Sweet Fury by Sash Bischoff is a solid debut novel. In this novel, we meet a few characters who are all quirky. Laila is the star who appears to have it all. She has the fame, beauty, and of course the hottest man in show business. Then there is Jonah, the psychiatrist who has a very humble life. So, it seems.

This book was kind of a slow burn, thriller. It wasn't fast paced at all, but it definitely kept me interested and invested in each character. The mixture between the therapy session notes, Laila's POV, Jonah's POV, and diary entries, everything came together nicely. Don't be afraid to give this one a try; there are a lot of references to Fitzgerald's work. I'll be honest, it was a bit overzealous at times, but it didn't really distract me from the plot. I've read only Gatsby and am in no way a Fitzgerald scholar.

The book is broken down into 3 acts. Act III was by far my favorite. That's where the story really picked up and we get to the "twist." Did I see it coming? Not completely. It was a bit unexpected. Even the big reveal was a bit shocking to me.

There are a few trigger warnings that you should be aware of. There are mentions of murder, rape, and abuse. Only one graphic scene towards the end.

I would highly recommend this book to someone who is looking for a different type of thriller/suspense. This would make for a great palate cleanser between reads. Again, I feel this was a solid debut and I look forward to seeing what else this author writes. I do see there were mentions of this being similar in plot to The Silent Patient. The Silent Patient is one of my favorite books ever; I do see where they could be similar but remove that thought while reading and it may be even more enjoyable.

Thank you Simon & Schuster, Sash Bischoff, and Netgalley for allowing me to be an early reader.

Overall rating: 4 stars out of 5

Nothing tickles my fancy quite like a SOLID debut novel. Admittedly, I needed to refresh my tender is the night knowledge before reading. I wouldn’t say that’s necessary but it did definitely add to the story. This was jam packed full of twists and potentially unreliable characters, which makes for an enthralling story. The ending was the perfect amount of ambiguity. I really enjoyed the mixed media, it made the story fly by. So excited to see what this author does next. Also- the cover is incredible. I wish we got to know Lila’s best friend more. He seemed important in the beginning and then kinda faded away with no good explanation.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Sash Bischoff for this ARC.

I am a sucker for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work and absolutely fell in love with “Tender Is the Night,” which most people do not associate with this genius writer. When I saw that Bischoff was writing a thriller re-telling of this classic tale, I knew it would be incredible.

🎞️What did you love the most?
From the unreliable narrators to the perfectly timed twists, this story kept evolving into something I wasn’t expecting. When I finally reached the epic conclusion, I just sat there in awe. I honestly think Fitzgerald would have loved this retelling.; Bischoff took such care with the source material to preserve the vibes and atmosphere of the original while putting a completely new spin on this intoxicating plot.

🎞️What to expect:
Therapist x celebrity
Multi POVs
Unreliable narrator
Revenge plot

🎞️How was the pace?
This one starts off slow as you get into the mind of famous actress Lila Crayne. However, the insight into the therapist’s notes was so interesting, and it kept me on my toes as I had no idea who to believe. By Act II, you will be unable to put this one down.

🎞️Do you recommend this book?
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this may be one of the best thrillers I’ve read (and it’s only January 2). From the glamorous Hollywood vibes to the feminist themes to the twists, I loved every page. If you like thrillers, you won’t want to miss this one.

5/5

Sweet Fury is an engaging thriller that delivers a solid, if somewhat predictable, reading experience. While the story’s main twist is undeniably thrilling and well-executed, the conclusion leaves much to be desired, coming across as confusing and unclear.

The writing itself is polished and immersive, though at times overly descriptive. There were moments where I found myself skimming through dense passages to get back to the heart of the narrative.

Despite these drawbacks, Sweet Fury is worth picking up for fans of the genre. Its strong pacing and gripping twists will appeal to thriller enthusiasts—though I’d love to hear from anyone who can make sense of that perplexing ending!

Sweet Fury follows a dual narrative between a therapist and an actress. Both narrators are unreliable and the reader must try to make sense of what is actually happening the story. Jonah, the therapist, deals with becoming the therapist for his college crush, while Lila deals with the production of a retelling of Tender is the Night and confiding in a new person. Much of the backstory is left out of this narrative which keeps the reader focused on the wrong bread crumbs. Although parts were interesting, this story had several slow parts. It also had several portions of rape and abuse that are not handled with care.

