Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

12 reviews

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 he

orchestrated 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 having

murdered 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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Vomit

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

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

amishemokid's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Murder, Blood, Gun violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Mental illness, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Bullying, and Addiction

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Blood, Drug abuse, and Drug use

abbyweber's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

2.0

I think this book would have been better if it weren’t written in 2nd person. The narrator came across as pretentious and annoying. Over all, it was boring, even though it started to get better around page 225… it was only a 300 page book. The pacing was slow and the story was all over the place. I get that was kind of the point, but it ended up being confusing. I didn’t really end up caring about any of the characters or who died. There were a few twists that were entertaining, but again, they would have been more successful if the writing was either 1st or 3rd POV. I enjoyed the little Easter Egg for The Silent Patient in the epilogue though.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

megd0279's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Child abuse, and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

chelseacrystal's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

0.25

This story was very aggravatingly told. The timeline is non-linear, which, when executed well, adds quite a bit to a story and gives the characters a lot more depth. That wasn’t how it worked in this book.

I spent a good portion of this book being extremely frustrated by the author unexpectedly catapulting me into the past right on the cusp of a big present day reveal. Wildly, wildly irritating stuff. 

When attempting to subvert expectations, the alternative HAS to be better than the expectation. That’s the only way the reader doesn’t leave disappointed. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. I absolutely hate how this story was written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

halyn's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

    It's a thriller based very loosely on Lana Taylor's murder. (Or that's my guess)
   There were many twists and turns, but I figured out some partway through. I knew it would some way tie back to the other books. As they all tie back to each other.
   

I would have liked to know what he meant by, if you read this I'm dead part. Maybe I just don't remember from the other books.

     None of the characters were particularly likable which did make it harder to enjoy. Though it was well written. It was very atmospheric. I also would have liked someone else's POV besides Elliot, since he was a highly unreliable narrator.

Narrator Rating: 4.5 stars
   The narrator did an excellent job. Though he was a bit easy to zone out to.

Extra ratings: Fluff-NA   Heartfelt-3/5   Helpful-NA    Horror-NA   Inspiration-NA   Love aka Romance-0.5/5  Mystery-3/5    Predictability-1.5/5  Spice-0/5   Suspense-3/5   Tear- 1.5/5  Thrill-3.5/5   Humor-0/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Death, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Infidelity, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Bullying, Drug use, and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder, Addiction, Cursing, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Vomit, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape