Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Release Date: 1st September, 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 352pgs

The Story

Emily Winters has been in love with Zach for a while. The only problem is that he is going out with her best friend Gabs. But when Gabs goes on a family holiday, Em just can't resist temptation and hooks up with Zach behind her back.

Chase Singer's life is full of secrets but his harassment of a social outcast, who had spurned him before her fall from grace, spirals out of control when she tries to kill himself.

Now it's time for Em and Chase to discover that a little guilt isn't the only consequence of doing wrong, when three mysterious beautiful women - the Furies - come to town to make sure that they both get what they deserve.

Not everyone will survive and those who do will realise there are worse punishments than death. But when Em discovers more about who and what the Furies really are, she becomes resolved to take them down and stop their plans. Little does Em know that, by confronting the Furies, there will be hell to pay.

Seductive, dark and utterly unputdownable, Fury is a spellbinding story of love, backstabbing and revenge.

The Review

A big thank you to Caroline from Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

FURY was a young adult debut novel that I was really looking forward to this year because of its gorgeous cover (I mean look how captivating it is) and because I've always had a huge fascination with the myth of the Furies. The whole concept of revenge and karma being mixed into this paranormal twist is something readers will definitely love about this book. However, while I loved the idea of the storyline and the direction it was leading towards, but the characters themselves have a lot to answer for.

Cheating, back-stabbing, attempted suicide, more cheating, I-like-then-love-then-like-then-love-then-hate hookups, some added fist-fighting, and some other random keg parties . . . FURY is nonetheless quite a dramatic book filled with dramatic characters. Let's just say that it wasn't exactly my type of book. Emily Winters, the main character, was someone I loved and hated. You see she has a crush on her best friend's boyfriend and when her suppose 'best friend' goes away, she ends up hooking up with her crush Zach. I don't know about you guys but I don't condone cheating - no matter how you feel at the time. You can have feelings for someone but there's a complete difference in acting on those 'feelings'.

Much like the other supporting characters, I didn't feel any connection to them whatsoever and I was endlessly questioning their behaviour which is sometimes not a good thing when you're reading a book like this one. But what I did appreciate with FURY was that the book was in third perspective and continued swapping perspectives between Em and Chase's heads, however I had to say that I wasn't a fan of Chase's point of view and the book should have - in my opinion - be only in Emily's head for the book to work out well. Now while I couldn't relate to any of the characters, but maybe other people can. Word to the wise though - don't cheat or lie or do anything that can and will potentially ruin your life. What goes around comes around.

Although the book was not my cup of tea, I couldn't say that I didn't like entirely. Because the book did have all sorts of redeeming qualities. One of those was when the Furies came into the picture and disturbed the peace. Once they entered the scene, everything started to come together and make the events a little more interesting. The twist at the end was bittersweet revenge and I loved every moment of that ending! For those who've already read this book will know what I mean when it came to the ending. Despite some flaws, Elizabeth Miles's debut novel FURY was still a very entertaining and suspenseful tale, and it's a promising start to a trilogy. Just think of the likes of Gossip Girl and Mean Girls with a little naughty twist of the Furies, where a world isn't safe and that every action you do will always have some consequences along the way.

The Rating

3/5 stars