This was a compulsively readable, twisty New York story about a famous actress pursuing therapy during the making of Tender is the Night, a movie adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Without being a big aficionado of Fitzgerald I still tore through this one because there was an eerie vibe and I couldn’t figure out exactly what was happening. It kept me guessing!

Sweet Fury attempted a lot.

It attempted to be a feminist statement. It read like feminism written by someone who never had to actually fight for feminism. Pitting women against each other and the whole "revenge is power" thing is just demeaning.

It attempted to show "Hollywood". I think there is a step by step manual out there telling people how to write about actors and musicians. This author read it. This is every cliche and stereotype in Hollywood all rolled into one big mess.

It attempted to be twisty. It's not hard to tell who is lying here. It's not a twist. It's one of those cliches from above.

This could have been saved by at least one character to like.

Sash Bischoff's debut novel, Sweet Fury, is perfect for fans of Michaelides books. A homage to Fitzgerald's famous works, the Great Gatsby and Tender is the Heart, this novel is the perfect blend of both with its revenge plot, lavish parties, opulent wealth and fame. The fast-paced story made this novel unputdownable.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster

TW: This book is about rape survivors, and there is rape depicted on page as well as in descriptions.
I expect important people will rave about this book: the writing, the plot, the characters! The writing comes across incredibly pretentious. There are colons everywhere: at times multiple in a single paragraph. The opening page is a clear homage to Fitzgerald's writing style, which is also often privileged and pretentious. And don't you know everyone here went to Princeton?! Well, except for a side character who only went to Yale. I genuinely couldn't tell if this was meant to be satire. The ending was both predictable and unsettling. I did not enjoy reading this book. Every relationship is toxic. Everyone is out for themselves. The villain monologue is backwards.
I'm not sure what the goal is of this narrative, which includes retelling and reframing of Fitzgerald's work. It cannot be considered feminist as the women are either angry and self-absorbed or angry and underdeveloped. The prose is a solid mimic of Fitzgerald tinged with purple and certainly including much more stylistic variety.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC; I am genuinely disappointed I did not enjoy it more.

I love it when my mysteries have a literary twist and this one was both a love letter to and a feminist questioning of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s works. I had only read The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald before but Bischoff managed to sneak in a whole thesis on Tender Is the Night into this one and managed to make me feel like I was on very familiar territory. It managed to not only build suspense through characters and some smartly placed clues, but was also thought provoking.

Lila Crayne, an established Hollywood movie actress in her thirties, has worked behind the scenes for years to bring about a movie she can star in that does a feminist retelling of Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She gotten Kurt Royall, her famous filmmaker, to direct it as well as to pull together the funding for the shoot. They’ve moved into a luxurious West Village apartment in NYC and become the social toast of the town as Lila dramatically proposes marriage to Kurt at a large surprise fiftieth birthday party for him that she hosts.

Meanwhile, Lila has sought out Jonah Gabriel who specializes in early childhood trauma to help her undergo psychotherapy for the role. Turns out that Lila’s abusive father died in a car accident when she was in the back seat, and she has no memories of the accident itself. Lila also tells Jonah that Kurt has been abusing her, but that she can’t leave him as she fears that all men will eventually abandon her, and she’ll end up all alone. Jonah finds himself smitten with Lila and distancing himself from his fiancé Maggie.

While determined to make the film about female empowerment, Lila on set relentlessly manipulates all those around her, from the young actress Celia she’s recruited who looks just like Lila’s younger self, the timid script writer, and Kurt himself.

Condemning men who have preyed on women over generations, Lila seemingly want to flip the tables. Who is preying on who? And what does or should justice look like for victims?

Secrets and reveals swiftly pile up until a final twist at the end that YOU DO NOT SEE COMING! And you finish the book breathless and taking a long moment to think back over the plot to truly put the ending in context!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

I love when a story keeps me completely in the dark, and this one did just that. I had no clue what was going on, and honestly, that’s exactly what made it so enjoyable. There was no need to guess or try to figure things out — the story just flowed, and I was along for the ride. I didn’t feel lost or frustrated, because even though I didn’t understand everything, it all felt like it was happening for a reason.

