Fabulous! I have really enjoyed the author’s prior books, and so I was really excited to read this. It’s my favorite so far. I really enjoyed the unique writing style of this book, and all the twists and turns!

This was an easy read for me. I liked how the chapters were set up and it made it fun to get through. The unreliable narration was fun. Seriously. I liked the tone of Elliot Chase throughout, even to the last page.
I admit it got a bit wild for me at one point and then boop, plot twist that didn't happen. Again, unreliable narrator. It was a quirk that added to the story for me.
I know others may find the characters unlikable but I didn't. I actually enjoyed Lana and Elliot quite a bit. The little bits of Nikos, Agathi and Leo were likeable for me as well. Really, it was just Kate and Jason that were unlikable to me.

Now, personally, I've enjoyed each book the author has put out a little more than the last. For me, the story and writing keeps me turning the pages and that's what I look for in a book. I think this is another win. Especially when set on a Greek island

As a huge fan of Alex Michaelides’s two other books, I was ecstatic when I was approved for this ARC. Unfortunately, it did not captivate me as much as those did.

The plot layout is interesting — how it starts off with one version of the events, then repeats but with more information, and so on. However, I did not find myself connecting with the characters at all. They truly felt dispensable to me, like stock characters. I didn’t feel any true sense of stakes for them.

I know that Michaelides is capable of leaving me on the edge of my seat, so reading this and feeling “meh” was even more disappointing. The writing felt flat, with more statements of things rather than descriptions. It felt very matter of fact and lackluster. Though, it could be chalked up to Elliott himself being the narrator and writing this in his style.

I also did not understand the information about Elliott and felt like things were more implied than stated in that sense, and it was confusing, when they were monumental pieces of information.

7 friends trapped on a Greek island. Everyone has a reason that they needed this getaway...but no one thought it would end with this murder.

To start, if you are expecting Silent Patient vibes, adjust that expectation. I enjoyed them both, but trying to compare them is futile.

Further, if you need a character to "root for"? You aren't going to get that here either. This is, at the root of all things, a story about some seriously unlikeable people. Told to us by a narrator that often comes through the fourth wall. If these are things that rub you the wrong way, now you know what you're getting yourself into.

I learned early on never to trust a narrator that tells me to trust them. That being said, I did not see any of the twists coming. Although the characters are unlikable, they are thoroughly well developed enough to base that opinion on; the fact that I have strong feelings either way means Alex Michaelides did their job. If you enjoy being the victim of reverse reverse reverse psychology, give this book a shot! Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon books for the advanced copy!

I loved everything about this book! The unreliable narration kept me hooked from the very beginning. I love how Alex Michaelides ties in a character from his previous novels and makes you feel like you are a part of a larger story universe. This book is released January 16th. Go grab your copy and read it! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the privilege to read this ARC!

What happens when a movie star Lana Farrar invites her friends to a small Greek island for an Easter getaway with her family? What Lana does not know is that one of the seven won't leave the island alive...
The Fury is my second time reading anything by this author and it did not disappoint. The book was a page turner from beginning to end and was so addictive. This book was a twisty thriller and I highly would recommend this to others. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this thrilling read in exchange of my honest review.

I was very excited to get this ARC as I loved the Silent Patient and The Maidens. There are strong opinions for both of his prior books so maybe that is where I am at with this new one. I didn't like the way this was written at all or the narrator or the slow slow build at the beginning. This entire book wasn't for me. I love this author so this one just may be me. I encourage others to read and it get their own perspective and thoughts. I will look forward to his next book. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ability to read this book before release day. This was my first book by Alex Michaelides, and honestly I'm very happy I started with this one, especially since I wasn't already used to their writing style! Other readers found the plot slightly predicable, however I did not! I was very surprised by the ending, and really enjoyed my entire time invested in this mystery-thriller. I will certainly be picking up this author's previous works!

The Fury left me with mixed emotions. Alex Michaelides is a phenomenal writer, and I blew through his newest book in two days. With most of the plot set on a remote Greek island, The Fury is an excellent choice for a vacation read.

Unfortunately, I found the plot predictable. There were too many similarities between The Fury and one of his other novels. I called the twist before reaching the halfway point. It was still a great book, but I can't help but feel disappointed.

Synopsis:
The story is narrated by Elliot, a successful playwright and failed actor. Elliot is best friends with movie star Lana Farrar, who has taken a break from the limelight to care for her son and new husband. Lana invites Elliot and their mutual friend Kate to her private island in Greece under the premise of needing a vacation. However, Lana's motives are darker than what they appear. Someone is murdered on the island, and as suspicions rise amongst the friends, hidden secrets of betrayal, obsession, and deceit are uncovered.

