This book has been a great listening experience. Thanks to the author and the publisher for bringing this book to life.

While I don’t want to give away too much of the plot as this book should be read with little to no knowledge, it’s really an all encapsulating story with magical realism. As someone who has read a handful of historical fiction, this isn’t exactly the same ol’ emotional story. It’s sad (obviously) as it takes place during WWII and the moments of love, friendship, and passion are enough to squeeze your heart, but there’s the element of Penelope’s endurance using alchemy with espionage to trick the Nazis that hits a bit different than the rest.

As I listened, I was fascinated with the world building and the imagination the author had with some of the magical parts.

Thank you NetGalley and Sarah Patten for the audio copy of this book. I am sorry to be so late with this review, but could not stay interested. I have finally realized I am not going to finish it.

This audiobook took me a LONG time to finish. I’m not sure if it was the length, or the setting changes, that left me less intrigued to listen every day.

I feel like the characters were interesting, but there were just so many of them. And Penelope’s constantly moving from one locale to the next did not give me the feeling of uncertainty that I’m assuming the author intended; instead, left me trying to keep up with “antics.”
The storyline could use some tightening up and a bit more editing down.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance listen.

My review of this audiobook is quite late. The reason being, I struggled to maintain interest but wanted to give it a good chance so I kept returning to it. Ultimately, I am still finding it difficult to want to complete it but will leave this review and I will return to edit it if the story begins to appeal to me more.

I could not listen to this reader past a few chapters. I did try, but she was so overly dramatic and the scenario seemed completely unrealistic. Somehow magical alchemy didn't go with Nazi-occupied Paris for me. The characters seemed like caricatures more than people. The hidden clutch of gypsies seemed like a YA plot.

A sweeping and extremely descriptive WWII story, this book certainly doesn't lack imagery and detail. I did feel like I would have liked a bit more action or plot. Part of the problem with writing a WWII story these days is that there are so many popular ones out there. The competition is stiff. If I hold this book up to others, I think that there are many others that I would choose to recommend before this one. The beginning of the book was strong, but I got the sense that the end was rushed and had a few details added for dramatic effect. The narrator was lovely and added great tone and emotion to the story.

very interesting read, enjoyed it!

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an early review.

I am usually not a fan of audiobooks and I do try to avoid them, however I really enjoyed Measure of Gold. The storyline was great and I could remember everything since the storyline flowed so smoothly. I loved the narrator voice along with her accents and different voices for male and female.

Measure of Gold was interesting to listen to as an audiobook. The book is centered on a way to fight the Germans during the occupation of Paris during WWII that is non traditional, fighting the war with chemistry. This is very interesting and something I have just never thought about. These people used their science skills to develop tools that could be used to win the war.
So this is a historical fiction book focused on war that is not about soldiers or the concentration camps. Which made this book really different and fun to listen to for me.
The audiobook was taken off my shelf before I could finish it. I think I was about halfway thru. So I have not finished the book yet.

In this historical fiction story, during the years of World War II, Penelope arrives in France after receiving a note. She got the note from her friend Naomie and when Penelope arrives, she finds that Naomie has been captured by the Nazi's. Also, Naomie's brother is an alchemist working for the resistence. Penelope joins forces with them and eventually goes to England. There Penelope receives training as an S.O.E. operative.

In this intense book - one that was rather difficult for me to follow - we see the fight many take up, which include activities of alchemy as well as spying.

I am glad that I got this as an audiobook ARC so that I could follow this story a bit better. This is a book that I will have to read again to see if I can do a better job with a review of this title.

Many thanks to Ashland Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early release audiobook.
Sarah Patten’s writing style is very descriptive. There were a lot of times I felt lost in the story as I was not understanding of the science and alchemy. I feel the story of friendship, love, and espionage is well represented. I also feel that someone who loves science with their historical fiction will love this story. Unfortunately, this story was not for me, but I would recommend to others.

Listened to audiobook version. Part war time romance, part science fiction. Narration lent depth to the story with accents.

ARC from publisher via Net Galley, but the opinions are my own.

I received a copy of the free audio book through the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

During Nazi occupation of France in WWII Penelope recieves a letter from an old friend urging her to come to Paris, bring gold and a necklace she had gifted her years before. After her father's death Penelope had nothing tying her down at home in Tennessee so she decides to go help her friend. She waltzes into Nazi occupied Pairs with no issues, except a young Nazi who insisted on walking her to her destination but she is able to get him to leave by just telling him she was fine (even though he had been persistent up to almost the door) right before she finds the super secret hide out she knew nothing about with no problems. Her friend isn't there and no one will tell her where she is. They show her a whole bunch of science stuff and she babbles on about loving math. Then she falls in love with one of the French guys in the hide out for no apparent reason, they go see art hidden away in a random mansion while Nazis (who have taken all the art but don't know about this place) patrol the streets with no problem at all, then she finds out Nazis took her friend while she was in line to get food... Then they go back and do more science to defeat the Nazis with and Penelope ends up going and being trained to be a spy, there's some espionage and a brothel... Then she goes back to Tennessee and her friend that was taken by Nazis had somehow escaped the camp then all the way to Tennessee looking for Penelope and was apparently just chilling in Tennessee the whole time that Penelope was in France. Then penelope misses the French guy and gets really sad and won't eat and her friend tells her you're not sad you're pregnant and she has a baby, throws it in the water and names it a weird French name .. then writes a whole bunch of letters to French guy telling him about the baby but they all get returned to her unopened.. the end

If you couldn't tell by my summery this book really annoyed me. I usually don't give spoilers but honestly reading that summary will save you the hassle of reading the book. It had such good premise, and was written well... It just spent way too much time babbling about science and math and not nearly enough building relationships or being realistic. I mean, NAZI oocupied France and she's just gonna stroll in with her suitcases and tell the Nazis she's just come from America to visit her sister? And that works? The Nazis are just like Ok, be careful.... And they can just take a day trip to look at art that the Nazis haven't been able to find... But they can just walk in??? In the middle of full blown Nazi occupation when her friend couldn't even get rations without being thrown in a camp?!? Don't even get me started on Lucien (the French guy she falls in love with instantly for no reason) I'm done ranting.. 2 stars only because it was written well (pretty words, good flow) and the voice actor on the audio tape was amazing.

The Measure of Gold by Sarah C. Patten appealed to me with the blurb. Lately I have been attracted to historical fiction with WWII ties. I had the opportunity to listen to a review copy from #NetGalley and #Books Fluent, which I requested, and want to thank. I would rate the book at 3.5 stars, but will round up to 4.0 stars. There were some aspects of the book which I found fascinating, other things just didn't do it for me. The listening time is approximately 11 1/2 hours, which seemed long. The narrator, Elizabeth Cottle performed the book. She gave the characters unique voices and I was able to
differentiate them. I could envision many details in the story.

Thankyou to Netgallery and Sarah C. Patten for the audio version of this book.

The flow of words and the descriptions by the Author are beautiful, but the story itself was not for me.

I rate this book - 1 Star: I did not enjoy the book and was unable to finish it. I would not recommend this book to others.

I couldn't get into the book. I'm not sure if it was the voice actor or the story itself. I found it confusing and was unable to follow the story line.
Thank you for the arc

Measure of Gold follows the story of Penelope, before, during, and after the Second World War. Is a boof full of twists and turns since it moves between America and Europe, specially París during the German occupation. It takes you through an emotional journey as we see Penelope grow into a woman. It also deals with a lot of topics related to Alchemy.

The book can intrigue you and lead you through all of the things that happened, and a lot happens. It deals with so much but at the same time, you cannot get enough. And this is because I feel like as the author tried to tie all the knots that she created, she forgot to show things more deliberately. for example: even though they said that time passed I feel like Penelope was the same, I feel like she never grew up completely, or at least it was my impression, the same with all the characters. And don't misunderstand me: Penelope is a great principal character, since the beginning she is smart, bright, brave, but that's it, she has all the mental strength to endure a lot of things and keep being the same but at the same time, she never matured.

Also, the story has a love interest and the end, the end just recked me. I mean: WHAT? It was so abrupt and I felt like it didn't agree with the story that the love interest did that. It is beyond me.

Nevertheless, I recommend you read the book and form your own opinion.

Thank you, NetGalley and of course the author for the opportunity to read the book.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley as an advanced listening copy (ALC). Thank you to NetGalley, Books Forward Audiobooks, and Sarah Patten for allowing me to listen in exchange for my honest review.

I plan to review this audiobook with soft spoilers, so read at your own risk. My review style for audiobooks is to rate the book and the narration separately with the average being the final rating (i.e. a 3 star book with a 5 star narration= 4 star overall rating).

Narration:
While I enjoyed the narration when Elizabeth Cottle was speaking as Penelope, I was not a fan of her accents. Her German was better than her French but man the French was hard to listen to. When speaking in her normal tone and accent Ms. Cottle has a soothing, captivating voice. I will definitely listen to another one of her narrations, but ideally one where she doesn’t do a lot of accents. 3/5 Stars.

Story Structure:
While I enjoy historical fiction, this book seems a bit dramatic at times. For me it was difficult to get engrossed into the story itself. It is a mesh of historical fiction, light fantasy, war story, romance, and maybe a dash of academic fiction. I say it has some academic fiction because Penelope goes to Paris to study under Fulcanelli, a renounced alchemist. 2.5/5 stars.

Overall:
Although I was not very intrigued by the subject matter or the story itself, the writing was well done. I believe if Sarah C. Patten wrote a different book I would enjoy it. I actually might recommend this book to my best friend because she might enjoy this better than me. 2.75/5 stars.

This was an enjoyable book perfect for a quiet listen. There were a lot of elements that were wonderfully researched and gave the listener a detailed knowledge of the subject material. The secret knowledge that is hidden throughout the work of Sir Isaac Newton, links the life and loves of Penelope, the main protagonist, as she risks her life in occupied Paris during WWII. The story gently leads you through ups and downs and doesn’t always end as you might expect.

The narration was easy to listen to and sensitively delivered.