Thank you netgalley for this ARC i will say going into the new year this book was definitely on my most hyped titles so getting the ARC i had to dive in and trust me thriller readers this one was GREAT a story of obsession, secrets, betrayal, fame.. an island and a murder mystery think very clue vibes i could not put this down. I really dont want to give much away just because i like when people go into books not really knowing what to expect. Usually im not a big fan of narrators in novels but i LOVED the narration in this novel and how it was split into 5 parts. Lots of twists and turns This is my first novel from this author but i do plan on reading the other novels seeing as they are both on my TBR but OMG this novel was so fast paced very great characters and i enjoyed alot of people loved the plot as well. YALL NEED TO READ THIS ONE.

I also love this cover 🔥

Alex Michaelides, author of The Silent Patient and The Maidens, has done it again. The author’s bio reveals that he worked part-time at a psychiatric center for teenagers in North London while studying therapy at a post-graduate level. He is an auto-buy author for me because he can write ‘crazy’ like no one I know. His characters are fully developed and unforgettable. His writing style, the language and flow of words, is captivating and draws the reader into his story.

My synopsis:

Movie star Lana Farrar is tired of the dreary English weather and wants to escape to her secluded Greek island. With vivid descriptions and prose that calls to be read again and again, the author describes the breathtaking setting and then the forbidding storm that rolls in. It smells of sea salt, revenge, and murder. .Huddled together are the guests/suspects: Lana, her husband Jason, son Leo, friend Kate, and two dedicated staff. Close friend Elliot Chase is the narrator of the story, but is he reliable? Is this a murder mystery, a love story, or both? But you can trust me on this: nothing is as it seems. Let the Fury rage!

THE FURY gets all the stars

Publication date: January 16, 2023.

This book was compulsively readable and I think it would have an excellent read for the beach or a plane ride. The main character was interesting and compelling. Ultimately, however, I am not sure this was the book for me.
The second person narrative which was used throughout the book bothered me. I was reminded of another book that was written in a similar style (I cannot recall the name of it) and the narrative bothered me even more in that book. This was fast paced and not dull by any means; I am just not a fan of it overall, even though I am sure the author used it to establish an unreliable narrator. I would rather see that done via other means, which is harder to do.
Finally, which I was not sure precisely how the ending would come out, I think using a different perspective would have built up more suspense.

Ohhhh okay I see how it is … The Silent Patient has been living rent free in my head for years and was feeling lonely and needed another fantastic thriller to take up residence. Got it. I must say I was a bit disappointed by The Maidens by Alex Michaelides, but my faith is restored because WOW! I could not put this book down!

We have a murder mystery with a very unreliable narrator who is telling us this story in 5 acts, and takes a some literary agency as a playwright to suck us into the storyline and keep a few key points hidden until the time they will make the most impact.

I love this book. Easy 5 stars. I could hardly put it down and will be recommending it just as much as I recommend The Silent Patient.

If you liked Glass Onion, you may enjoy this book (sans detective). I liked The Silent Patient, but didn't get into The Maidens. This one falls somewhere in between.

It is written as a five act Greek tragedy but with a light tone, heavy on the misbehaving-dramatic-wealthy.
Without ruining anything-- our narrator is unreliable, and reminds us often.
They break the fourth wall and seem to know things that would be impossible for them to know.
The story kept my attention with its whacky twists, who is the murderer...but the characters annoyed me.
In the end, a quick, easy read perfect for the plane or beach.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the advance copy.

Lana Farrar is an ex-movie star that was all the rage many years ago. Often seen as a recluse, she values her privacy and maintains only a small network of friends. She decides at the last minute to bring her closest friends together for a long weekend at her private Greek island. Our cast of characters includes her husband Jason, son Leo, her best friends Kate and Elliot, her assistant Agathi and the island’s full-time care taker Nico. What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend away is far from what is actually planned.

Our narrator for this adventure is Elliot, her oldest friend. He begins by telling us “there were 7 of us in all trapped on the island”, and “one of us was a murder.” He tells his tale like we are “two old friends, drinking at the bar”. He pledges to present to us “the plain, un-varnished truth – or as near to it as he can get”. This begins an incredible and highly entertaining tale of love, betrayal, and murder. In the end, none of it played out exactly like Elliot described or even as he expected.

