Fury - Elizabeth Miles

Fury – Elizabeth Miles

Pages: 370

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Release Date: 1^st September 2011

Introducing a slick and sexy supernatural thriller from a talented debut author.

Em loves the winter holidays. And this year, things are really looking up: the guy she's been into for months has finally noticed her. But if she starts something with him, there's no turning back. Because he's going out with her best friend.

On the other side of town, Chase's home life is stressful and his social life's unravelling. But that's nothing compared to what's really haunting him. For Chase has done something cruel - something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it's only a matter of time before he's exposed.

Mistakes can be deadly. And three beautiful, mysterious girls are about to make them pay...

With such an alluring and promising synopsis, Fury looked to be a brilliantly indulgent read, but, for me, I didn't quite live up to expectations.

My main issue with Fury lay with the main characters of the novel: I didn't like them. Em committed one of the biggest crimes a girl can carry out, although the blame doesn’t lie only with her; Chase stepped on anyone and everyone to procure his popularity and then used it to his advantage and Zach, well, he was just a bit of a jerk. But for most of the novel I was wondering what Chase could possibly have done to incur the wrath of the Furies and when it was revealed I wasn’t disappointed. JD is the only character is the novel who I actually liked. He’s a genuinely lovely guy who got caught up in the revenge of Ty, Ali and Meg.   

Those girls are three people (kind of) who I would definitely not like to get on the wrong side of. They are evil and extremely creepy in their way of enacting justice on those they believe have done wrong. Their talent for fitting the punishment to the crime is scary and brilliant and this provides an ominous backdrop for the events of the novel. And with their trademark blood red orchid marking their targets, I’m sure I’ll never be able to see one without wondering who has incited the rage of the Furies.

The idea of the Furies is something that fascinates me. I love reading about Greek mythology and their inclusion in YA is something that is not done often enough. I actually expected there to be a bit more of their mythology included in Fury. It was briefly touched on near to the end of the novel, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. I’m hopefully that as Em’s story continues she’ll delve into the world of Furies much more deeply in the second book of the trilogy.

Though Fury didn't quite live up to my expectations, I did end up enjoying it and I’m curious enough to read the sequel.

For my 2011 Debut Author Challenge

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with a review copy.

Sophie