A Golden Fury is a young adult fantasy by author Samantha Cohoe. I found this book to be a magical tale about alchemy and the creation of the coveted philosopher’s stone. I really liked the world that Samantha set the story in and I loved the strong females that the story featured. It was a cool twist on the philosopher’s stone, and I ended up enjoying this one. I can’t wait to see what Samantha Cohoe creates for us next! This was a good debut from her.

In A Golden Fury, we meet our main character Thea, and right off the bat Thea brings us into her life and into the story. She does a great job giving us the backstory. She is a budding alchemist, who is helping out her mother. Her mother is trying to create the first philosopher’s stone, when they stumble across not only how they think it is created but also the cost of the stone, which is madness. I loved this twist on the creation of the stone, with female alchemists being the creator. It was a great strong feminist vibe, but at times I found myself wishing that Thea’s mom was a better character. Don’t get me wrong- I understand why she had to be so hard at times because she is in the Victorian era, which is so restrictive for women, but I still found myself wishing that she was a little warmer, at least to Thea.

Thea was a good character. I enjoyed her journey and her romance story. I loved how much she cared about the people in her life, and throughout the book she does show some impressive strength and growth. When Thea is sent to Oxford, she encounters many people who want to use her because the allure of the Philosopher’s stone is very strong. I liked the plot of A Golden Fury, and the characters were good as well, but this is definitely more of a plot driven story and not a character driven tale.

Overall, I enjoyed A Golden Fury. I thought it was an inventive take on the Philosopher’s stone, and I really enjoyed the depiction of female alchemists set in the Victorian era. I think plot driven readers that like fantasy and magic will enjoy A Golden Fury.