"We need to ask why. Why isn’t a question we tend to ask often. It’s not an easy question to answer—it requires self-awareness and honesty. But if we ever want to understand ourselves or other people—real or fictional—we must explore our motivation."

Let me start by saying I love Alex Michaelides. I loved his first two novels and legitimately screamed when I received this ARC. & let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I read this in 24 hours and barely engaged with my husband, much to his dismay. A beautiful twisty mystery set an idyllic Greek island with an unreliable narrator? Say less. I loved it! I truly didn't know where it was going and found the story and storytelling refreshing. Michaelides has this unique ability to truly transport you into his worlds. The cameo appearances from characters in past books was the cherry on top. I'm a sucker for running characters.

"Human beings are complex creatures, with shades of light and dark operating in all of us." Delve into this cleverly written suspenseful page turner to find out just how dark these characters can be.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Snag this on 1/16/24!

Having read and loved the author's first book, THE SILENT PATIENT, I was absolutely ecstatic to receive early access to read Alex Michaelides's newest, THE FURY.

THE FURY is told over five acts, like a play. It delivers THE SILENT PATIENT vibes in the opening as we look to find the lay of the land, who is telling the story, and whether or not they can be trusted. We are introduced to Elliot, a playwright who is detailing the events leading up to this epic tale of murder on a private Greek island.

Right away you can tell that Elliott has an agenda and may not necessarily be able to be trusted. He does admit his bias - or is he just trying to trick you? The first two acts really pulled me in, but I did find myself getting a bit fatigued in being teased. The final act is worth the wait though with some incredible twists.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for access to this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was totally different then I expected. But I loved the twist, turns and style of the book. It is my first Alex Michaelides book and I'm looking forward to reading more.

I found this to be a bit of a slow burn and didn't think I was going to enjoy it in the first few chapters. However, I became totally invested as the characters developed and couldn't put it down. I found the narration of the book and it broken into the various acts an interesting way to keep the story going. It kept me guessing throughout the book.

🏝️The Fury🏝️

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Alex Michaelides
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Dual Timeline

Synopsis:
Elliot Chase is a struggling play write who is madly in love with his movie star friend Lana Farrar. Unfortunately for him, she is married, and a mother. When he discovers Lana’s husband cheating with her best friend, he takes this as an opportunity to formulate a plot in which she can confront them both on her private island where they can’t avoid the confrontation. Lana is all for this plan, however, the plot includes murder, directing, and incredible acting. Elliot is hoping by the end of their little island deception, he will finally have Lana’s love for himself. However, screenwriting always has a bit of editing before the final act, and actors love rewriting their scenes.

I have very conflicting thoughts about The Fury. I loved the premise of this book, and thought it had very creative and original ideas tied to it. However, I was a little bit bored with the unusual pacing of this book. It felt like a rollercoaster of intense moments vs boring background. Elliot is the main character of this book. He speaks directly to the reader as if he is in a bar telling you his story. He wants to turn his experience into a play write, but he starts mixing fact with fiction, which makes it as a reader very hard to trust him as our protagonist. Elliot explains the plot by jumping back and forth from before the island to on the island. I thought this was nice at first because he only lets you know so much at first and let’s secrets come out when they are most impactful to the reader, but I quickly started to not enjoy it because you find out that the events he is telling you are sometimes events that he plotted for his play write and it wasn’t actually how that event occurred. I love an unreliable narrator, but in this situation, it confused me a lot. You quickly find out that Elliot is troubled from his own recounting of his childhood and possessive nature. I wish I loved this more than I did, but nothing left my jaw on the floor, or wanting to pick the book back up. I did love however love the authors breadcrumb of Theo from The Silent Patient at the end!

Thank you to the NetGalley, the author, and Celadon books for this ARC!

After the disappointment from The Maidens, I decided to have no expectations for this book. I really enjoyed the way this story was told. Were the twists as shocking as The Silent Patient? No. I had pretty much figured what the twist would be but that didn't take away any of the entertainment from the story. A fun read. I think it would make for a great series or movie.

