A Golden Fury

I liked this book. Though the ending wasn't as great as the beginning (seems I am on a similar page to many other reviewers in this aspect), I found Thea and the others to be a well-written character, and I especially appreciated the magical realism aspect of the book (fantasy et. real world are my fav types of books). I love the idea of women alchemists and darkness that ensues, and all in all Cohoe executed the book well. If the ending had been stronger in terms of events and character choices, I would not hesitate to give this one a 5/5.

Pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn't think it would be a book I would enjoy, but it kept me captivated throughout. This book did not get the hype as others, which is a good thing. To me, it was a sleeper hit.

CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Writing: 6
Plot: 7
Intrigue: 8
Logic: 8
Enjoyment: 7

This was a very refreshing read. I loved all the alchemy aspects. There were definitely some Stalking Jack the Ripper vibes to this book so if you enjoyed that one I would definitely have this on your radar. I did however appreciate that there was little to no romance in this book. Fantasy books lately always have romance and sometimes I just want the plot and the story no side romance also going on.

2020 has to be year of the cold and standoff ish mother in YA. Funnily enough all encountered in fantasy this reading year. Difficult and nuanced motherly figures, Thea Hope is the daughter of such figure, She???s the daughter of a famous alchemist who looms over her. A Golden Fury is about Thea Hope, a young alchemist, who has the knowledge to make the Philosopher???s Stone. Before finishing the Philosopher???s Stone her mother goes mad and smashes their work. Because of this and escaping her mother???s anger she travels to find her beau, Will, and to make the stone before anyone else does. Cohoe really focused on the scientific side of SFF in A Golden Fury. The alchemy was more science based than magic based. It was all puzzle for Thea and her cohort to find out. Managing temperatures and putting in the right ingredients at the right time. Science is a real puzzle, figuring out the elements instead of cardboard pieces. It was great to see the fictional scientific methods and scenes in the lab where Thea looked at Arabic texts for instructions. The magic system was different and it's great to see different interpretations of alchemy. Cohoe really blended the alchemy in a historical setting. this book nailed the historical setting pretty darn well. Set in the backdrop of a weakened France before the revolution. I really enjoyed the plot and I was engrossed in it from the start to the end It had a great pace and was action-packed. Cohoe used the slower parts to her advantage were she used of knowledge of the half magic ??? half science practice to build the world. Bit by bit. I had to page at both paces in the story, eager to see what happened next. Cohoe???s lines and phrasing is a delight to read and roll of the tongue or in my case the mental version of that. And lastly a book is nothing without its characters. If you don???t care the characters no matter how creative or beautiful the writing, I can???t care. But you do care for Thea, how she???s treated by the people around her. Get mad how the men in her life don???t trust her or see her ingenuity. Loving Dominic so much how truly cares for her and wants the best for her. No one was that good or all that bad. Even our quick-witted lead Thea who could be selfish and have an ego at times. I loved how deeply flawed she and others were. People that love Historical fiction where magic doesn???t over power the story. Where the SF of SFF comes to play and a story with a flawed but human girl tries to be recognized for her talents. They for surely will enjoy A Golden Fury

Warning: A lot of mentions of mad/madness/people performing actions due to their ‘madness', as that was the term used back then. Those actions are mostly in terms of violence and violent acts. There's also a bit of assault, but it doesn't seem to be sexual. Mention of suicide.
I've probably mentioned it before here (on my blog, of course) but I don't have the greatest love for historical fiction books. They're usually a hit or miss for me, more so a miss for me. But I couldn't pass up the premise of the Philosopher's Stone! Usually I am a huge (okay, massive) fan of a lot of fantasy in a book, I do also like little slivers of fantasy and science fiction in a book.

That is definitely the case in this book. Even though I first thought it would be hard to understand, what with all the alchemy and science information, but I'm glad it wasn't! Thea (the main character) is more than passionate enough about alchemy and trying to complete any alchemist's life goal and dream. I felt Thea's need and want to create the Stone – it wasn't just for her, she also wanted to prove herself to her mother.

Oh, her mother. What a character and a half. While she isn't actually physically by Thea all throughout the book, her mom's words and actions are most certainly there. And they affect her as the mom is really manipulative and only thinks of herself. She's so dismissive of Thea's alchemy skills and only wants Thea to help her in her triumph.

I won't say much of the romance because it holds some spoilers, but it did not go the way I thought it would have. But I'm also impressed that it went that way. I enjoyed it and the fact that it wasn't the usual cookie-cutter romance we see.

There was something I'm always not keen (in the slightest) to see and that was girl-on-girl hate/pitting girls against each other – whatever you prefer saying. And I'm so so tired of seeing it in books! Why do they have to think less of the other? Because the one girl enjoys ‘pretty' things while the other prefers to study? Because a certain boy pays more attention to the one girl than the other? Would the story change if it were taken out? In this book, I think it wouldn't change much if the criticising of the girls (by the girls) were taken out.

I think a big reason why I stay away from historical fiction is that there's so much of the writing, usually of the narrative and description. Which is probably funny because if you present me with a fantasy book that has an overabundance of narration and description, I'll probably thank you. But I didn't feel that way in here! I could easily keep up with all the alchemy talk and kept being intrigued by how much Thea's mom annoyed me (with how unfair she was to her daughter).