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emmalin's review against another edition
5.0
Really enjoyed this, however I found myself skim-reading the parts happening during lesson times. Some parts could’ve been better explained but I guess that adds to the mystery of it all. Brilliant book
kirjapinoni's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
mehsi's review against another edition
1.0
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
Welp, I was so looking forward to reading this one. I kept hoping my wish (as I wished for this one) would be granted. And it did! However… it took me 3 days to finally get through this and it wasn’t easy at all. I had to force myself to read a certain amount so I could get through it without it taking to long.
What went wrong? Well, the blurb and the cover looked awesome. Boarding school? Sign me up! Murder? Oh yes! Potential black magic and strange rituals? Ohhhh. What more could I want. Sadly, this story is what I wanted. The boarding school? Well, I wouldn’t call it that as everyone seemed to go home every day. It was more of an elite super school for kids who are smart. Murder? Well there is some murder, but eh.
What else went wrong? The characters mostly. Robin is just a freaking psychopath and should be locked up from the early pages of this book. She is unstable, her mind is unhealthy, she makes it seem like it is all someone’s problem, while she is always the cause of the disturbance or terrible events. She drags people down to hell with her. She only cares about herself it seems. At least what I could read from the book. She makes it seem like she cares all about someone, but then something happens and you see her true colours. She is a manipulative bitch. :{
Violet? Well, she started off pretty decent and I have to say I liked her at the start, smart, responsible, but as soon as she gets involved with the group of girls, and especially Robin, she changes to a weak, unstable, wtf is wrong with you girl. I was so frustrated with her constantly as she kept doing things that no one should ever do. And sure, peer pressure is a thing, but this went much further than that. She went to use drugs, drank all the time, was spineless and constantly cared only for the compliments of the girls (especially Robin) and would do anything and everything for them. Like with the Dean? She could have just ran away or say no or anything, but instead she did all those things. I just wanted to shake her. Later on things escalate further to the point that I was just cringing and wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Eventually I would call her almost as bad as Robin. Maybe less crazy though (just a bit), but still unhealthy.
I guess the whole accident that happened back when she was younger and that costed her not only her father but also her sister, and following that her mom who fell into addiction and neglect, also didn’t help with things. Maybe if she had a good family, parents who care about her, maybe she wouldn’t have fallen for the tricks of Robin, maybe she could have been stronger. All those ifs, and we will never find out.
As for the other two girls. Well, they were around and at times they had their says, we see that things aren’t good for Grace due to her abusive father, but other than that, these two just fell in the shadows/background quite fast. They were part of the group, but the focus of the book was clearly the very unhealthy relationship between Robin and Violet.
Annabel, I do wonder how much she knew. Did she know what her students were up to? I am guessing yes. This given various situations were with one glance she seemed to tell all, and with her speeches, her warnings, and then later on something else. If she truly knew, why didn’t she stop the girls? Why didn’t she cut them off from the early times?
I actually felt sorry for Nicky. She was a gossip, at times seemed to only care about that and spreading it, she also seemed like the most fun character. Quite a few times she talks to Violet, tries to be there for her and invited her to parties and such.
The story borders on boring to wtf am I reading, and I really had to push and push myself to keep reading. The speeches by the teachers, while I did like that they fitted the theme of what was going on at the moment, were also terribly dull.
The whole Dean thing and how that ended…. just o.0
I have to be honest and say that I still have no idea who killedReally, with all that happened in this book and how my mind just seemed to tune out at times, now that I think back, I just don’t know. Probably really terrible of me, but sorry this story just sucked the joy out of me.
The ending made everything even worse. The things that happened in there, the girl on the swing, the thing with Grace and Alex, and then there is Violet’s decision. What the actual hell? Why would you do that? After all that happened…
I could probably give a ton of more reasons why this book wasn’t for me, but frankly I want to forget about this book and just go to my next (hopefully) better read. I am sure there is an audience for this book, but it isn’t me.
Also BIG BIG Warning for the rape scene. Yes, there is one, and yes I would count it as that given the character’s reactions and her clearly being against what was happening. Later on it also has consequences for her mental health, she is just not stable. It is not going well. She keeps getting flashbacks. :\
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Welp, I was so looking forward to reading this one. I kept hoping my wish (as I wished for this one) would be granted. And it did! However… it took me 3 days to finally get through this and it wasn’t easy at all. I had to force myself to read a certain amount so I could get through it without it taking to long.
What went wrong? Well, the blurb and the cover looked awesome. Boarding school? Sign me up! Murder? Oh yes! Potential black magic and strange rituals? Ohhhh. What more could I want. Sadly, this story is what I wanted. The boarding school? Well, I wouldn’t call it that as everyone seemed to go home every day. It was more of an elite super school for kids who are smart. Murder? Well there is some murder, but eh.
What else went wrong? The characters mostly. Robin is just a freaking psychopath and should be locked up from the early pages of this book. She is unstable, her mind is unhealthy, she makes it seem like it is all someone’s problem, while she is always the cause of the disturbance or terrible events. She drags people down to hell with her. She only cares about herself it seems. At least what I could read from the book. She makes it seem like she cares all about someone, but then something happens and you see her true colours. She is a manipulative bitch. :{
Violet? Well, she started off pretty decent and I have to say I liked her at the start, smart, responsible, but as soon as she gets involved with the group of girls, and especially Robin, she changes to a weak, unstable, wtf is wrong with you girl. I was so frustrated with her constantly as she kept doing things that no one should ever do. And sure, peer pressure is a thing, but this went much further than that. She went to use drugs, drank all the time, was spineless and constantly cared only for the compliments of the girls (especially Robin) and would do anything and everything for them. Like with the Dean? She could have just ran away or say no or anything, but instead she did all those things. I just wanted to shake her. Later on things escalate further to the point that I was just cringing and wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Eventually I would call her almost as bad as Robin. Maybe less crazy though (just a bit), but still unhealthy.
I guess the whole accident that happened back when she was younger and that costed her not only her father but also her sister, and following that her mom who fell into addiction and neglect, also didn’t help with things. Maybe if she had a good family, parents who care about her, maybe she wouldn’t have fallen for the tricks of Robin, maybe she could have been stronger. All those ifs, and we will never find out.
As for the other two girls. Well, they were around and at times they had their says, we see that things aren’t good for Grace due to her abusive father, but other than that, these two just fell in the shadows/background quite fast. They were part of the group, but the focus of the book was clearly the very unhealthy relationship between Robin and Violet.
Annabel, I do wonder how much she knew. Did she know what her students were up to? I am guessing yes. This given various situations were with one glance she seemed to tell all, and with her speeches, her warnings, and then later on something else. If she truly knew, why didn’t she stop the girls? Why didn’t she cut them off from the early times?
I actually felt sorry for Nicky. She was a gossip, at times seemed to only care about that and spreading it, she also seemed like the most fun character. Quite a few times she talks to Violet, tries to be there for her and invited her to parties and such.
The story borders on boring to wtf am I reading, and I really had to push and push myself to keep reading. The speeches by the teachers, while I did like that they fitted the theme of what was going on at the moment, were also terribly dull.
The whole Dean thing and how that ended…. just o.0
I have to be honest and say that I still have no idea who killed
Spoiler
Emily.The ending made everything even worse. The things that happened in there, the girl on the swing, the thing with Grace and Alex, and then there is Violet’s decision. What the actual hell? Why would you do that? After all that happened…
I could probably give a ton of more reasons why this book wasn’t for me, but frankly I want to forget about this book and just go to my next (hopefully) better read. I am sure there is an audience for this book, but it isn’t me.
Also BIG BIG Warning for the rape scene. Yes, there is one, and yes I would count it as that given the character’s reactions and her clearly being against what was happening. Later on it also has consequences for her mental health, she is just not stable. It is not going well. She keeps getting flashbacks. :\
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
24miriii's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
tamilynn1313's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
mikilukee's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
cunninghammegan44's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
perjacxis's review against another edition
4.0
"Even in this fragment, however, it seems that women are doomed to two fates. It is our lot to be seen as either unpredictable and irrational mortals, maligned and repressed by the actions of men, or sacred beings, goddesses of a higher realm, among the Fates and Furies."
The Furies ticks so many boxes for me (coming-of-age story, witches, female anger, ...) and was one of my most anticipated releases this year. I loved all the themes Lowe uses, the research she has done and you can feel how passionate she is about these topics. I loved looking up all the paintings that were mentioned in the novel. The only thing that made this between a 3.5 and 4 stars novel for me were the characters. I never really connected with them and they could feel a bit flat, unfortunately. But I adored so many elements of the story and will definitely read whatever Lowe writes next.
thistlel's review against another edition
3.0
I like that it's dark academia, a subgenere I stumbled into and loved, but a lot of the action becomea muddled by the author's literary experience and opinion. When I read the About the Author, it clicked why so much text was given to Annabel.
I did like it the novel overall. I just wasn't awed by it. Violet faces a lot of trials relating to the adolescent experience; however, what never happens is the reader never gains a definitive answer about Emily Frost. I couldn't decide if I missed something and magical realism was at play or not. Perhaps the ambiguousness of it all was intended to add more mysticism that would fit into the theme of Furies, female fury, and magic.
Overall, a good read for anyone a fan of The Secret History by Donna Tart and The Craft (1996).
I did like it the novel overall. I just wasn't awed by it. Violet faces a lot of trials relating to the adolescent experience; however, what never happens is the reader never gains a definitive answer about Emily Frost. I couldn't decide if I missed something and magical realism was at play or not. Perhaps the ambiguousness of it all was intended to add more mysticism that would fit into the theme of Furies, female fury, and magic.
Overall, a good read for anyone a fan of The Secret History by Donna Tart and The Craft (1996).