In her debut novel A Golden Fury, Samantha Cohoe weaves a story of magic and danger, where the curse of the Philosopher’s Stone will haunt you long after the final page. 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 … 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.more
A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe is an excellent novel that is part historical fiction, part mystery, part suspense, and part fantasy. This book is labeled under YA, however I do not fall under that category and I enjoyed it immensely.
So much happens in such few pages! I was impressed with the intricacies of the plot, characters, and details and that the author was able to use so much, but yet make it look effortless, interesting, and creative.
I enjoyed the female protagonist, Thea Hope, and I enjoyed seeing her strength and growth throughout her adventures, obstacles, triumphs, and travels.
The concepts of alchemy and The Philosopher’s Stone gave the 18th century timeframe a darker, shadowed feel that really added to the story.
I really enjoyed the book and was entertained throughout, so much that I wish there would be a follow up so that I can find out even more (and that most definitely is a compliment to the author).
I recommend at 5/5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC and on return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.