Reviews

The Amber Fury by Natalie Haynes

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ru_bunny's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Tragedy begets tragedy...

When Alex Morris , a promising theatre director turned grieving drama therapy teacher, moves to Edinburgh, she hopes to forget her troubles in the face of a different challenge: the troubled kids at Rankeillor Street. Through the plays of Sophocles, she manages to coax her fourth year students - artistic Ricky, perpetually angry Jono, peacock perfect Carly, irascible Annika and promising Mel - from monosyllabic grunts and disinterested shrugs to something approaching an actual discussion. However much she about it though, the ghosts of Alexa's past continue to affect her, and without knowing it, she is teaching one of her students the meaning and importance of vengeance.

Recommended for those who like the Greek tragedies and angsty teenagers, or who are looking for realistic depictions of mourning, and representation of the deaf. Good for a quick read on a rainy day with good biscuits.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Greek tragedies, this book is a great introduction. The character of Alex is a convincing teacher, and both she and the group of fourth years that she is mentoring have a push-and-pull energy that makes it feel like a real class interaction. The other characters all feel two-dimensional in comparison, probably because they're all seen through Alex's eyes and she is disinterested in anything deeper.

The plot itself starts off strong but the climax comes quite abruptly. There could have been a more exciting twist, and I was expecting it to get more gruesome, but as character studies go, this one is an interesting and realistic read.

intheskywmegan's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

natalya702's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bfrance99's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was an interesting book with great writing and characters, but the plot was very limited and quite predictable. I enjoyed the Greek mythology interwoven and influencing the modern day characters, although how much influence it actually had is unclear to me.

sjj169's review against another edition

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2.0

Alex has lost her fiance to a brutal killing. So when her friend Robert offers her a job in a new town away from the pain she is having living in London she takes the job. She starts working in Edinburgh in a school of troubled teenagers. The one class that stands out for her is her harder one. Five teenagers she sets out to make a difference too.
In the beginning the book reminded me quite a bit of the movie "Dangerous Minds". That's really not a bad thing since I enjoyed that movie.

She gets the kids interested in Greek tragedy's. I loved this part of the book. The author made me want to read all the works that she included in this book.

Then the book just faltered. It seemed like the second part of the book just wanted me to go to sleep.
Not a horrible book..just one I had a hard time finishing.

I did receive an arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

missamandamae's review against another edition

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3.0

This was an odd one. I think I was expecting it to be darker than it ended up being. And there were dark things about it, but certainly not gothic or anything. I liked the parts about Alex being a teacher of troubled youth, because I've experience that, my sister has experienced that, and I could identify with that a bit more. I thought it was interesting interweaving the Greek tragedies into the storyline, but I don't think it quite went as far as I had expected. Not a bad read by any means, it just didn't quite go as I had envisioned. Maybe that's a book I need to write?