Title: The Furies
Author: Katie Lowe
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 2.00
Pub Date: October 8, 2019

I received a complimentary eARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Lackluster • Obsessive • Haunting

📖 S Y N O P S I S

In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead.

She's posed on a swing on her boarding school's property, dressed all in white, with no known cause of death. Whispers and rumors swirl, with no answers. But there are a few who know what happened; there is one girl who will never forget.

One year earlier: a new student, Violet, steps on the campus of Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl's boarding school on the outskirts of a sleepy coastal town. This is her fresh start, her chance to begin again in the wake of tragedy, leave her demons behind. Bright but a little strange, uncertain and desperate to fit in, she soon finds herself invited to an advanced study group, led by her alluring and mysterious art teacher, Annabel.

There, with three other girls--Alex, Grace, and Robin--the five of them delve into the school's long-buried grim history: of Greek and Celtic legends; of the school founder's "academic" interest in the occult; of gruesome 17th century witch trials. Annabel does her best to convince the girls that her classes aren't related to ancient rites and rituals, and that they are just history and mythology. But the more she tries to warn the girls off the topic, the more they are drawn to it, and the possibility that they can harness magic for themselves.

Violet quickly finds herself wrapped up in this heady new world of lawless power--except she is needled by the disappearance of a former member of the group, one with whom Violet shares an uncanny resemblance. As her friends' actions take a turn for the darker and spiral out of control, she begins to wonder who she can trust, all the while becoming more deeply entangled. How far will these young girls go to protect one another...or to destroy one another?

💭 T H O U G H T S

A few years ago, I was going through a phase of reading so much dark academia and I suspect that is the reason I requested an ARC of The Furies. Since that time my tastes have shifted and this isn't the type of book I am interested in reading, yet I still wanted to give it a try because there were certain elements within the synopsis which intrigued me.

Unfortunately, I should have skipped it. The characters weren't all the interesting. The plot was lackluster. And it failed to deliver the witchy, dark vibes it promised. The writing often became confusing where I wasn't sure which one of the girls was talking and it was a chore to keep track of who was being awful to who. Maybe that's realistic for high school girls, however, it had me rolling my eyes endlessly.

I will say the dialogue felt realistic for a group of teenager girls, as did the desperation to belong. However, this book is entirely too long. I thought it started off decently, yet it dragged through much of the middle and end. It isn't the type of story that needed so many pages and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it had been edited down.

A tale of revenge and murder, The Furies felt really flat for me. Reading about high school drama just isn't my scene and I definitely think this is a trope that has been done better elsewhere. Unless someone is really into the dark academia genre, I don't think this is a book I would recommend to readers.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• Pretty Little Liars
• teenage MCs

⚠️ CW: rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, death, child death, death of parent, murder, violence, blood, drug use, drug abuse, addiction, toxic friendship, animal cruelty, animal death, alcohol, alcoholism, domestic abuse, physical abuse, car accident, body shaming, bullying

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"In the face of murder, all life seems thrilling, all chaos and potential."

The Furies promised a dark, atmospheric exploration of female rage and the lingering shadows of a mysterious past. Unfortunately, the novel delivers neither a compelling narrative nor a satisfying resolution, ultimately succumbing to a frustratingly meandering plot and a distinct lack of tension.
From the outset, the novel struggles to establish a sense of urgency. The protagonist, Iris, a withdrawn and seemingly passive young woman, is presented as a figure haunted by her past and drawn to a group of enigmatic women known as "The Furies." However, Iris remains stubbornly flat throughout the narrative. Her internal monologues are meant to convey her emotional turmoil, but they feel repetitive and devoid of genuine insight. We are told she is troubled, but this element doesn't translate. Her reactions to the increasingly bizarre events surrounding her lack the necessary emotional depth, leaving the reader disengaged and indifferent.
The narrative meanders through lengthy, often tedious descriptions of the bleak English countryside and the minutiae of Iris's daily life. While atmospheric detail can be a powerful tool, Lowe's prose becomes bogged down in excessive exposition, slowing the story to a crawl. The promised tension, the impending dread that should permeate a novel of this nature, is consistently absent. The mysterious activities of "The Furies" are hinted at but rarely developed, leaving the reader waiting for a payoff that never truly arrives.
After enduring a slow and often tedious journey, the reader is presented with a rushed and unsatisfying resolution. The revelations surrounding the Furies' past and Iris's connection to them are delivered with a distinct lack of impact, leaving more questions than answers. The supposed climax, meant to be a moment of catharsis, falls flat, failing to deliver the emotional punch the narrative desperately needs.

Even though I knew this would be a YA novel, I had expectations for something a little different and more substantial. I tried to stick with it through at least the first half, but put it down after reaching that point as I did not feel invested at all in the story or characters.

This felt like Carrie and The Craft in a blender in the best ways. I am a sucker for teen witch stories and this one was no exception. I loved getting to explore the personalities of each of the girls in the coven.

The premise of this sounded so fascinating, but unfortunately it fell a little flat. I couldn't get as engaged in the characters and felt they were a bit flat, which prevented me from getting engrossed like I normally do with a good thriller. It wasn't terrible, and I certainly was interested enough to finish, but this was not a strong thriller to me.