The story is laid out like the Knives Out movies where you see a scene and then see the scene again later in the novel from another perspective. The characters were well developed without the sometimes character overload that often happens all at once at the beginning of the story. The storyline comes together nicely without a lot of over-descriptive paragraphs that often lose my attention. This is such an entertaining read, I loved it and couldn’t put it down! This is great start to 2024’s to-be-read pile.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy for an honest review.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the arc copy in exchange for an honest review.*

If you are a fan of the unreliable narrator, then this is a great book for you. However, I think that is what I did not like about this book.

For me, the narrator almost seemed too unreliable. I didn't like that the narrator kept backtracking and telling me "Well, that's not true, is it?" It felt overdone to get to the point of a twisty ending.

The author did succeed with a twisty ending because I almost never understood what was happening. When I finally thought I was catching on to what was going on, the narrator would switch it up again.

However, I did really like the idea of the thriller being told through a play. I've never read a thriller like that and it was a fun and different way to be told a story.

The characters in this book aren't very likable, but I don't think they were supposed to be. They were flawed and realistic, and if that was the author's goal, he succeeded in creating very real characters that readers will love to hate.

If you are reading this because you are a fan of The Silent Patient, you might be disappointed because this book is completely different and I am thankful it wasn't a carbon copy of the author's viral book.

Alex Michaelides fans will probably eat this up. It is entertaining enough, but I think it would be better to listen to the audiobook than physically read it. The audiobook narrator did a great job.

I’ve heard many good things about this author’s previous books, so I had to put it in a request for an ARC of this one. I’m so glad I did.

The point of view in this story is that of Elliot. He came from nothing and fell in love with movie star Lana. He makes her acquaintance and becomes a dear friend. He, along with others, come to her private island for Easter. Lana winds up dead. And it unravels from there.

I loved all the twists and turns in this book. And I weirdly found myself rooting for Elliot in this.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed most of this book! I liked the plot and the pacing with all the characters. The narrator telling the story was witty and somewhat likeable. The ending was a little meh of a twist for me - I saw it coming very early in the book but that did not take away from me enjoying the story. I liked how the ending was a little sad and it left you feeling like justice was served in a way, I did not enjoy Michaelides last book but this one was a lot of fun and I think people will enjoy it!

I’m simply just not sure how I feel about this. I liked The Silent Patient and I absolutely loved The Maidens, but something about this one fell flat for me. Don’t get me wrong, I read this book super quick, but I never really felt any strong emotions towards it. I felt like the ending was a let down and I wish that the epilogue didn’t include a spoiler for The Silent Patient because I feel like that limits who I will recommend this book to.

First of all I want to start by saying that when I see a book by Alex Michaelides, it’s an automatic yes for me

Second thing I want to say is that this is the first time I read an ARC and finish it wayyy before the due date

Everything about this book was marvellous. The plot, the characters, the scenery, the short chapters, the cliff hangers, the mystery, the ENDING, the twists and turns. Alex Michaelides is a phenomenal psychological thriller genius

There was a lot of people and names and things happening, but let me tell you something, he knew what he was doing. I didn’t even get confused one. That’s how good the writing was. Everything was so clear yet so enigmatic

The discreetness in the book titles are fabulous! How everything falls to pieces is absolutely perfect

I love his books so much. I started 2023 with The Silent Patient and I started 2024 with The Fury. I have The Maidens as a physical book and I can’t wait to start it. I even got The Fury from BOTM so I can own all the books because IT’S A MUST for me at this point

The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because I felt like The Silent Patient was much stronger in terms of being mysterious and shocks

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel. I’m probably in the very small number of people who haven’t read the Silent Patient however I’ve heard good things. This was not a great introduction to Alex Michaelides’ work. This novel tells the story of Lana Farrar, a famous actress who has moved from LA to London. Sick of the rainy weather she invites some friends to an island she owns off the Greek coast. You definitely won’t need enemies if you have friends like Lana’s.

The first 70% of the novel is pretty boring. It’s narrated by one of the characters, Elliot, who is a friend of Lana’s present on the island vacation. This narration style is annoying to read- he jumps from telling the story to speaking directly to the reader. The excitement of the last quarter of the book doesn’t make up for the very slow start.

"This is a tale of murder. Or maybe that's not quite true. At its heart it's a love story, isn't it?"

Seven people are stranded on a private Greek Island and one of them is a murderer. Told in five acts ,and narrated by Elliot Chase, we are told a very complicated and layered story about friendships and relationships. But what is the truth?