Review:
Character Development - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Elliot's character offered a slightly different perspective of an unreliable narrator. The reader learns about every character through Elliot's eyes, and that lens gives an interesting perspective on how others perceive us.

Plot - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I enjoyed the story and was engaged throughout. However, I predicted the "twist" early, so it wasn't as suspenseful as anticipated.

Writing Style - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The story was fast-paced and riveting. I could not put this book down (even after knowing how it would end). The writing is easy to get through but wonderfully descriptive.

Originality - ⭐️⭐️ You can't get away with the same trick twice! Unfortunately, this book felt too similar to one of Michaelides's earlier works.

Overall, I recommend The Fury - especially to readers new to Alex Michaelides. It is a fast and fun read, perfect for the beach!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I finished it in about three days which is incredibly fast for me. I probably wouldn’t put this book in the fast-paced thriller category, but it did have some twists throughout. It was on the slower side and was a bit more character driven than many other thrillers I have read. However, it kept me entertained and wanting to read what happened next.

The writing perspective was very unique and introduced an interesting aspect to the book. Without spoiling anything, the narrator of the story is a writer and is writing down his account of the story. The writer himself essentially tells you to question what he is writing. Definitely a book that made me think and do a bit of inner soul searching too.

I'm not really sure how to feel about this book. One thing is for sure, the author has a knack for writing unlikable characters. There was not a single character in this book that I cared about, and I think that was part of the point. I'm not going to talk about the plot, because knowing anything outside of the publisher's description might ruin the read. It was definitely a page turner, and kept me guessing. I would recommend this to anyone who can get past the unlikable characters, and I suggest you do, if you want to get to the bottom of the mystery at the center of the story.

I am so sad! I spent months trying to get this book as an ARC and got approved and started it right away! Unfortunately, this was not what I had hyped it up to be in my brain after loving this author’s previous books! I truly have no idea what really happened in this book. If you needed me to summarize it… I could not do that. The narrator is so unbelievably unreliable that I don’t know what’s real and what’s not! I’d love to hear what others think about it!

This book publishes 1/16/24 and if you’ve read Michaelides previous books, check it out and let me know your thoughts!

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for an ARC of The Fury by Alex Michaelides. At first, The Fury started off slow and I wasn’t sure how it would pan out, but as we got into Act II, the pace started picking up and I really started to enjoy the story. I love how Alex Michaelides structured the story. With the main character being an aspiring play writer, the story was told in first person POV and was really a story within a story. Broken into five Acts, the story was structured just like a playbook, which I thought was brilliant. If you’re into thrillers or murder mysteries and love a good “whodunnit” story with a twist, then this is the book for you. ❤️

Where to start with the Fury? There is a lot to unpack, to be honest. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is one of my favorite thriller novels, so I have had high expectations for the his following works since then. His second book, The Maidens, greatly disappointed me so I was excited when I saw he would be publishing a new book, in hopes it would follow more after The Silent Patient. I didn’t quite get what I wanted from it. It felt very scattered, choppy, and structureless. Sometimes that’s nice in a novel so long as it still flows well and comes together to create a big picture. The Fury did not flow well for me. I understand that our narrator is supposed to be unreliable, and he is trying to confuse us most of the way through, but instead of feeling excitedly confused, I just started to get tired three quarters of the way in. The narrator says at one point that the story is less of a whodunit and more of a whydunit. I really liked that. But neither answer was very clear until the very end. And when it was revealed, the lead up had taken so long that it kind of fell on its face. It felt like Michaelides realized it was time to wrap up the story at last and found himself racing to badly patch up holes so the whole thing didn’t sink. I did not like any of the characters, specifically the “lovely” Lana who everyone in the novel seems to worship simply because she is beautiful and a good actress. Michaelides tries to explain what makes Lana special through the eyes of our narrator, but it doesn’t translate to me. I still felt she was dull and could not for the life of me fathom why nearly ever supporting character was practically in love with her.

Ok, now for the good stuff! I enjoyed the Greek island setting with the sinister wind called the fury. The cover of the book was expertly chosen, I liked it from the jump. The story was obviously interesting enough for me to read the whole thing through, and it was pretty cool to get a mention of Theo and Mariana from Michaelides’s previous novels. There was no shortage of drama whether it actually happened in the story or not, so that was enjoyable. In short, it wasn’t The Maidens (thank goodness for that) but it also was not even close to The Silent Patient. Three stars from me and I will be back again for Michaelides’ next work!

So I realize that almost everyone in the world has read the author before – except me. I didn’t read The Silent Patient nor did I read The Maidens. I will absolutely say that maybe this is just the author’s style and that his style isn’t for me, but this…meanders!

I mean it’s a slow, back-and-forth, wandering of the mind.

Our narrator? He’s weirdly pompous and veers between omniscient and ego-in-the-know. The narrator does explain in the beginning that sometimes he’s going to give us other people’s thoughts as he *assumes* they were thinking at the time, but it doesn’t really work. Note that I can see why the author did it this way, but it read very clumsily.

I did know the who of everything very, very early. However, props to the author – there was quite a bit I didn’t know. The problem was that I also barely cared.

I hope you like this more than I did.

• ARC via publisher

The Fury is an Agatha Christie style murder mystery set on a remote Greek island where six people have gathered for a holiday. The story is laid out like a play in five acts that jump back and forth in time and slowly unveil the truth. As we learn more and more about the characters, we start to question who can be trusted, the narrator included. I’ve been chasing the high of The Silent Patient and hoped this book would fill the void. Sadly, it did not live up to my expectations BUT I still had a good time winding through the twists and turns and got to enjoy a few TSP cameos.

A twisty, metafictional page-turner.
The core story here is very strong: a locked-room mystery about a murder on a private island in Greece. I was swept away by the setting, the propulsive plot, and the tricksy relationships among the characters. However, I didn't love the metafictional aspect where the narrator breaks the fourth wall to address the reader, jump in time, and generally demonstrate his cleverness. I thought the story and the storytelling was strong enough that I didn't need (or want) those additional layers. That said, if you like your mysteries with a dose of metafiction, this is a smart entry in that category.

I had such high, high hopes for this book. The Silent Patient was a book I ZOOMED through and was left reeling at the end. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with The Fury.

I dove right in and the beginning chapters were incredibly promising. Elliot did such an excellent job of building the suspense, and making you second guess everything he said. That was where my enjoyment of Elliot ends. As a character, I didn’t like him much at all. He made me feel as if there was something slimy hiding beneath the surface waiting for its opportunity to come out and surprise everyone. None of the other characters ended up much better, if any. I ended up wanting the absolute worst for everyone involved.

The pacing was all over the place. Drawing you in, then slowing back down, climbing to a climax, and then a secondary twist that went so left field it was hard to suspend belief in order to continue along for the ride.

The only part I did enjoy immensely was the epilogue that crosses over with The Silent Patient, but is a spoiler if you’ve yet to read it.

I was ridiculously excited for this book, it was my most anticipated read of January, I just wish it had been done in the usual, thrilling and exciting style Alex Michaelides usually favors.

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and the author for this ARC.
Publication date: 1/16/24

alex michaelides’ writing style is so unique and entertaining, i loved the silent patient and i was so excited to read this one, i just knew he’d deliver
having an unreliable narrator kept me on the edge of my seat because i just had to keep reading to know what was real and what wasn’t
having elliot narrating the book in a play style was very unique and the self aware moments were so creative, it made this book much more entertaining
his ability to manipulate the reader is extraordinary bc he brings so many elements to justify what he’s describing, and as a reader you believe it … and then boom! plot twist it wasn’t what you thought
this was such a fast paced entertaining read, the prose felt very natural like i was talking to the narrator and the complexity of the characters made it so hard to guess how it would end
it was another captivating read from this author

“Good/bad, innocent/guilty. That’s fine in fiction; real life is not so clear-cut.”

Fans of the film ' Glass Onion' will love this take on the classic murder mystery. Alex Michaelides gives us an unreliable narrator in Elliot Chase, who tells us, in truth, a love story with a good mystery on the side. Through the many twists and turns, time jumps and POV changes, we are given a deeper look into the lives of Elliot, his friend Kate, and the alluring Lana Farrar and her family, all of whom come to Lana's private Greek Island for an Easter weekend they will never forget.

I found the narrator's direct conversation with the audience refreshing, although constantly questioning whether we had all the details through Elliot's perspective left me with anxiety! Overall, I found the first few acts of the book beautifully set up the ending, and left me wanting to read the book all in one sitting to discover the truth of the murderer. While the narration style took a moment to adjust to, I found myself looking forward to the additional details we would get in each chapter...details that helped color the cast of characters and their complex relationships with one another. The only true downside to this style of writing was that I didn't feel I could truly connect with the characters, as the unreliable narrator made me feel as if I never knew who they truly were.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for the ARC!