I’ve read each of Alex Michaelides’ 3 books now and so far The Silent Patient is still my all time favourite but The Fury has cemented itself firmly in second place before The Maidens.

We are told that this is a story of a murder and the seven suspects are identified from the start - our job as the reader is to put together the pieces of the puzzle according to the narrator’s tale and decide who the killer is and why they committed their crime… I really enjoyed this book! Our narrator, Elliott Chase, is certainly intriguing and I thought the way the story was drip-fed to the reader was unique and fun.

With a slow burn beginning and a super-charged pace from the middle to the end, this is one that kept me on my toes and put me in my place when I thought I had everything figured out. The setting of the Greek island Aura was a match made in heaven for the dark and sinister events that unfolded upon it and I struggled to put the book down more often than not. Eagerly awaiting Michaelides’ next release! 👀

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book by a writer about writing. Narrator Elliot Chase frames his story with quotations from other authors; a structure nominally based on Greek tragedy; and frequent references to a how-to-write book which claims that characters are always motivated by the desire to escape pain. Always. That’s a big claim.

Because, of course, Chase wants us to believe that his motivation for all the twisted things he tells us he has done was to escape pain. And he wants to normalise his behaviour and its motivation.

There are so many Easter eggs in this novel - so many points where we are left wondering if something is a nod to the work of another writer. Is Barbara West an exaggerated version of Patricia Highsmith, for example? Chase certainly seems to be a Talented Mr Ripley who has stepped through the looking glass and entered a very warped Wonderland in which to receive his comeuppance.

And, of course, The Fury ends with an Easter egg all Michaelides’ own - with the intimation that Chase has ended up in the same facility as Theo Faber from The Silent Patient. Just as Raiders of the Lost Arc pans out from the box with the Grail inside and we see lots of similar boxes holding no doubt equally dangerous treasures, I had a sudden image of us panning out from Elliot Chase to see a host of equally mad main characters in the warehouse of Alex Michaelides’s mind.

I, for one, can’t wait to see which one he chooses to show us next.

I absolutely loved the patient so was very excited to read this one! Sadly it just wasn’t for me. The story is told by narrator Elliot and set on a Greek island. The story is written as a play, told in 5 acts. I didn’t like the way it was narrated, struggled to stay focused on it. I also didn’t like any of the characters. Quite a predictable plot with not many ‘wow’ moments for me.

Read if you like;
-psychological Thrillers
-Unreliable narrator
-Isolated Greek Island
-Mystery

All the characters in this are unlikeable, if you are wanting to cheer for someone then this is definitely not for you! We have a multitude cast of characters with some depth and the narration was so carefully structured.

Due to the narration being in Elliot’s POV I felt like you couldn’t get to know the other characters a great deal than I would normally like which was a shame.

This book is definitely atmospheric, with descriptive scenes making you feel like you are there. The writing is somewhat complex and can sometimes be hard to follow. However, I really like how the book was played out in different acts.

The pacing was sometimes uneven, the beginning felt slow and repetitive, but the ending was very twisty, filled with shocking revelations.

Overall this is a completely immersive thriller and once you get used to the narrator you will be hooked!

My curiosity was peaked immediately with some of the chapters being told in the first person.

I loved getting to know all of the characters in this book but do we really know who they are!? I love it when a thriller keeps me on my toes.

This book was full of vivid imagery of the surrounds which is one of my favorite elements of a good story, I love to be transported!

The pace of this book was perfect, it was split into Acts, which another interesting way to punctuate the book.

Ultimately there is quite a heartbreaking theme behind the story which made me pause for reflection.

Expect the unexpected! Believe nothing. Alex Michaelides presents us with another mystery, this time set in a glamorous world of theatre and film. The premise is that someone has been murdered on a remote Greek island. Our narrator Elliot reminds us constantly that he is unreliable and edits and re-edits his story as it unfolds. The ending is startling. We were warned!

Slow burn with a narrator that draws you in.

