Book Review: Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse (August 30, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1442422246
ISBN-13: 978-1442422247
Series: Fury #1
Source: ARC provided by publisher
Cover: Hello gorgeous! This cover is stunning and even better in person. The title is embossed and all golden goodness. The gorgeous flowing red hair that is fading away to nothing and her pale skin matching the dress is just so utterly beautiful. I love this one.
First Sentence: "High above a freeway, a girl gripped the overpass railing."

Mini-Review: In this deadly fun debut, revenge has never looked so good!

Summary:

Sometimes sorry isn't enough....

It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems...

Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better--the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend.

On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay.

Em and Chase have been chosen. 

Book Review:

The reviews on Fury have been mixed and for good reason. Right away, you can tell this novel is not for everyone. The characters are flawed and do some pretty awful things and the plot is slow one moment and spinning out of control the next. Filled with beautiful writing and amped tension, Fury ends on a fast fall that shocks and delivers.

I understand why some people really don't like the two main characters Chase and Em. Em is in love with her best friend's boyfriend and her best friend is really incredibly sweet. Yet, Em believes there is something between her and Zach and decides to go for Zach anyway, using flimsy excuses to help her sleep at night. She is weak. But sometimes we all are and I felt like Em owes up to this moment of weakness in the ending. To me, she really didn't seem to want to hurt anyone and besides allowing herself to get caught up in the moment, she is pretty nice to everyone else around her.

As for Chase, I really understand why people don't like him. Besides the stuff revealed later on, he's a jock who says jerky things and cares too much about himself to care much about anyone else. But he's also not like this at all and I thought the author did an amazing job of showing this side of him. What I liked so much about Chase is that he came from nothing. He's beyond poor and is very ashamed of this. Because of his situation, he overcompensates. But once he starts to realize that he might be becoming a terrible person, he does try to change it. For me, his flaws really made him likable and I felt bad for him in the end.

This novel is amazing at building suspense. Through subtle flickers and images, Ms. Miles amps up the creep factor until it all comes spiraling to an end. I loved that the character might see something behind them and then turn around to find nothing there. This really set me on edge. The three beautiful sisters show up at the right times. There is this wonderful scene where Em is going into the city and she meets one of them on the train and sees the girl throughout the rest of the night, nearly getting herself killed in the process.

This novel is written in third person which isn't always agreeable for me but it's close third person so that you understand why the character is doing the things they are doing and feel the way they do. I really liked the symbolism and the writing is gorgeous. I did think that this novel was a bit slow in the middle and could have been trimmed a bit more. However, the ending is heart-pounding and I couldn't put the book down for the last 100 pages.

Revenge really hasn't looked this good in a long time. Though Fury's main characters are flawed, they do work at trying to be better people. Overall, the slow building, spine-tingling creep factor and the amazing twists at the end of the novel outweighed the character's bad behavior and I was dying to see how this novel would end. Just don't do anything bad while reading or these three sister might just show up. And I, for one, certainly don't want to be chosen by these Furies.

Rating: