This book was a brutal read. And not in a good way. I absolutely hated the format of the narration - it was awkward and honestly a bit uncomfortable to have the narrator act as if we were friends. Particularly a character that was so completely unlikeable as Elliot. He was presumptuous and entitled, and a little bit creepy. He was the acquaintance who thinks he's the best friend, when in reality no one wants to be around him. He was disingenuous and deceptive, and came across as a complete scam and phony. The rest of the characters weren't nearly as bad, but unfortunately, they all just fell flat; I didn't care whether I liked them or not.

Plot-wise, this was just dumb. The story centered around a murder on a private island. It jumped (awkwardly) between present day and past to provide a fair amount of history to bring the reader up to speed, and had a number of twists and turns that I think were meant to intrigue and shock the reader, but in reality they all just made me roll my eyes each time things went a different direction. By the end, it was all just so ridiculous I lost all interest.

I think the author was shooting for a unique and special format for the book, but unfortunately, it fell completely flat for me.

the story begins with the murder of the well-known actress Lana Farrah at her isolated Greece island while vacationing with her close friends. Was it an intruder? Or was it one of the closest people she knew?
Told from the POV of an unreliable narrator, as a 5 part act of a play, we are taken through the thought process of each person at the island during their stay at the island and even years before that ungrateful night till the big reveal at the end.
This didn’t read anything like Alex Michaelides earlier works, I personally found the unreliable narrator part very confusing and had to keep in mind that even other people’s POV’s are written by one of the characters at the island and not by each person themselves and hence to be read with a grain of salt and not fully accurate.
I personally felt the story didn’t have much closure and some loose ends. I did enjoy reading it though.
Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon books for an arc of this book for my honest opinion.

❄️ Mini Book Review #8 ❄️

Title: The Fury
Author: Alex Michaelides
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release: January 16, 2024
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Format: Ebook | Audiobook
Length: 298 pages
Finished: January 23rd, 2024
Thoughts:

Alex Michaelides writes some of the most entertaining mysteries. I own all of his books and am so invested in this small universe he seems to be building. He is definitely an Autobuy author for me.

“The Fury” is another whodunnit set on a Greek island, which I LOVE. It’s so fun to see Michaelides make reference to Greek upbringing, mythology, and culture in all of his books. He also references a lot of facts with therapy and psychology. It’s so interesting to read and learn each time.

I loved the idea of Elliot as a narrator because you took everything he spoke of with a grain of salt. You didn’t know if he was lying or telling the truth. The “playwright” in him adding to the story to make it more dramatic, because everyone loves drama. But that little hint of magical realism at the end…was it real? Or was that another attempt by Elliot to suck you into his story? Reading that part was insane!

This was a book filled with so much unrequited love. It asks the questions of how far will you go to feel loved and what “love” actually means to you. Each character had their own dark paths and handled “love” differently. Obsessive, manipulative, pure, genuine, hurtful, fake. The Fury is a fast paced ride that looked deep into the souls of the characters and shows an unbelievable story of longing, betrayal, and tragedy.

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Five big stars!!!

This story takes place on a secluded island in Greece, owned by the most famous movie star in the world. She invites seven of her friends to stay on the island for a weekend, and while they're there a wind storm ascends upon the island out of nowhere which traps them on the island for several days. During this time, one of them is murdered. With phone lines down and all methods of transportation on or off the island cutoff, they are trapped and forced to face the fact that one of them is a killer. (Remind you of anyone? Agatha Christie??) The narrator, a quirky playwright named Elliott, just happens to be one of the seven. As he leads us through the events leading up to the murder, he is playing with us, throwing in clever little twists trying to throw us off. The chapters are short to keep the pace flowing quickly. As he recounts the events that occur, he breaks that fourth wall as if he is speaking directly to the reader. It is broken into five "acts" and as each act begins he gives just a little bit more information (sometimes just enough to trick you) about the other potential killers to show possible motives why. If you think you know how this ends, you are in for a surprise!

Oh my gosh! This was such a fun book to read. I can only imagine how the author felt writing it! Think of the Netflix movie, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery; It's got that type of edginess and humor. If you liked that, you'll probably love this book. Warning: If you have not read The Silent Patient and plan to, don't read this first. There is a nod to his debut novel that could spoil it if you read this.

I enjoyed this book - as a first time Michaelides reader, I loved the unreliable narrator and was thoroughly engrossed in the storyline. I enjoyed the twist(s) the book took and really loved Lana, even though I was only seeing her through Elliot’s twisted point of view.

I enjoyed the narrative voice here. It definitely gripped me moving into the story but I don’t think this creative choice sustained my interested throughout the back half of the novel. I found the pacing quite slow, while intrigued by what was going on.

Solid story here, but I think the execution could have been better.

This story grabs you from the very first page with the tale of murder and a love story. The suspense and intrigue is set against the backdrop of a secluded Greek Island, where dark secrets and hidden desires lurk beneath the surface. This was definitely a tale of human relationships and how far someone would go to protect their own interests. There was plenty of twist and turns and it kept me guessing until the end.

