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!

In "The Fury," the sun-soaked Greek island feels as though it simmers with unspoken secrets, even before the blood is spilled. But unlike a slow-roasted lamb basking in oregano (perhaps a course at the fabulous seaside restaurant mentioned in these pages), the unearthing of those secrets feels less like savory discovery and more like the greasy gristle clinging to your teeth. Our narrator, Elliott, a playwright friend of the murdered movie star, slides through the story like a snake charmed by its own reflection, his every observation dripping with self-assured superiority and more than a smidge of oily desperation. While Michaelides crafts a puzzle box of a plot, the pieces themselves felt dull and worn; the pieces click together with the predictability of a worn combination lock. The "twists" feel less like exhilarating turns and more like pothole-ridden detours on a familiar road.

I did not enjoy this book. The characters did not feel real to me. Everyone was basically nasty, conniving and not very endearing. The setting, on a private Greek island, was glamorous and nicely depicted. The island, named Aura ,was beautiful but considering the guests I was glad not to be invited!
The whodunit plot was extremely complex but fairly obvious.
I do like the author and have read his other novels and would read future books.

🍷𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬🍷

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

𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥.

The Fury - Alex Michaelides
@alex.michaelides

Out January 16, 2024
Thank you @celadonbooks for the ARC!

Before I get into the story itself - Can I say how much I absolutely LOVED the way this was written? Told as a 5 act Greek tragedy play write told from the most unreliable narrator (and who doesn't love an unreliable narrator)

This book starts off a little slow - however I liked that it did becauae it really gave me a look into the window of said narrator Elliot Chase - & every glimpse I got made me more and more intrigued.

His complete sociopathic & narcissistic tendancies makes his storytelling that much more compelling & unputdownable. It is so clever that it is left to us the reader to decipher what he is telling is truth or what is boosting his side of the story.

There were SO many resets in what the true story really was & what has really happened thus far, and what is simply in the mind of a slightly deranged self proclaimed play write.

I absolutely loved that how the book was written was so beautifully woven in to the story itself. I found it beyond clever & had me hooked so hard I inhaled this read in a few short pick ups. There's obsession, confusion, mistrust, delusion & pure insanity all in one.

It's also insane that Alex has a way with writing to really make you feel (albeit very deep down) empathy for Elliot, however short lived it is felt.

This beauty is released on January 16 - and you need to RUN to pick up your copy of this one. Pull up a barstool & let Elliot mess with your mind. First read of 2024 & first 5⭐

(Also loved the tiny tie in to The Silent Patient in the epilogue)

My Review: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Goodreads: 3.76
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#obsessed #arc #bookreview #bookstagram #5star #lovedit #honestreview #authorlove #reviews #inhaledit #jan2024

3.5 I loved the concept of this and I love horrible rich people but this really didn’t wow me. It was such a slow burn for not a great payoff.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC of one of my most anticipated reads of 2024!
I was excited to get my hands on an early copy of The Fury, as Alex Michaelides first novel, The Silent Patient, is one of my favorite thrillers. As with The Maidens, it was a struggle to not compare to The Silent Patient, but the writing style/vibe of this one was so different it was easier for me to appreciate it as its own.
The story follows a group of friends that travel to a private island in Greece for a holiday weekend. From the very beginning, the narrator informs us that one of the seven on the island will not leave alive. A series of five “acts” brings us pieces of the story and the characters background, with lots of twists and turns along the way.
I very much enjoyed this novel and the creative perspective of the narrator. I found some of the twists to not be as seamless as I would have liked, hence the four stars. Be sure to look out for a Silent Patient cameo on the Epilogue!

Let me start by saying that i was really excited for this release….SO EXCITED!!! But now I’m super sad to say this but this book and possibly this author is just not for me. I unlike the majority of readers really didn’t love The Silent Patient by this author but really loved the dark academia feel of The Maidens so this was kind of the decider to see if I would continue reading this author and unfortunately I think this is the end of the road (sorry for the dramatics)!

While reading the ARC book on my kindle this book definitely had me confused the entire time. I felt like I was missing huge chunks of information or that I had zoned out while reading a section, but once I was approved for the audio I realized that that was just the writing style.

I think the vibe was a thriller version of The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with the memoir type retelling of a characters life…but it really lost the plot for me in the end.

