The Furies

Katie Lowe

2019 • 263 pages

Ratings13

Average rating2.8

This page-turning, harrowing debut is the story of a girl trying to fit in, whose obsessive new friends and desperation to belong leads her to places she’d never imagined...dark, dangerous, and possibly even violent. "Fans of Greer Macallister, Paula Hawkins, and Janelle Brown will devour Violet’s journey.” —Booklist ~~~ In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead. She’s posed on a swing on her boarding school’s property, dressed all in white, with no known cause of death. Whispers and rumors swirl, with no answers. But there are a few who know what happened; there is one girl who will never forget. One year earlier: a new student, Violet, steps on the campus of Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl’s boarding school on the outskirts of a sleepy coastal town. This is her fresh start, her chance to begin again in the wake of tragedy, leave her demons behind. Bright but a little strange, uncertain and desperate to fit in, she soon finds herself invited to an advanced study group, led by her alluring and mysterious art teacher, Annabel. There, with three other girls—Alex, Grace, and Robin—the five of them delve into the school’s long-buried grim history: of Greek and Celtic legends; of the school founder’s “academic” interest in the occult; of gruesome 17th century witch trials. Annabel does her best to convince the girls that her classes aren’t related to ancient rites and rituals, and that they are just history and mythology. But the more she tries to warn the girls off the topic, the more they are drawn to it, and the possibility that they can harness magic for themselves. Violet quickly finds herself wrapped up in this heady new world of lawless power—except she is needled by the disappearance of a former member of the group, one with whom Violet shares an uncanny resemblance. As her friends’ actions take a turn for the darker and spiral out of control, she begins to wonder who she can trust, all the while becoming more deeply entangled. How far will these young girls go to protect one another...or to destroy one another?

Genres

Mood

challenging

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Reviews with the most likes.

Natasha

2.5 stars. Very dark academia - witchcraft, petty jealousies, murder. Unlikable characters - all of them! I don't think there was one I liked. Yet I was darkly fascinated by it all.

October 16, 2020

Hannah Morgan-Lewis

At this rate I am going to have to start describing myself as a YA reader! I thought this book was fabulous, very well written and gripping.

The story is told by Violet, who is looking back on the events that happened to her and her friends. After a tragic accident which leaves her and her mother alone, she is sent to a girls' school which was the site of witch trials. Violet attracts the attention of Annabel, one of the teachers, who has set up an exclusive club for girls she considers exceptional. Along with her three friends they attend to discuss women through history and through their lessons they become interested in witchcraft themselves. Robin in particular is drawn to performing rituals and they start to believe they have real power.

I thought the witchcraft elements were really well handled and I loved the way the author incorporated elements of mythology into the story. The perils of being a teenager in the 1990s are brilliantly and very accurately described, as is the friendship between the girls. I loved the way that the mystery of the missing girl unfolded and I thought that the plot was quite unexpected. Violet is a great narrator, looking back at her teenage years with some regret. Some of the book gets a bit far fetched at times, but overall, I really enjoyed it.

July 10, 2019

Charlotte

Recensie van audioboek (via Storytel)

Op basis van de synopsis dacht ik dat ik dit boek geweldig ging vinden. Atmosferisch, een beetje griezelig en mysterieus, gelinkt aan duistere mythologie, geheime genootschappen, heksen, etc.
Helaas nam dit boek mij nooit echt helemaal mee en vond ik het geheel saai en kleurloos, wat toch verbazingwekkend is gezien de verschillende intrigerende elementen.
Ik was weinig geëngageerd, voelde mij te weinig betrokken met de personages en ik had moeite in hun echtheid te geloven.
Ook het ganse concept van de geheime genootschap had fascinerend en spannend moeten zijn, maar het kon me niet boeien. Ik had geen idee waarom die lessen geheim moesten worden gehouden, gezien ze gewoon over kunst en literatuur gingen.

Alle elementen waren er om een fantastisch en fascinerend verhaal te weven - en de proloog had me ook meteen beet - maar daarna verloor ik snel mijn aandacht. Het uiteindelijke verhaal was zowel saai, te ongeloofwaardig en onvoldoende opgebouwd en uitgewerkt.

November 7, 2020