Highly enjoyed this one! It kept me engaged throughout and was a joy to read, would certainly recommend!

I slept on this novel for far too long. This was edgy and interesting and fun to discuss with my oldest daughter. Will definitely recommend!

This book is all over the place. I liked the premise, but the unraveling is chaos, to say the least. Elm Hollow, I like the name, is where we find our young leading lady attending school. Violet is alone. Her father and sister, are dead, her mother lost in a bottle of booze, she's a mess too and understandably so. These girls just dive off into everything gross and dark, not in a good way. I was rather stunned. Robin, Grace, and Alex are her new friends, but what are they leading her into? Drugs, yes, and boys, and it just keeps going. How far down is Violet going to fall? What kind of redemption can there be with this mess? Some words got used so much that I was ready to throw this down and run, but I had to find the ending. I needed to find some glimmer of hope and light in the horrid, tragic, gothic mess this girl was living. I suppose that was a hopeless quest, as the language got worse and worse. It became degrading and not what I was anticipating. I started to care less about a school full of Carrie-like girls as I figured out this wasn't going like Pretty Little Liars, which is okay, but I feel like this crossed lines that I'd rather have skipped. It's well written, but just not my favorite in this case.

Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for my digital copy of this book. This review is mine and a positive review isn't required.

This wasn’t for me. Everything from the writing to the plot just did not work for me. I liked the idea of the plot but it did not deliver for me.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

Thank you to Katie, Netgalley, and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of The Furies.

When a girl is found dead at an elite boarding school clearly left to be found in a specific manner, rumors fly as everyone flashes back to a year ago when a new student with a mysterious past transfers in. Violet is a little strange and has some trouble fitting in, however when a professor invites her to a study group she connects with three other girls feeling like she’s found her place.

Together, the study group dives deep into the school’s sketchy history which includes the 17th century witch hunt. The majority of the girls quickly become engrossed in all things occult and lore. As Violet discovers that the group used to have a fifth member prior to her, someone who resembles her, she starts to think she’s gotten in over her head and begins to try to get out of the dangerous web she’s become caught in.

Okay. This sounds so good in theory, right?
I felt like I was reading an elevated revival of The Craft, but the execution just wasn’t there. The relationships never came together, I didn’t care enough about anyone to root for either their safety or demise.

It’s really unfortunate because all of the pieces that should’ve led me to find a new obsession were there - small town, occult, boarding school, secret society - and yet…I felt nothing.

I will chalk it up to the first year of YA thrillers just all being complete and total letdowns, regardless of the author or subject matter…they all just did not pan out for whatever reason.

This book was full of potential. But what the world was going on in 90 percent of the book? I feel like this book was not edited as much as it should have been? There were tons of errors with spelling and grammar. But I couldn't get into it because if that.

The Furies is the debut novel by Katie Lowe, congrats on your debut. I’ll describe it as the movie The Craft meets The Secret History, or at least it tries to be. It was very slow to get started and I also did not like or care about the characters. It was overall meh for me. I really liked her second book, Possession but if I’d read The Furies first I’d never have read that one I don’t think. So my recommendation is skip this one and read her second book.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.

DNF
I tried twice and just couldn’t get into this one! It sounded super promising - murder, boarding school, witch trial history. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the hype and fell super flat. There was no “fury”, it was flat and boring.

I am a sucker for dark and depressing stories. The Furies was a clever and unique read. I will definitely be on the lookout for future books by Katie Lowe.

I really expected more from "The Furies" but it just fell flat as a novel for me. This novel just lacked depth and couldn't keep my interest.

The description of this book had me rearing and ready to read it, however, the entire story just fell flat for me and I was left disappointed. I love fantasy and witchcraft and thrillers, but this was really just a dark book with no depth.

I had hopes of this being a modern version of something like The Craft, but overall I was disappointed. Elite school, mysterious clique of misfit girls, and a murder, No one is particularly likeable, which isn't something I need, but I couldn't get invested in the characters. Overall it was a pretty dark novel with some particularly appalling events. I'm not sure I'd recommend it, but I may follow up with what the author does next.

I received an copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

This book was likened to the film The Craft and presented as such....I feel like that was way off base. This novel wants to SEEM like that and hints a great deal at it, however, these girls aren't really witches and instead just prove to be some intense psychopaths that get away with a LOT of gruesome things. Violet, our narrator and main character, just seems like a follower. Obviously all four of our main characters were mirrored after our four ladies from The Craft, however, the character development seems non-existent. This novel was so long and tedious at times with a great deal of description of learning history of witches and magic and HINTING that they were going to participate in it and so forth.....and did not. They just turned out to be mean girls turned psychopaths. This novel had no real depth, but hey, the advertising for it was phenomenal for the novel being so disappointing.

Unfortunately, I have also read in quite a few places that this novel feels like blatant plagiarism to Natalie Haynes book with the exact same title published in 2014, some of the characters were just changed. That seems rather disappointing considering St. Martin's published both.

Overhyped but underdelivered. Unlikeable characters & confusing plot make this hard to follow. I wanted more development & less description. It felt pretentious.