A review by nellvin
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Fates and Furies is a beautifully-spun epic, drawing inspiration from Shakespeare, Greek tragedy, and ancient mythology. The luscious descriptions are a delight to the senses, with a strong caveat that the descriptions of people's bodies (specifically fat bodies) were so distracting and upsetting to the point that I might otherwise be giving this book a higher rating. Groff's details and rich characters are so undermined by her apparent obsession with body weight and her tired associations. In an otherwise complex, vibrant world we are still limited by the outdated symbolism that skininess represents goodness and purity and fatness represents immorality and gluttony. I can handle edgy, I can handle politically-incorrect to certain degrees, but the constant reminder of this binary became more than a minor, ignorable annoyance. Still, the writing was otherwise beautiful, unique, challenging, and I was sucked into the world of these characters, their love, their struggles. I've seen a few reviews that her other books do not have this issue, so maybe I'll give her another chance.