Murder, in 5 acts.
I wasn’t sure how this one was going to go. The first half was confusing and yet boring. I was lost, but intrigued. It was the POV/narrator keeping me going. The shifts of perspective and even breaking the 4th wall were so unique.
THEN…then the last 30% was a cluster of WTF?! Not only did it surprise me over and over, but it was so twisty, I almost feel unsatisfied. It’ll linger with me.
If it weren’t for the first half being a slow, painful journey, this one might be my favorite of this author. But alas, I nearly filed it DNF. Nearly.

The audiobook narrator has a pleasant voice that is easily understood at faster rates. He provided personality to an otherwise mundane, at times, POV.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and author Alex Michaelides for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first time reading anything by this author and sadly, I was not impressed.

Unfortunately, I have nothing positive to say about this book. The plot was ridiculous, the main character was annoying, and the pace was so SLOW. The narrator, Elliot Chase, constantly nodding and talking to the reader did not help. The anticipation of what big twist would happen next quickly turned to frustration with how the narrator dangled it in front of the reader and then went on to talk about something else time and time again.

So about the characters. As you've probably gathered, I was not a fan of the narrator, Elliot Chase. He was incredibly unlikable, straight up insufferable, and because we didn't really get to know the other characters I didn't care about them at all. This was messy.

*ARC provided by Celadon Books & Macmillan in exchange for an honest review*

First & foremost I want to say thank you to Netgalley & Macmillan audio for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for a review based on my own opinion .

Elliot chase, the narrator, and his 5 friends head off to a Greek island on Easter weekend for a quick get away. During their visit there is many twists and turns that will leave you guessing until the last sentence. And I promise you, you will not guess the ending. This book definitely gave me "shutter island vibes."

I loved that this book had short chapters. It keeps me engaged and wanting more. The length of the book (320 pages) is a perfect amount to me.

Only con I really had was the narrator, no fault of his own, I just have a hard time listening to a narrator with a thick British accent. I am more focused on their accent, not the story.

This book reminded me alot of the Silent Patient & I loved the layering in the book, the story never seemed to stop unfolding.

I look forward to more by Alex Michaelides.

3.5/5 due to the narration which is just a personal preference and a spoiler which I will not reveal. Just read it for yourself when it's on January 16!

This is a solid 3.5 star read for me! I LOVED the Silent Patient, so I will definitely continue to read this author.
The Fury has a unique concept, which is refreshing because I read a lot of thrillers. It's a "why done it" rather than a whodunnit. The story is mostly in play format and told by an unreliable omniscient narrator. I think it would definitely appeal to Agatha Christie lovers! The Fury is a character study and therefore a little slow to get into at first. It's also kind of chaotic as an audiobook because of all the characters and all the jumping around. I have the physical copy of the book too and if I reread, I'll try that version. I didn't see the twists coming, but they weren't super shocking. However, it fit with the style of book. The epilogue was good! Thank you for the advance audiobook!

Hmmm okay so I wasn’t the biggest fan of this one.

Honestly, I was bored for two-thirds of it and when the plot twists started happening, I was just kinda annoyed and didn’t really care that much, about the plot or about any of the characters.

Also, I’m not a huge fan of how it’s narrated. One of the main characters - Elliot - narrates the story and it’s from his point of view. He speaks a lot as if he’s talking to you, the reader, which I’m not a big fan on.

Overall, it was only okay. It’s a 2.5 stars for me and rounded down to two on this review.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to review the audiobook version of The Fury. I attest my review is my own unbiased evaluation of this new novel.

Having previously listened to Alex Michaelides' The Silent Patient, I was anxious to hear this new work entitled The Fury. The Fury is named for strong and sometimes violent winds, and the windy weather plays a prominent role on a Greek island in this book. The weather is not the main character; that role belongs to a reclusive former actress Lana Farrar who has invited some of her closest friends to spend Easter weekend on her private island.

This may sound a bit like the wonderful Agatha Christie novel Ten Little Indians (also retitled And Then There Was One) but this work differs in that there is only a single murder on the island--but who dies? Michaelides teases the reader/listener with a twisting plot.

The other main character is Elliott Chase, who serves as the narrator of the story. This is not to be confused with the narrator of the audiobook itself, Alex James, whose talents add to the richness of the story.

Like the Silent Patient, The Fury features many twists and turns that keeps the listener/reader guessing as to what will happen next. It is a modern Greek tragedy for sure! I can't offer a lot more without spoilers, which I try to avoid in my reviews.

Let me just conclude by saying if you read the Silent Patient you will enjoy this murder mystery. In my view, the Silent Patient was a masterpiece of a book. While The Fury is very good, it is a different experience for the reader. I give it 4.5 stars.

I received a copy of this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Another great book by Alex Michaelides!! Loved it....lots of twists and turns!!

I really could not get into this, the narrative style turned me off from the beginning and kept me from connecting with the story itself.

This is my first Michaelides book, and I am sad to say it was really quite boring for a "thriller."

