When the unreliable narrator tells you he’s unreliable and then keeps telling you, you start to question what parts of his story are true. And perhaps that’s exactly what Alex Michaelides had in mind when he wrote this book.

I don’t know how any author could follow a debut like The Silent Patient; one of the twistiest psychological thrillers and one that sets a standard for the genre. Unfortunately, The Fury doesn’t quite deliver on it’s potential. There’s lots of promise in the plot: the murder of a famous actress on an isolated Greek island with a handful of suspects. Told in five acts, the pace of the beginning is not sustained throughout the book and the middle drags a bit. It picks up again in the last act and epilogue resulting in an overload of reveals and redirections. Like Michaelides’s previous novels, I was questioning myself at the end of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Special thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy to read and review!

Easter weekend. A reclusive ex-movie star invites her dearest and closest to her private Greek island in the Mediterranean. As the winds howl and tempers flair, someone ends up dead. And now there’s a murderer on the loose.

In his third novel, Michaelides returns to his roots with Agatha Christie references, first person narrative (which I think will make for an excellent audiobook -- especially with Alex Jennings narrating!), and short propulsive chapters that hook you in and never let you go. As a result, I did have a high need to know which kept me turning pages. This novel fell somewhere between THE SILENT PATIENT (which I LOVED) and THE MAIDENS for me, which made for an enjoyable and fast read.

The best part of the novel (in my opinion), was the setting. I loved visiting a remote Greek island in the Mediterranean, and would highly recommend reading it outside on a windy night for a 10/10 atmospheric experience. I’m also now regularly checking flights to Athens with a huge desire to explore that part of the world.

I’d recommend this one if you enjoyed his previous novels, are a big Agatha Christie fan, or a lover of the unreliable narrator.

CW: gun violence, murder, addiction, alcoholism

This story is told primarily in first person by Elliott. Elliott is a playwright and tells his story in five Acts with the dramatic flair of the theater, and some of the embellishments, too. It begins with a group of family and friends invited by an award-winning ex-actress to her private island in Greece aptly named Aura. It’s enticing and mysterious with twists and turns. Just like one would expect from a psychological thriller by Michaelides. If you haven’t read one, I definitely recommend.

I enjoyed the setting and the characters. It’s told in extremely short chapters. The kind where you say, I’ll just read one more then realize, oh! I already have and suddenly it’s midnight. I think your affinity for this book will depend on how much you enjoy the character of Elliott as he sets the scene and colors in the relationships and their connections.

Recommended to psychological thriller lovers and isolated island murder mysteries with a twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

Have you ever finished a book and just sat there not sure how you feel about it? That was me with this one. I honestly don’t know how to properly articulate my thoughts and feelings on this one. So, I’m just going to leave you with a random brain dump of notes I took while listening to the audiobook version.

- [ ] Barbara is the epitome of what I would consider an “Old Hag” especially the vocals that made he sounds like she smoked a pack a day for the last 30 years.
- [ ] In the beginning I originally thought of Elliot similar to the gay best friend. He ended up being a self loathing sleaze ball upset he didn’t get the pretty girl in the end. For how much he “loves her” he has his own agenda.
- [ ] The book has two major “themes” no that’s not the right term… two major…reoccurring points 🤷‍♀️… idk one being the aspect of it all being a Play and the other being “The Fury” or the wind. The whole thing is a play that’s not a play and a murder that’s not a murder? Confused yet?!
- [ ] The wind…this story definitely made my head spin like it was in a gayle.
- [ ] I will never trust an actor in real life because I would never be able to tell if they were acting or not. I would always question if they were playing a part. This type of thought might also be why I have a tattoo that says “Trust no one” 😂😳
- [ ] By the end of the book I really just wanted it to end. It felt like it kept dragging on and on and the author wasn’t sure how he really wanted to end it.
- [ ] My final thought was …SO WHO THE HELL ACTUALLY DIED?!

Much appreciation to @netgalley and @celadon books for the early access to this highly anticipated 2024 read!

#celandonbooks #netgalley #thefury #alexmichaelides #2024newreleases

DNF @ 14%. This might have been good if I had read it instead of trying the audiobook but I found it very hard to listen to.

Thanks to NetGalley, Celadon Books & MacMillan Audio for advance copies

The Fury follows a famous actress, her husband, her son, and her two best friends as they go on a private island and this vacation ends in a murder. The story is told from the point of view of Elliot, one of Lana's good friends and it is told from the future looking back and Elliot is aware of the audience. There are times where the narrator talks to the audience and the story jumps around timelines and characters a lot. Most of the people involved are in the film/play industry so the book has a play like aspect that explores common film and play tropes.

I loved this book! I love when a narrator is self-aware and talks to the audience. I love that trope in books. It talks a lot about murder mystery tropes and film tropes and how this story is different than a typical murder mystery. I also loved how the story jumped around a lot (a know this will bother some people but I enjoyed it). It made the story different than any normal murder mystery/thriller. There were so many different twists throughout the story and I just had to keep reading to find out the truth. I read it in only 2 sittings, I could not put it down. You think the story is done and then BAM there is another twist that changes everything. This story had a wide web that slowly unravels to reveal the truth in the end. I also loved the island setting and the bits of Greek mythology and lore throughout.

I know some people will not like this book. The story jumps around a lot and is pretty unhinged. The characters are all pretty unlikeable and it is hard to root for anyone. However, it all worked for me and I loved how this one was different from other thrillers. It has similar tropes but it is a bit different and it works.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Celadon books for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
•
This is my second by Michaelides and let me just say I am a very big fan. The Fury was such a refreshing and unique ode to Agatha Christie’s looked room mysteries. It is such an atmospheric and suspenseful read that you will read it in no time.
•
Written as a story being told almost as if a screen play by the narrator, you get a nonlinear timeline in five acts where you learn about these very unlikeable characters, their secrets and all of their combined drama. It’s a slow burn for sure, but the short chapters makes The Fury a very quick and singable read. Also, I enjoyed all of the greek myths in this one.
•
There are a bunch of twists and turns in this one, just when you think you have a grasp on what is happening, boom, you’ll be knocked off your feet once again with another twist. and there are nods to Michaelides The Silent Patient (if you have not read it please skip the epilogue), and according to others nods to The Maidens too (I have not read that one yet).
•
I was able to read this and listen to The Fury which was a huge treat. The narration by Alex Jennings was superb. I absolutely loved everything about his telling of this story, he made it feel real. If you are an audiobook fan - be sure to check this one out.
•
The Fury comes out on 1/16 and you are definitely going to want to get this one!! Huge thank you to Netgalley, MacMillan Audio and Celadon Books for the ARC, eARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review!

2.5 stars

It pains me to write this review as I love Alex Michaelides a lot and I've recommended it to everyone. His books are amazing and those who didn't read or finish the other two, don't know what they are missing.

The Fury was very different from his previous books and for me they were not different in a good way.
The book is narrated/ told from Elliott's perspective, which in the beginning it felt like a fun approach but it's starting to wear off pretty fast and it is the ultimate downside of the book, by the end of it. There are too many instances where Elliott is fabricating another story. Oh this is how it was supposed to go but actually this is how it went. And that might work once or twice but it was far too often.
There are also so many plot twists in the end, one more unbelievable and unrealistic than the other and that had the opposite effect for me as I didn't care anymore who did what and why, i just wanted it to end.
The other part that worked against the novel is that I haven't succeed to connect with any of the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for this amazing opportunity! I am looking forward to Alex Michaelides next book.

a very meta, Glass Onion-esque kind of story.

books that dive straight into the thick of it are a little lost on me. i prefer slow builds and suspense rather than immediate giveaways -- which is to no fault of the author, but it was a little difficult to get into.

narrator-heavy books aren't really my thing either, and this book had a ton of narration, which made it hard for me personally to immerse myself in the world and let it flow. it felt the the narrator was talking AT me rather than talking to me.

the plot was there, but the execution was off. i just wish the descriptions were less lengthy and not always necessary, especially in something like a murder-mystery where less is usually more.

that being said, it was an interesting read!