Alex Michaelides has a talent for writing the most unreliable narrators imaginable. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. If you were a fan of The Silent Patient then you will love this one. This book kept me hooked from the first page. This was an incredible slow burn thriller to start out 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Celadon Books for sending me an advanced reading copy of THE FURY by Alex Michaelides. This one publishes January 16.

This was my most anticipated ARC on my shelf and I thought it was a great way to start out the new year. I lost my mind multiple times over Michaelides' THE SILENT PATIENT, I thought THE MAIDENS was okay and THE FURY well, it was good. I think my main problem is that nothing will surpass THE SILENT PATIENT and every time I get my sweaty little hands on a new Michaelides book, I'm hoping for that same rush. I'm here to tell you it hasn't happened yet. Also, if you haven't read TSP or THE MAIDENS, don't start with THE FURY because it does contain some spoilers.

Overall, this book is good. It contains lots of exciting theatre person details which I ate up. The characters are unlikable but not in an icky I can't read this way. The pacing is strong and I never felt like I didn't want to read it but the ending just didn't hit like I wanted it to. Overall I was thoroughly entertained and will still be anxiously awaiting the next Michaelides book.

Honestly, I would have enjoyed this so much more if the first half of the book did not exist. It took a very long time for the story to capture my attention, I found the slow burn and promise of excitement to detract from the good parts of the book. By the time something actually happened in the book, I had wasted far too much of my time guessing what would have happened. The character development is there and the drama is wonderful, it just took way too long to get there, in my opinion. I wish that there was more to capture my attention in the beginning, so that I could enjoy the end better. The second half of the book goes by much quicker than the first half, so definitely stick it out if you can.
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

This book was a trip. I went in completely blind and was not expecting the unreliable narrator. The way the author keeps stringing the reader along makes for a fun and quick read. As the reader, I was compelled to continue reading until the end as new chapters unearthed previously untold elements of this who-done-it and who-is-dead thriller. I thought the narrator was hilarious, and I loved so much about this story. There were a few things that annoyed me, but nothing that took away from the book. I highly recommend it!

Quick recap without spoilers:
Someone is dead. But who and by the hand of whom is a mystery for most of this thriller. Told from the first-person narrative of one of the self-proclaimed unbiased main characters, this story is about a group of people brought together by an ex-movie star on a private Greek island. The island is isolated from the rest of the world and the perfect backdrop for a game of clue.

I definitely see this being the thriller of 2024. Wow! I read The Silent Patient also by Alex and loved it so I had high hopes. I was right! This had me on my toes the entire time. I'm very good at guessing the plot twists... but damn I wasn't able to guess a thing. One aspect that I really loved about this book was that it wasn't up front with information. You learn it slowly through the narrator's recount of that night. Because the story is told this way, you have to wonder what's truth and what's been fabricated. It was a wild ride and I really hope you all get on it.

There has been a lot of buzz about this novel and, for the most part, it is very good! This tale of murder on a Greek island with a retired movie actress and her friends is effectively told by an unreliable narrator and unfolds, like a play, in five acts.

The first half of the book unfolds quite slowly but the pacing is helped by short chapters. The story then picks up at the halfway mark. From then on, there are many well-done twists and turns and reveals. The story is well-plotted and is written in an easy to read style. The ending was good but not as explosive/jaw-dropping as this author’s earlier bestselling novel, The Silent Patient. A very good read that kept my interest but which could have been more evenly paced. This is my second read by this author and I am looking forward to his next novel!

Thanks to @celadonbooks and @netgalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Book review: The Fury

Quick disclaimer I got this as an early arc copy from the lovely people @celadonbooks . All thoughts are my own and are spoiler free.

Rating: 5/5

Review: where to even begin with this book. Just when you think you know what’s going on you don’t. For this only being the authors third book he certainly did a fantastic job. This book for me is almost right up there with the silent patient, which is saying something if you know me. One thing I liked about this book was that it was set up a little bit different from the typical thriller. The story gives off a mix of Agatha Christie and daisy darker vibes, but the book itself is more than that. Alex Michaelides knows just how to keep me on the edge of my seat. His books are so fast paced that I usually read them in a day or two. From the intricate plot, the crazy cast of characters and the shocking twist ending this is one story you don’t want to miss. If The Fury is not already on you radar for 2024 put it on there now. I promise you won’t be disappointed. If you are looking for a quick fast pace read this is the perfect book.

This was a very entertaining book that I didn't want to put down. It was pretty straightforward but there were a couple things that I didn't expect. Overall, I enjoyed the story!