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Ashley Nova
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The Potent Solution Kindle Edition

by Ashley Nova (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.8 out of 5 stars 28 ratings
The Potent Solution received the following accolades in The Transfeminine Review Reader's Choice Awards 2024:
  • Distinction for Best Transfeminine Fiction TFR Readers Choice Award
  • Shortlisted for Best Transfeminine Debut TFR Readers Choice Award
  • Distinction for Outstanding Historical Fiction TFR Readers Choice Award
  • Distinction for Outstanding Thriller/Suspense/Mystery TFR Readers Choice Award

An alchemical gaslamp fantasy full of wisdom, wit, more than a dash of magic, and a joyous F/F romance.

Charlotte Price is a mess; perpetually tardy, chronically unfocused, and indecisive to a fault.

She'd hoped that apprenticing for London's only master alchemist and private detective would help solve her problems, but her first investigation will test her limits in ways she never imagined. On the trail of a dangerous magical drug, Charlotte's mentor vanishes without a trace, Lost, overwhelmed, and inexperienced, she must use everything she's learned, and improvise the things she hasn't, as she takes on magically empowered assassins, gate-crashes a society ball, and uncovers a conspiracy that goes right to the heart of government.

Yet Charlotte's biggest challenge is her own errant attention span, which threatens to stop the investigation in its tracks. To find her mentor and prevent disaster, she must overcome her fear of failure, trust her instincts, and learn that she has everything she needs to thrive.
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  1. Print length
    355 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    October 16, 2024
  4. File size
    5.6 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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From the Publisher

Review for The Potent Solution

Review for The Potent Solution

Review for The Potent Solution

Award winning trans fiction

The Transfeminine Review Reader's Choice Awards 2024

  • Distinction for Best Transfeminine Fiction TFR Readers Choice Award
  • Shortlisted for Best Transfeminine Debut TFR Readers Choice Award
  • Distinction for Outstanding Historical Fiction TFR Readers Choice Award
  • Distinction for Outstanding Thriller/Suspense/Mystery TFR Readers Choice Award

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DDRCXHZ4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Spectrum Books
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 16, 2024
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5.6 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 355 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

About the author

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Ashley Nova

Ashley Nova

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
28 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers enjoy this book's plot, with one describing it as an action-driven mystery. The character development receives positive feedback, with one review noting how the high-intensity action is balanced by character exploration. Customers find the book fun to read.

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5 customers mention "Plot"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the plot of the book, with one customer describing it as an action-driven mystery, while another notes its historical fantasy elements and well-developed romance with Elly.

"...It absolutely exceeded any expectations I could have had. Wonderful plot and characters! Very highly recommended!" Read more

"...I love that kind historical fantasy. I also love a bisexual world and a trans-affirming world...." Read more

"...The romance with Elly is well fleshed out, and the one with Jennifer is mainly indicated, which is apt for the scope of the novel...." Read more

"...in the book, it has fascinating magic, compelling adventure, amazing sapphic romance, and sleuthing right out of Sherlock Holmes, but all that isn't..." Read more

3 customers mention "Character development"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, with one noting how the high-intensity action is balanced by moments of character exploration.

"...Wonderful plot and characters! Very highly recommended!" Read more

"...The pacing is good - the high-intensity action is balanced out by pauses to explore the characters a bit more without ever losing the urgency of the..." Read more

"...Jennifer, in particular, is an enchanting character with an intriguing history I'm desperate to hear more of...." Read more

3 customers mention "Development"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the development of the book, with one describing it as fantastic.

"This book was fantastic. It absolutely exceeded any expectations I could have had. Wonderful plot and characters! Very highly recommended!" Read more

"...The alchemical system is grounded in chemistry and is well developed...." Read more

"...She's absolutely brilliant and talented but is constantly floundering in the sea of her own mind in a way that's hauntingly familiar as someone with..." Read more

3 customers mention "Enjoyment"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fun to read.

"...all the chaos and danger, those parts were restful and made the book all the more enjoyable...." Read more

"...Fun read, and looking forward to more from this author. …..." Read more

"a great read!..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Cassandra L. Miller
    5.0 out of 5 stars a great read!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    This book was fantastic. It absolutely exceeded any expectations I could have had. Wonderful plot and characters! Very highly recommended!
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  • Meredith
    5.0 out of 5 stars couldn't put it down
    Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    A really fun mystery/adventure with lots of action and excitement. The pacing is good - the high-intensity action is balanced out by pauses to explore the characters a bit more without ever losing the urgency of the plot. The worldbuilding does a good job of blending magic into the details of history. Some things in this world are the same as our, some are very different, and you never know where those shifts will happen. I love that kind historical fantasy. I also love a bisexual world and a trans-affirming world. In the midst of all the chaos and danger, those parts were restful and made the book all the more enjoyable.

    The story has something of a Holmes-and-Watson vibe, but told from the "Holmes" perspective. It does a great job of taking a character who's usually very unapproachable and mysterious and turning them into a fully realized person, flailing around, trying to make sense of their own mind.
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  • Fred Kaffenberger
    5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery and romance in a magical, gaslit London
    Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I enjoyed this action driven mystery set in a Georgian alternate London which has magic and magical alchemy. The alchemical system is grounded in chemistry and is well developed. The protagonist, Charlotte Price, is clever but fallible and up against serious threats, making for a suspenseful read. The romance with Elly is well fleshed out, and the one with Jennifer is mainly indicated, which is apt for the scope of the novel. The central mystery involving mages was thought-provoking in how it explored class divisions among people subject to societal scapegoating. Fun read, and looking forward to more from this author.
    …
    Looking at another review, I remember how happy I felt to discover the that the main character has ADHD! Loved how that was handled in this alternate history.
    One person found this helpful
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  • MsPeach
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fighting Your Mind
    Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    There's a lot to love in the book, it has fascinating magic, compelling adventure, amazing sapphic romance, and sleuthing right out of Sherlock Holmes, but all that isn't what really shook me.

