I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
❥ The plot
Set in eighteenth century England, Samantha Cohoe’s debut novel, A GOLDEN FURY (Wednesday Books; October 13, 2020), follows a young alchemist as she tries to save the people she loves from the curse of the Philosopher’s Stone. The streets of London and Oxford come to life as this historical fantasy unravels. Weaving together an alluring story of magic and danger, Samantha’s debut has her heroine making messy decisions as she toes the line between good and evil while it becomes blurred. 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.
A GOLDEN FURY and the curse of the Philosopher’s Stone will haunt you long after the final page.
❥ My review
When I first received the email asking me to join the tour, I was extremely intrigued by this book. Alchemy, Oxford, an historical setting… it all seemed right up my alley. And it definitely was.
I gave A Golden Fury 4/5 stars and absolutely adored this book. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but it definitely was for me. From the first pages I was completely sucked into the story. I fell in love with our main character Thea from the very first lines and she never failed me. As the story progressed I got more and more obsessed with the setting. It was simply amazing, and I’ll try to do my best to picture what I loved so much about it.
First of all, the writing style was really easy to read and to get through. It’s a short book (around 350 pages) and it only took me two days to read it, though I would have read it in one setting if I had more time. The author’s style was simple, yet intriguing. It’s not the most beautiful prose per say, but it made me read the book faster than I would have otherwise. Somehow it made me want to read more and more, and that’s something I appreciate whenever I find an easy writing style to follow through.
Second of all, I adored the setting. It somehow felt steampunk-y to me, which is one of my favourite genres. Reading about alchemy in those times made the book magical but also somehow a tad creepy, as a curse was looming over our characters. I felt as if it was the perfect book to read in Autumn. Plus, it’s set in tons of different and beautiful cities. I loved to follow the story to Oxford, a city I fell in love with many years ago now. It gave some dark academia vibes to the story, which made it even more enjoyable for me read. A Golden Fury managed to make me travel back in times, which is always good.
Finally I was obsessed with the characters. They were all somehow dark, as all obsessed with the Philosopher’s Stone and their desire to make it, regardless of the consequences. But I always loved stories about morally grey characters, so it was all perfect for me. None of them felt as if they were too much in this book, they all had their purpose and all were very different in their own ways. It was a pleasure to read about them, and mostly to follow Thea who is strong and unashamed of who she is. Sometimes she was blamed for caring about a boy, because an independent woman shouldn’t be, but she always said she got a right to be smart and to care about boys, that it wasn’t a weakness and so on. (Also there was close to no romance at all in this book, which I adored!)
Overall I really enjoyed The Golden Fury. As I said it may not be for everyone as it may seem simple at times, but I personally found things to love in this book and I do not regret signing up for this blog tour.
❥ Where to buy it
- All the links
- Don’t forget to support your local library!
Love always,
Clara
Clara 