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.

What works in the book: the setting and the narration. Alex Jennings does a masterful job in telling this story which helped pull me along during the slower parts. Like Michaelides’s previous novels, I was questioning myself at the end of the book.

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

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

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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!

The Fury has an unusual structure for the genre and will be best enjoyed by fans of slow burn and character-driven stories. The narrator says it’s more of a character study than a murder mystery and I agree with that - but it’s a gripping character study! Genre purists may not love this, but those who read across genres indiscriminately in search of a good story (cough, cough, *me*) will have a great time.

The Act IV twist was not at all what I expected! It really pulled the story together and made for such a satisfying finish.

Thanks, NetGalley and Celadon, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My mind is still reeling from the shocks and emotional impact of the story. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, I was fortunate to listen to the audiobook version of The Fury. The narration by Alex Jennings was superb. Elliot Chase, a character in the story, tells about events on an island. I have always disliked books where an intrusive narrator chooses to address the reader and audience, but this was a magnificent and riveting exception. His friendly manner made me feel I was being told events he had experienced. He wanted me to admire his storytelling skills, intelligence and creativity, and clever plotting and scheming. I listened entranced, until Elliot was revealed to be an unreliable narrator and liar. Everything was turned upside down and backwards during the many twists, turns, and shocks.

This is a dark love story and psychological mystery. It is set on a remote Greek island, Aura, buffeted by howling winds that isolate it when they occur. These fierce winds are called the Fury. The title also refers to "Hell has no fury like a woman scorned." The island is owned by the gorgeous Hollywood star Lana Farrar and was gifted to her by her late first husband.

Lana has invited a group of friends to her private island. Her son Leo, her second husband Jason, and friends Kate and Elliot are attending. Nikos, the caretaker, and Agathi, the housekeeper, were also present. They bring jealousy, obsessions, lies, resentment, and thoughts of vengeance. The tension erupts in chaos. Shots ring out, and a murder occurs. Who was killed and why? The solution lies with the characters, but is Elliot telling the truth about what has happened?

The skillfully structured storyline involves references to Greek mythology and reads like a Greek tragedy. Events surrounding the murder are described from different perspectives. In this multilayered plot, I was captivated by the skillfully structured storyline, pace, and believable dialogue. At the same time, the description of events kept changing and made my head whirl. The story eventually overturned my beliefs and expectations.

Recommended. The publication is set for January 16.

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 macmillan audio and netgalley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I know I am in the minority here but I did not like this book. The first 75% is extremely slow. Then you have Elliot the narrator. He was boring, unreliable and uninteresting. You never get to know any of the characters and by the end I just didn't care.

Thank you to Celadon Books for a phsycial ARC and Netgalley for the ALC! This book comes out in January 2024.

This was an interesting book. I was quite intrigued by the way the story was told. The narrator (not the audio narrator, the book's lol) did get on my last nerve, but I cared enough to still go on with it. LOL There was tons of rich people problems, drama, backstabbing... my favorite things!

The audio - the audio narrator was very nice to listen to and I think his voice totally matched what I imagine the character would sound like.

It's difficult to review Alex Michaelides' The Fury without revealing spoilers, because the elements that didn't work for me are all things that would spoil key aspects of the book, but I will try my best.

What I enjoyed:
- I enjoyed the narration of the audiobook. Alex Jennings was, in my opinion, the perfect voice for Elliot.
- I enjoyed the setting on the tiny Greek island.
- Even though the author was slow to build suspense, I did find myself getting more and more drawn in as the story progressed.

What didn't quite work for me:
- I would have loved a bit more character depth or something more that would have allowed me to empathize with any of the characters. But I suspect that, due to the nature of the plot, this was an intentional choice on the part of the author.
- One of my biggest mystery/thriller pet peeves is when an author throws twists at you for the sake of throwing twists at you. I actually really enjoyed the narrative structure, and I appreciated that we got to hear the story several different times with additional perspectives and details added each time. I even enjoyed the way the narrator evolved into a deeply unreliable narrator. I think had Michaelides removed a layer or two of "twists" then I may have enjoyed the book significantly more.

