Review by timlucier - The Fury

timlucier 's review for:

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

2.75

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I have to give the Fury a few marks:

EXCELLENT cover art. Really drew me in.
I really appreciated Michaelides' humorous writing style and his prose- particularly at the beginning when speaking of the wind on the Greek isles.
Certainly an interesting twist on an Agatha Christie-like tale... Reminiscent of the Glass Onion in a few ways. As a theatre person I appreciate that actors and writers dominated the story and spoke of their situations like a play.. Originally, I loved that Elliott "imagined" the other's scenes, truly my first time seeing an unreliable omniscient narrator.

Now then: I have to say for a book that I was sucked into from the first page, I really felt let down by the end. I enjoyed none of the characters, (especially not the protagonist, but maybe that was the point.) I found the story heavy on the British characters and storyline from home and light on the Greek influence, which I expected more of from the cover art, description, and author's name.

Halfway through the book, I was ready for it to end. Certainly, there are some fun twists but altogether I just found them a bit depressing to read rather than witty. I was glad it was relatively short. All in all, a good set up but I can't help but feel it was not for me by the end- definite nosedive.

I listened to the audiobook and found Alex Jennings to be a good reader - though I will contradict other reviewers and say I did not find his "Greek accented" characters to sound particularly Greek. Not a big deal, but saw other reviewers praise it and.... Have to disagree.

Content Warnings