I loved this one! I swapped between reading and listening to the audiobook, and Alex Jennings does an incredible job. His narration fits our main character perfectly, and his voice is so easy to listen to that you won’t want to stop. This book is full of twists and turns, on top of well-developed characters with their own unique motivations. The majority takes place on a dreamy private island in Greece, so if you are wanting a book to escape into for the month of January, this is it!

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Settle in, grab a comfort snack & watch the show as we are merely spectators of Alex Michaelides work 👀

THE FURY by ALEX MICHAELIDES

Rating: 3.75🌟
Thrill level: 2/5🔪
Genre: physiological thriller

Top Quotes:

💫 “People want to read about people -“

💫 “do not despair at being different. For that very difference . . . will one day become a badge of honor and pride.”

💫 “He was just a kid, playing make-believe. And kids shouldn’t play with guns.”

Seven people on one island with one murderer. Crime of passion? Preordained killing? You’ll have to read to find out. What I will say is this. I was kept intrigued throughout. The authors writing kept me wanting more, kept me dangling. Unfortunately, I was still longing for more once it came to the end.

Elliot made for a most interesting narrator… at times unreliable, odd and creepy but also brilliant. I quite enjoyed reading from his perspective. He spent a lot of time analyzing who we are and why we do the things we do.

The “fury”, literally referred to the violent winds. However, it was also a way to describe each of the characters with their own all consuming anger. Each had their own reasons to want revenge, justice or blood whether it be their painful past or their present. The story took a dark turn one night with anger building alongside the wind picking up. But were things ever really okay before?

This is a bingeable physiological thriller but I do feel obligated to give this heads up. It did not thrill me anywhere near the same as The Silent Patient or The Maidens. I wouldn’t really say there was even a “twist” and it’s not suspenseful but there is a dark and disturbing element to it that still makes it a decent thriller. Each character with their own skeletons and motives. They are all broken, one most of all. Gears were constantly turning in my mind trying to figure out what that truth was it just sadly couldn’t wow me with the ending. I would still recommend giving The Fury a try though. It may be a perfect one for you!

Thank you kindly @netgalley, @alex.michaelides & @celadonbooks for this Advanced Readers Copy. I have enjoyed this novel and hope others do as well!

I'm honestly not really sure where to start with this book. The story is written from the perspective of Elliott, who is a playwright and writes like he is speaking to the audience, which took me some getting used to. Once I got used to the writing style, it was a quick and easy read. The end definitely had some twists, but honestly none of them were very shocking to me. But it was still enjoyable!

Alex Michaelides is an author I continue to read even though I have yet to enjoy one of his books. The author has decent ideas for his novels, but they never seem to land. I will say I enjoyed the Silent Patient more than The Fury but not by much.

Set on a small private island in Greece, The Fury is a thriller with an unreliable narrator. The main character is overly unreliable which makes the plot boring and ridiculous. The Fury is the story of a terrible group of people being awful to one another. Nothing else really happens, there’s no character development and even the small amount of backstory on Elliot is weak. While there are several plot twists, they are farfetched and out of place.

I think it’s time to face the fact that Alex Michaelides books are not for me. If you like his other works, you will most likely enjoy The Fury.
Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Alex Michaelides for the opportunity to read an ARC

3.5 stars! Alex Michaelides has quickly become one of my favorite authors- I absolutely loved The Silent Patient and The Maidens and was so excited to get an advanced copy of The Fury! Thank you to NetGalley for that opportunity.

I couldn’t put the book down, just waiting for that big twist/reveal that Michaelides is known for, however, once it came, I was a little disappointed. I also didn’t love that there was a spoiler for The Silent Patient dropped in there for absolutely no good reason. All in all, I still really enjoyed this read and will still read anything Michaelides writes, but find myself holding him to a higher standard because he started out so strong!

“‘All I’ve ever wanted was love,’ she once admitted to me, with a shrug. ‘Everything else is just… incidental.’”

Elliott Chase desires love. He covets it. He obsesses over it. And it destroys him, just as it did when it didn’t exist for him.

