A strong debut, well written, with a tone and atmosphere not unlike a Joan Aiken novel (which is a good thing!). I liked the relationships (won't say too much because spoilers). I also liked the fact that it is a stand-alone (yay!!).

I have mixed thoughts about "A Golden Fury". Overall, it was a good book, but I found my thoughts on the book were up and down; I would like parts of it, then be displeased with a specific turn of events, and this went back-and-forth. The quest for the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate achievement in alchemy and the source of great power (and great risk), was a good plot. I really like the character of Theosebeia (Thea) Hope, who wants the respect of her mother, a great female alchemist in a field dominated by men, but who also wants to assert her own independence and be recognized for her own skills in alchemy. When her mother's efforts to create the Philosopher's Stone lead to madness, Thea is forced to leave France for England and the father she has never known, in the hopes that she can create the Philosopher's Stone and cure her mother. However, England only brings more trouble, especially when she re-unites with Will, a friend and fellow alchemist (and potential love interest), who is slowly dying of consumption and has gotten himself in a dangerous situation which only the creation of the Philosopher's Stone can resolve. One of the major themes of the book is men seeking power at the expense of women, and using the skills and talents of women to achieve their ends without according recognition and respect to the women. Thea's motives for agreeing to create the Philosopher's Stone are repeatedly questioned, including by herself at times. Throughout the course of the book, there is good character development and growth of Thea. The author has also created a good cast of supporting characters. She also does a good job of expressing the risks that can come with great power and whether the rewards outweigh the risks.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

If you liked AND I DARKEN by Kiersten White, this book might be for you. It has a complex, prickly female main character with quite a voice. The setting is an alternate history version of the French Revolution if alchemy existed, though that event takes a background seat in this particular plot. This was a very quick read, and highly plot-driven if that is what you're after.

However, despite the strong start and an interesting premise, I think this failed to live up to that promise. I quite liked the main character, Thea Hope. I'm a sucker for the kind of fiercely intelligent, practical, sharp girl that she is. Her drive and ambition are second perhaps only to her mother, Marguerite, who is just as complicated a character that I wish we were able to spend a bit more time with in the story. The idea of two women being the most adept, most capable alchemists in such a male-dominated field—and the complex relationship between mother and daughter that oscillates between pride and jealousy, love and hatred—was so incredibly appealing to me, and I was quite disappointed to see it fizzle out within the first few chapters. Especially when it was replaced by a story ultimately about men—Thea's relationships with men, what men want to do with her, how men want to use her—instead of a badass story about a mother and daughter, and the sacrifices they make of and for each other.

There was a bit of self-awareness re: this point in the character of Rahel, but she was high-handed and overly preachy about her sense of morals. More a caricature than a character, which is something you could say for all but Thea and Marguerite. I felt like Will could also have been a more complex characters, with more interesting motives; not that saving your own skin isn't interesting, but little of his choices beforehand did anything to deepen him as a character. A typical "nice guy" with all the pomp included, and he's supposed to be the biggest villain here? (Not counting the curse itself, of course.)

Overall, I really enjoyed the beginning for its strong characters, but the stakes never really escalated. The middle flagged and the end became a little too saccharine and neat for me—with so-called bad guys having changes of heart, and everyone lives, and it all works out, etc.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for providing this free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I set this aside at 10% because of two factors. The summary had me intrigued but the way the story began and was carried was a let down. I expected this to be about alchemy and instead Thea spends a large portion pining over her boyfriend. She reads letters by him, ponders over him, and hates that her mother sent him away after their first kiss. Her obsession with him is what first separated me from the story because instead of alchemy I was seeing an overflow of romance. The second dislike was the lack of dialogue and plethora of telling. At times it felt like I was reading a research paper instead of a story. Without dialogue, the story was flat and I lost the connection. Thank you for giving me the chance to read and review A Golden Fury.

A perfect read like for fans of Addie Thorley’s AN AFFAIR OF POISONS.

Thea and her mother are alchemists, but just before they’ve completed the philosopher’s stone her mother locked her out of their lab and went mad. Thea is sent back to England to a father who doesn’t know she exists and only her notes and her letters from Will. Both her father and Will want her knowledge, but who can she trust? And is the stone cursed?

