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 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.
Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution in 1792, A Golden Fury follows young alchemist Thea Hope on her quest to create the Philosopher’s Stone. Thea and her mother Meg–both British citizens living in France–have been working together in pursuit of creating the Stone for years, but lately it has become a contentious topic.
On the brink of creating the Philosopher’s Stone, Thea’s mother goes mad, smashing the still-forming Stone against the wall, and attempts to hurt (dare I say kill?) Thea in the process. Thea flees for England in search of her father, a man she’s never met and knows very little about. All she knows is he’s a professor at Oxford and a noted alchemist also working on the Philosopher’s Stone. Here she finds they’ve almost cracked the code of the Stone she and her mother deciphered months before, and inserts herself into their laboratory. The madness seems to follow her here, though, infecting her father’s alchemy partner and forcing her to flee yet again.
Thea is a strong character who will stop at nothing to save her mother’s life–even though her mother is not what one would consider motherly. She willingly endures the madness of the Stone to save her mother and her friends. Though she is absolutely blind to the flaws and failings of a young man she loves, Thea isn’t distracted from her mission. She is steadfast and persistent in her goal to create the Philosopher’s Stone to cure those she loves. I found that immensely refreshing!
A Golden Fury hooked me from its opening lines to the final chapter. I read this book in two days–that’s not happened in many, many months! If you liked Belle Revolte by Linsey Miller or All That Glitters (previously Enchantée) by Gita Trelease, you will love A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe. Magic, alchemy, the French Revolution, brave girls fighting for what they believe is right = an enjoyable book you’re sure to love!
Thank you to Macmillan / Wednesday Books for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
