Review – The Furies by Katie Lowe

Posted April 13, 2022 by Carole in Reviews / 12 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – The Furies by Katie LoweThe Furies by Katie Lowe
Narrator: Olivia Dowd
Published by Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press on October 8, 2019
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Length: 10 hours 43 minutes
Format: ARC, Audiobook
Source: Library, Publisher
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two-stars

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?

Well, this was dull. I really wanted to like this book and went into it with an open mind but it just wasn’t meant to be. I did think about abandoning the book at several points but I pushed through in hopes that the ending would be exciting enough to make up for the incredibly slow-paced story. It wasn’t. I thought that the premise of this book sounded like it had a lot of promise. It should have been an exciting story with deaths occurring and the history of witchcraft at the school but it just fell flat for me.

I didn’t like any of the characters which made it hard to connect with the story. I thought that the very beginning of the book where we learn Violet’s history was very well done and I wanted to be sympathetic toward her character but it just didn’t happen. Violet, Robin, Alex, and Grace just were not very likable. Robin was the ringleader for much of the story and she really just seemed like a bad influence on Violet. I was bored throughout the book.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Olivia Dowd did a great job with the narration. Honestly, I don’t think that I would have finished the book if it were not for her narration. She had a pleasant voice and I liked the distinctive voices that she used for the various characters.

This is not a book that I will be recommending this book. This was a very slow-moving story with characters I didn’t care about. I do think that some readers will like this one a lot more than I did.

I received a review copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press Press and borrowed a copy of the audiobook.

12 responses to “Review – The Furies by Katie Lowe

    • I thought about just not finishing it but I was stuck at an auto repair shop for a lot longer than I planned and just didn’t put in the effort to start a new book. The next thing I knew, I was almost done.

  1. I’m sorry this one didn’t work out. I’ve had the same where I couldn’t finish a book if it weren’t for the narrator. They really can make even poor stories at least bearable. They can make and average story great. Hope you have better luck with the next one.

    • I probably should have set it aside but I was stuck at an auto repair shop and just kept listening and then I was almost done.

  2. There have been a few books that the audio was the only reason I made it through them. This sounds like one I will skip.

    • Yeah, I kept listening to it because I was just sitting at the auto repair shop. I don’t think that I would have kept reading it any other way.