I was so excited to read The Fury! I loved the concept and think it was well written. The biggest flaw in my opinion was the narrator was so unlikeable.

Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

📖 Book Review 📖

📱 "The Fury” by Alex Michaelides

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
To be published January 16, 2024

Thank you @netgalley for the eARC of this novel. 

A thriller that reads like a script, full of lies, deception, backstabbing and love leading to murder. The former Hollywood movie star Lana Farrar decides to invite her closest friends to Aura, the small Greek island her late husband gifted to her for an Easter weekend getaway. The weekend’s events are explained and greatly dramatized by Elliot, one of Lana’s best friends. The other characters are Agathi, Lana’s personal assistant, chef, and confidant. Nikos, the island’s reclusive caretaker. Lana’s teenage son Leo, her husband Jason, and her other best friend and stage actress Kate. Elliot tells the tale through five “Acts” (he is an aspiring playwright) and he embellishes often and loves the dramatic flair.

Hell also hath no FURY, like a woman scorned… add in a storm making it impossible for help to reach the island, old friendships and deep wounds, and the desire for revenge…a murder was bound to happen.

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What an incredibly written murder mystery! Narrated by Elliott Chase, a main character and overlooked star of the story all in one. This story follows Elliot’s past and present in the most unique way, telling the story of a murder on a private Greek island, starting with the discovery of a body and ending with the truth, along with all of the in between that got them there. Nothing is as it seems. Elliott is a quirky character in a group of people who either love him, hate him, or possibly both. This book is worth the wild ride it takes you on, and I somehow ended up with a soft spot in my heart for Elliott.

After loving The Silent Patient and enjoying The Maidens, I had high hopes that I would like The Fury as well. Unfortunately this book fell flat for me. I feel as though this book went astray from the author's usual writing style and he decided to try something new. This book's pacing felt incredibly all over the place, starting off slow, the major climax sprinting in the middle of the book, followed by another lull to finish. None of the characters were likable in my opinion, nor was there a character I felt was even remotely relatable. It wasn't bad necessarily, just not up to the Michaelides standard of his other two works.

I liked how the story was written, it was different. Kept me interested. Unfortunately I was able to predict in the end but it was still good. Would recommend.

My last read of 2023 and a much hyped one by the author of The Silent Patient.

The Fury is the story of a group of friends, including a famous actress and our narrator the writer, on an island when one is murdered.

This was not the book for me. It started slow so I pushed through thinking I’d like the second part better, which it did pick up and hold more twists.

I found the narrator intolerable, which was somewhat the point, but it can make for a difficult read when you don’t connect with the characters or the story.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for making advance copies available.

Ugh I’m so disappointed. This was holding my attention at the very beginning and I was really enjoying how the main character broke the fourth wall and talked to us as the readers. But then it went into the back story for 70% of the book. That is not an exaggeration. I was looking at my kindle thinking, this entire book is the backstory how the heck are we going to move the plot along?! And then it was like the bomb went off, chaos ensued, and it wrapped up with like “whew that was a doozy and the end goodbye”.

Like many people, I. Loved. The Silent Patient. And have been disappointed by both of Alex Michaeledes’ books since.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy.

This is the third book I've read by Alex Michaelides and it did not disappoint! Each of his books has been unique and I've thoroughly enjoyed all of them. This twisty story had a small amount of suspense that kept me captivated throughout the story. Each chapter left me on a mini cliff hanger that made me fly through this book. Safe to say Alex Michaelides has become and auto-buy author for me.

I don’t know how to feel about this book. Was it entertaining? Yes? Was I able to get through it in a whole day? Yes. But it felt like a knock off of the Glass Onion. I was able to easily guess some of the major twists because I felt it resembled Glass Onion so much.

I don’t entirely like that this author is still writing within the world he created writing the Silent Patient. It makes the books more easy to predict. I knew right away the narrator was not to be trusted so nothing surprised me.

The author is truly a good writer and I really believe he can write a book with twists that are unpredictable but all his books follow the same patterns now.

I’m still wavering on my rating but think I might settle with 2.75/3 ⭐️ mostly because this felt so copied from the glass onion.

This audiobook flew by, but I really wish that hadn’t been the case. I wanted to know more and hear more, but it all went by so quickly. Loved the format of a “play” with an omniscient narrator! All in all, I really liked this and wanted more.

I feel like I compare any Alex Michaelides book that I read to “The Silent Patient” which isn’t really fair! Let me start by saying- This book was pretty good and I was happy to be surprised with the ending! That being said, I wasn’t as intrigued throughout the book as I hoped I would be. The beginning started off great and I really liked the style of writing where we had a “narrator” along for the ride with us. As the book progressed, I struggled to find any likable characters and I really didn’t feel like I got to know anyone other than Lana and Elliot. I won’t give away any spoilers, but I actually guessed what was going on when the initial “incident” occurred and I remember thinking to myself- “I’m going to be so annoyed if this is what is happening!” As I mentioned, I WAS surprised at the end so that was a plus.
I think this was a solid story and I rounded up my stars because of the ending. I think I just expected more from this book. It felt like I was waiting for something big to happen the whole time and it just fell kind of flat as the story progressed.

