Book: A Golden Fury
Author: Samantha Cohoe
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release date: October 13, 2020
Rating: [usr 4.5]
Happy Friday, Lovelies!
Fridays mean it’s movie night for me. It’s that little bit of normalcy I continue to do even though our world has changed. But instead of rushing home after work to watch a movie with Matthew, I spend all day watching movies while I’m working.
Hey, I can multi-task.
On today’s roster is last night’s episode of Supernatural (I’m going to miss this show so much), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Craft, and Trolls World Tour. I may sneak in a scary movie or a Disneyfied version of scary (hello, Freeform!).
I’ll also be monitoring Matthew. He’s not doing so well right now. We went to the vet on Sunday to get him ready for his pet passport application process. His allergies are horrible right now. He’s scratched off the right side of his face and scratched up his ears. His back paw is still hurting him from his allergies. So he had a bunch of tests performed on him, plus he got his medicine. Wednesday night, he snuck out and stayed out way past dark. He discovered that next door has small pine trees planted that he can play hide and seek in. I think he got bit by an insect, because Thursday night, his lip started bleeding.
This is something that happens every fall. He already had his shot for this on Sunday, plus he’s already on meds. I just have to soak up the blood when his lip bleeds, and then apply cornstarch to stop the bleeding. I feel so bad for him. Luckily, this isn’t as bad as previous years.
So on to the book review for “A Golden Fury.” Thank you, Wednesday Books for sending this title along to me. I love stories like this where a young woman becomes the last alchemist by creating the infamous philosopher’s stone.
Synopsis
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.
Review of “A Golden Fury”
What can I say? This had a very unexpected ending. I’m going along in this entire story thinking that this stone is so dangerous to create, yet it’s desperately needed to cure everyone in Thea’s life. And then the author does something I didn’t even ponder could happen. She doesn’t just do it once. She does it multiple times, so if you think the story will play out according to Thea’s plans…think again.
Honestly, I love when writers do this. As you read, the entire time you are wondering if she will be able to make the philosopher’s stone and save everyone. Will she go insane before the process is completed? Will the stone even work?
And then because the reader is so focused on this, when the author decides to throw a monkey wrench in there that we’re not expecting, the story becomes even more compelling and interesting, making you beg for more.
I will say that I hoped an unexpected love story would branch from this, but it never materialized. Cohoe had other plans for Thea in the love department.
I also kind of felt bad for Thea. She had a strange childhood. Alchemists as parents! Her mother is strange. Her father, well, that’s left to be seen what kind of dad he’ll be. But I felt bad for Thea that her mother couldn’t be a loving mother, because she was so super feminist for their time. It’s like being a loving mother worked against her idea of feminism. She wanted to spit on everything that was expected of women, including being a nurturing mother. Thea deserved a better mother.
I enjoyed this book. I was lost in the pages, waiting to see what would happen. Would Thea survive the madness of creating the philosopher’s stone? Would she find people she could truly trust that would not betray her? Those questions kept me entranced in the story.
I really enjoyed this. It was such a good story!
[Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. This post contains affiliate links.]You can purchase your copy of “A Golden Fury” at any of these approved PW retailers.