Review: The Furies

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

Title: The Furies
Author: Katie Lowe
Publication Date: October 8, 2019
Genre: Thriller/Supernatural
Recommended If You Like: exploration of the power and dynamics of female friendships, spells, women as viewed in ancient and modern times, the power of the past, stories centered around schools

The Book:

Violet, a teenage girl with a tragic past, is a new student at Elm Hollow Academy. She has no close friends until her art teacher, Annabel offers her to chance to join a special small study group. There she befriends Robin, Alex, and Grace, and grows almost obsessively close with Robin, whose former best friend disappeared the year before.

But as Violet learns more about the school's past, and the past of her new friends, she finds herself drawn into the world of The Furies, full of revenge, ancient spells, and deadly consequences.

What I Liked About the Book:

The book opens with a bang, the reader already being told that one of the teenage characters dies, having been found on a swing in a white dress with no indication of what (or who) killed her. We have no idea which character it is, or what happened, but we are immediately thrust into the story with Violet, our narrator. This builds up so much suspense and makes you have to keep turning pages.

Anything I Didn't Like?

I just wanted to shake all the characters, especially Violet, and tell them just to stop doing what they're doing. I also didn't really like any of the characters, which seemed like the point, but I tend to struggle with books like that.

The very last few pages also just didn't work for me. That last-minute plot development didn't really seem to fit with what came before.

So...?

I liked this book, but didn't love it like I was hoping I would. It's a creepy, eerie, suspenseful read, but it can get confusing, and the characters are so hard to like.