In The Fury, we hear the full story of a murder from the perspective of Elliott Chase — and Elliott is the textbook definition of an unreliable narrator. So much so that I’m not sure I believed a word that came out of his mouth.

Elliott tells us this story as if we’re sitting in a pub. As if maybe we’re a bit bored as the night winds down, we’re a few pints (or shots) in, and we’re the ones looking for a one-night stand of camaraderie in the tales of Elliott Chase.

Where this third novel by Alex Michaelides falls flat is that, at no point, was I on Elliott’s side. He comes off more used car salesman than worldly misanthrope and, when coupled with a very obvious fame obsession, I don’t see how anyone would follow the breadcrumbs Elliott leaves behind. I simply don’t care about his side of the story and that’s a problem when he tells the WHOLE story.

Fans of Michaelides’ other works may be happy to discover this novel takes place in the same universe as those stories. To me, it serves as a reminder that this isn’t his best piece of fiction when compared to The Silent Patient and The Maidens.

If you’re a diehard fan, you’ll probably still have a bit of fun. If you’re a passive one, like me, feel free to skip.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books (Macmillan) for the chance to read this early via eARC.

I’m having a hard time rating this one. To get it out of the way: not as good as The Silent Patient, but a better mystery than The Maidens. My one big complaint was the narration style and the narrator themselves. It was an interesting gimmick, but it’s hard to be surprised by anything when you already know the narrator is unreliable.

It took me a little bit to get invested in this thriller but after that I was hooked! I stayed up all night to finish it. I just had to know the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon books for this ARC.

A murder took place on a Greek Island named Aura, which means breeze named after a Greek goddess. Menos means fury.

Act 1: This is an introduction to all of the characters and arriving on the island. We learn about the famous ex movie star Lana, Kate the theatre actress, Elliot the play writer, Lana’s son Leo, Lana’s husband Jason, the employees Nikos and Agathi. The cracks in Lana and Kate’s friendship surface for an unknown reason so far. Kate insinuates Elliot was always watching and asks what his next ploy was going to be. This act ends with finding out who was murdered.

Act 2: The complicated love story begins! This act is about deception and who can really be trusted. The characters intertwine in this act as the first red herring appears in relation to the murder.

Act 3: Elliot shares the rich details of his childhood that was very moving. He describes the impact of Barbara West on his life, which puts the multiple references he makes about her into context. He talks about how he met Lana and the evolution of their relationship over time.

Act 4: Another big twist about the murder; yet, one of the most frustrating acts as the story kept changing and left you on a constant cliffhanger.

Act 5: The final twist of the book and a complete reversal of what I thought to be true. I wish the ending wasn’t so complicated.

After reading The Silent Patient, I was excited for this book to live up to the same hype, but unfortunately the story fell a bit flat for me after act 3 and I wasn’t as interested anymore. It seemed like I was going in circles and a do over type scenario was playing out. The characters of Jason, Leo, and Nikos could have been better developed.

I enjoyed the psychological aspect of how unresolved trauma and abuse from the past carries into adulthood as the themes of obsession, manipulation, and psychopathic tendencies emerge.

After spending a week in the Greek isles last summer, we were ready to go back. And The Fury certainly did that. We both found this to be a great read with some memorable characters and touches of Greek tragedy. In a time of thrillers with unreliable narrators, Elliot certainly is up there with the most memorable in any book we’ve read in recent memory. The author did an excellent job ensuring that you both empathized with the narrator, while, just a few pages later, being repulsed by him and his actions. It was quite the ride. As with some other books of late, there are some elements of the plot that are perhaps a bit unrealistic, but overall, this is an enjoyable, quick read, with characters that will stick with you long past the final page. 4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Celadon Books, and the author for providing us with a digital reviewer copy of this book in exchange for our honest thoughts.

