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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
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
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child abuse
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
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Abandonment, Drug use, and Alcohol
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
nrogers_1030's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
amanda_reads89's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Infidelity, Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse