Author: Samantha Cohoe
Publication Date: 13 October 2020
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Page Count: 352
Reading Method: Physical ARC
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:
A book about alchemists and the Philosopher’s Stone – sign. me. up! I was hooked almost from the very start. Thea is a main character I can get behind – brave, brilliant, and driven. The combination of characters and the intertwining of their histories and ambitions was entertaining throughout.
There was never a dull moment as there is something continually driving the story forward. Thea and crew weren’t one dimensional characters. Throughout the course of the story, Cohoe shows the full range of development for our main characters and gives each of them believable and interesting characteristics.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this story, there were a few things that made me a bit frustrated with Thea. I can’t really go into detail without spoiling things, but I just expected more from her based on our description of her character.
I really really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Cohoe.
You can purchase a copy of A Golden Fury here
