Teenage angst, jealousy, and rage at an all-girls boarding school leads to murder and mystery. The Furies by Katie Lowe follows the new friendships of Violet who has experienced more than her share of tragedy. Her new friends are a mysterious group who don't seem to be totally open or honest with Violet, but she is desperate to fit in and make friends.

Murder, mystery, a secret group that dabbles in the occult and learns about witchcraft and a young girl just looking to fit in. If this doesn’t scream The Craft, I don’t know what does!

I am a sucker for anything that has witches in it and the likeness to one of my favourite witchcraft movies is what drew me to this book. Even the cover screams “coven”. I just had to get my hands on a copy. I grabbed my book and a warm blanket, prepared to spend an entire evening completely immersed in a captivating mystery....annnnd....I took about 4 months to finish it...in small doses. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

Now, how does a book that has such promise and so much content that speaks directly to my interest end up being a flop? Honestly, it all comes down to connection – there was none. At the beginning, I felt that Violet was a bit of a naïve character and she annoyed me a little, but I chalked that up to “new school jitters’ and figured that I would connect with her in some way later on in the story. It didn’t happen. The obsession she seemed to have with Robin really got on my nerves as well. As soon as Robin came into the picture, I had an immediate dislike for her and the way Violet puppy-dogged after her just made me cringe. For a smart girl, Violet came of as incredibly dumb and that took a lot of my interest out of the story. I just didn’t care and if you don’t care about the characters, it’s hard to pay attention to the plot.

What I did find interesting was the “study group”. Learning about the school history, connections to the witch trials, executions and all the myths and legends gave me something to look forward to on the times I picked up the book to try reading again. I ended up wishing there would have been more in the way of the group sessions than the occult practices and drama that took up the bulk of this book.

Though I didn’t care for The Furies (and no one is more surprised than me!) I still found it quite well written. Katie Lowe definitely has a way with words and I will be making a point to keep my eyes open for more releases from her. The Furies might not have been the book for me, but I see a lot of promise and Lowe is an author that I will want to read more from in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest opinion

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.
This book was not what i was expecting and I had a little trouble sticking with it.
A girl is found dead in a swing in 1998 and a few people know what happened and are speaking about it.

A new girl (Violet) starts at school and she looks a lot like the girl who was found dead and she is adopted into the dead girl's clique. This clique also has a special history of the school that is part witchcraft and the occult. Violet the new girl is a bit awkward and is a follower, and deals with the other girls moodiness and erratic behavior. Violet is also at loose ends at home as her father and sister die in a car accident that Violet survives and her mother is drinking to get through each day and doesn't seem to be to aware of Violet's presence.

I think this book isn't for everyone but its definitely not predictable!

I wanted to like this book a lot - it seemed sort of like the movie "The Craft" mixed with boarding school, which is a great premise. But the story dragged on for what seemed like ages and not much happened for long periods of time.

Violet, the new girl at school, is looking for a fresh start. A group of girls takes her under their wing, and it turns out that one member of their group recently died under strange circumstances. Violet feels like her new friends are constantly comparing her to the dead girl and their interest in the occult is kind of strange, though there are rumors about witches and a long history of occult happenings at Elm Hollow Academy.

Violet soon joins some of her friends in a special secret class led by the mysterious teacher Annabel. When their interest in the occult turns into action, Violet worries about what she's gotten herself into with this clique.

The characters were a little flat for me, though I did like the atmosphere of the old school with a haunted past. The story started pretty realistically but turned outlandish and unbelievable. I'll stick with "The Craft."

The Furies by Katie Lowe is a book that has a tone similar to Mean Girls + The Craft + Heathers + Practical Magic...but despite those references and possible influences, it fell short with me.

I think it was WAY too long and full of (unnecessary) art and renaissance references but when you really boil down the story, you have a novel full of unlikeable and entitled characters, for whom you don't feel sympathy or really anything at all...and why is Robin so perfect? Why do the girls let her call all of the shots? From my vantage point she is a calculating and manipulative girl who is self destructive right down to the end.

And the girl whose parents are abusing her...that's not worth of more plot development?

And so many events go unchecked...drinking and drugs and staying out all night and no parents are to be found?
It's not a boarding school but it reads as if it were?

I did not love the book and yes, I realize I have an unpopular opinion!

I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the PERFECT FALL READ. If you are big fans of The Craft, then you will absolutely love The Furies. This book is full of magic and mayhem. There is a darkness in this story that turns into a deep disturbing tale of deceit and obsession.

There is so much revenge and regret in this story. It is very very very character driven. It is not a plot heavy book. While I do not think this is a new type of story line, it is definitely a great read.

Even though I say it was a great read, it was very disturbing too. I really wasn’t expecting this book to be as dark as it was. There were parts that truly made me uncomfortable. The pacing was just right and super creepy. I loved every minute.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for letting me review this title.

I am breaking up with you. It's not you, it's me.

I had you for 3 weeks and only got thru 50%. It's not you, it's me.
I just cannot take dark and depressing. Depressingly dark. It's not you, it's me.
I need contrast of characters, irony, and a light at the end of the tunnel. It's not you, it's me.