Thank you to Celadon books for the ARC. I was so excited when I was approved for this one as I had loved The Silent Patient and had high expectations from The Fury even though I had DNFed The Maidens last year.

What I liked -
1) The pace of the story as even when not much was happening I kept reading ahead
2) Multiple twists

What I did not like -
1) The exertion I felt after waiting in anticipation for the actual climax rather than the multiple ones I was put through
2) The constant acknowledgment of the reader by the narrator
3) The random switches between the narrator and the scenes of the other characters which sometimes left me confused
4) So much buildup to the end that I lost energy midway and couldn’t care less who died or what happened
5) Not that great of an ending anddddd
6) The spoiler to The Silent Patient in the epilogue chapter

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced ebook copy.

I have to say this is my least favorite book from Alex Michaelides. The plot and placing were all over the place and I felt the story was extremely slow.

Thank you netgalley and Celadon books for the arc! This is my third Alex Michaelide book, the Silent Patient being my first and I loved that one. I liked the story line, who doesn’t love a good murder mystery? The story follows 5 characters who vacation on a secluded Greek island where someone is murdered. The book is set up as a play write with five acts before “the curtain closes”. I found the first ~40% of the book a little slow. I also felt a little let down, especially when Elliot promised me a twist at the end.
I envisioned the time setting was 40-50s even though it was modern day, I got an ‘old timely’ vibe from the characters. Speaking of characters, they weren’t the most likeable or relatable in my opinion. I liked the concept of the story but remains not my favourite. 3.5

Giving this one five stars because once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down.

Two things you need to know when reading a book by Alex Michaelides: 1) You have to suspend disbelief because the plot gets wild and 2) don’t even bother trying to figure out what’s really going on, because you can’t. Michaelides throws plot twist after plot twist at the reader, and if you’ll settle in and go for the ride it’s so, so enjoyable.

The Fury mostly takes place on a private Greek island near Mykonos. There are only seven people on the island, and one of them ends up dead. Who is the murderer, and why did they do it? Sounds like a basic enough whodunnit, but I promise it’s not.

If I had just one critique, it’s that the singular American character didn’t speak like an American. I can live with it, though.

Thank you to Celadon Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I will say if you have not read The Silent Patient I would read it first because there are what I would consider possible spoilers in the epilogue of this book. Also, don’t go in expecting something similar to The Silent Patient because it is quite different.

This story is told by a very unreliable unlikeable narrator. Elliot Chase. It’s broken down as if it was a play with different acts within it. I truly felt like Elliot was trying very hard to solidify himself as a “serious” Author.

I found all the characters to be unlikable so don’t go in expecting to find someone to root for because you will not find them here. I felt the storyline was a bit all over. I felt I kept finding myself back almost as a if circling the same things.

The first half or so of the book seemed really hard for me to get into. It just felt a bit flat for myself. Then the ending or last third of the book flew and there was so much chaos and twists. Which was great.

Overall, a decent read. I’m still and forever a lover of The Silent Patient.

Thanks for the e arc Celadon Books. Check out this book PUB Date 01/16/24.

I could not put this book down!!

My last read of 2023 did not disappoint. In fact this is probably on the top of my favourites of 2023. I’ve read Alex Michaelides other novels and this is by far my favourite.

The narration of this book gives it a unique and interesting take on the locked room “island murder mystery” storyline. I found the addition of an unreliable narrator drew me in and kept me guessing.

The narrator Elliot Chase offers the reader a drink as he takes you on a tale of murder. A love story…about the end of love; the death of love. Elliot Chase tells a story like no other in this captivating, must read novel.

Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Was excited to read The Fury by Alex Michaelides since I absolutely loved The Silent Patient. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book as much and was quite a drag to read.
Right in the first chapter, I already knew I wasn’t going to like Elliot- the extremely unreliable narrator. The way this story was told was annoying and confusing. The book didn’t start to gain momentum until probably two-thirds of the way through and by then.. I was pretty much over the book.
Either way, it was a short read so no time wasted. Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for an ARC of this book. The Fury will be published on January 16, 2024.

A fun, twisty thriller! Love the unreliable narrator, the tangents about theater, and the layers that this story provided. I devoured it in a day and could not put it down. A great read!

This book was engaging and interesting, as his other books have been. Although I didn't enjoy it as much as The Silent Patient and The Maidens, I am sure this one will be as popular as those were.