The narrator talks to the reader the entire time, and not just about himself. Somehow he knew what happened when he wasn't there, he knew what the other characters were thinking (this particularly bothered me, he knows what they are thinking?), he told you things that didn't actually happen and then had to start over and tell it correctly. He wasn't unreliable in a way that built tension, he was unreliable to the point that it didn't matter what he said because most of it wasn't true. His entire character was gimmicky and unlikeable. The other cast of characters were flat and undeveloped, I had no interest in any of them being the killer or the killed, and so I was just getting through a boring book.

The twists that we were promised repeatedly? First we are told oh but wait here's a twist, and then he goes on a huge tangent about his childhood. By the time you get to the twist it's like whatever, who cares. Oh and then there's a second and third one at which point the absurdity is off the charts. However the third twist did lead directly to the only likely conclusion of the book, so it was shockingly unshocking how it all ended.

Two stars because while I hated the style and the plot, the writing and narration were good, and it was short.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved this book! It gave me Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie vibes while being a totally different, fresh plot. The narration kept me hooked from the very first page…Alex Michaelides writes the “potentially unreliable solo narrator” so well, and I love how all of his books are woven together in a small way. Such a wonderful, atmospheric mystery! And the audiobook narration was absolutely perfect!!

3/5 stars

Thank you Macmillan audio for the advanced listening copy!

Lana Farrar, a former movie star, is used to being in the tabloids, and so are her closest friends. Many people remember what happened on her idyllic private Greek island years ago, but almost no one remembers it correctly. That's where Elliot Chase comes in. As our narrator, Elliot walks us through the REAL story of those island days, the one the papers didn't tell you. Trapped on an island with Lana's closest friends, secret motives and epic hatred is sure to end in a murder... but who is responsible? And why? The world may never know... but Elliot does.

The whole time I was like 🤔🤨🧐

I really wanted to love this one, and in some ways, I did. I love an unreliable narrator like Elliot -- this book gave EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE vibes and I loved that. Especially on audio, it felt like Elliot was talking TO me, and that was really fun.

That being said, I actually think this would have been better NOT on audio. I didn't love the narrator at first (though, I grew to!) and I think that prevented me from getting invested right off the bat. Some of the information was hard to follow on audio, especially the time jumps, and there were times when I wasn't totally sure what was going on. To be honest, I think this book could have been 15% shorter and I would have gone from liking it to loving it.

The good news, though, was that this book was totally surprising. Like I said, I loved the point of view we were given into the murder and an unreliable narrator is *chef's kiss.* There were TONS of twists and I could not have possibly guessed where we ended up, or where we went along the way. Unique in style and plot, twisty, silly at times, atmospheric -- this book had it all. I really wish I had loved this one, but I absolutely LIKED it, and I'd still recommend everyone give it a read.

Thank you Celadon Books to access to this ARC audiobook. I was so excited to listen to The Fury, being that The Silent Patient has been one of my favorite books!

The Fury is a five-act Greek tragedy, locked-house murder mystery, and love story. It takes place on a luxurious Greek private island, and the characters are all connected to a former world renowned actress.

One thing that made the book unique was that the narrator kept circling around to retell the story, adding more details and layers each time- this could have been a great build up, but it became tedious unfortunately.

The narrator was unlikable, and his reliability constantly shifts. There was also inclusion of additional threads- a wasp nest, a play, that did not seem to add to the story and made it feel disjointed.

Despite this, I still eagerly await future works by this author!

Set up as an isolated murder mystery, we are introduced to the characters and events through a wildly unreliable narrator who, with each new chapter, becomes more and more unhinged. This was a fun, fast-paced thriller and I really enjoyed the audio performance.

Review will be posted on Bookstagram on pub date: https://www.instagram.com/readinginstead/

“𝘚𝘰, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳?”

Thanks Celadon books for the physical ARC and NetGalley for the e-copy and audiobook as well. Honestly, when my physical copy arrived I totally famgirled as there’s been much hyped about this one for months! And it still hasn’t released yet! Soon though - 1/16 - and the hype is fairly worth it. Has Death on the Nile and Glass Onion vibes for sure, but at the same time it’s quite different. It was theatrical, ominous, psychological, and intriguing.

I’ve actually never read Michaelides’ other books so this my introduction to this author and I liked it but at times it felt like it was shifting back/forth in perspective from first to third-person. Perhaps that’s intentional with our unreliable narrator. It’s told in 5 “acts”, some starting in the past leading up to the climax with different layers of the greater story so at times it felt a bit repetitive but each includes details or perspectives that weren’t disclosed before, and the chapters are short. I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the audiobook as I didn’t care for the voice of the narrator (sorry!) Content and trigger warnings include murder, light profanity, some drug and alcohol use, infidelity, mentions of childhood abuse/bullying, and one character is alluded to being an escort for an older woman.

Overall, with the twists that eventually come as it played out in a way I had predicted, I give it 3.75, round up to 4.

