford to meet her professor father who doesn’t know her existence.
Thea’s meeting with her father and his assistant Dominic, helping them at the laboratory for the creation process of white elixir brings out more madness and attacks and puts Thea’s life into danger because getting closer to create the stone turns into curse affects all the alchemists.

Dominic tries to help young woman to reconcile with her father but when he finds himself in more dangerous situation which completely ruins his life, Thea offers him to runaway with him to London for hiding at her ex lover Will’s place (he was working with her mother till her mother finds out their secret relationship and fires him!) Those action packed and exciting parts of the book earned nearly 5 stars from me.

And after they escape to London to meet with Will and captured by ruthless German soldiers who work for dangerous wealthy business man for paying Will’s debt, the mystery still kept me on my toes.

But especially third part of the book and Thea’s blind love and devotion for Will slowed down the pace and the story started to drown into the repetitive spiral. Especially last chapters were so melodramatic, tasteless and illogical. I wanted to scream at the author for killing all the characters and end this never ending spiral. I felt like she lost her way and she couldn’t decide how she could end the story with satisfying conclusion.

I’m giving the first half: 4.5 stars

And I’m giving the second half of the book: 1.5 stars

Average: I’m giving 3 stars. I felt like I read something that I loved so much at the beginning and I truly hated in the end.

I know it was debut novel and I believe the author has great potential to find interesting plot ideas and she has creative writing skills which hooked me for the first half of the book. So I still want to read her upcoming works. But I wish the last third of the book could be rewritten. Especially those foreseeable romance mystery and long additional escape part just made me lose my interest.

P. S: I have to add: I fell in love with the perfect cover of the book and admired the talent of illustrator.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday books for sharing this arc in exchange my honest opinions.

I wanted to like this book. The abstract seemed very interesting but I just couldn't make myself finish it. The main character seemed too argumentative and extremely sure of herself, which is fine sometimes but seemed overdone. I found myself trying to push through it, then skipping whole paragraphs, and then deciding I didn't really care if she created the Philosopher's stone and saved her friends. The constant no one telling her anything just got annoying.

I'm sure other people will like this book but it was not for me.

I was initially so excited to receive this book because the synopsis absolutely hooked me! It also started off great apart from the relationship with her mom which just saddened me, but somewhere near the middle or right before the middle of the book, it lost me. I felt like the characters fell flat, and I didn't connect to them like I would have liked. I was also eager for more action and magic, but it was found lacking. The ending wrapped things up nicely, but I just wanted more.

With that being said, there are many other reviewers who loved this story, and just because it didn't do it for me, doesn't mean it won't do it for you!

Thanks Net Galley for the ARC. if you like historical fantasies this would be up your alley. There's madness, mystery, murder and mayhem.

***I received an uncorrected proof of this ebook from netgalley in exchange for an honest review***


"Alchemy is dead. And you, my daughter, killed it."✝


⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

This book was a fun little standalone for anyone who likes history and alchemy. Cohoe did a really good job of marrying science and fantasy, making it easy to believe that this story could have truly taken place within the confines of our world.

I do wish there was a bit more romance.... not every YA book needs a romantic subplot, but this particular book felt a little lacking without it. Thea's motivations fell a little flat, as it was difficult to understand what exactly she was fighting for. Her emotionally abusive mother? Her estranged father? The sleaze who kept lying to her? I could not for the life of me understand why she was so eager for the stone... It wasn't even for herself, for glory, so why not for love?


✝check against final text