*I got this book form the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I really did enjoy this read. I really loved the time period of this read and all the talk about alchemy and it was fast pace novel at the start. I really liked all the different setting that was featured in this book. I thought the end of this book has some pacing issues and felt it was very rushed at points. I did really liked the side characters in this read. I also really liked how this book tackled some harder elements like addiction to magic. That is element of books that I really enjoyed. I also really liked Bee as a character and one character i simply adored. If you are looking for heavy romance plot, this may not be the read for you but i have hope for more romance in book 2. A very fun read and one that has several spooky setting perfectly for the fall. ( )

*I got this book form the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I really did enjoy this read. I really loved the time period of this read and all the talk about alchemy and it was fast pace novel at the start. I really liked all the different setting that was featured in this book. I thought the end of this book has some pacing issues and felt it was very rushed at points. I did really liked the side characters in this read. I also really liked how this book tackled some harder elements like addiction to magic. That is element of books that I really enjoyed. I also really liked Bee as a character and one character i simply adored. If you are looking for heavy romance plot, this may not be the read for you but i have hope for more romance in book 2. A very fun read and one that has several spooky setting perfectly for the fall. ( )

Thanks so much to Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for letting me read and review this intriguing, gripping, and creepy story. I knew this story was about alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone, but I didn't realize how much of a creepiness factor was going to be in it until I was reading about madness in the middle of the night and was a bit jumpy when I saw a shadow move.
This is a great read especially for this time of year and it was a very well done debut novel. I finished it only the other day and I haven't stopped thinking about it or the parts that made me a little freaked out. If you're like me and more sensitive to creepy and scary things, you might not want to read this late at night at least not without a light on.
This book is about a girl, Thea Hope, who wants to be an alchemist like her famous mother and wants to make a name for herself so she doesn't have to rely on the fame and notoriety of her mother. She and her mother are working together to create The Philosopher's Stone to attain immortality and wealth. They get so close to getting it when her mother destroys it in a fit of madness.
So, Thea goes to read through her mother's notes about creating The Stone and discovers there's a curse on The Stone that is said to cause anyone who tries to make it to go mad. Also at this time, there's a revolution about to happen and so Thea's mother sends her to live with the father she has never known and who doesn't know of her existence either.
Others want The Stone as well and don't believe Thea when she tries to warn them about how it can cause a person to lose their mind and go mad. When she goes to meet her father to introduce herself to live with him, he's an alchemist as well and she takes her mother's notes with her to try to do The Stone again herself. She ends up finding a boy who she had loved and lost a year earlier, he'd moved away to England from where he was with her and her mother in France and finds him very sick and decides that she wants to help those she loves to be healed by creating The Stone.
She ends up after trial and error, discovering that herself and others who try to do anything with creating The Stone will go mad that if she really does want to heal and help those she loves as well as making a name for herself than she has to make The Stone and sacrifice her sanity or let her loved ones die.
There is adventure, twists and turns, and a lot about mental illness and madness in connection to the Philosopher's Stone throughout this story that makes it more unnerving and creepy. It also is a story about family relationships, how they're messy, and figuring things out for yourself, who you are, and who you want to be in your life.
It's also about deciding how much and how far you're willing to go to achieve your dreams and what you're willing to sacrifice or give up to attain them. There's a lot packed into this and yet it's also a fun creepy take on alchemy, an alchemist's curse, and The Philosopher Stone.
For CW/TW - there's a lot about madness and mental illness, also some self-harm other than those things if they're something that might bother you, there isn't really any other major things I can recall after reading.
If you love reading historical fiction, creepy stories, stories about alchemy, curses, magic, love, and the like then make sure to go pick this one up and check it out now! ( )

Well the last 10% was very good.

I had hoped for more alchemy and action, and less relationship drama. I didn't feel invested in the relationships that did exist and of course *dramatic pause* there was a love triangle. Another novel where a supposedly strong female character's story is largely controlled by the men around her. I did like the writing and Thea herself, it just didn't engage me enough until the final section. I am happy others have enjoyed this novel. Just not for me. ( )

This was kn-knife... Nuff… Nice. Kudos to anyone who gets that reference.

After reading the blurb, I was ready to step into a world of magical realism and the author’s take on creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone (got’em LOTR vibes!)—whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold—from the female alchemist perspective. It failed to wow me and I was terribly bored, and the slow paced of the novel didn’t bring in any favors. Characters wise, I didn’t care much for Thea or her wishy washy relationship with her mother, Marguerite, and father, Vellacott. Dominic and Will were far more interesting and kept me intrigued enough to see the conclusion of this story.

All in all, there was potential and though it failed to meet my high expectations, I will most likely give this author another go. Fingers crossed the next one is a keeper!

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