Saturday, September 18, 2010
Review: Fury by Shirley Marr
It’s been awhile since I’ve reviewed a book, nearly two weeks I think, but fear not I am back I handed in all my assignments and now I have two weeks off uni to just to read and catch up on reviews, yay.
I’ve got reviews for Matched, Mockingjay and Return to Paradise coming up in the next week or so plus two author interviews one with Fiona Wood who wrote Six Impossible Things and the other with Kirsty Eagar author of Saltwater Vampires. I’ll also have a giveaway coming up next week so keep your eyes peeled! I hope you guys all have a great weekend, now for the review, enjoy.
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Review: Fury by Shirley Marr
Release Date: May 1, 2010
Publisher: Black Dog Books
Genre: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 277
Source: Bought
Blurb (from Goodreads)
Let me tell you my story.
Not just the facts I know you want to hear.
If I’m going to tell you my story,
I’m telling it my way.
Strap yourself in...
Eliza Boans has everything.
A big house.
A great education.
A bright future.
So why is she sitting in a police station confessing to murder?
Not just the facts I know you want to hear.
If I’m going to tell you my story,
I’m telling it my way.
Strap yourself in...
Eliza Boans has everything.
A big house.
A great education.
A bright future.
So why is she sitting in a police station confessing to murder?
The Quickie Review
Impressive debut novel with murder, intrigue and a dose of bitchiness for good measure.
The Full Blown Review
Fury begins with our protagonist Eliza Boans telling us readers she is a murderer in the first sentence, yes the first sentence, amazing, if this doesn’t draw you in I don’t know what will.
“My name is Eliza Boans and I am a murder” - Page 1.
Now your probably asking what’s going to transpire in the rest of the book if you know what’s already happened, well we don’t know who she murdered or why she did it, so what follows is Eliza recounting her story, in flashbacks, of the events leading up to the murder and boy strap yourself in for a riveting ride.
Oh Eliza Boans you are a right old bitch, I couldn’t stand you at all for most of the book and yet I couldn’t put your story down, I needed to know what you were going to do next, your story was utterly compelling. So basically as you can tell I did not like the lead protagonist too much, she was terrible she had no remorse for what she did in any way. I definitely give Shirley props for writing a character who is not very likeable I mean how many books have you read like that, I for one haven’t read many at all and when I do I tend to not like the book which didn’t happen here.
Through the first couple of chapters of the book I found myself disliking Eliza more and more, on the surface here was a girl with everything she could possibly want yet she was so angry for no real reason I could determine. Then slowly as I read more and more I began to understand her a bit better that said at the end of the book I still wasn’t loving her but I didn’t dislike her as much. Whilst to someone looking in it would seem Eliza had everything, living in a huge house in an exclusive gated community, money, expensive clothes, but these are all material possessions, Eliza’s family life was basically non existent her father was absent as was her mother whose idea of making school lunch was to leave $20 in the fridge, there was no love in that house at all. One of Eliza’s redeeming qualities was her love of her friends - who were Eliza’s real family - particularly Lexi who went through something no one should go though. This incident is the driving force behind the murder so finally when the time came to reveal who was murdered I understood why Eliza did it, I mean it doesn’t justify her actions, murder is never a solution to anything no matter what happens, but from her point of view I can see why she did it.
I just have to say that the first chapter would have to be one of my all time favourite first chapters in a novel I have ever read, I was instantly drawn in, I wanted to know who Eliza murdered, but first we had to go through the events that lead up to the murder which was just as compelling as the actual chapter which described the act itself.
As the book is told from the point of view of Eliza I was never sure how believable her account of the murder and the events that lead up to it were, was she telling the truth or not? I guess we’ll never know, some things are best left to the imagination and it’s left up to the reader to decide. I’m still not sure and I read Fury nearly two weeks ago.
Out of all the characters I liked Neil, Eliza’s childhood friend, the best, he was a bit of an enigma to me, there was definitely something about him that I liked though. I don’t want to give anything away but there was this sudden bit of information we’re given that just floored me, I wasn’t expecting that at all, and I found myself really feeling sorry for Neil when I probably shouldn’t.
I also have to mention how much I loved Shirley’s writing, the way Shirley crafted Eliza’s voice was simply fabulous. I especially loved Eliza’s sarcasm I’m a huge fan of sarcasm, as my parents can attest, so anything with sarcasm always leaves me wanting more.
Basically fury is a gripping psychological read with an unlikable protagonist who is strangely compelling. I highly recommend it.
The Good
* The first sentence, amazing!
* Shirley having the chutzpah (I love that word) to write a character that was pretty unlikable
* The narrative being told in flash backs
The Not So Good
* I actually can’t think of anything
Rating
4 out of 5
Cover Notes
I just love the cover, it is so beautiful. For anyone who is interested Shirley has written a post about the rejected Fury covers with piccies, so simply click HERE to view some of the rejected cover designs. I have to say I’m glad they used the cover they did.
Goodies
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4 comments:
i loved looking through all those cover designs! thanks for the link.
this is one book i will make sure to get around to. i love the premise and b/c it's Australian it jumps to the top of my list.
looking forward to some of your upcoming reviews and interviews.
xx
My favorite part of this post was the "Quickie Review". You had me at "...a dose of bitchiness for good measure. " I'm always on the lookout for books that really knock you off your feet and have some kind of uniqueness to them. Thanks for the review, I've added it to my TBR. (ps...I love debut authors)
Jen
In the Closet With a Bibliophile
sounds really interesting!
Romy, thank you, my lovely editor Melissa pointed your review out to me. Very pleased to be told I have the chutzpah (I love that word too)
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