Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

46 reviews

kshertz's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought this was quite the thriller. You realize it’s an unreliable narrator and you’re not hearing the truth so the whole time you’re trying to figure out what actually happened. It was excellent and kept me glued to the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The book you think you're going to get going in is absolutely not the book delivered, but it's a wild ride. Nothing you can't see coming, but if you love dark themes with terrible people who are wildly unpredictable narrators, then this might be the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Gun violence and Sexual violence

kelly_e's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Title: The Fury
Author: Alex Michaelides
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: January 16, 2024

T H R E E • W O R D S

Atmospheric • Clever • Dynamic

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.

I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time ― it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press sensation: a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind…and a murder.

We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse ― a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.

But who am I?

My name is Elliot Chase, and I’m going to tell you a story unlike any you’ve ever heard.

💭 T H O U G H T S

The Fury is my second book from author Alex Michaelides (skipped The Maidens due to Greek Mythology focus) and I knew to expect something clever and different than your run-of-the-mill thriller. And that is exactly what this is.

The story itself is fairly forgettable, with typical tropes and elements often used in other locked room mysteries. But what makes this book stand out are the narrator, Elliot Chase, and the brilliant structure. Told in the form of a play, with quick, short chapters, it was like sitting down and being told a juicy story as Elliot was speaking directly to the reader. On the surface it's a story of deception and revenge, but when digging a little deeper it's a love story.


Reminiscent of a Greek tragedy, Alex Michaelides has skillfully delivered one of the most unreliable narrators I have yet to come across in my reading life. The story isn't the strength of this book rather its the telling. I still prefer The Silent Patient, yet the author definitely has a gift in writing clever books. I am intrigued to see what he will do next.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• unreliable narrators
• murder mysteries

⚠️ CW: murder, gun violence, death, alcohol, drug use, infidelity, bullying, toxic friendship, toxic relationship, blood, stalking, gaslighting, mental illness, alcoholism, child abuse, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts, cursing

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"In case I am speaking to a young person now, let me give you something to hold on to: do not despair at being different. For that very difference, initially such a source of shame, so humiliating, and painful, will one day become a badge of honor and pride."

"We are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, Blood, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Stalking

Minor: Cursing and Suicidal thoughts

mosreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Emotional abuse

turrean's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Enjoyably twisty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder

The novel was (intentionally, I’m sure) like reading the summary of a Greek tragedy, full of melodrama and unavoidable violence. “And then the deceived wife plotted to kill the unfaithful spouse, which pissed off the goddess of the rain, who stole a spear from the god of cinema to strike her down.

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Body horror, Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

bessadams's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Infidelity, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Bullying, Mental illness, Drug use, and Adult/minor relationship

kelsylee's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I would dnf but I was reading this for a reading challenge.

This book kept me up all night, not because it was good, but because I couldn’t stop thinking about how stupid it was.

The narrator was awful, it took me so much longer to finish this than it should have because I just didn’t want to read the parts where he was talking. I had the ending figured out a few chapters in and the big reveal just wasn’t rewarding.

The entire book could be summed up in one sentence:

NiceGuy(tm) can’t take no for an answer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, and Child abuse

missgrangerr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Felt there is a lot of things we’re mentioned in passing throughout the book which were never called back to or elaborated on that would have made for a better story.  Ending felt rushed, unimaginative, and lackluster.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Blood, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Violence, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death

joliadareads's review against another edition

4.5

This book was so good! It was well written and kept you guessing. There was a lot of back and forth but it flowed nicely. I enjoyed most of the characters. If you loved his other books then you'll love this one too.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence