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chloecam's review against another edition
dark
slow-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
1.0
put me into a reading slump - unfortunately not for me and i thought i would love it as i'm in the acting industry so know a lot of the references, but o mg did it drag and sometimes i can deal with an unreliable narrator but holy moly this was next level. I did not care about any of the characters and the final twists had me rolling my eyes i was actually so frustrated at the whole big
so sorry to the author lol 😭
so sorry to the author lol 😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
maziemouse's review
3.0
I think this was the first draft of Glass Onion.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, and Murder
astoriareader's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
SYNOPSIS
- A group of people are on a private island in Greece, and someone is murdered. Who was killed? Why were they killed? Who murdered them?
MY THOUGHTS
- This is my least favorite so far of the three books by this author.
- I really hated the narration style, where often times, the narrator is addressing the readers directly.
- The flow & pacing was uneven.
- Lots of unlikable characters.
- Atmospheric setting.
- Felt like a soap opera.
- Ending was mehhh.
TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️atmospheric read, but overall, just meh. Odd narration style.
Thanks to Celadon Books and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is out now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Blood, and Bullying
nicoleanthony's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Gun violence
emma_sky's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity, Gaslighting, Stalking, Violence, and Alcoholism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Gun violence
elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Infidelity, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
lecheshakey's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Murder
lanternheart's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A gripping, exhilarating, and at turns deeply suspenseful story that was difficult to put down whenever I began a session of reading it. This is my first time reading Michaelides, after being recommended another of his books, The Silent Patient. Having now read The Fury, specifically the last ninety-odd pages in a dizzying haze of twists, accusations, revenge, and sickening realization, I can confidently say that I look forward to reading Michaelides' previous works, as well as whatever he writes next.
The conceit of this book very much, at turns, reminded me of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, with the first-person retrospective of a narrator telling us their increasingly twisted, increasingly murderous, tale. Like Tartt's Richard Papen, Elliott Chase is a manufactured man of sorts, a desperate outsider to a world of privilege (here, Hollywood and the London theater scene, in TSH an elite group of students) and insularity that the desperate, painfully lonely child within the narrator seeks to become a part of at any cost.
Where the books diverge is the sheer number of twists, and the sheer Machiavellian ways that Elliott Chase, as The Fury continues, twists from semi-sympathetic narrator, gathering the reader to a story, to villain as the realization hits that heorchestrated faking his best friend and near-lover Lana's murder to be with her . That Elliott does not succeed, but is instead foiled by Lana's having found out his plan, found it disturbing, and decided to betray him from the outset in her own form of justice, her own betrayal, and chooses to take back her life from every man who's ever orchestrated it, is a brilliant climax.
As much as Elliott tells us he loves Lana, it's clear that his own attitude, his own belief that the others in his life he can orchestrate to make them love him, because he believes it will end in love, is folly of the utmost, a quest for self-fulfillment in a way that made me, as a reader, question everyone he says he loves. Of course, some of his affections felt genuine, but how much was this always about Lana herself? How much, in the end, as he describes himself havingmurdered her out of potent rage, out of fury, yet still seeing her in his mind as the woman on the big movie screen while he sits, glowing, in front of it as a child, was it always about having fallen in love with the image he wanted of a woman who loved him?
Elliott's near-fatal mistake is believing that he, like the novel itself, like the structure of it, holds all the power: that the people in his life are characters whom he can control. When he tries, in his own narration, to want to "interrupt them—to say, No, no, you're not meant to be saying that and This shouldn't be happening. But it was happening," he all too late realizes the sheer unpredictability of others, and in turn the sheer unpredictability of himself, embodied by the furious island winds into murdering the woman he thought he'd loved in cold, furious blood.
Needless to say, this was a gripping, disturbing, and deeply fascinating read that will doubtlessly offer a fruitful future reread which, despite my discomfort with Elliott as a narrator (the further you go, the less likeable he is), will likely propel me to return again, knowing all the twists, to see the eventual tragic ending. Like a good play, I have a feeling you could read this book more than once, see it more than once, and pick up something new each time.
The conceit of this book very much, at turns, reminded me of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, with the first-person retrospective of a narrator telling us their increasingly twisted, increasingly murderous, tale. Like Tartt's Richard Papen, Elliott Chase is a manufactured man of sorts, a desperate outsider to a world of privilege (here, Hollywood and the London theater scene, in TSH an elite group of students) and insularity that the desperate, painfully lonely child within the narrator seeks to become a part of at any cost.
Where the books diverge is the sheer number of twists, and the sheer Machiavellian ways that Elliott Chase, as The Fury continues, twists from semi-sympathetic narrator, gathering the reader to a story, to villain as the realization hits that he
As much as Elliott tells us he loves Lana, it's clear that his own attitude, his own belief that the others in his life he can orchestrate to make them love him, because he believes it will end in love, is folly of the utmost, a quest for self-fulfillment in a way that made me, as a reader, question everyone he says he loves. Of course, some of his affections felt genuine, but how much was this always about Lana herself? How much, in the end, as he describes himself having
Elliott's near-fatal mistake is believing that he, like the novel itself, like the structure of it, holds all the power: that the people in his life are characters whom he can control. When he tries, in his own narration, to want to "interrupt them—to say, No, no, you're not meant to be saying that and This shouldn't be happening. But it was happening," he all too late realizes the sheer unpredictability of others, and in turn the sheer unpredictability of himself, embodied by the furious island winds into murdering the woman he thought he'd loved in cold, furious blood.
Needless to say, this was a gripping, disturbing, and deeply fascinating read that will doubtlessly offer a fruitful future reread which, despite my discomfort with Elliott as a narrator (the further you go, the less likeable he is), will likely propel me to return again, knowing all the twists, to see the eventual tragic ending. Like a good play, I have a feeling you could read this book more than once, see it more than once, and pick up something new each time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Vomit
corkspork's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-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
2.0
The blurb about this book reminded me of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and consequently I think I was comparing this book to that movie the whole time, and found the book wanting (and also disagreeing with David Baldacci's assertion that The Fury is "highly original"). I got tired of the way the narrator kept alluding to the terrible events yet to come rather than just telling us what they were, and I was underwhelmed by all of it. Ultimately I think the book was fine and I didn't resent my book club for chosing it (though I did lower my rating from 2.5 to 2.0 as I wrote this review).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Sexual violence and Child abuse
author2223's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Murder, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Infidelity
Moderate: Drug use, Stalking, and Blood