Thea is a passionate and intelligent heroine that is sure to appeal to modern readers. She is naive at times, but her heart is always in the right place. The setting is as explosive as the alchemy; beginning in Revolutionary France and then to England on the brink of war. I loved the references to Mary Wollstonecraft’s VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN. There’s a strong feminist streak that I adored.

AGF by Samantha Cohoe, published by St. Martin's Press, is a historical romance. A fast paced read full of drama and suspense, mixed with magic. AGF is a complex story about a young woman and her journey through life, about growing up and finding her place in society and love.

I enjoyed reading this story, 4 beautiful stars.

This book drew me in with the beautiful cover and the promise of alchemy mixed with psychological confusion. I'm a sucker for a good possession story arc and this book quenched that thirst for me.
The romance between Thea, Dominic, Will, and even Thea's parents was realistic and not overly cliche, which I always appreciate in a YA novel.
Overall, this was a highly enjoyable read for me and I would definitely recommend it for anyone who likes historical fiction and romance, mixed with a little bit of magic!
I can't wait to see what else Samantha Cohoe brings us in the future!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for the eARC.

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. Wow what can I say about this title it was just an awesome read. This book was just something so wonderfully different I’ve never quite read anything like this. You should read to find out you won’t be disappointed. I’m definitely going to read more by this author.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this wonderful book! I was hooked by the description, and it did not disappoint. The main character, Thea, is interesting and I wanted to know more about her from the first page. The plot is full of twists and turns, madness and mayhem, and some beautifully poignant moments as well. I loved the relationship building between Thea and all the other characters, especially her father, and I loved the world-building as well. It was easy to imagine myself there in late 18th century Britain and France, following right along with Thea and her friends and enemies. The magical elements fit in well with the non-magical elements, and I loved reading about Thea's attempts at alchemy and where they led her. Overall, a wonderful book, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of historical fantasy or anyone who wants to read a good story!

I was gifted this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy, hold on tight, this book was a very bumpy ride. I don’t even know where to begin. The characters, the plot, the setting, the whole alchemy situation . . . It was not as I thought it would be.

I thought it would focus on the world of alchemy and making this wonderful stone. I thought it would be glorious and wonderful adventure.

I was wrong.

There isn’t any adventure. There is plenty of focus on making the famous stone, but other than that. Meh.

Usually when a book tanks, I can pick on one thing I really enjoyed, but in this book it is just small pickings. I will say I enjoyed the character Dominic and Valentin. I enjoyed the full snark of Rahel.

But again, I wasn’t rooting for anyone and I wasn’t heavily interested in the plot either. It was just meh.

The main character in particular wasn’t really intriguing me and I felt no connection to her. I felt sorry for her, but even that was not a strong emotion. I will give the author credit for bringing out all of my ire to two particular characters: the father and Will.

I do not understand why most male characters in this book are portrayed as jerks with special bonus points for Will and the father. I usually love the mean characters. Seriously I do, but both of these guys were just downright nasty mean.

I like my jerks or charmers with a heart of gold or at the very least reasonable and funny jerks, but Will and the father are just selfish, arrogant jerks.

There was a point that I had to put the book down since the father made me so mad. I stepped away from it for two days. Two. Whole. Days.

Then just when the father is gone, Will picks up the selfish jerk ways and takes away the trophy for being one of my most unlikeable characters I read in a very long time. He is just downright slimy and disgusting. I cannot put down why because it will ruin the book for you.

The plot is a little bit better than the characters, but not by much. It jumps around alot and the actions of characters don’t make sense other than to move the plot along. Now the whole back story with Will and Thea makes perfect sense, but everything else fell short. I wish I could get into it, but if I do, again I will ruin it.

I will say the big plot point was so heavily foreshadowed that it ruined the whole big plot twist. I literally saw it coming from a mile away. It’s really unfortunate that it was so poorly executed. It could have been a good plot twist, but it was just so obvious.

To be fair to the author, the end is not predictable in the least bit. It does tie in nicely with the overall themes of love and acceptance, but the ending was not satisfying at all. I was just not happy with the redemption arc of the father whatsoever. And the whole fantasy of the world is just moved to the side. It’s a whole new world without any of the happy Disney magic. The ending fell flat and made me hate the make characters even more.

There’s also a couple of nitpicks that I have to include which was the information dumping. I literally skipped pages upon pages of information dumping to the point that I probably skipped over Thea’s thoughts. I debated about skipping over her thoughts, but then I realized sadly that I didn’t care about her or her feelings. She had the tendency to whine about her mother, about the various situations that I stopped caring about her constant whining and paid more attention to the plot.

Another nitpick was the alchemy, and the lack of magic thereof. It was more science based than magic based. In fact, now that I think about it, nothing with this world’s alchemy had any magic in it. It was all puzzle and science based. Managing temperatures and putting in the right ingredients at the right time. I will not lie, I was looking for more magic and mystical than sciency like The Sin Eater’s Daughter series. That type of alchemy blended science and magic really well. This book just focused on the science too much for me.

In fact, this book nailed the historical setting pretty darn well but lacked the amount of fantasy that I needed. If I went in knowing it was going to focus on history and science and less on the fantasy aspect, I would have liked this book more and tempered my expectations. But as it stands I’m super disappointed.

Overall, I cannot recommend this book as it is. There was just not enough to hold my interest plot wise or character wise. This book promised me fantasy and it didn’t deliver. So with a heavy heart, I cannot recommend it for anyone. However, if you would like to read a young adult fantasy book with a good dash of history then I would suggest reading The Sin Eater’s Daughter series by Melinda Salisbury. Read it and thank me later.

This book is well- written and has a very interesting premise. I love that it’s both historical and personal. The main character is flawed, driven, and incredibly relatable. I did find the book didn’t really hook me unfortunately... I think it was more of a compatibility thing though rather than a reflection on the quality of the book. I think that there will be a lot of readers of this genre that will adore this book, and I hope that they find it!

First Thoughts: It’s finally over.

CW: attempted suicide, assault, torture, gore, toxic parents

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to review.

Mild spoilers.

I’m going to try and keep this short and sweet.

A Golden Fury is about Thea Hope, a young alchemist, who has the knowledge to make the Philosopher’s Stone. Through a series of misfortunate events she travels to find her beau, Will, and to make the stone before anyone else does.

I had two problems with this book. First, the plot kept moving to left field. Don’t get me wrong, I love books where I don’t see the twists in the plot. I get super excited when authors do wild things with their plots. In this case, it just didn’t work. It felt like there was a complete lack of structure. And towards the end, it gets melodramatic and nonsensical.

The second issue is that Thea doesn’t have a backbone. She is taken advantage of by every character except her friend, Dominic. Her mother used her translation work to advance her methods of making the philosopher’s stone and kicked her out of the lab right before the stone was being formed. Her father took her notes on how to make the philosopher’s stones and sided with his sexist researcher after he assaulted her. (Yeah, I wish I was making that up.) And then the worst offender, Will.
Will was Thea’s mother’s assistant in her lab and Thea’s beau. Thea deserves so much better than that pond scum. He essentially cheats on her with the daughter of this German businessman (The same one that holds her hostage so she can make him the stone to pay Will’s debt to him for the emotional harm he caused said daughter.) and then lies about it to Thea. This is just one instance of his manipulation of her. He basically admits to manipulating her and she STILL cares for him. Essentially, it seemed that she didn’t care that no one but Dominic truly cared for her. Now for the rest of her personality, it was fairly flat but I didn’t completely dislike her. I just wish that she made showed these characters that there are consequences to their actions.

The one aspect of the book that I did enjoy was that the Philosopher’s Stone chose who it would form for as well as the curse of madness that would go along with it. This helped to balance out the absolute power the stone provided.

Hope absolutely and completely loved this book. The story hooked me from the very start and I felt for the characters. The book ended without a cliffhanging but I’d still love to follow along as they continue the story.

'A Golden Fury' has a great premise and a lot of great ideas and themes going for it. Freedom, control over one's own destiny, international politics, alchemy, family, young love, and even madness. There was a lot of promise going into this book and some readers will follow the main character, Thea, root for her despite not seeming to learn from her previous mistakes, and bite their nails as the stakes continue to raise higher and higher for her.

A Golden Fury is part mystery, part fantasy & part historical fiction. This book/story is more or less similar to Stalking Jack the Ripper series. An entertaining combination of character & story drives plot, which is very much complemented by the author’s writing. Some parts feel repetitive and I felt the ending to be quite illogical for the story flow! This book is Samantha Cohoe’s debut and I love her writing style. Will definitely read more books from her.
3.75/5⭐️
Thank you Netgalley & St.Martin’s press for the ARC. This review is my own & is not influenced in any way!

Samantha Cohoe’s debut takes readers on a journey through late 18th century France and England, offering a glimpse into the mystical study and practice of alchemy. While this premise might pique readers’ curiosities, the overall execution might deter their enjoyment.

In some respects, it’s difficult to class this tale. Even though the story is set during the 18th century, it’s more like an alternative reality mixed with comedy and satire. Mannerisms and dialogue are in keeping with modern times, rather than the refined tones one might expect from more traditional historical fiction. Conversations are absurdly exaggerated, almost akin to what you’d find in a screwball comedy. Throughout the book, characters find themselves in farcical situations that quickly manifest into something else. There’s lots of shouting and affected mannerisms. The dialogue is often fast-paced and silly. Also, in keeping with the theme, the story plays with traditional gender roles in a comedic way, especially evident among the minor characters.

Comedy does have a place in historical fiction. When done well, it can support and enhance the plot if it supports the subject. Here, the comedic touches make light of the alchemical spiritualism readers are presented. Whatever contextual history, philosophy and early genesis of chemistry mentioned in the story is eclipsed by satire. With this lack of balance, it’s difficult to determine whether or not such a presentation is intentional. Thus, readers seeking a more nuanced, balanced tone might be disappointed.

That said, this is a debut novel. I would be interested in seeing how this author is able to develop her style in future works.

*I've received this digital copy from the publisher in exchange of an honest review*
2.8 stars

I have to say that this book has very good premises and the writing style is very good. Plus, if you love alchemy and alchemic processes, this book could be for you!
You can enter in this world without any struggle, BUT (and it's a very big "BUT"), even if the plot seemed to be very original, and in a certain way it is, it's impossible to find Thea other than annoying.
I understood her character at the beginning: the lack of a father, an harsh and awful her mother and the wanting to achieve the greatest result for every alchemist: the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. The reader could easily emphatize with her disappointment for what happens and the fear for how uncertain her future turns in so little time..
The problem is that from the moment she arrives to England she becomes an even awful person than her mother!
Yes, you understand she meens good too, that she's different but, she's too much. She's too intelligent than the others, she seems to be the only one that isn't affected by the "stone's influence" as a sort of "chosen one", and the only one that does the right thing. Not to mention all the young men appear to have a sort of (big or little) crush on her. Again, too much. Her ego is exaggerated and she's only a teen! She questions too little herself about her decisions and we can see those consequences during the entire book.
To make matters worse she is oftern too angry, ready to give orders even to her captors and despise every sign of emotion or feelings in men, especially her father. I suppose it's all about the sever way she was raised but, I have to say it again, it's too much. I lost my sympathy for her.
I would have excused all of this if I would have found a richer plot than what I've read. There are no big events, the main settings are barely 3-4, most indoors and the other characters are interesting but not well handled. I wasn't even able to understand to whom Thea felt affection, disgust or love, or what people think about her. It's all a confused mess and the ending was just.. poor. If you think a book as a sort of journey with a start, an aim and an ending (including what the characters achieves in terms of new awareness, experiences, relationships, etc.), I've found almost nothing gained because it has been not so well managed. It lacked impact and so lost it's meaning to me.
I'm really sorry because I was so into this book until the 40-50%. Then it just collapsed.

However, thanks to @WednesdayBooks to give me the chance to read it in advance.

A Golden Fury tells the story of Thea, a young woman raised by her alchemist mother, as she is tries to save those she loves by creating the legendary Philosophers Stone.

