A Golden Fury

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

A Golden Fury

Samantha Cohoe

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.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

(3.5 / 5) I love books about alchemy. I find the ancient art so interesting. This book started strong with a mother/daughter alchemy team, fighting their way in a world of men. The mother was one of the most well known and respected alchemists. Her daughter was quickly surpassing her, much to the mother’s chagrin.

While working on the ever-coveted philosopher’s stone, the mother falls to madness. Here, our protagonist Thea’s life changes and she’s led on a journey to make her own stone, with knowledge of the impending madness. 

Thea is a character that I couldn’t quite love. She’s flawed, but in ways that made me disconnect with her rather than understand her. Her love interest was one that I loved until I actually “met” him, instead of hearing the stories about him. I couldn’t see the connection and didn’t like him as a person.

The first half was strong with drama, intrigue, fighting for independence, love and more. I ate it up and loved every minute. The second half slowed considerably. I had a hard time liking most male characters and oddly, a “bad guy” was my fav and I wanted to know more about him.

It’s a unique read that is impressive for a debut. I feel I would have enjoyed it more with even pacing and more details on alchemy. I’ll be watching this author to see what she turns out next!

Content summary: Violence involved assault (read a bit like rape), self harm, mental illness, madness, torture. The intimacy was so vague with no details that I hardly wrote it down. It involved sleeping next to each other, previous kisses and letters leading us to assume a sexual relationship but no details.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***-

H***- 

S***-

A**-

B****-

D***-

Bas****-

Religious Cursing

J****-

Chr***-

G**- 1

L***-

Derogatory terms etc-

A young man swears in German multiple times. 

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

Two teens snuck champagne. 

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

Two teens write letters back and forth talking about their nights together (no details). It is rumored she is pregnant.

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

A mother squeezes her teen daughter’s throat. 

A man grabs a young woman, covering her mouth and nose and rifles through her pockets. She screams and bites him and he throws her head against the wall. 

A young woman peers in a window and sees a man’s leg with a pool of blood. His head has been smashed in “like overripe fruit.” A young man is covered in blood. 

A man admits to torturing a young man. He has had his fingernails pulled off. 

A man slaps a young woman. 

A man holds a knife to a young man, a young woman grabs his hand and squeezes with magical power. She slashes at his throat cutting him barely. She then puts a knife to a woman’s throat, blood trickles down. 

A young woman asks a man to help her “persuade” or torture info out of a young man. A man takes a tool and goes to scoop out a young  man’s eyeball. The man threatens to take his body apart piece by piece if the info is wrong. 

A man lunges at a man, then a young man lunges too. A man hits a man with a chair in the head. A man is thrown against the wall. A young man scratches down a man’s face, leaving it bloody. One man is unconscious on the floor. 

A ship shoots onto another ship. A young man is hit, he falls as blood blossoms. Another is shot in the arm and falls overboard. 

Potentially Intense Themes

A young woman cuts her wrists in the bathtub after being rejected by a young man.

A young woman slowly and knowingly succumbs to madness. She hallucinates people and unknowingly claws at her face, making herself bleed. She is chained to a bed to prevent hurting herself. 

A young man is very sick and he coughs blood multiple times. 

A young woman hears sounds of a young man tied up and succumbing to madness.

**SPOILER**A young woman is drowning and gasping in water. Resuscitation is needed to revive her. 

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.