I finished this book within a day, much like the first book I read from the same author, The Silent Patient.
This story was very different but I loved how it all came together. There were several twists that kept me intrigued and I really enjoyed the angle of the narrator as well. The story telling of the narrator was very thorough and kept my attention. I couldn’t decide if I liked Elliott or despised him, and that feeling went back and forth through the whole book. This is not a thriller every page kind of thriller, but my jaw still hit the ground plenty. The twists though, they just get me every time. Great book, and I can’t wait to read more from Alex in the future.

Such a fun and unique murder mystery. I loved the writing style of this book and found it hard to put down. It did get a little too twisty/complicated at the end but it was a very good read!

Ok wow! That was quite the adventure! Without giving much away, I will say that Alex Michaelides did it again! I loved this book! Not as much as The Silent Patient, but still enjoyed it.

The beginning starts off slow, which was weird for me. It was a slow paced thriller, at first. But then it hit a point where it picked up! I did not want to put the book down.

The narrator is clearly unreliable. And honestly, I was here for it. It was an interesting way to narrate the story, which others may not like, but I enjoyed how it was written.

I'm excited to keep reading Alex's books throughout the years! And I got tickets to his upcoming book tour. So also excited to meet him as well!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

this was... quite disappointing honestly. i think this story and the setting had great potential to be a great murder mystery type thriller but it was so slow. not only was it slow, I found it to be predictable and I honestly think the writing style was so confusing. if it were written in a different way, I think it definitely had the potential to be great. for those who maybe like a slower thriller, this is for you. I recieved an arc from netgalley.

When I first started reading this I was worried I wasn't going to like it because the plot felt very similar to my most recent read, The Hunting Party. However, I was way wrong. The only thing these two books had in common was a murder taking place in a remote location involving a group of friends. Aside from this, everything about The Fury was unique. I absolutely fell in love with the narrative style of this book. I felt that I was inside the head of the narrator and enjoyed his side remarks and self-reflection. Also, I love an untrustworthy narrator.

The story of the murder was told in "acts," which was a wonderful connection to the acting themes throughout the book. Each "act" looked at the murder in a different light, expanding further on information gained throughout the previous "act." It felt almost that everything I thought I knew was constantly being disassembled while simultaneously having all the pieces put back together perfectly. Additionally, I could never have predicted the twists.

Overall, I loved every second of it... and the subtle reference to The Silent Patient at the end was *chefs kiss*

5 stars doesn’t do this book justice. OMG doesn’t do this book justice. Alex Michaelides does it again. Gives us a thrilling, heart gripping, mystery story that has so many twists and turns you never know where you’re headed.
Elliot Chase was able to keep me interested the entire time with his narrative. To get a glimpse and telling of each character from his narration was very interesting.
I absolutely loved the little glimpse of The Silent Patient we get in the epilogue. Very well done!!

Thank you Celadon Books, Alex Michaelides, and NetGalley for this eARC of The Fury.

If there ever was an Edgar Allen Poe-esque book, this would be it. An unreliable narrator, a dark, mysterious setting, unlikeable characters, and so many unanswered questions, but yet, it sort of works.

I wish there was one likeable character in this book, but I ended up hating them all at various points of the story.

This novel is probably in the middle of the other Michaelides novels in my opinion.

So many twists & turns!! I had no clue what the twist was, because they just kept coming. Was shocked by the ending & loved the little Easter egg he threw in there from a previous book! Definitely a binge-able book!

I didn’t love this one like I did The Silent Patient. I found it to be incredibly slow moving and anticlimactic. I also didnt care for the writing style where the narrator breaks down the fourth wall and is talking directly to the reader. It felt like he kept dangling a carrot, tempting us with this murder plot but then kept putting it off. Lastly, I was excited that this was in Greece as I thought it would be a really picturesque setting. Didn’t really get that though so I would have liked more descriptive imagery to really feel like I was on the island.

Super interesting story! especially for the lovers of constant twists. I will say the only thing that would comment on was the narrator. I thought the story would have been punchy-ier from outside view point. Will say loved the island and cast of characters though. Just wish we got to see those dynamics shine a bit brighter.