Maybe I will come back but just remember it's not you, it's me.

A Special Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I had big hopes for this novel but I couldn't get into the story and I couldn't become invested in the characters. I found it dragged too much and the story wasn't gripping. I didn't care what happened so I stopped reading about 30% in.

I hate having a DNF but that's how it is sometimes

This book sounded just straight up my alley. The plot was intriguing but unfortunately, I felt like the execution was lacking. For the most part, this book bored me. There was rarely a moment in which it excited me. Picking it up mostly felt like a chore. I wouldn't say that the book is bad, because it isn't, but it's also not great either. It's just...okay. Average. The ideas were there and it could've been an amazing story.
I also couldn't understand the characters at all or form any kind of connection to them. The emotions were lacking. I didn't care for any of them in any way. I felt indifferent about them. I think if I had been able to connect to the characters, I would've enjoyed the book a lot more. Furthermore, I'm also conflicted about the main character. Her actions didn't really make sense to me and I couldn't understand why she acted the way she did.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Mean girls dabble in magic. Overall it was an enjoyable read if not at times a bit disturbing.

I grabbed this off Netgalley when I was home sick and read it quickly. This is an odd book; it felt like a melding of The Secret History and the movie The Craft (looking at online reviews, I’m apparently far from the first person to make this connection, especially in regards to The Secret History). The protagonist is Violet, a 16-year-old who lives in a crumbling seaside town in England. Her father and 8-year-old sister are killed in a car accident, and a settlement from the tragedy provides Violet with an unexpected opportunity – to attend Elm Hollow Academy, the local private girls’ college. Violet makes friends with the charismatic Robin, and her friends Alex and Grace, and is drawn into their circle with Annabel, an art teacher who does witchy stuff on the side. It may have been my not feeling well and/or reading it quickly, but the plot felt muddy and unfocused. A character who has wronged Violet dies in a car accident after the girls do a spell aimed at him, and I thought that would be kind of a big deal, but I don’t recall it being mentioned again. The writing was decent enough, but the messiness of the plot and the lack of character development means this was just a C for me.

I think I knew from the first chapter, this book was just not for me. I didn't care for the narrator. She wasn't terribly likable, which is not necessarily something I need, but I didn't enjoy reading her POV. She was thoroughly unpleasant. I also think the writing style was.....bogged down with information that just seemed to distract me, bore me or make me roll my eyes. I wish I'd liked this more but it just wasn't for me.

I really wanted to like this book. I read it during Halloween season and it sounded promising-teenage girls invoke/become the Furies to enact revenge on men who have done them wrong. The main character Violet seemed too dumb to be following along with the group of girls that she fell into but I understand that the need for acceptance as a teen can be all-consuming. I ended up not caring about the protagonist and feeling sorry for the victims. The writing was very good though so I give it three stars. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review. I read The Furies after the book had been released so some of my concerns might have been fixed in the published copy.

The Furies tells the story of four young women, the fates they hold, and the furies they possess. The book starts with a girl found dead, posed on a swing at Elm Hollow Academy. Flashback to a year earlier, Violet is a new student at the prep school. She befriends three girls – Alex, Grace, and Robin. She finds herself in an advanced course with these girls where the teacher, Annabel, teaches them the school's long-buried history of the school founder's "academic" interest in the occult and witchcraft. Although Annabel tries to teach them that these are just stories, the girls decide to delve into some spells to gain things for themselves.

When I read the description of this book, I immediately thought it was going to be like the movie “The Craft” which I loved, but unfortunately it was nothing like it. Yes, there are four girls experimenting with witchcraft, but that’s about the only comparison. I felt that The Furies was a slow burn throughout the entire book. It moved at such a slow pace, and I wanted more to happen with the spells the girls were doing. There was very little action in a book about using witchcraft to get revenge for being wronged.

I also felt that the book was very disjointed at times. This may have been fixed prior to the book being published, but it was really choppy in places. The girls would be walking in town then all of a sudden at one of their houses with no description of them getting there. It made it confusing to keep up with what was going on at times.

Unfortunately, this just wasn’t a book for me.

I had a hard time getting into this book and seriously thought about not finishing it. Nothing really seemed to happen until at least halfway through, and then it really didn't pick up much.

The story seemed disjointed, sometimes jumping around in time with no clear purpose. I did finish, but there was no real satisfaction or payoff that would have redeemed the meandering path I had to follow to get there.

I really didn't care for any of the characters and won't be missing them as I move on to other things.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read. I was really hoping to like it more.

All opinions are mine.

I had a love/hate relationship with THE FURIES by Katie Lowe. The book hooked me right in the beginning with a woman found dead on a swing. The idea of girl's prep school intrigued me, along with the thought female magic taking place throughout the school. At times, I tend to like books that can be creepy and yet realistic.

However, this book took me forever to finish. It kept me interested enough to keep reading, but since I was on my Kindle, I kept hoping it would end soon. The storyline was somewhat confusing. The relationships between the four main characters was confusing as well. Grace was physically abused by her father. Alex is financially well off, but rarely sees her mother who travels often. Robin deals in drugs and alcohol to escape her problems, and Violet has to deal with the trauma of two of her family members that were killed in a car crash. All of them come together through their teacher who teaches them about witchcraft. You have to keep guessing who the woman was that was killed on the swing at the beginning of the book. I did enjoy the ending, so I'm glad I finished the book.

