My feelings are complicated, although I did really enjoy reading The Fury.
Let’s start with what I adored: I was especially enamored with its overall tone. Elliot’s narration was incredibly inviting. It really did feel like I was seated beside a friend who was sharing his story with me. At the same time, it felt like I was part of an old movie, and I really liked that vibe. This is a contemporary novel, but it feels like a story from long ago.
Similarly to The Silent Patient, I loved the brilliant and beautiful insight into the psychological needs and torments of trauma survivors. Michaelides crafted this aspect expertly, making me feel deep empathy for Elliot’s character.
I must say that there is a fine line between building suspense and creating filler so you don’t reveal anything too quickly. I feel this novel teetered back and forth over that line. Michaelides DID successfully build suspense, and he gave us a lot of relevant information. It’s difficult to fully determine relevance until a story ends, and I’m now sure this ventured into irrelevance at times, as well. Of course, not everything should be completely relevant in a mystery or it will be too easy to solve. But The Fury is on the shorter side and I’m not sure every deviation from its proper path was absolutely necessary. However, the short chapters did help with the pacing, and the story was nearly unputdownable within the last 100 pages. That is when every single word truly mattered, without a doubt.
Was Mr. Michaelides successful at shocking me this time? Well, yes and no. Perhaps I’ve grown too accustomed to his style. I know what to look for now, and I had a pretty huge plot twist figured out after roughly 100 pages. But something else - something a bit deceptive - did momentarily alarm me, and while the final dropped bomb wasn’t completely surprising, it certainly was jarring.
I am not a fan of an omniscient first person narrator, although there are times when it works. Generally, if an author wants their narrator to know all, I’d prefer they go with the third person option, as the logical side of me struggles with what I am certain a single person could not know. Michaelides did make this passable, though. Elliot informs us that he’s taken liberties, and we’re always acutely aware of the fact that we cannot trust him. I can understand why Michaelides chose this narration style, and I appreciate how he tried to get around the defiance of logic. It made it more tolerable to read.
Overall, I felt Michaelides was clever in his choices, creating both a mystery that we’re told is not a mystery and an interesting character study.
****MAJOR SPOILER FOR BOTH THE FURY AND THE SILENT PATIENT****
Here is the piece that just didn’t sit right with me: Michaelides gave us glimpses into Elliot’s nightmarish childhood. If I remember correctly, we saw similar bits of Theo’s terrible past in The Silent Patient. I did not have trouble accepting that Theo was a psychopath. I don’t think that abuse automatically breeds psychopathy, though. With Theo, I could accept the person he became as an anomaly. It happens, but it isn’t the rule. The fact that Michaelides chose to do a similar thing with Elliot does bother me, though. Two abuse victims grow up into manipulative killers. I don’t really care for the pattern Michaelides is creating in his books. I think his stories are entertainingly deceptive, but I hope he’ll choose differently in the future. How about an abuse victim who remains a sympathetic character that readers can root for? There’s not much for a thriller there, I suppose, but I’d like to see him stop turning survivors into villains.
I am immensely grateful to Celadon Books for my copy. All opinions are my own.
Let’s start with what I adored: I was especially enamored with its overall tone. Elliot’s narration was incredibly inviting. It really did feel like I was seated beside a friend who was sharing his story with me. At the same time, it felt like I was part of an old movie, and I really liked that vibe. This is a contemporary novel, but it feels like a story from long ago.
Similarly to The Silent Patient, I loved the brilliant and beautiful insight into the psychological needs and torments of trauma survivors. Michaelides crafted this aspect expertly, making me feel deep empathy for Elliot’s character.
I must say that there is a fine line between building suspense and creating filler so you don’t reveal anything too quickly. I feel this novel teetered back and forth over that line. Michaelides DID successfully build suspense, and he gave us a lot of relevant information. It’s difficult to fully determine relevance until a story ends, and I’m now sure this ventured into irrelevance at times, as well. Of course, not everything should be completely relevant in a mystery or it will be too easy to solve. But The Fury is on the shorter side and I’m not sure every deviation from its proper path was absolutely necessary. However, the short chapters did help with the pacing, and the story was nearly unputdownable within the last 100 pages. That is when every single word truly mattered, without a doubt.
Was Mr. Michaelides successful at shocking me this time? Well, yes and no. Perhaps I’ve grown too accustomed to his style. I know what to look for now, and I had a pretty huge plot twist figured out after roughly 100 pages. But something else - something a bit deceptive - did momentarily alarm me, and while the final dropped bomb wasn’t completely surprising, it certainly was jarring.
I am not a fan of an omniscient first person narrator, although there are times when it works. Generally, if an author wants their narrator to know all, I’d prefer they go with the third person option, as the logical side of me struggles with what I am certain a single person could not know. Michaelides did make this passable, though. Elliot informs us that he’s taken liberties, and we’re always acutely aware of the fact that we cannot trust him. I can understand why Michaelides chose this narration style, and I appreciate how he tried to get around the defiance of logic. It made it more tolerable to read.
Overall, I felt Michaelides was clever in his choices, creating both a mystery that we’re told is not a mystery and an interesting character study.
****MAJOR SPOILER FOR BOTH THE FURY AND THE SILENT PATIENT****
Here is the piece that just didn’t sit right with me: Michaelides gave us glimpses into Elliot’s nightmarish childhood. If I remember correctly, we saw similar bits of Theo’s terrible past in The Silent Patient. I did not have trouble accepting that Theo was a psychopath. I don’t think that abuse automatically breeds psychopathy, though. With Theo, I could accept the person he became as an anomaly. It happens, but it isn’t the rule. The fact that Michaelides chose to do a similar thing with Elliot does bother me, though. Two abuse victims grow up into manipulative killers. I don’t really care for the pattern Michaelides is creating in his books. I think his stories are entertainingly deceptive, but I hope he’ll choose differently in the future. How about an abuse victim who remains a sympathetic character that readers can root for? There’s not much for a thriller there, I suppose, but I’d like to see him stop turning survivors into villains.
I am immensely grateful to Celadon Books for my copy. All opinions are my own.