    The protagonist, Charlotte, struggles throughout both the story and the backstory to fight through her own tics. She's absolutely brilliant and talented but is constantly floundering in the sea of her own mind in a way that's hauntingly familiar as someone with ADHD.

    Her mental issues aren't treated as some character flaw that needs to be fixed, nor are they shown as something easy you can just ignore if you focus hard enough. It's a double edged sword that can cut you deeply, but can also be your biggest strength.

    If you've struggled with mental health, I can promise this will resonate with you. If you know someone who has struggled, I can't think of a better portrayal of how that struggle feels in anything I've read. Either way, I cannot recommend The Potent Solution enough.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Marceline
    5.0 out of 5 stars It sinks its teeth into you and doesn't let go.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    The ease with which I relate to a perpetually tardy character (Charlotte) aside, the hook of a mysterious death and an emergent threat that the tag team of Jennifer and Charlotte are swift to identify had me begging for more. Jennifer, in particular, is an enchanting character with an intriguing history I'm desperate to hear more of. If that wasn't enough, the budding romance in Chapter 4 has a stranglehold on my heart that isn't loosening any time soon.
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  • Michael Vandervort
    5.0 out of 5 stars great steampunk urban fantasy
    Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    really enjoyed this effort- great plot, pace and characterization. check out the story for some great lgbtq content. well done
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  • Ann Davis (not that one)
    5.0 out of 5 stars “The thing about hate is it’s always hungry.”
    Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2025
    Well, this was a hoot and a half. I absolutely loved everything about it from the swashbuckling adventure to the alt London steampunk vibe to the fantastic minority rep and political commenting on how our society treats “others”. Wonderful, much fun, would be thrilled if it were the start of a series, and/or if we got a movie.

    I received a complimentary copy of this book; all opinions my own.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Eva
    5.0 out of 5 stars A relatable and intriguing adventure with heartfelt moments
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    From the first sentence, the main character (Charlotte) is sympathetic and relatable (especially to anyone with ADHD) - and her development throughout the book is satisfying whilst maintaining a believable pace given the time the story covers.

    The setting is an alternate version of 1800s London (the key differences being magical) which I found helped ground the fantasy elements without requiring pages of exposition as other stories are often want to do. Without getting into spoilers, the magic system is explained well and is balanced so as not to be used to handwave past plot obstacles. There are also a few oblique and not-so-oblique references to real life medications that I found funny.

    The central plot has interesting twists but none of it feels out of nowhere and looking back it makes perfect sense. Characters frequently deduce things using available information and it doesn't suffer the same issue that other modern mystery media does of making characters seem smart by putting down the audience - I think Charlotte's point of view really helps sell this.

    Overall a delightful read which concludes its plot, but intrigues enough in its character and world design that any other works in this setting would be a must-read for me.
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  • Barnesm
    5.0 out of 5 stars What I hope is the first in many adventures of a wonderful protagonist Charlotte Price
    Reviewed in Australia on November 1, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I revelled in Dr Ashley Nova's first, of what I can only hope are many more, novels. In an alternative Georgian (on the cusp of Victorian if the history of the monarchy follows our timeline) England where magic and alchemy are as real as steam power, which is appropriate as this gives us a best of steampunk genre's traits, we discover the protagonist Charlotte Price. Apprenticed to master alchemist and private detective who disappearance on a case throws Charlotte onto her own resources to find her, deal with the return to her life of a dear friend who she cannot deny her feelings for, nor deny the attraction of an insufferable sorcerer whilst uncovering a conspiracy in the aristocracy that that would condemn an already marginalized group to further suffering and servitude.

    I'm not a scholar of the 19 century England but the story feels believable and grounded for that world to me, I am not neurodivergent but the anxiety and difficulties suffered by Charlotte seem to speak of someone who understands these conditions (obviously in Georgian/Victorian times they weren't called ADHD) and felt real to me, I've never experience a Polycule but the description where our heroes wake up after all falling asleep in the bed after they have saved the day sounds like how I wish a Polycule would work.

    But as someone who worked as a research chemist Dr Nova's description of how Charlotte works through the combination of agents, reagents, systems and preparation that felt very true. This gives me hope that those other elements (pun intended) she writes about she has invested attention to reflect them accurately.

    I hope there are more of these stories.
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  • Lindsay Robert Stewart
    5.0 out of 5 stars Review
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2025
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    Excellent book, hopefully a sequel to follow
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  • Victoria Bell
    5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This a fantastic fantasy adventure in a world of magic. It's light and sweet and funny and exciting and accessible to all, LGBT, neurodiverse, subtle and mindful and very well written. With (almost) dragons and gunfights, a Blackadder reference and a lovely, positive romantic streak. I love Charlock and her organised chaos. A beautiful book and a really good read.
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  • Joanna Eberhardt
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and gripping story with likeable and empathetic protagonist
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I bought this for a holiday read and it did not disappoint. The protagonist and narrator is immediately likeable and the plot is very entertaining. I was sad to have finished but also satisfied with the ending from the point of view of the central characters.
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