The premise is nothing out of the ordinary but the writing is good and with short chapters it’s easy to read and enjoy.

This isn’t my usual genre of book. However I really enjoyed reading The Fury. This is first book I have read by this author and would 100% read another of their books!

I do like the way it was told, almost like a play over a few acts. Each one getting more and more interesting.
I did want more from the narrator. Elliot was an alright character but could be easily forgotten about.

The ending was well thought out and came as a surprise.

Would i recommend reading? Absolutely.

I have read all the books that Alex Michaelides has written and have enjoyed them immensely, each are stand out from each other and each have kept me gripped.

The Fury was exactly the same great characters and a beautiful setting, however i did not enjoy it as much as his previous, it kept me entertained and gripped but it felt it was lacking from something not sure if it was the characters that i did not like I’m not sure.

The pace is good and there is always something that makes you think I’ve got it to be thrown in a loop again.

I would recommend this book and i will look forward to reading more of his works.

When Elliott visits ex movie star Lana Farrar and her friends on a Greek island all is well until shots are heard and a body is found.
Who did it and for what reason?
The story is brilliantly narrated and Alex has a knack of bringing each character to life.
I would say it is a love story but with some wicked twists.
What's that old saying.....
Hell have no FURY like a woman scorned!

This is the first Alex Michaelides thriller I've read and, given how widely his previous books have been praised, I had high expectations for this. From the premise I knew I'd enjoy the 'closed room' angle and initially I enjoyed the narration and rattled through it pretty quickly. I just thought it all fell apart towards the end - there were just to many implausible coincidences that stretched the credulity of the plot and I just didn't buy any of it. Disappointing.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall rating : 4*
Writing skill : 5*
Plot: 5*
Pace: 5*
Characters: 4*
Narrator:3*

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and was pleasently surprised. After reading The Silent Patient and absoloutly loving it I was disappointed when I read The Maidens. So I was aprehensive going into this one as to what camp it would fall in to. And I am happy to report I loved this. Was so nearly a 5* but the narrator just didnt quite stick for me. Its told in a 1st person perspective, but its like the narrator has 'Miranda' moments and turns and side eye talks to you directly. Bit odd. But by the end of the story I could kind of see the purpose of it, and in hindsight I'm thinking the story may not have read as well if it wasnt told that way?! Who knows, but it was hard to ignore how much it grated on me at the start.
The characters were great, Lana very much gave me Evelyn Hugo feels, and Kate was a great addition. As the book itself was quite short, I fired through this at a quick pace, didnt want to put it down and devoured it in just over a day.
Set on a remote Greek island, I can see this being a great book to read on holiday, or like I did, sat at home on a gloomy January evening dreaming of warmer weather.
OUT FEB 1st 2024.

I love Alex Michaelides’ books so I wasn’t surprised to find how much I love The Fury too. Michaelides is a very unique writer. Normally I can quess the ending of a whodunnit but this book had me guessing till the end, which I loved. So many twists and turns….. I can’t wait for Michaelides next book.

I want to start this of my saying that I adored the silent patient, it's a book that I regularly think about and I'm still blown away by the ending.

Sadly i felt a bit underwhelmed by this book..
The plot got very confusing at the end, I did like the twistyness of it but it did get a little much.

I couldn't say I cared for any of the main characters either. The narrator was just insufferable at some points.
However i did like the premise of this book, the jumping around in the past and present and the different POIs did make it interesting and kept me on my toes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this ARC.

Rating - 4,.5 stars

Wow! An unrealiable narrator at his best!

Thanks Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House & NetGalley for the ARC!

Despite this book being so very popular, suggest readers to blindly dive into this and not read the blurb/synopsis beforehand.

After the sin way peak and dip of #TheSilentPatient and #TheMaidens, I think the author has hit the peak again with #TheFury.

Set in a gorgeous isolated Greek Island, apparently guarded by Aura, the Goddess of the breeze or you know, ‘the fur(y)I’ous wind when she is angry, the narration of the story begins, with backgrounds, recaps from the past and the circumstances leading up to the present.