Other than all those grievances, I really enjoyed the playfulness of the narrator he really kept me entertained even when I was pretty over this book and the only reason I didn’t DNF

2.0⭐️

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC and to Celadon Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Alex Michaelides and Celadon books for this ARC!

I went in blind to this book because I've read the others and loved them. After the first few chapters I was afraid this may be a DNF book and I was so sad! However, I kept reading and then I just couldn't stop reading the book, or shall I say, play. Well written and from a perspective you don't see often in books. Great twists and some even unexpected ones. Great character build. In the beginning, I thought it may have been to many characters but each and every one was needed to make this book what it was!

I would first like to thank Celadon Books and Alex Michaelides for providing me with this arc! The Fury is the third book by Michaelides and has similar Greek mythology sub-plots as his second book The Maidens. The Fury tells the story of love and murder and how the two can be inextricably intertwined. It is set in many different locations with the main ones being London and a small, private Greek island. The story is told from the perspective of Elliot, who is the worlds most unreliable character. For the most part this book was very good!! I found myself intrigued and invested throughout the whole book. It was fast paced and I enjoyed the time jumps. The ending however was where this book lost its points from me... I felt it was lackluster in a way and just didn't tie the loose ends together as much as I would have liked! Overall I think this is the weakest of his three books but I did still enjoy it!

3.5. I found the first half of this book hard to get through due to the writing style of the narrator. While I recognize it was crucial to the plot, it felt taxing to me. Once again, Michaelades provided a twisty book that I couldn’t predict, with a satisfying conclusion.

While the format of this book was a new experience for me, I found it rather engaging and in a way, entertaining. The book was divided into five acts, I'm guessing sort of like a play given that the storyteller himself was a playwriter.

The story's narrator, Elliott Chase, walked us through the night of the murder and the days leading to it. He claimed himself to be unreliable - although usually a plot twist in some novels, this one was admitted by the character himself and rather important to note.

The story revolves around Lana Farrar, an ex-movie star who retired early to be a devoted mother to her son, Leo. She married her older producer, Otto, who died prematurely. She then moved out of LA (or out of the country, rather) to England post-retirement and has since made friends around her. One of which was her best friend Kate, from whom she met her husband Jason, and of course the narrator himself, Elliott. When Lana decided to escape the rather rainy weather in England, she decided to invite her friends, along with her husband, Leo, and housekeeper Agathi to her private (gifted by late husband, Otto) island in Greece. Said island was named Aura, due to the raging wind that often works through the island. "Agathi's grandmother used to call the Aegan wind to menos, which means 'the fury' in English."

I appreciate the artistic writing throughout the story. The wind (the fury) being played throughout the story being its own theme was fantastic. The plot was cohesive enough, though I thought it would help more to know about the Elliott beforehand (that's all I'm going to say to avoid spoilers). Each Act reveals more to the story than the previous one which kept me engaged. Overall, this was a love story indeed.

Just when I thought the story was finished, the author decided to INCLUDE a very memorable character from his previous book, which was WHOA. It be nice to have a little short story about these character's encounter in my opinion.


I was provided an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Celadon Books and NetGalley!

Wow! Just wow! I didn’t think Alex Michaelides could get any better after The Silent Patient. I was wrong! This book was great. There were times it was a little slow, but for the plot, it worked. Wonderful development of the characters!

The Fury

Note: Thank you NetGalley and Celadon for this ARC.

The Silent Patient is still one of my absolute favorite thrillers of all time and if you feel similarly, this novel was unlike his previous novels. This read as cozy mystery rather than a thriller and felt very Knives Out 2. At the same time, this book was filled with many introspective observations which felt meaningful as this is my first read of the new year. I am attending the author’s book signing later this month so I look forward to hearing the backstory behind this novel’s fruition.

Some of my favorite quotes were:
How did such two different people ever become friends? I suspect youth had a lot to do with it. The friends we make when young are rarely the kind of people we seek out later in life. The length of time we have known them accords them a kind of nostalgia in our eyes, if you will; an indulgence; a "free pass" in our lives.

It's like falling in love, isn't it, when you make a new friend?

Character is fate…who you are determines what happens to you

A human being will act to remove pain.

That's where all creativity is born, I believe in the desire to escape.

