Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

23 reviews

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 😭

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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

brep23's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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: Alcohol, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Stalking and Child abuse

Minor: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

cookie239's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

kelsharr's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

3.25

Interesting, unique narration, but ultimately not for me

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Child 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Murder

sawowza's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

A kaleidoscope of a mystery that has you guessing until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Abandonment, Drug use, and Alcohol

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

cassiealexandra's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

Michaelides always pulls me into his stories with slow psychological reveals, character studies, and more. The Fury was no exception. The narrator, Elliot Chase, has a strong and obviously unreliable voice from the opening pages and continues to become more intriguing throughout the novel. I really liked the structure of the book as a tragedy in five acts and appreciated that each act ended with another surprise. I found Act I to be very slow, but the story built more and more in consecutive sections. I enjoyed the gradual unfolding of Elliot’s past and his character told through the lens of one long ago weekend spent in Greece with his friends, one of whom is murdered. While I wasn’t completely surprised by the ending, my interest was held until the very last pages. I also found the small cameos from the author’s other books fun little easter eggs (Mariana from The Maidens is Elliot’s therapist and Theo from The Silent Patient is briefly mentioned as well. My slight struggles were in the pacing, the slow burn of it all, and in a couple of questions about how omniscient our narrator seems to be.

The bottom line: The Fury was another winner from Alex Michaelides. I liked it more than The Maidens, but it couldn’t top The Silent Patient for me.

— NOTES —
Genres:thriller
POV: first-person, singular
Content: murder, moderate language, infidelity, brief suicidal ideation

— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 5
My Gut Feeling: 4.5
Total Stars: 4.5 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

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