I do think that high school kids might be interested in this book.

I was given this book for my honest review.

I wanted to like this book and I did, but I wasn’t fond of the language, which took away from the book for me. Overall, it was an exciting story that did remind of the movie The Craft, which I enjoyed. Nevertheless, it was more waiting for the action and less about the focus of the book than anything. It is described as being like The Craft movie and it is to a point, but not enough really to say it is like it. I wouldn’t recommend it for young adult or teen readers though it is about that age group it is being recommended to an older age group. It is a book about young women and furies,. It is more than fitting in and teenage life at a boarding school, but the death of a teenager and no one knows the cause. Well, not no one. It is a supernatural mystery, but takes a while to get to the interesting elements. There is an occult history in the area including the witch trials. This new girl in the area gets involved in the magic and power. The friendship in this book is dark and thrilling with well developed characters once it gets going, but it really doesn’t keep up the interest enough. There is some violence and tragedy in the story, but overall the story will keep the reader interested enough if they are interested in the subject. The descriptions and mystery in this book have potential. It keeps you wondering. We find out all the details as the mystery unravels before us in an good way as you find yourself being scared, worried and feeling all sorts of things throughout this dark story. It is well written.

A sad story, a young teen arriving at a new school who is desperate to make friends. A loner in the past, coming from a rural area, she struggled with the ‘how’. But one day a red headed girl named Robin smiled at her and slowly a friendship began. They are joined by Alex and Grace. A friendship that she wanted so badly she was willing to do anything.....and I mean anything to please Robin and stay in the group.

Elm school’s principal was a medievalist, and he told Violet the history of the school attracted him. As Violet sat in his office the first time, sorting out her timetable, he mentions that the witches trials had taken place in the grounds and that an elm tree was planted to mark the spot that the witch was burned. Myths and mysteries surround the tales. But as Violet discovers, strange happenings still occur, and she becomes a part of a group of ‘furies’ that make these occur.

Violet discovers that she is a ‘replacement’ in the group, there were four, but Robin’s best friend was murdered, and the mystery of her death has not been solved. They have their suspicions and revenge becomes a top priority. Self destruction, drinking, murder, weird ceremonies and weird beliefs, there seems to be no end to Robins fantasies.

A novel that reveals the tremendous power of teen peer pressure, how it can affect friendships, choices, negative and positive. And in this book murder! A good read, very well written.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

I haven't seen the greatest reviews for The Furies by Katie Lowe but I still wanted to give it a shot, and I don't regret reading it!

If you are looking for a slow burn, and I mean really slow, you will get it with The Furies. I wish the pacing would have been better because I felt like it took a long time to read even though in reality it didn't even take me 5 hours. I really liked the aspect of the history of the school and I wish it would have had even more of that. There are creepy parts that deal with witchcraft that I wish would have popped up more since that's when things got really interesting.

I didn't find myself liking any characters in the novel, so be prepared for that. Violet seems smart enough, but I just couldn't get behind most of her decisions. Of course this is a coming-of-age tale though, so I guess you have to expect decisions not to be great. The ending was pretty chilling though, and you don't know who the dead girl is until the end. I didn't figure out who it was going to be, but I guess I should have. I just let the book take me away and tried not to sleuth.

I read an interview with Lowe on sublimehorror.com after finishing this book where she said that she wanted to do young women's anger some justice and I think she definitely did. There is a lot of rage in The Furies and it was interesting to see how the girls handled it. Reading her interview actually made me appreciate this book more, which was helpful. It was such a unique book, and unlike anything I have ever read which I think is in part thanks to Lowe's writing style. It isn't just about murder, but also deals with rape and body issues among other things. She really tried to bring the teenage years to life which I can always appreciate.

Song/s the book brought to mind: Secret by The Pierces

Final Thought: There were elements of The Furies that I really liked which is why I still ended up at a 3/5 for this one. While it didn't blow me away and the pacing was too slow for my liking, I would definitely still read this author's next book. I would also recommend this book to the right person. As long as you don't mind really slow pacing and you like books that delve into teenage rage and witchcraft, this would be a good one to pick up!

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced review copy via NetGalley. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

OK so I will keep this short and sweet. The Furies is a masterpiece that if it isnt The Craft fanfic, its most definitely has a very strong resemblance in places to one of my favourite movies of all time and well and truly fills the shoes of a well crafted homage.

Each character has its place in the tried and tested group of four strong teens who make up the headlining cast in this one. The the snobby one, the new girl, the weirdo and the tagger along who has an opinion but is just a little sheeple.

The pace stays relatively fast in the majority of places, only slowing down for artistic effect.

If you are a person who does not condone underage drinking, drug use and illegal behaviour, this novel may not be for you. Also of note is a lowkey rape (its not graphic, its more a plot device), inappropriate behaviour towards a minor and animal sacrifice.

Overall its a well written exploration of teenage angst and the perils of interfering in business that doesnt concern you.