I just reviewed The Fury by Alex Michaelides. #TheFury #NetGalley

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, particularly because it felt so different from Alex Michaelides other books. While I have enjoyed everything of his I have read, this book felt to be written in a different tone which was a nice surprise since you typically think you know what you are getting when reading a known author.
I could see some having a hard time getting into this but for me I fell right in. Smooth story to follow with some good twists and interesting cast of characters. This might be my favorite so far from Alex Michaelides.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.

“This is a tale of murder. …this is a true story, not a work of fiction. It’s about real people, in a real place. If anything, it’s a whyunit—an examination of who we are; and why we do the things we do.” Thus, the narrator, Elliott Chase, opens the story of The Fury. I found this to be riveting, diabolical, and unputdownable.

Lana, a young widowed Hollywood star, retires to London on the death of her husband to raise her young son. Her best friend of thirty years, Kate, is a theater actress. The aforementioned Elliott is a playwright. And Agitha is the long-serving attendant, cook, organizer to Lana and sees to every aspect of her life. Lana is remarried to Jason, and totally in love. This cast of characters, along with her son, Leo, joins Lana on her Greek Island of Aura, to escape the bleak days in London where a murder takes place.

In the style of an Agatha Christie locked room murder, the characters are examined Their motivations and aims are questioned. “…we like to keep moral questions simple, don’t we? Good/bad, innocent/guilty. That’s fine in fiction; real life is not so clear-cut. Human beings are complex creatures, with shades of light and dark operating in all of us.” Elliot proves to be quite an unreliable narrator as the tale takes many twists and turns. I found it to be a very clever and compelling tale of love and friendship. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.

This book is insane. I could not put it down. It is so fast paced, and something is always happening.

There’s so many times where Elliot (the narrator) would tell us 1 thing happened and then in the next chapter what really happened. And it took me on such a journey. I absolutely loved the inside of Elliot’s mind.

This book is so thought out and such a masterpiece. I really really enjoyed this and all of the characters. So unique! Great way to start out the new year!

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon for allowing me to read this book in advanced in exchange for my honest opinion!

“…let me give you something to hold on to: do not despair at being different. For that very difference, initially such a source of shame, so humiliating, and painful, will one day become a badge of honor and pride.”

The Fury is a whodunit/who died type of thriller, and while it doesn't add anything spectacularly original to the genre, it was an incredibly entertaining journey. The [unreliable] narrator is interwoven through the story and all POVs, which is not something I've experienced before—sometimes you could be in a different character's POV (third person) and then the narrator would jump in in first person and take over the story a bit—I think that's a unique choice.

Lana Farrar, an elusive movie star, plans an Easter getaway to her private island in Greece with her husband, son, and closest friends, and a bloody, tense hot mess express ensues. As the group falls apart, a storm looms in the distance, and when they clash together, hell rains down.

Once again, Michealides leans into playing with the reader's mind, presenting them with things and soon after telling them those things are false. However, I loved this a bit more, because I love an unreliable narrator who doesn't care if you like or believe them.

Warning: There is a huge spoiler for The Silent Patient at the end of this book, so, if you've never read it, I recommend reading The Fury <i>after</i> The Silent Patient.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 ⭐️s
Pub Date: 1/16/24

Wow what did I just read? I loved the flow of this book and how it was broken up into acts and told as a play. We get insight on the narrators mind/thinking although at times he is unreliable. This story had twist after twist and if you love unreliable narrators, and not knowing truth from made up, this is definitely a read will enjoy! I also enjoyed the little easter egg at the end and nod to “The Silent Patient”. I love me some crazy main characters and a book that will have me ruminating days after I finished, 4⭐️

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this title via NetGalley.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. The narrator was quirky and unreliable in his own way. I had an easy time visualizing the scenes of this book. I wasn't too surprised by the twist in this book but I did enjoy it. I have read both of the author's previous works and gave them 3 and 5 stars. This book fell right in the middle for me. I wouldn't hesitate to pick up his next work.

A group of “friends” take a trip to a Greek island when one of them is found murdered.
- Some of the characters are absolutely unhinged but we love it.
- It was a good pace for me, never stale or boring.
- Idk how I felt about Elliott’s narration at first but as I got to know his character it did feel like just a casual chat that made it really engaging.
- The amount of gasps from me while reading this I lost count. Michaelides knows how to write thrillers and it didn’t disappoint.
- Easter eggs from previous books are a nice touch BUT if you plan on reading Silent Patient ever, do it before Fury or else you get a spoiler in the epilogue.