Overall, I enjoyed Michaelides writing, and I would happily read more of the author's work. (I feel like I'm one of the only people who hasn't read The Silent Patient.) The Fury just didn't quite land for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

This was a fascinating thriller. It reads like a British classic ala Agatha Christie, but also a Greek tragedy. A murder occurs on a private island in Greece. Our narrator, Elliott, a playwright, weaves his tale like a a finally tuned theatre production. Lana, a gorgeous retired movie star, her husband, Jason, her son, her best friend and of course, Elliott our narrator, travel to Lana's private island over a long Easter weekend. They become trapped overnight and a murder occurs. Or does it? This may be a murder mystery but it's also a love story. Of sorts.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

WOW. This audio was a little hard to pay attention to, but the story itself was absolutely amazing! I finished it in a day because I couldn’t put it down!

I struggled with this one. Mostly because i didn’t care for the narrator. He was flat and i didn’t like his voice.

I think the book was a bit slow tho but didn’t eventually pick up and become more enjoyable. Very unique writing style

I was excited for this book because I loved a previous book by this author, The Silent Patient! I really like how this author includes Greek mythology and stories in his novels.

While I didn't particularly like the narrator, I liked that narration really fit the storyline, which is essentially a story being told to the reader and I would recommend this route.

Overall, this is a slow read. I found my attention waning at moments and the format lent itself to a lot of telling rather than showing. The descriptions were basic and mostly lacked sensory details, which made for a somewhat flat read, but I did like the mystery element. Also, I love the cover!

Honestly, I didn’t care for the book. The premise is interesting but it didn’t do it for me. It just doesn’t live up to The Silent Patient

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio

Wow! So many twist! I enjoyed it and it’s very well written and also a good story! I liked it!

Meh.
This is marketed as “masterfully paced thriller” nahhh. I found it rather trite and boring. Felt very Glass Onion but slower and the narrator was dull and forgettable. I kept forgetting his name lol. I think you are supposed to be blown away by the ending but by the time we finally got to the end it was like well duh…
I have a feeling it’s going to be a pretty divisive book. Some people will love it. I just unfortunately wasn’t one of those people.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy.

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 Macmillan Audio for this amazing opportunity! I am looking forward to Alex Michaelides next book.

Rating does not reflect finished work—

I think there was a mistake with my approval for this audiobook. It went straight to my “archived - not downloaded” shelf and I never had a chance to listen to it.

I loved Michaelides other two works, The Silent Patient and The Maiden, and I will be reading a copy as soon as it’s released.

This is definitely one of my favorite audiobooks I've listened to this year. The narrator did a great job pulling me in and voicing all the characters. There was never a time when I listened when I was bored or got the cast of characters confused. I liked the different voices the narrator used and how the narrator made them unique based on their characteristics. I also though the narrator's voice did an amazing job matching the pace of the story and what was going on which made for an incredible audiobook production.

Now relating to the story this is an interesting thriller that takes place mostly on a private island with the narrator Elliot, and his theater friends. The book's narrator is very unreliable and it’s one of those books where the narrator talks directly to the reader. Eliot’s friend Lana has been murdered, and so this book is not only a murder mystery but a why did they do it mystery. The narrator is all over the place and goes back and forth between the past and present timelines to let the reader understand the characters. It was so jarring at times to have the narrator speaking directly to me and it felt like a monologue but it all came together. I will say with this book you need to trust the process because the first act is very slow but it picks up during the second act. The last couple of acts were totally crazy and it was twist after twist. There’s drama, and all the characters definitely put on a show. Overall, once I finished the book, everything made so much sense. The narration and the writing style are different from the books I've read by this author, but it’s still a good thriller. I would say go into this book and don’t expect it to be the silent patient and I think it will be a more enjoyable and entertaining book.

Thanks to Celadon Books for the audiobook arc for an honest review.