Really loved this book! For any fans who enjoy the lore tied around the Philosopher's Stone, like Fullmetal Alchemist and such, this is a great read. Thea is a young, scholarly narrator which I enjoy as well. The book starts out a little slow but really picks up around chapter five.

The ending did leave me longing for a better wrap point. I feel the book could continue, but I don't believe a second one is in the works. I also would have liked some of the characters to have more time in the story.

The book doesn't actually pull many historical notes of the time period like the book description illudes to. Aside from added ambiance, the French revolution is only mentioned in passing as a background situation.

Most of the book takes place in London actually.

 Since I read the Immortal Secrets of Nicholas Flamel in middle school I’ve been slightly obsessed with alchemy. To me when magic and science meld in the middle, there are so many possibilities. So when I had the chance to join the blog tour and read A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe, I was elated.

This tale surprised me in so many ways. I’d been on a historical fiction / romance kick earlier this year and this brilliantly interwove history, alchemy, mystery, and finding oneself together.

The dynamic between Thea and her parents is fraught with difficulties. Shipped off to an unknown, and slightly unwilling father, while attempting to save her mother Thea learns how to become herself. While her parents–at least her mother–seems to love her of sorts, it is her skill in alchemy that proves her worth.

Mix that with a deadly curse on those who get close to creating the Philospher’s Stone, the tension of French politics and a potential civil war, and the political machinations that occur in academia, Thea is constantly trying to prove herself. To her mother, to her father, to her past love, and to the young man who aides her father. Her kind heart is often overridden by her pride and this desire to prove herself and save her mother. This makes for a plenty bumpy journey, but I admire the mettle that she shows throughout even as her path continues to grow darker.

Hopping from frying pan to frying pan we follow Thea as the world seems to fold in around her, sometimes due to her own choices. I was enraptured by this fast paced novel, and often surprised by how things turned out. I would have never predicted the ending and thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading.