Book Review: Fury

Fury
by Elizabeth Miles
370 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: August 30th 2011
Source: Library
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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.

Fury has an awesome premise. A book in which the characters get punished for the bad things they do by creepy and beautiful girls? Can you say Karma? Like I said, it's a cool premise. Unfortunately the only way to execute this premise was to have the characters do bad things in the first place which leads to a story that is more frustrating than enjoyable.

The reason Em was getting stalked by the Furies was because she cheated with her best friends boyfriend. Yep, one of the main characters is a boyfriend stealer. The worst part was she kept trying to rationalize it. All I could think while reading was:

"Oh no you don't girlfriend! I don't care if it "feels right" YOU ARE STILL KISSING YOUR BEST FRIENDS BOYFRIEND!!!! Own up to your actions!"

Even though it was nice that Em got what was coming to her in the end I couldn't help but feeling a bit like a horrible person for rooting for the Furies. >.<

On the other end of the spectrum was Chase. You didn't know why he was targeted by the Furies until most of the way through the book (and I won't tell you here in order to stay spoiler free) but he basically spends the book awkwardly pursuing an unbelievably beautiful girl who was really, you guessed it, a Fury. Their relationship started out innocent but quickly turned extremely physical in a REALLY awkward way. You might have heard of it: The infamous paint scene. I'm not gonna go into it so let's just say that if this were a movie an R rating might not be considered sufficient....

Once I got past the boyfriend stealing and awkward sexy times Fury really did start to grow on me. There were forboding blood red flowers, and creepy Fury encounters that really made the story intriguing. However I couldn't help but feel the story was still really gimmicky. From the oversexualized nature of the characters relationships to their heavy use of swear words it just felt like Elizabeth Miles was trying really hard to stay "relevant" for her teen audience. All I can say is it doesn't take sex and language to make a book readable for modern day teens. Or anyone for that matter.

Overall Fury was an okay but ultimately disappointing book. I enjoyed it but the heavy use of language and sex really detracted from the story. I give it 3 and a half out of 5 ice cream cones.

Fury is a cautionary tale. Do something bad, and it may just come back to haunt you. Karma's a bitch. Literally. If you can look past the self-righteous boyfriend stealing and edgy content then I'd give Fury a read. Otherwise I'd probably pass it up.

Julia :)