Read the prologue of this and I promise, you will be SOLD!

Cleverly written and engaging from page one, the Fury is told through the lens of Elliot Chase as he recounts his most recent trip to his friend’s private Greek island for Easter….which ultimately ends with one of the guests being murder.

I love how the story was written as if the narrator was talking to the reader. This conversational style allowed for the author to continuously recap the situation, review the cast of characters and bluntly remark on the turn of events. The past and present events weaved together seamlessly and the story was tactfully divided into five “acts” with short chapters that made it easy to keep turning the pages. While there was a slow burn feel to the story, the end definitely left me surprised!

Read if you like:
-Unique suspense plots
-Whodunit/ whydunit character study
-Greek island setting
-Famous characters
-Short chapters
-Agatha Christie references
-Everyone in My Family Killed Someone

This book was just okay. I felt like the ending of the novel went completely off the rails and was just a free for all. I did enjoy the creepy unreliable narrator.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123206645

It pains me to say this but this did not work for me. I loved his other book, The Silent Patient and I was ecstatic to read this early thanks to NetGalley but this had some problems for me. The unreliable narrator constantly addresses us as the readers and says this is where it gets good, this is where it gets devious, I’m about to tell you something and then it’s a letdown and it happens over and over. Not enough is done to develop him as a character so that you care about him or what he has to say. I loved the premise, I loved the Greek island setting. I love how he weaves Greek mythology stories into his work but this book didn’t hit the mark for me. The writing was not up to the caliber of his other books. It was so slow for a thriller and by the time anything really happens it’s predictable and feels contrived. Sadly a miss for me

Lana Farrar is an ex-movie star who invites her friends to her private Greek island for Easter and a chance to escape London’s depressing weather. We’re told right off the bat that it ends up with a murder. We’re also told it is a love story at heart. I really enjoyed The Silent Patient by the author, so I was excited to jump into this book. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. Although I liked the book overall, it didn’t grab me the way the other book did. I found the storytelling by the narrator, Elliot, a bit too much. He wants to fill you in on the events of the night of the murder, but then remembers something else he has to fill in for you to make the story complete. I felt there were too many of these “start and stops”. A lot of surprises were brought up and this held my interest but I would’ve liked it better if it was more straightforward and not so meandering in style. As I said, overall I liked the book, just wasn’t crazy about it. I give the book 3.5 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*cue the maniacal laughter*

This freaking book. I found it super interesting that it was told in almost second person, but also from our omniscient narrator Elliott. There's so much going on and Alex Michaelides does a great job of juggling it. Using the play acts as a structure was genius and fit so well with Elliott's character. This book twists and twists until it's all coiled up and then we just wait for the tension to boil over. I predicted some parts of it, but others were a complete surprise to me and I enjoyed it a lot. Plus the remote Greek island adds even more stress (and beauty) to the storyline. The ending felt so well-deserved, yet open-ended. I'm definitely back on the Alex Michaelides train.

*Thank you to Celadon and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and to Celadon for the gifted copy*

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars! That was definitely a wild ride! Elliot Chase is the narrator of the story and he tells the story of Lana and her friends as they visit her private island and how someone is murdered. Or are they? Elliot is a writer and he tells us what happens on the island that led up to the murder. Is what he saying fact or fiction? And who is murdered and why? Read this addictive page turning thriller to find out the answers!