There’s murder, love, jealousy, hatred, lies, secrets, betrayals, politics, friendships and mind games that turn and twist at impossible angles - you can barely keep up with them all.

As the narrator makes it clear, this is not a ‘whodunnit’, but the focus is more on the ‘whydunnit’. The story unravels layer by layer and what lies at the core of it, will surely make your head spin, wondering whether you read it right or not.

None of the characters are likeable, adding spice to the list of aforesaid eclectic mix ingredients, including this mysterious narrator obviously - but strangely I found him so interesting and was dying to know what he was getting up to!

The ending made me stop right in my tracks, as I struggled to come to terms, grappling with disbelief at the kind of conclusion. Huh! I had no idea what to make of it for a bit.

But that's where the fun lies - when you try to disentangle this story & understand it for what it is! So do give it a try!

Definitely recommend to mystery thriller fans!

A film star, her husband, her son and her friends - a playwright and a theatre actress visit a remote Greek island with their housekeeper and groundsman in the middle of a storm – but who will make it out alive?

Elliot Page (the playwright), is our narrator and he directly addresses the reader whilst we are both having a drink at a bar. He tells us a story of loyalty, betrayal and murder. I absolutely love this style of narration and felt it kept me engaged at every turn. There are a lot of red herrings, and you were never quite sure what to believe - events would be turned from another perspective often which kept you off-balance throughout.

I really don’t want to give too much away, and I’m worried anything else I say might start veering into spoiler territory. The pace is fantastic - there’s a lot of twists and turns and I finished the book in two sittings, I could not put it down. I loved The Silent Patient and found this to be just as strong a read – run, don’t walk to pick up this book when it comes out in February – it’s a Kindig gem for 2024 for sure.

Overall, The Fury is a Kindig Gem for 2024 – it’s a pacy read full of twists and turns, and you won’t be able to put it down! Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House – Michael Joseph for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elliot Chase is a playwright. He has one successful play behind him. However, to him, his most successful thing is that he is friends with the wonderful Lana Farrar.
The book starts with Lana deciding that she needs to go to her Greek Island and invites her tribe of Elliot and Kate, another actress.
Over the course of the book the reader finds out why those people are on the Island. There is a lot of backwards and forwards and it can get confusing if the reader is not paying attention.
I devoured in this in one sitting.

A fast paced thriller with a little Easter egg at the end from The Silent Patient. The narrator was particularly unlikeable but a fascinating viewpoint nonetheless.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I did end up really enjoying this book but it did take me a while to get into the story. The style of writing was interesting and I did like the concept of it. If I’m being honest I didn’t really feel as though I liked the characters very much and that is always a big part of loving a story for me. I enjoyed the plot twists, very well written. I would recommend this book and say give it a chance as I found it to be a slow burner but definitely worth sticking with. 4 stars from me.

This is possibly one of the weirdest books that I have ever read, weird but compelling.
The narrator of this yarn is Elliott, he could be relating his story over a pint in the local pub, he includes little asides for the readers as he rambles on.
Lana Farrar, a beautiful well revered movie star, a star who attracts attention and turns heads wherever she goes had been left, by her late husband, an isolated island in the Aegean Sea, the only resident was reclusive Nikos, the caretaker of the island and it's beautiful house. It was to this island that Lana invited her husband, Jason, her son Leo and best friends Kate and Elliott for a fun holiday, a fun holiday with more undercurrents that the raging Aegean Sea.
The howling wind known as Menos (meaning fury) whipped round the island, the residents were unsettled, so many secrets, so much subterfuge, so much jealousy.
Death comes to the island, everyone is a suspect, everyone had a reason.........but all is not as it seems.
I did enjoy this story although I did feel that Elliott wandered from one part of the story to another with regularity, I thought that much of his ramblings could have been cut short but on the whole and interesting concept.
Thank you Net Gallery for the free book which I reviewed voluntarily