Envy by Elizabeth Miles

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 320pgs

The Story

Spring is here, and the ice is slowly melting in Ascension . . .

revealing the secrets buried beneath.

The Furies are back, and Emily Winters is about to discover that their roots in Ascension are deeper than she ever imagined. With the help of her new friend Drea, she vows to take them down. But it's hard to focus when she's desperate the make up with JD, and to figure out why Crow, a mysterious Ascension High dropout, seems to be shadowing her.

Meanwhile, new girl Skylar McVoy is determined to leave her own dark past behind. So she's thrilled when not only does popular Gabby takes her under her wing, but the stunning and sophisticated Meg offers to give her a major makeover. But everyone knows what happens to the vainest girl of all . . .

It's tempting to be naughty. But beware: the Furies are always watching, and their power grows stronger by the day.

The Review

A big thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

I am quite jolly to write this book review today for you today because I was absolutely dreading - or rather I was really worried and quite anxious - about reading this sequel since I was one of those few people who 'didn't mind' the first book, Fury, but I also didn't necessarily love it wholeheartedly either. But the minute I got this book in the mail via the awesome publishers and was reunited back with many familiar and unfamiliar faces, I'm currently thanking my lucky stars here because I can safely say that I'm back to loving this series and appreciating the devil-ish twists ENVY has offered up to me! It was really, REALLY good! 

ENVY, the second installment of the Fury trilogy, begins shortly after the events of the first book. With our main heroine, Em, making a deal with the vengeful furies to save her more-than-just-a-friend JD, she's now trying to salvage and place back her trust into what's left in her relationships with others before the furies return and create havoc once more. But with another perspective being introduced into mix, Skylar, a new girl who wants nothing more than to reinvent herself in Ascension - to be popular and leave her awful past far behind, little does she know that her dark past will soon be catching up with her . . . sooner than she ever anticipated. So when three unearthly beautiful cousins befriend this girl, Skylar, and start taking an unnatural interest in her and offering advice to her as well, Skylar's story then begins to entwine with Em's and it's mostly up to Em alone to figure out what the Furies want with their next target, Skylar, and what she can do to possibly stop them once and for all . . . but with what cost?

I think the main reason why ENVY was such a vast improvement compared to the first book, Fury, was because the storyline was already established in this sequel and we didn't needed to get too much into it either since we already know what the Furies actually are and why they are haunting our characters for their specific reasons. In this sequel, it just merely went further into its already built world-building and the characters (thank those lucky stars of mine) who were in a much better environment this time round and were actually - to my own surprise - far more likable which made this a much more enjoyable read for me.

Our main heroine, Em, was one of those characters that finally redeemed themselves. Now I wasn't a fan of Em in the very beginning of this series because she was quite a messy character with many, many flaws which made it even harder for me to like her. However, like with what I'd experienced in this sequel and also having liked or even perhaps loving this sequel, her character had finally got a lot of love out of me too. Moving on from her cheating with her best friend's now-ex-boyfriend and after facing the Furies, Em has learned quite a lot about herself along the way and she truly wants to make amends with the people she's lost and hurt the most, even if it takes her a long time doing so. The major thing that changed my opinion of Em was her honesty in this sequel. She was being herself for a change. Deep down I think she's a good person and I loved watching her grow in continuing to be that good person. Sure she's made plenty of mistakes at the beginning of this series but she's slowly getting there and I love her for her mere determination . . . she was real treat to read about.

But it was more than Em's character - it was her relationship with JD, the boy we met from Fury and the one she saved the last time we saw them together. Out of everything I read in ENVY my favourite aspect of the book would be the tension between Em's feelings for JD and even her confusing feelings for Crow, another boy we will soon meet in this sequel. Sympathizing with her, I too struggled with how much she wanted to make-up with JD even with him always pulling away from her. Those two, despite their own complications, are just perfect together and I want a happy ending for them both . . . so please Elizabeth Miles . . . you're killing me here with those two characters! And by the way . . . don't get me talking about the cliffhanger . . . it was just . . . gah! I totally saw it coming too! Gah!

After reflecting on everything that happened in this book, I think the main reason why I gave this book 4 stars instead of the 4.5 - 5 stars it clearly deserved was because I had one problem with the book. Only one problem out of everything. It was the book being told from two different perspectives, Em's and the newly introduced character Skylar. While I love Em's perspective (clearly) but really Skylar didn't do anything for me. Like at all. She was probably the only thing I didn't like about this book and while I may have liked the part she played in this story and how her problems entwine with our main character's ones but yeah . .  . she was annoying and I just couldn't tolerate her. Honestly I just wanted more of Em's character really. And more of JD too.

Overall, I'm literally jumping up and down with joy right now and I'm glad to find this sequel was so much BETTER than Fury ever was and it only goes to show a series can improve as time goes on, so we shouldn't be too quick to judge based on one book alone in a series. So whether you liked the first book or not, I would seriously recommend giving this book one more shot because ENVY - with its faults and all - was so tense, well-written, and shocking for the majority of all things, and it's something that will surprise you beyond your own expectations. It certainly did it with mine!

The Rating

4/5 stars

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