✨T H E F U R Y✨
🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝑀𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓇
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝕁𝕒𝕟𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝟙𝟞, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

"𝓗𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶 𝓽𝓸—𝓷𝓸 𝓪𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮, 𝓷𝓸 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮. 𝓝𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓽.“

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Lana Farrar is an ex-movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her friends to escape and spend Easter on a secluded Greek island. This year, the escape ends in violence and murder. Narrated from the perspective of Lana’s best friend Elliot Chase. A story that you think you know…but think again, you have no idea.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
I will read anything that Alex Michaelides writes! “The Silent Patient” was my first hard core love in to the world of mystery and thrillers. “The Fury” will keep you on your toes and leave you in awe of Michaelides writing and his ability to transmit you in to the mind of the narrator. This story starts with a lot of character development, but once the action starts it becomes almost impossible to put down. And that ending🤯. I had to read the last page multiple times. This uniquely written psychological thriller will have you feeling all kinds of emotions and have you guessing each step of the way.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Psychological thrillers🔪
💫Agatha Christie meets Greek Tragedy🧐
💫Secluded island 🏝️
💫Twists and turns🔀
💫Unreliable Narrator🗣️
💫Short chapters📖
💫”Whydunit”⁉️
💫Betrayal, secrets, drama🤐
💫Character and plot driven📈
💫Mind blowing ending 🤯

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: infidelity, child bullying, death.⚠️

🧿𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🧿
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💕Q U O T E: “𝐼 𝑜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝒩𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁. 𝒪𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒, 𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓌𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝑒𝓈, 𝒹𝑜 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎—𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒻𝒾𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓈—𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝓌𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝒽𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓉.”


🙏 Thank you Celadon books for sending me this #gifted copy.

I LOVED this book. I devoured it in one day. Less than 24 hours. I think this story was incredibly unique. A play-write, writes a play to explain a murder. Michaelides the KING of twists and I couldn’t count the number of them in this one. Also he somehow connects all of his books together in the smallest of ways which I adore. I also really enjoyed how this was formatted, being 5 parts of a play and the short chapters is always a hit for me.

This may be my favorite thriller to date but is my top thriller of 2023.

4.5/5 ⭐️ Thank you for the ARC from Caledon Books. I was so excited to have received a copy. The Fury is a mystery/thriller…. But also a love story! 7 people meet up on the beautiful Greek island called Aura. This story is told by a narrator Elliot Chase.

I enjoyed this book as it was a very quick read for me. I was highly intrigued in the story and wanted to see how it played out as there was ALOT of drama to cover. As for Lana, one of the characters I got the movie star Evelyn Hugo vibe which was really fun to visit. I also love anything set in the UK and add a Greek island, yes please!

I could see how this book could lead on a confusing, slow, and sometimes boring as the story skips around. It almost feels like you are backtracking, the narrator is leading you to believe wrong, and the detail is all over the place. But, as I got to the last 50 pages I was hooked, it was a page turner by that point. Overall, I loved this book, with all the genres incorporated you felt like you got a taste of mystery, thriller, romance, and fiction!

This story sucked me in from the prologue. Written in a distinct narrator voice that is reminiscent of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, The Fury is a story told by narrator Elliot Chase, who recounts a recent trip to his friend's private island in Greece. Atmospheric and transportative, this story is about murder...and love.

The best part about this story is the voice of the narrator-- it is such an enjoyable reading experience when you feel like you're sitting across the table from them as they share the story. Initially, I thought I knew what kind of book this was, but it ultimately turned into something else. Michaelides totally knocked it out of the park on this one!

I’m a massive Alex Michaelides fan, he’s the reason I got back into reading as an adult back in 2019! I nearly cried when I got this book early in the mail, I’ve been anticipating it’s release for so long!

In true michaelides fashion, the writing in this is incredible and I loved the angle he took with the main character and how he tells the story. It’s a very character driven story but the way the narrator tells it, it keeps pulling you back in and saying “wait a second.” I would say it’s the least thrilling of his three books but like with the other two, there’s a twist I never even remotely saw coming. The setting was great, the cast of characters were interesting, the overall story just didn’t wow me like I hoped. I still had a good time reading it and will forever rave about his stories.

Thank you so much Celadon for the early access!