Set on a beautiful Green island, owned by beautiful film star Lana Farrar, The Fury is part murder mystery, part twisted love story, and mostly madness.
The narrator, Elliot Chase, attends a getaway on the island, with his friend Lana, her son, her husband, their friend Kate and a couple of employees. We are promised a murder form the start... but who's murder? and why?
The twists and turns don't stop as Chase, the most unreliable of narrators, attempts to puppets the other guests on the island to dance their way through a script he has planned out for them in which he ends up with the girl.
But can he?
This was a lot of fun... but there was A LOT going on, so it really got a bit overwhelming towards the end, but overall enjoyable.

Sadly… this one missed the mark for me. I was Such a huge fan of The Silent Patient, but his follow up books have not given me that same feeling. It’s sometimes hard to love up to a great debut.

This story overall did not hold my interest. I didn’t care for our unreliable narrator, Elliot, one bit. I actually found all of the characters unlikeable which made it hard for me to stay engaged. By the end of it, I found myself not caring who died or who did it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an ARC of The Fury in exchange for an honest review.

Seven people are alone for a weekend on a private Greek Island owned by the famous former movie star, Lana Farrar. There’s Lana, her husband Jason, and her son Leo. There are her friends—or maybe frenemies—fellow actress Kate and playwright Elliot. Finally, there’s the staff: Lana’s longtime housekeeper Agathy and the island’s caretaker, Nikos. Allegedly designed to be a relaxing trip with friends and family, several of the seven have come to the island with secrets and secret agendas. So it’s not entirely surprising that before the end of the weekend, at least one of the seven has been murdered ….

The above description may make The Fury sound like every Agatha Christie book you’ve ever read, but the similarities pretty much stop with the set up. The story is being told not by some omniscient narrator, but by Elliot, who speaks to the reader like we’re having a private conversation and who very quickly reveals he’s not the most reliable of narrators. His version of the story loops back upon itself several times, as we see a scene, then see it again with more context, and then again with him recounting another character’s perspective. Or he’ll describe a scene, and then admit it didn’t really happen like that, and then tell what truly happened.

The Fury is a solid mystery with multiple plot and narrative twists that will likely come as a surprise. Still, I suspect your enjoyment of The Fury will probably be made of broken by how much you are captivated by Elliot’s storytelling style. I found it fairly original and certainly absorbing. I enjoyed the five act structure and the many digressions that examine these characters and situations as if they were fictional (which, of course, we know they are). And the audiobook narration by Alex Jennings—who played the Duke of Windsor on The Crown—is great. He’s a talented actor who very effectively conveyed Elliot’s contradictions and foibles. Recommended.

A fun mystery with some Hollywood glam, an unreliable narrator and a gossipy vibe. While the plot didn’t really surprise, it was entertaining.

4.25/5

As a fan of The Silent Patient and The Maidens, I had high hopes for this book. This book was definitely entertaining, but it did not live up to my expectations. I enjoyed the unreliable narrator, but it did make it difficult at points knowing what was real or not. As in his previous novels, you never know where the story is going; the third act twist definitely surprised me. All in all, I did enjoy the book even though it did not meet my high expectations.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This is the first book by Alex Michaelides that I’ve read although I’m familiar with his other works. I was drawn in by the way the story is structured, as though we’re being told the story first hand. It has a very intimate quality to it, like you’re being let in on a secret. But soon it’s all too apparent that our unnamed narrator (later revealed as Elliott Chase) is completely unreliable.

We’re told early on that the events that transpired - where a group of people holiday on a remote Greek island and someone ends up dead - are told entirely from Elliott’s perspective even going so far as to fill in thoughts of others and dialogue for moments that he was absent for.

Clearly, he’s leading the story which I was happy to allow because as I said you’re pulled in by the intimacy of feeling like you're getting in on the secret of finding out what happened. Considering one of the people in the group that day was a famous and beloved actress and it adds another layer of almost salacious gossip. But don’t get too comfortable as the narrative quickly twists to add other unforeseen layers.

Told like the acts of a play, I really appreciated the way in which Alex Michaelides added those layers of the story. It lends itself well to the performative aspect of Elliott's iteration of events. The repetition between the "acts" while also revealing new morsels of information was done really well.

While I like the reframing of the story as we go - which allows for a lot of change of perspective - I think it treads too fine a line and for me just crossed over into being too much. Too much unreliability in the things I was reading. Little to nothing that I could believe in without a shadow of a doubt which is an aspect I need in my books, even if it's just a morsel of truth. Unfortunately, all of this boils into the conclusion of the book, so it's not until then that I could confidently say that these were issues for me.

Beyond that, I did like the narrative choice. Despite being unlikable and unreliable, I like Elliott. He has a charisma about him that comes across so well, particularly in the audiobook as narrated by Alex Jennings. You can't help but lean into the story to see where he takes you.

Jennings further layers this kind of sinister quality into Elliott's voice at times which makes one a bit wary and unsettled. You almost brace yourself for the other shoe to drop and realize you're doing this throughout the entirety of the book.

Overall, I think it's a worthy read (or listen). I'd say it's more of a character study than a hard-hitting mystery. Maybe that's the key that I was missing while reading.