The pacing was perfect. There weren’t too many twists to keep track of, and the reveals came at just the right moments. It felt like everything was measured out just right — enough to keep me intrigued, but never so much that it became overwhelming. I never had to pause and think about what just happened, which made the whole experience feel smooth and satisfying.

It’s rare to find something that knows how to balance mystery without overloading you, but this story did it effortlessly. Even though I was completely in the dark, it all came together in a way that was satisfying and just right.

Wow!!! This was intense and so good!!! I was turning thhe pages in disbelief how sick this revengeful game was becoming and growing more and more concern for the MFC.
Well done.

Sweet Fury is a fast-paced suspense thriller with many twists and several points of view (therapist, Lila, therapist’s journal, and patient journal). Tension builds slowly through the sessions and diary entries. Character’s obsession with Fitzgerald was over the top 😅, but it served well for the story and it was easy to follow all references even not being super familiar with his work.
Overall, I flew through this thriller and didn’t see ending coming. So check this one out in January!

Thank you @simonbooks for gifted ARC. #simonbooksbuddy #freegift

Lila Crayne seems to have the ideal existence - she and her fabulous fiancé director are producing the movie she has always dreamed of making and acting in - a retelling of Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night. However all is not what is seems in Lila’s life and with her relationship. As she tells her story to her psychiatrist she hopes to dig into the trauma of her past and use it on the screen. But there are so many secrets among everyone that nothing is what it seems.

This novel started off in a direction I didn’t expect, I couldn’t really tell where it was going. And then as it professed I was excited for a psychological twisted story with unreliable narrators, but it never really delivered for me. I had both the audio from @simon.audio and the ebook but what was great about the audio was that the author read it, this could maybe go either way but she brought it to life in a way I’m not sure another narrator would have. For me, I just wasn’t invested in the characters at any point so the story wasn’t engrossing, so it was a fine read but nothing lasting in my memory.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC to review

Sweet Fury by Sash Bischoff is a bold and intricately plotted feminist reimagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s themes, bringing a fresh perspective to American classics. The story is layered and compelling, with enough tension to keep you turning the pages.

However, the big "twist" fell flat for me—I saw it coming well before the halfway point, which made its eventual reveal feel lackluster. Still, the narrative itself is strong enough to carry the book, and fans of richly woven, character-driven tales will likely find much to love here. If you enjoy literary easter eggs, this one is worth a read!

I’m so sorry but this was very difficult for me to get through. Nothing happens until the last 50 pages. Even then, the messaging on feminism is extremely difficult to support.

Initially drawn in by the ode to F. Scott Fitzgerald, readers will quickly learn Sweet Fury is a tragedy much like many of the author’s characters and parts of his own life.

Film star Lila Crayne and her director fiancé are adapting Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night for the big screen, but with a feminist bent. To prepare for the role, Lila starts therapy with the highly recommended Jonah Gabriel. In therapy, Jonah helps Lila work through trauma from her childhood and figure out how it is impacting her relationships as an adult. Over the course of filming, we discover not everything is as it seems, and things begin to unravel.

This reads like a frame story or even a film within another film, and makes readers really question each point of view as the chapters progress. Though the actual filming carries the reader through the narrative, the characters themselves create their own production even better than the adaptation they are filming. With a host of unreliable narrators, readers will rightly question every character’s dialogue and behavior.

Sweet Fury is a novel for fans of The Silent Patient, but with more depth. The twists are creative and put the film industry’s misogynistic behavior on full display. Sash Bischoff’s main character Lila had some zingers in her dialogue that had me saying “hell yeah” while reading. If feminists thrillers are your jam, this debut won’t disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and of course the author Sash Bischoff for the advanced copy of the book. Sweet Fury is out on January 7th! All opinions are my own.

What a great debut! It had me on the edge of my seat until the very end. I loved the pacing and characters. It gave me lots of Gatsby vibes. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy!

I was little scared to continue reading this book because the first half the book is slow, but halfway through it picked up. Someone had told me to go into this blind and I completely agree. I was surprised and happy how Sash Bischoff was able to completely twist the plot and still make sense. Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this digital copy.