http://www.burtonbookreview.com/2020/09/a-golden-fury-by-samantha-cohoe.html

For a book that has a female lead, and seems to lead with a theme of female empowerment, 95% of the characters were male.

I didn't entirely dislike this book. I thought the writing was strong, and I liked Thea as a character. She's a seventeen year old who despite constantly noticing how poorly her mother has treated her, she has picked up traits of her mother but refuses to acknowledge them in herself. I found her to be a believable character who grew up in an emotionally abusive household.

That being said, this book barely passes the bare minimum standard for the Bechdel Test, and if only because Thea and her mother may have had one (possibly two) conversations that weren't inherently about a man.

I wanted to give the author the benefit of the doubt about the amount of male characters here. There are many believable reasons as to why there are so many men (Thea is an alchemist, and alchemy - as all sciences - are male-dominated during this time period, as well as other setting choices the author made). However, when another female character is introduced, her and Thea still only speak about a man. Technically, there were a total of four female characters in the book: Thea, her mother, this new character, and the new character's companion, who is named but never speaks. Technically, another character's mother is mentioned but never named nor seen, so I am not counting her.

A saving grace of this is that Thea never truly seems to have hate for any of the women mentioned save her mother. And the author mostly avoids the "not like other girls" trope, but so long as we don't read between the lines.

I have seen other reviewers mention a love triangle and I'd like to counter that. I think it was set up to be a love triangle but fell through in the end, for whatever reason, but to me, what happened felt like a true friendship between Thea and one of the boys in the end. I just wanted to point out that it may or may not be a love triangle, but at least there is no outwardly fighting over Thea, nor are there any declarations forcing her to choose between the two.

I wanted to give it 3 stars, but I have ended up giving it 2. Thea was one of the more likable female protagonists I've read in a while, but the lack of substance to any of the other female characters dragged it down. Especially for a book that pushed for strong women. I hope that the author continues to write, and hopefully includes more women in her books. Her writing is very nice, and Thea's head was fun to get into. It's just unfortunate how male-centric a book about women doing the impossible is.

Review coming soon...

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely love learning about alchemy and this book was stuffed full of alchemical details and musings and so, it was right up my alley. The historical setting was well done, as far as I can tell, and the main character was compelling. Unfortunately, something kept this one from becoming a new favorite but if you are looking for a tale of alchemy with a ton of twists, I definitely recommend this one!

Samantha Cohoe's A Golden Fury is a wonderfully written piece of literature. The prose is engaging, a majority of the characters are developed enough to make the reader feel compelled to find out what happens to them, the fantastical/supernatural elements are done in a way that pulls the reader in and keeps them guessing as to what is really happening. The pace of the story arc is well thought out and unlike many stories that try to do the same, doesn't lag just for the sake of words.

Overall, this is a very quick read with a compelling plot, protagonist, and multiple antagonists that make this a wonderful book.

I hate I somehow let this review slip past me and did not post it sooner.
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the eARC of this work.

Alchemy has always fascinated me. It was probably one of my favorite aspects of the A Discovery of Witches series. Something real, yet steeped in the supernatural. Afterall, the quest for the philosopher's stone is a true yet fantastical history.

Of course, this book being YA, wasn't going to be as deep as I'd hoped. And that's okay. However, it was more the way the end of the book kind of ran wild and felt disjointed from the rest of the story that made me lower my rating. 

In the beginning I was really invested and enjoyed the characters and the mystery of the story. I just got lost with the mess towards the end. Not an awful read, but not one that I'll likely remember much about either. 

This was not what I expected it to be!
I’m always hesitant to try period pieces because I feel like there are aspects to reading them that books set in the present day don’t have. For example, I don’t know any of the stuff they talk about in this book concerning European politics. Granted, I didn’t HAVE to know about those things to enjoy the book, but it was a little bit frustrating.
The MC in the book was a strong, clever young woman with a tragic past and complex ways of thinking. I liked her character as a whole but didn’t feel like she developed much throughout the novel. Additionally, it seemed like three different guys crushing on her or being crushed on to some extent, which is meh to begin with but even more confusing in this book given the… circumstances of some of the guys.
I liked the book and thought its alchemical plot was an interesting one, even if it took a questionable turn toward the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this read! Thea is a wonderful narrator, and I loved how she grew as the story progressed. In a time when women were told to stand in the background and be docile, Thea stands out as strong and willing to fight for what she wants. The author does a fantastic job of letting the writing reflect the madness that starts to affect Thea as she tries to save her loved ones by creating the Philosopher's Stone. I think the second half of the book was paced a little quicker than the first half, but everything included did add to the plot as a whole. The ending does wrap up the story as a standalone, though I would love to know what Thea decides to do with her life next. Overall, this is a quick and enjoyable read that I would recommend.

Buy, Borrow, or Bypass: If you like historical fantasy standalones, then definitely buy. If you're curious about it and think you'll only read it once, then borrow. I haven't decided yet if I want a hardcover copy for my personal shelves. Right now I'm content that I read it once, though that cover is pretty stunning. I do think it's worth a read though, so don't bypass it. :)

This was pretty good. I would give it a 3.5 if I could.

Alchemy in general is an intriguing concept, and Thea was a dynamic, complex character. The motivations of her own ambition and her conflicting desires to both eclipse her mother and earn her mother's love were interesting.

I didn't LOVE any of the characters, really, but there's a lot to like.

There was a love plot, kind of, but most of the time Thea is seeing everyone around her as either friends or enemies, and she ends up still single at the end. I can easily imagine how it might have been done terribly, especially with everything hinging on Will's betrayal, so I'm grateful for how matter-of-fact and lowkey everything was handled. Dominic really got the short end of the stick, being trapped in madness for such a long time and also used as a diversion at the risk of his life.

The Philosopher's Stone

Spoiler

as some sentient, malevolent being from another plane of existence was interesting.

Also I was a big fan of Thea's dynamic with her father, who initially gave in to his greed but turned out to be a nice and sincere person who I liked a lot. It was great that even after his change of heart he still took a background role, supporting her.