This book was not for me. I felt that it ripped off other books I have read and I could not move past that. If I had read this book without reading the similar books, I probably would have loved it.

EEEEEEEEP,
The supernatural theme didn't work for me. I have not read this author before....but if I am being honest I would try her again. Maybe too YA?!? I wanted to enjoy it. Sadly, it did not work for me.

In 1998 a sixteen-year-old girl was found dead on the grounds of Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girls boarding school. She was dressed in white and posed sitting upright on a swing. No one knows exactly what caused her death. Not a single clue was left. It was as if her heart just stopped.
There are multiple aspects of this story that I loved :
I loved the art and mythology ! I loved the atmosphere and way the story was told and I loved that his was such a unique read. It was clever and edgy. The Furies is a well-written engaging story about toxic friends with a dark backdrop of witches, spells, murder, and magic. I found it engrossing and thought-churning. Katie Lowe definitely kept me on my toes! Highly recommended for fans of darkly themed young adult novels!

What a book! This story is excellent- it’s gripping, dramatic and all of the things. I really enjoyed this one!

The Furies should definitely be a movie, it has a total Craft vibe and would be a great new cult classic for the next generation.

The book has everything you would want from a teen suspense- magic, angst, tragedy, and friendships. No matter what your age, you will find the book compelling and enjoyable.

This book was nothing like I expected. I anticipated a typical YA thriller - set at a private school, which is a subgenre I love - but it was much more than that. It verged into the paranormal and horror genres, and even fantasy at times. When I finished, I wanted more, even though I wasn't entirely sure what I had just experienced while reading. While I loved Katie Lowe's writing style and the voices of the characters (primarily the main character, Violet) I could have used more action to move the plot along a little faster. Overall, extremely interesting and definitely a book I'll be thinking about for a while.

Violet goes to the mysterious Elm Hollow Academy after a family tragedy, a car crash that killed her father and brother. She becomes part of a study group led by a teacher--Annabel-- who schools the girls in the history of the school. There are three other girls in the group and they delve into magic and witchcraft. There is a mysterious disappearance of a girl whom Violet resembles. There is a lot of angst in these relationships and darkness.
What I liked about the book, I think the writer created a multi-textured world in her book, and I enjoyed the language she used to accomplish this. I would rate this 3.5, and that is more a reflection that I am probably older than the age range this story would really appeal to. I would recommend this book to those interested in atmospheric and mysterious stories with occult influences.
3.5

The synopsis promised so many things I would love but in the end it was basically a watered down and crappy version of The Craft

The Furies by Kathryn Lowe is set in the 1998, and is about a girl who lives through a terrible tragedy where her father and little sister die in a terrible car accident. In the after math of the car accident, her mother is unable to cope with the terrible lose and begins to self medicate, leaving Violet to find her own way in the world. As you can imagine, this makes for a teen that is desperately searching for a place to belong.
After testing very high on her boards, Violet is sent to an elite boarding school with an occult history. There she meets Alex, Grace and Robin. She is quickly accepted into their secret advance class that is taught by the schools art teacher, Annabel. Here they learn about the schools occult history and the witch trials that took place on the school grounds. The girls soon begin to try and follow the teachings of the schools founding mistress who was burned at the stake and harness the power of The Furies to do their bidding.
As you can imagine, they are not trying to harness these powers for good, and things swiftly take a deadly turn and Violet finds herself deeply entangled with these girls, with no way out.

The Beginning of the book was very intriguing, the story starts with a young girl that was found dead sitting on a swing on the grounds of the elite boarding school. The narrator, Violet, makes it clear that she knows who it is and that she new what had actually happened to bring about the girls death, but you don’t know who is in the swing or how she dies till the very end.
Definitely a great premise, and could have gone a lot of ways. The author did an extremely good job of setting up why Violet was a part of these girls clique and why she was so willing to put up with their b.s. It’s amazing what one will hold onto when they are desperate to be loved and seen.
She brings to the front the pressure of the Mob mentality and what its like to be so low that you will do anything to just be noticed.
I will say that the story did drag at times and I found myself struggling to stay engaged with the story. I actually had to start this book a couple of times and force myself to get through it. That could just be that the book is just to young for me. Normally, I can read YA but this one you may need to be in high school to really appreciate the story.
Overall, the story was okay. The author did a good job of weaving an intriguing tale, and she was spot on with the power of a high school clique. I didn’t love the characters, but perhaps if you love the Gillian Flynn novels (where there isn’t a like able character in the entire book) you might love this story too.
I would definitely say that it was written for a teenage crowd, and that it doesn’t belong in general fiction. There are some traumatic themes that one might not want their teens reading about, but honestly, if Thirteen Reasons Why can be deemed YA, The Furies absolutely should be.

Not for me - to be honest, I couldn't even finish it. I had such high hopes for this but could never get into it. It felt more YA than mystery/thriller and, for me, that's always hard to identify with.

The Furies has been marketed as a thriller however, I don’t think that’s an accurate portrayal of this story. I believe The Furies is more in line with a dark academia book in the vein of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. However, The Furies is about high schoolers and has some witchcraft sprinkled in.

This book felt like walking through the damp hallways of a gothic castle turned school. Honestly, it felt like a hybrid of The Craft and Riverdale. We follow Violet as she is thrust into a private school following a family tragedy. Violet is lonely and desperate to make friends. Enter Robin with her shockingly red hair and infectious (to Violet) personality.

I will be honest, the first half of the book felt incredibly slow to me. I enjoy a faster paced book and have little patience for teenage angst these days. The second half of the book, literally once I was 50% in, the story picked up speed and had more intensity and drama.

The story begins and ends with the mysterious death of a young girl whose identity is unknown until the end. However, this death is not the first mysterious death this town and school have experienced. The school also has a sordid history of witch burning that is mentioned by several teachers.

This book touched on topics such as addiction, domestic violence, rape, underage drinking and drugs, and murder.

Everything in this book sounded exactly like my kind of story. Unfortunately, I almost lost steam in the beginning. I felt the story carried on too long. I didn’t quite connect with any of the characters. But maybe I’m just too far removed from teenage-dom that impacted my ability to connect with this book. I like my books with a little more heft.

This book would be great for young adults or readers new to dark academia reads. Readers who are ready to dabble in the darker side of reading.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for providing me an free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I rated this book 3.5 stars

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

Normally not my typical read, this one is a little hard to get into in the beginning - but if you can manage to keep pushing, it will be worth it.

Reminiscent of an 80's or 90's spooky movie appropriate for Halloween viewing, this one left me with mixed feelings. While I found the writing style engrossing and the setting atmospheric and lending to a witchy and spooky vibe, the characters were distractingly unlikeable. There were some parts that I absolutely loved and others that I simply skimmed through. Would not recommend as a read but would definitely watch as a cheesy Halloween movie.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

2.5⭐️This one fell a little flat for me.

I was completely ready for a murder mystery set at an all girls private school...yes, please, but I didn’t really get everything out of it that I hoped I would.

I felt that the story was choppy. Some events were explained in great detail but the other events which I felt were more important to the story just kind of happened.

We got the whole girls are mean and pick on each other covered but I also thought that we would have had friendship between the girls would have been more convincing.

It was very slow paced, none of the characters were likable and I felt like some of the things that were included didn’t really add to the story and were more for shock value or to make the story seem more interesting.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you're a fan of dark coming-of-age and female friendship novels, you'll love The Furies. While the subject matter is nothing new, the writing is pretty and the "Greek" aspect and gothic tones make it stand out a bit more than other similar titles. It's eerie and at times painful in terms of subject matter.

It’s start off gripping and builds and builds. The characters are not always likeable but god they are intense. Absolutely 5/5 for this tense, and sometimes heart stopping, thriller.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Katie Lowe for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

I am always excited tog et approved for a book. The Furies wasn't an exception. Synopsis says it has murder mystery, boarding school, modern witches and magic, Synopsis did not lie, it had it all, but it just did not click with me.

SPOILERS

A new girl, Violet, finds herself in a new boarding school (which turns out not really a boarding school, as everyone goes home after classes) with no friends. She recently experienced horrible family drama, where her father and little sister died in a car accident. Violet was the only survivor. Her mother cannot handle grief, and lost connection to Violet. No wonder, Violet is eager to make new friends, She is looking for the sense of belonging.

Robin, a local outcast, who seems to roll cigarets/joints and swallow wine and pills every page, befriends Violet and along with 2 other girls, they create a clique. Apparently, all three are members of a secret society and Violet gets asked to joint it as well. However, I did not understand the idea of this society. All they talked about with the teacher, was the same thing they could have learnt in class (and they do, because at parts I was lost if the story was in class or in their little secret place).
'
Anyway, many things happen during the narrative - family loss, rape, murder, occult rituals, murder, gay love, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, etc. I've got a feeling it all was thrown in the story to make it more dramatic and compelling, however, I have doubts if it worked.

I could not connect to any of the characters. Neither of the girls seem real to me. I understand their desire to belong and be part of something bigger, we all were teenagers at once, but it felt to mechanical. The narrative itself was not smooth, Some paragraphs could tell the story of the present and all of a sudden jump to future, than to past and then back to present. At times, it was boring and I had to make myself read it. FEw times I wanted to dnf The Furies but decided to get to last page in hope it will all turn around. The murder mystery left more questions than answers. Who killed Emily Frost and how did she ended up in the tree?

Anyway, I would give it 2 stars, but I will add 1 extra because it is a debut novel, and I hope that the next one would blow my mind.

3.5/5

Perfect for the fans of "The Craft" and "The Secret History", this book ist about the upsides and downfalls of female teenage friendships, a mysteriuous death, and possibly witchcraft. I would highly recommend reading this during the autmn time, since the author builds up such a magnificent atmosphere. It's a bit too predictable in some parts for me, but I still quite enjoyed the reading experience.

This was a great read. It is a dark contemporary thriller that takes place at an all girl's boarding school. For those of you who enjoy the dark academia sub-genre this would be for you.