I was totally blown away by the book. Thea is a fantastic character, fiercely protective and striving for independence. I loved her strength in the face of friends and family who didn't deserve her, and felt she really learned and grew from her experiences.

The plot itself is part historical fiction, part fantasy. The writing is beautiful, with each setting feeling real. I thought the pacing was just right, and I was gripped by the excitement of the story to the point where I couldn't put the book down!

A really phenomenal book. I felt it was in a similar vein to Kerri Maniscalco's Stalking Jack the Ripper and Veronica Rossi's Rebel Spy - a clever, engaging, dramatic adventure that I would recommend wholeheartedly.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and will be submitted to Amazon after release.

LOVE.

LOVELOVELOVE.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

LOVE AT LAST FLIP OF THE PAGE.

LOVE AT BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END.

JUST LOVE.

With each majestic flip of the page, I was transfixed, and completely drawn into the world and the lives of the characters.

Love at first glance aside, (I mean, just look at that oh so enchantingly beautiful cover!) I just knew that after reading the synopsis for this book, that I was going to adore this story; Just knew that it was going to be my perfectly made cup of tea, my flawlessly concocted elixir.

I finished this book in less than a day, as I just couldn’t pull myself away from the story (and it was also just the distraction I needed from the ugly events of the world still currently raging around me. Thank you so much for that Samantha Cohoe, I will be forever grateful to you) and I completely fell in love with both the story and the characters.

There are so many things to love and savor about this book, and first and foremost (for me anyway) the fact that its a fantasy/historical fiction that centers around alchemy! Heck yes! The blend of mystical, scientific elements of the alchemy storyline were so cool to read about, and made it that much more fascinating. It also made both the plot and storyline that much more mysterious, ominous, and even eerie at times because of the dark elements to it.

The alchemists in this book all have a common goal, despite how they differ going about attaining it: creating the Philosopher’s Stone. Of course creating it is no easy task, as creating it can cause you to become possessed and go mad, which is where the eerie, sinister parts of the story come in. Watching the characters’ descend into madness over the Philospher’s Stone is certainly a study in both greed and just how far people will go in order to obtain what they want no matter how high the price.

The main character of the story is a young girl named Thea, who is an alchemist, and a very good one at that. Her mother is a famous alchemist of sorts, and they both live in France, during the tultumous time of the French Revolution. One terrible night, her mother descends into complete madness, and that is when Thea realizes just how very high the cost is of completing the creation of the Philospher’s Stone. Due to her mother’s madness and the raging revolution, Thea is sent to England for her own protection, to stay with her father, also an alchemist, who she has never met. Once there, she is sent down on a dangerous path of treachery, madness, and other dangers as she tries to save the lives of her beloved, her mother, friend, and herself, all the while trying to finally complete the task of making the Philosopher’s Stone.

The setting of this book also very much helped to set the mood, as the characters journeyed through an ever bleak, ominous London city scape. I could picture myself right along side them, running through alley ways with an overcast sky overhead, carriages rolling past in the distance, the sound of horses hooves clomping past.

So so good!

And Thea!

Love love loved her!

She was such an amazing character! I loved her strong spirit, and unbending will, and her willingness to do whatever it took to help to protect and save those she loved. I just found her to be such a badass! Despite all of the obstacles she was facing throughout her journey, she remained strong, and I admired her so much and was rooting for her on each and every page. Definitely one of my favorite heroines of 2020!

Do yourself a favor and definitely preorder a copy of this book! I could go on and on talking about how much I loved it, and I still wouldn’t be doing it justice. There’s magic, an engrossing plot that will keep you turning the pages in anticipation, and a main character that you will admire and root for! Plus, have you seen the cover? That alone is reason enough to preorder it! But seriously, buy this book!

I really enjoyed this novel and found myself unable to stop thinking about what might happen next when life beckoned me to put the book down.

A Golden Fury didn't resemble anything I had ever read before... That is until I read a review relating it to LOTR and the obsession of the ring. Regardless, that's the only moment.

I would completely recommend this debut novel by Samantha Cohoe to any of my friends. Five stars from me!