4/5 stars

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

Being familiar with The Silent Patient, I went into this looking for and expecting an unreliable narrator. (Within the first chapter the narrator goes so far as to say that he is in fact unreliable). However, what I did not expect was to be hanging by the edge of my seat for this entire novel as it sent me on a roller coaster ride.

While at times Elliots retelling of the events that happened over Easter Weekend did give me a bit of whiplash, I found myself completely enthralled by everything about this book. Right down to the Theo cameo in the epilogue.

This was a really unique thriller / murder mystery in terms of the writing style and how the actual events unfold. Six people are on a private Greek island and someone is murdered... but it's much more complicated than that.

I enjoyed:

- the first person narrative, told by an unreliable narrator. Stories told in first person - especially when they reference directly that they are telling a tale - always make me wonder, who is this story being told to? Who is the audience? And in the case of a thriller, that adds another layer of mystery.

- the short chapters and fast pace of the entire book. This is bingeable entertainment for sure.

- the breaking of the fourth wall, which engages the reader in a different way. (ex. the entire discussion of how this book could have gone if it was a typical Agatha Christie style murder mystery)

- the multiple reveals in the final chapters of the book ,where you as the reader keep thinking you've figured it out and know as much as the narrator, but there's one more hidden piece to unveil

This book had an interesting writing format. Nothing that I had read before which made it really cool, however the story was a slow burn. I prefer a more fast paced story.

Amazing book. I couldn't put it down. All the twists and turns I had hoped for.. Great plot and character development.

I went into this book expecting to like it, I had heard good things about it and everyone was hyping it up - plus I had liked the authors previous two books. I was definitely set up for disappointment. I thought the book was slow as a whole and I didn’t like the jumping back and forth between plot lines, even though I knew it was to set the story for the present day. I thought the narrator, Elliot, was too much and found him unlikeable. The only things I did like were that the chapters were short and that the author included characters from his previous two books. I’ve read worse books, but this is definitely not one of my favorites. I personally wouldn’t recommend the book.

I actually cannot decide how to feel about this one.

On one hand, I had fun guessing how things were going to end. On the other, I was right.

There were fun elements, and it felt a lot like a love letter to Agatha Christie, but I also kept finding myself pulled out of the story by the first person narrator, who seemingly knew everything, and kept telling me to “wait for the good part”

Overall felt like Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone if I hadn’t liked the narrator, and if the author wanted to make sure you knew that it was based on Greek Tragedy.

DNF at 20%

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this arc! I have to say something about the tone and writing style of this particular book by Michelides was very off. His cheeky narrator who constantly addresses the reader was quite grating and overall didn’t lend itself to me feeling compelled by the plot. I find the characters all overall to feel detached and caricatures themselves. I did enjoy the silent patient but I think this work by the author feels clunky and forced.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️

I told myself that this year, I was not going to force myself to finish reading books that do not grab my interest.

Here goes...

Let's start with the writing... It's a little intense, hard to follow, and quite confusing. The characters did not grab my attention what so ever and just seem blah. The storyline just didn't do it for me. Granted, I was only 59 pages in. With that being said, I don't believe it should take 59 pages or longer to grab a readers attention.

I have read another book by this author, the Silent Patient, and forced myself to finish that book. To say I was disappointed is putting it lightly. I wanted to give the author another go, and I did. However, I don't believe this author is for me.

I read this book for camp purposes and it did not disappoint. It was exactly what I was looking for: nothing more, nothing less. The author really leans into the themes of academia in all of his books which is why I will continue to read them. I don’t have a lot to say other than it scratched the academic thriller itch I had and I will be reading more of this author’s work.

This book had a lot of potential, but fell a little flat for me. I know Elliott is not meant to be a likable character, but I really couldn't stand him. Overall, I was kept interested and was curious to see how the island situation would play out, especially with actors involved. I wasn't sure who could be trusted, but the ending was just okay.

Thank you to Alex Michaelides, Celadon Books, and NetGalley for the copy in exchange of review.

A meandering story with a bit of suspense. None of the characters was likable and I wasn't excited to solve the mystery. I didn't appreciate the tricks, frequent "well that's what I WISH happened" asides from the narrator that do nothing but make him lose the reader's trust. I love an unreliable narrator, but this one is unreliable, unlikable, and uninteresting. Some good twists near the end that aren't worth waiting for.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I purchased a copy for my library.

Another solid psychological thriller from Alex Michaelides! Loved that it felt as though you were having a casual conversation with the narrator. While not as immediately gripping (to me) as The Silent Patient or The Maidens, it was fresh, original and creative.

I really did not enjoy this book. The narrators meta speaking about writing and play crafting was so over the top and pretentious. I loved the silent patient but btw this book and the maidens I do not believe this is the author for me.

Story kept me engaged so three stars but I was eye rolling the whole time.