After loving The Silent Patient, disliking the Maidens, I am happy to report I enjoyed Michaelides new book, The Fury. 
The Fury is full of twists and turns. We don't even know who the narrator is until a few chapters in. There is a lot of back and forth with this one. When you think you know whats going on, you're wrong. 

I enjoyed this one. It was uniquely told, but that caused some confusion sometimes. I like that this had short chapters and ended each chapter in a way that made me as the reader want to keep reading. I felt like the first few chapters had a lot of potential and I was immediately intrigued. As the story went on, I was still intrigued but some of the twists seemed very unrealistic. 

I really liked the narration. I thought the narrator did a great job with this unreliable narrator.

I really enjoyed this from beginning to end. The story hooks you from the very beginning to the very end, the characters are all very well developed and it leaves you guessing.

Another solid one by Michaelides!

I really enjoyed this one and would rank it just below Silent Patient. Speaking of Silent Patient- make sure to read it first as this book as a little tie in that could be a spoiler!

I will admit I did not enjoy this as much as the Silent Patient. It was a fun read set on a Greek Isle.. I was never sure where Alex was going with this book.

4.00 stars
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TW: Murder, Gun violence, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse
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This book starts with a bang...literally, there's a gunshot in the prologue. The Fury follows our narrator Elliot Chase who recounts what happened when he joins ex-movie star Lana Farrar and their friends on her private Greek island. Here's what we know: their getaway ends in murder, think of this as a whydunit and not a whodunit. We find out who's murdered pretty soon into the book when a twist is thrown into the plot and switches everything up.

Once I started this book I didn't want to put it down, I loathed all of the characters, but loved the drama attached to it. It seemed that everyone had a juicy scandal of their own, making them even more interesting - having them all in the spotlight made the scandals so much more interesting. With short chapters, this book will just suck you in. Elliot tries his best to be a "reliable" narrator, but it's true what they say, nothing is as it seems.

Elliot's narration style was so smooth, I think with the proper narrator this would make an amazing audiobook (that I would even consider listening to)! The story reads like a conversation would, we get ahead of ourselves only to pull back, or get sidetracked only for Elliot to bring us back to the conversation.

As a huge Silent Patient fan, I enjoyed the nod in the epilogue. Overall this made for the perfect binge-read.
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I would like to thank NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Alex Michaelides for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, this book publishes on: January 16th, 2024.

3.5-4 stars, can’t decide.

I loved how this book was written, which was not in the traditional way. It was written as a play in acts which I think went well with the theme of the book/characters. The setting/ some of the plot did remind me of the book “She Started It,” set on an island with a lot of untrusting, deceitful characters. Elliott was a very unreliable narrator, which added to the suspense of the book and a few of the plot twists I did not see coming. I found this a fast read because it was unlike any other thrillers I read before. The ending was quickly wrapped up and I would have liked it to be drawn out more.

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the ARC.

LOVED THIS STORY!!

Elliot Chase settles us down to tell us his story of a murder. He is the fictional writer of and also the main character in The Fury. Such creativity! This is a book about actors and writers, acting and writing. This tale, set in Greece, is the story of murder, love, friendship, revenge, and desperation. It's about the child we carry inside us even as we become adults.

I enjoyed reading The Fury so much, but I have to say that I did get a little confused at times. This is not a conventional book. I did not really want it to end the way it did, but I'm actually not completely certain how it did end! The Fury probably needs to be read several times to really appreciate the mental and emotional makeup of the characters, and reasons that the "things" were done as they were in the story. It reads fast, with lots of short chapters - a big plus in my book.

Bottom line: highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Fury.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I was a big fan of The Silent Patient and also enjoyed The Maidens but this one just didn’t hit for me like those did. I found the pacing slow and the narrator unlikeable (although I think that was the intention). I didn’t care much about figuring out what happened which for a thriller/suspense novel isn’t great. Overall it’s not one I would recommend but I think I’ll continue to read what Alex Michaelides publishes in the future.