Can we first talk about the brilliant cover for this book?! Why are we not focused on the huge “evil eye” symbol that is front and center on the cover of this magnificent book? And how convenient that this story takes place on an island in Greece. And for those who are not aware, the Greek evil eyes are “all-seeing eyeballs”, which are supposed to ward off negative energy caused by another’s jealousy. 🧿 Very well played Alex Michaelides. 👏

All I can say is that I loved this cleverly written story! The Fury had everything that I look for in a book, which included exquisite writing and short chapters- which made me turn the pages faster. The book was broken down into Five Acts, just like a screenplay. So brilliant!! The characters were relatable, and even though they weren’t the most likable, I still had a soft spot for some of them- especially our narrator Elliot Chase.

Elliot Chase is the narrator of this story. Elliot will speak to you like you are an old friend. Elliot will tell you step by step (and play by play) exactly what happened at his friend Lana’s house on the island in Greece. Were there some unexpected events that made me gasp 😮 You bet there were! This story certainly did not play out like I expected.

The Fury is my first thriller going into 2024, and while I was debating between 4 or 5 stars- I decided to go with five stars because of the originality of this story. I loved the narration of Elliot, and I loved the fact that this book was quite different than most of the thriller/suspense books that I’ve read lately, and for that I am very grateful (and happy). I also highly recommend reading this fast-paced story!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and the author for an ARC of this book which I had the pleasure of reading. Publication date: January 16, 2024.
Genre~ Mystery & Thrillers

On a private Greek island near Mykonos, one of the most famous actresses in the world, Lana Farrar, gathers with her closest companions: her husband Jason, her son Leo, her assistant Agathi, her close friend (and narrator of the novel) Elliot, her best friend Kate, and the island's caretaker, Nikos. By the end of the second page, we know that a murder takes place. We know that Elliot survives (since he's narrating), as well as Leo (since he finds the body); the rest, as they say, shall be revealed in due time.

From that point forward, our narrator Elliot takes the reader on a journey, gradually revealing bits of the story to help us understand what really happened on the island. Elliot strikes a conversational and conspiratorial tone, with frequent tangents and side commentary separate from the rehashing of the story. Despite his alleged efforts to the contrary, Elliot can't help but make this story about him, and so much of your enjoyment of the novel, I think, hinges on how you feel about Elliot as a character and the conversational style employed by Michaelides.

I, for one, was not a fan. While Michaelides does an admirable job of giving Elliot a distinct voice that is consistent and "in character" until the bitter end, the schtick grew tiresome for me. Elliot is like your cattiest, most insecure friend, always anxious to spill the tea on the latest gossip. Fans of The Silent Patient also know that Michaelides loves to employ an unreliable narrator. While Elliot repeatedly assures the reader that what he is rehashing is the truth, he also acknowledges there could be some gaps in the retelling. To give you a sense of the pattern of narration, here's a quick excerpt on that topic:

"I stress all this so that, if at any point during this narrative I mislead you, you will understand that it is by accident, not design -- because I am clumsily skewing the events too much from my own point of view. An occupational hazard, perhaps, when one narrates a story in which one happens to play a minor role.

Nonetheless, I'll do my best not to hijack the narrative too often, Even so, I hope you'll indulge me the odd digression, here and there. And before you accuse me of telling my story in a labyrinthine manner, let me remind you that this is a true story -- and in real life, that's how we communicate, isn't it? We're all over the place: we jump back and forth in time; slow down and expand on some moments; fast-forward through others; editing as we go, minimizing flaws and maximizing assets. We are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives."

If you enjoy the above conversational approach to narration and storytelling in a novel, The Fury might be a great fit for you! Michaelides provides at least a minor motive for each character on the island to turn to murder. It is effectively a whodunit (although Elliot says it's really a "whydunit"), and whether it's Michaelides' skill as an author or Elliot's "labyrinthine manner" of storytelling, most everyone remains in play as a suspect until the end. It's a quick read -- the conversational style speeds the story along, and while there are the previously advertised divergences from the plot, in most cases those are minor. The story follows a pretty linear recounting of the path from the conception of the trip to the dead body at the end, with the occasional divergence to fill in some expository backstory.

I was one of the rare few who didn't love Michaelides' debut novel The Silent Patient, and so I wondered if perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind while reading that one. As such, I was excited to give The Fury (and Michaelides) another try. While I was generally satisfied with the novel, I think his style is probably just not for me, so take my middling opinion of this novel with a large grain of salt. If you enjoyed The Silent Patient (like so many did), you may find The Fury more to your liking than I did, but be sure you're ready to spend 300+ pages with Elliot and his narrative style.