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!

A group of friends trapped on a Greek island; an affair, old friendships, and a murder.

The best part of this book was the narration. I really enjoyed the narrator and how he was telling the story. There were quite a few twists. It was a very unique and unusual story that I wasn’t expecting. Anyone who is a fan of drama and theater will enjoy this one.

“It’s a tale of beautiful, well-intentioned failure - ending in death. Which is a pretty good metaphor for life, isn’t it? Well - my life, anyway.”

The Fury comes out 1/16.

Elliot Chase, the narrator, has a story to tell us about a murder…or maybe it’s a love story. It’s hard to say. Lana is a beautiful actress who owns Aura, a remote island where the murder takes place. She brings her son Leo, her husband Jason, Kate and Elliott (two of her friends), and Agathi who she employs. Nikos lives on the island, taking care of the house, so he’s there too. Lots (and lots) of backstory and scene setting happens, and then there is a murder...but it doesn’t turn out quite the way you think it would. I was constantly questioning what parts of the story were real and what wasn't, which kept me interested and engaged throughout the entire book.

Full of drama and short chapters, The Fury was hard to put down. I really enjoyed this one!

Note: Don’t read this one if you haven’t read the Silent Patient and plan to - it contains a pretty big spoiler.

Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the advance review copy!

If you go into this hoping for a light who-dun-it set on a beautiful Greek island, you may be disappointed. This is a tightly written twisty look into ourselves and the stories we tell ourselves (set on that beautiful Greek island). The prose is lovely and Michaelides has really hit his stride.

The narrator made the book an absolute page turner. I'll be honest and say that for the first act, I wasn't sure that I liked the style of the narration - there is a lot of talking to the reader - but as I read I realized that this was all part of Michaelides's brilliant plan.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon for giving me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The Fury" by Alex Michaelides unfolds as an irresistible and intriguing tale, following movie star Lana Farrar on a last-minute trip to her private Greek island. Trapped on this remote haven with her husband Jason, son Leo, and four close friends, resentments and jealousies build to a murderous climax.

Narrated in the first person by Lana's close friend, Elliot, the story employs an unreliable narrator who gradually unveils each character's secrets and backstories. Structured into five acts, this unique format adds an unusual layer to the thriller genre. As stormy winds intensify on the island, so does the tension, fueled by unreciprocated feelings, betrayal, and obsessions, creating an atmosphere of impending doom. Shocking twists throughout the narrative lead to an unforgettable ending.

"The Fury" is a suspenseful, disturbing, and fast-paced read, infused with a touch of glamour and Greek mythology. Michaelides' expert storytelling, combined with an unreliable narrator, offers a compelling exploration of love, revenge, and murder against the backdrop of a luxurious Greek island. For readers seeking a thrilling narrative with unique structural elements and unexpected twists, "The Fury" delivers an engaging and suspenseful experience.

Thank-you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of The Fury by Alex Michaelides in return for my honest review..

I am a fan of Alex Michaelides. I especially loved his book The Silent Patient, which provided an ending I did not see coming. This is extraordinary for a person who is always reading. It is difficult to surprise an avid reader, but this author did it in the very best of ways. When a debut novel is so extraordinary, books that follow, which would be considered very good otherwise, suffer by comparison, and that’s what I think is happening for me with The Fury. The Fury is a very well-told, well-written story. It catches the reader’s attention and engages them from the first pages.

The opening informs the reader that this is a Why-Done-It not a Who-Done-It, and although I liked the idea of a Why-Done-It, the technique lost its flare as the story progressed. At a certain point, the reader gets tired of being fed bread crumbs and wants to get immersed in the story. I liked this book. I enjoyed reading this book, but it will not be remembered like The Silent Patient will be.

That being said, I will anxiously await Michaelides’ next book. I will read anything he writes. He is a talented writer with smart, interesting ideas. The author has a problem. His debut was just too good, and that’s not the worst problem to have.

The Fury was a highly addictive and impossible to put down. This isn't necessarily a fast paced thriller but it's deep the narrators keeps things really interesting as he tells the story. I enjoyed the slower pacing because the book took time to focus on backgrounds for the characters. I really feel like I got to know them by the end. The plot was really interesting and thanks to Elliot being quite an unreliable narrator, it was easy to make incorrect assumptions about what was going to happen. I loved the final plot twist as well. If you haven't added this to your tbr yet I highly recommend it for thriller fans.

Thank you to celadon books and netgalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

What an absolutely brilliant book! Would definitely recommend this novel! I am so excited for release day so I can obtain a physical copy! I need it as a trophy on my shelf for sure!!!