Book Review: The Furies by Katie Lowe

Title: The Furies
Author: Katie Lowe
Genre: YA/Thriller
Publisher: HarperCollins (2 May 2019)

Buy Link: Amazon UK

Description

You’d kill to be one of them.

A sixteen-year-old girl is found dead on school property, dressed in white and posed on a swing. No known cause of death.

Four girls know what happened.

And until now they’ve kept their silence.

Violet is returning home, back to the sleepy coastal town which holds so many memories.

In 1998, after a tragic accident claimed the lives of her father and sister, she joins Elm Hollow Academy, a private girls’ school with an unpleasant history of 17th century witch trials.

There she is drawn to Robin, Grace, Alex and their charismatic teacher, Annabel; she is invited to join them in their advanced study group.

There they learn about art, literature and the grisly history of the school. Though Annabel claims her classes aren’t related to ancient rites and rituals, she warns them off the topic, describing it as little more than mythology. However, the more the girls learn, the more they start to believe that magic is real and that together they can harness it.

But when the body of a former member of the society is found on campus nine months after she disappeared, fingers are pointed at those closest to her. Leading Violet to wonder whether she can trust her friends, teachers, or even herself.

Advance Praise

‘A spell-binding debut that examines the dark heart of friendship, obsession, and revenge. I was bewitched by Katie Lowe’s deliciously chilling storytelling. THE FURIES is a compulsive and unsettling read, dripping in atmosphere and suspense’ Lucy Clarke, bestselling author of YOU LET ME IN

‘THE FURIES can be described as PREP meets THE CRAFT, while managing to be a dark, weird creature all of its own. Witches, murder, and teenage girls – this is the book of my dreams. I am obsessed’ Louise O’Neill, bestselling author of ONLY EVER YOURS

‘THE FURIES is mesmerising, disturbing and completely addictive – it’s a brilliant book about the power, vulnerability and rage of teenage girls, and it couldn’t feel more timely. Lowe’s beautiful prose is thrillingly, chillingly dark, and Violet is the sort of heroine that you want to throw yourself down the rabbit hole with – you know that she’s going somewhere terrifying but you have to follow her journey’ Daisy Buchanan, author of THE SISTERHOOD

‘Witchcraft, teenage angst, friendship, murder. A beautifully-paced debut with hints of THE SECRET HISTORY. Intense, stylish, and deliciously dark’ Will Dean, author of DARK PINES

‘THE FURIES is a haunting tale of angry, young women, the fates they hold and furies they possess. Katie Lowe steers her juggernaut through twists of madness, revenge and murder to a finish that resonates deeply. It still hasn’t left me’ Peter Filardi, screenwriter of THE CRAFT

Review:

The Furies as a legend/myth is something I have heard about before so I was expecting lots of spells and the Furies turning up a lot. I was a little disappointed that they were only ‘seen’ once and not really many spells or rituals happened either.

That said, I really enjoyed the history of Elm Hollow Academy, it was explained in great detail, which is great as it helps the mind vision it.

The friendship between the four girls seemed quite strange to me as it felt like two of the girls were only interested in Violet when Robin was about, It felt as though Violet tried too hard to be accepted into the group and she felt awkward at times. She seemed to be lead easily, maybe because of her past and her home life and wanting to ‘fit in’.

It was a slow starting book, but it did get better as it went along, it was written well but when the book ended I felt that something was missing.