revengelyne's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked the concept of the Furies from mythology. This was the first read for me to see them as prominent characters. I hadn't come across them before like this and I really liked the blurb. I did not, however, care too much for Meg. For such a young adult, she was far too angry at the world. I understand that she had a lot of reason to hate people like "The Leech" and the surfer crowd due to plenty of humiliation but once she finds out exactly what she is capable of she kinda begins to take it a bit too far. What she did to Brendon after his friends found them together really took it a bit too far.
And let's not get started on the other two. A tree-hugger and surfer-girl with anger issues.
But correct me if I am wrong, the Furies were not entirely violent. If my memory of mythology serves me correctly, they tormented those who did wrong. Sometimes stopped their torment if the person corrected a past mistake they made that incited the fury of the Furies. Of course there could have been times that the Furies drove their subject to madness and even death but not like the way this book did it.
All in all, this book's concept was interesting but just because you have become a Fury does not mean to take out your anger and hatred on everyone who crosses your path. The Furies are just not like that.
And let's not get started on the other two. A tree-hugger and surfer-girl with anger issues.
But correct me if I am wrong, the Furies were not entirely violent. If my memory of mythology serves me correctly, they tormented those who did wrong. Sometimes stopped their torment if the person corrected a past mistake they made that incited the fury of the Furies. Of course there could have been times that the Furies drove their subject to madness and even death but not like the way this book did it.
All in all, this book's concept was interesting but just because you have become a Fury does not mean to take out your anger and hatred on everyone who crosses your path. The Furies are just not like that.
books_plan_create's review against another edition
2.0
You know, I was really excited about this book. It started off great, I was really enjoying it, but then my interest fell. My interest was so low I don't even feel like writing a review.
pagesplotsandpints's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
Initial Impressions: Really nowhere near what I hoped it would be. Loved the mythology involved and accurate from what I know of it but it did not make a very good translation into YA.
Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: I’ve always been interested in mythology even since I was a youngster, so I’ve really been into trying to pick up mythology retellings lately. When I hear about FURIOUS, I was like “HMMM. The Furies myth redone? I’m curious!” Sadly, curious was about as far as it went. I made it about halfway through before I found myself reading quickly, forcing myself to finish.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the myth, the gist of it is that the three Furies were born from the blood and anger of the god Uranus after he was… erm, castrated (I can see why he was pissed) and they are responsible for the eye-for-and-eye type of justice in the world. In the retelling of FURIOUS, they’re three high school teenagers who are “discovered” to have the powers of the Furies deep within them and when the three hone into their skills, they can bring the high school jerks to their knees, right the wrongs of their own home lives, and bring even bigger justices to the world.
It’s hard to judge and say that this could have been done better since I’m not sitting here writing my own retelling, but I just didn’t feel like this interpretation of the myth came off well. All of the specifics and background of the myth were included in the book so it’s definitely thorough and accurate, but as a retelling, I think I wanted it to be LESS accurate. It was so integrated in the original myth that I feel like it almost got boxed in and pieces were forced to fit together that didn’t really go together. Some of the characters felt forced, the situations were the Furies use their power seemed a little silly, and I just felt like as a whole, it didn’t really come together to make one cohesive story. Personally, I would have liked to see a looser interpretation of the myth to fit more of a high school setting since it was drawn up for YA versus a more literal retelling and having some of it feel unauthentic to its setting.
As far as characters go, I didn’t really feel a connection to any of them. Except for maybe Raymond, the main character Meg’s best friend… And now that I’m thinking about it, maybe because he wasn’t a part of the myth so he wasn’t forced into a specific role? The development of the Furies’ powers and how they discover them didn’t feel natural for me and Meg as our main character wasn’t likable. I sympathized with her for the most part, but I mean, they’re FURIES. They’re mad, they want revenge, they want justice. It’s hard to connect with main characters who are basically pictured like bad guys who think they’re good guys.
FURIOUS just wasn’t for me. I rushed through the second half of the book so I could finish it, but really, I just wasn’t interested. I actually found myself not caring what happened to the end but it was going by pretty quickly so I figured I might as well finish. This was close to being a DNF for me but I pushed through it.
Initial Impressions: Really nowhere near what I hoped it would be. Loved the mythology involved and accurate from what I know of it but it did not make a very good translation into YA.
Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: I’ve always been interested in mythology even since I was a youngster, so I’ve really been into trying to pick up mythology retellings lately. When I hear about FURIOUS, I was like “HMMM. The Furies myth redone? I’m curious!” Sadly, curious was about as far as it went. I made it about halfway through before I found myself reading quickly, forcing myself to finish.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the myth, the gist of it is that the three Furies were born from the blood and anger of the god Uranus after he was… erm, castrated (I can see why he was pissed) and they are responsible for the eye-for-and-eye type of justice in the world. In the retelling of FURIOUS, they’re three high school teenagers who are “discovered” to have the powers of the Furies deep within them and when the three hone into their skills, they can bring the high school jerks to their knees, right the wrongs of their own home lives, and bring even bigger justices to the world.
It’s hard to judge and say that this could have been done better since I’m not sitting here writing my own retelling, but I just didn’t feel like this interpretation of the myth came off well. All of the specifics and background of the myth were included in the book so it’s definitely thorough and accurate, but as a retelling, I think I wanted it to be LESS accurate. It was so integrated in the original myth that I feel like it almost got boxed in and pieces were forced to fit together that didn’t really go together. Some of the characters felt forced, the situations were the Furies use their power seemed a little silly, and I just felt like as a whole, it didn’t really come together to make one cohesive story. Personally, I would have liked to see a looser interpretation of the myth to fit more of a high school setting since it was drawn up for YA versus a more literal retelling and having some of it feel unauthentic to its setting.
As far as characters go, I didn’t really feel a connection to any of them. Except for maybe Raymond, the main character Meg’s best friend… And now that I’m thinking about it, maybe because he wasn’t a part of the myth so he wasn’t forced into a specific role? The development of the Furies’ powers and how they discover them didn’t feel natural for me and Meg as our main character wasn’t likable. I sympathized with her for the most part, but I mean, they’re FURIES. They’re mad, they want revenge, they want justice. It’s hard to connect with main characters who are basically pictured like bad guys who think they’re good guys.
FURIOUS just wasn’t for me. I rushed through the second half of the book so I could finish it, but really, I just wasn’t interested. I actually found myself not caring what happened to the end but it was going by pretty quickly so I figured I might as well finish. This was close to being a DNF for me but I pushed through it.
dreamer4ever's review against another edition
2.0
I did not care for this book at all. I think the idea was good but not executed well. I was glad to be done with it.
owlishbookish's review against another edition
2.0
This review was originally posted on Book Brats on April 8, 2013.
Meg, Alix, and Stephanie are three very different girls. Yet, there is something that binds them together that will forever change them in ways they can not possibly know. Mysterious classmate Ambrosia enters their lives and proceeds to turn things upside down. As the three girls discover more about themselves, they will find that things aren’t always as they seem. In this dark tale of mythology meets reality, Furious pushes the boundaries of what is right, what a person is really owed, and what is going too far.
At first, Meg was a character I felt pretty bad for. Trapped in a never-ending cycle of less-than-pleasant foster homes, Meg continues to do her best to carve out her place in the world. At first, I had trouble reconciling the rage hinted at in the book’s description with this character. All of that quickly changed, however, as Meg’s true nature was revealed. At this point, I wasn’t quite so sure as to why this character needed my sympathy. I understood the difficulties of her life as a foster child, but what began as longing for a steady home quickly turned into a materialistic, vicious attitude. Even before the more mythical aspects of the book picked up, I was quickly losing interest in this main character. Call it self-preservation for the sake of my patience, if you will, but it soon became apparent that Meg and I would have a struggle. Alix was at least more believable since she was pretty consistent from beginning to end. Once I learned more of her background, it really became apparent that she fit very well into the plot. Stephanie was another one that gave me pause. I’ve known many people with similar priorities and opinions, but the level of anger she displays seems a little over-the-top, at times. Upset, yes. Emotional, you bet. All-consuming, destructive rage? I’m not so sure about that. I was left having a lot of trouble fully buying into this set of characters and still have ambivalent feelings about the whole thing.
The plot was probably the most difficult thing for me to ponder. While the story has a certain atmosphere that lets you know that the subject is a weighty one, as well as eerie, there were moments that struck me as just plain messed up. Some of the situations the girls bring about are truly horrible and leave no room for either empathy or sympathy. In fact, the girls’ actions proved to widen the gap between me as the reader and the book. That there are frequently no consequences also strikes me as entirely too improbable. Overall, there was a serious disconnect between my reader’s sensibilities and the story as a whole.
I normally love anything with a mythological angle. In fact, I’ve read more mythologically-based books that I can even count. I’ve enjoyed the vast majority of them, truth be told. Furious, however, won’t be joining their ranks. While the description proves to be both tantalizing and somewhat spooky, Furious simply fell short of my expectations. The Furies is a topic that has a lot of potential in contemporary books, but Furious just isn’t the “Furies-centric” book that blew me away.
Meg, Alix, and Stephanie are three very different girls. Yet, there is something that binds them together that will forever change them in ways they can not possibly know. Mysterious classmate Ambrosia enters their lives and proceeds to turn things upside down. As the three girls discover more about themselves, they will find that things aren’t always as they seem. In this dark tale of mythology meets reality, Furious pushes the boundaries of what is right, what a person is really owed, and what is going too far.
At first, Meg was a character I felt pretty bad for. Trapped in a never-ending cycle of less-than-pleasant foster homes, Meg continues to do her best to carve out her place in the world. At first, I had trouble reconciling the rage hinted at in the book’s description with this character. All of that quickly changed, however, as Meg’s true nature was revealed. At this point, I wasn’t quite so sure as to why this character needed my sympathy. I understood the difficulties of her life as a foster child, but what began as longing for a steady home quickly turned into a materialistic, vicious attitude. Even before the more mythical aspects of the book picked up, I was quickly losing interest in this main character. Call it self-preservation for the sake of my patience, if you will, but it soon became apparent that Meg and I would have a struggle. Alix was at least more believable since she was pretty consistent from beginning to end. Once I learned more of her background, it really became apparent that she fit very well into the plot. Stephanie was another one that gave me pause. I’ve known many people with similar priorities and opinions, but the level of anger she displays seems a little over-the-top, at times. Upset, yes. Emotional, you bet. All-consuming, destructive rage? I’m not so sure about that. I was left having a lot of trouble fully buying into this set of characters and still have ambivalent feelings about the whole thing.
The plot was probably the most difficult thing for me to ponder. While the story has a certain atmosphere that lets you know that the subject is a weighty one, as well as eerie, there were moments that struck me as just plain messed up. Some of the situations the girls bring about are truly horrible and leave no room for either empathy or sympathy. In fact, the girls’ actions proved to widen the gap between me as the reader and the book. That there are frequently no consequences also strikes me as entirely too improbable. Overall, there was a serious disconnect between my reader’s sensibilities and the story as a whole.
I normally love anything with a mythological angle. In fact, I’ve read more mythologically-based books that I can even count. I’ve enjoyed the vast majority of them, truth be told. Furious, however, won’t be joining their ranks. While the description proves to be both tantalizing and somewhat spooky, Furious simply fell short of my expectations. The Furies is a topic that has a lot of potential in contemporary books, but Furious just isn’t the “Furies-centric” book that blew me away.
aprilbooksandwine's review against another edition
3.0
Straight up, I will forever and always love books about the Furies, the avenging Greek goddesses, because I LOVE reading about stories of revenge and people getting their just deserts. YET, not all of the stories starring the Furies are created equal. Furious by Jill Wolfson fell flat, despite my exuberant excitement for it. While I did connect with the main character somewhat, because she has a sad backstory, I felt that something was off with the writing style.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
midnightbookgirl's review against another edition
5.0
I love Greek mythology, but so often I've been disappointed with YA books and their re-imaginings of myth. The Furies have been covered by a few other authors, and none really did them justice. Wolfson does.
dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
3.0
How did we end up here?
The publicist sent me an email asking me if I’d like to take a look at this one. The blurb sounded interesting enough but what really roped me in what ‘seaside California town.’ What can I say? I’m a sucker for coastal California settings. I can’t help it. A short time later the book came to be in my possession.
Okay, book. You've got 50 pages. Go!
The setting is Santa Cruz without actually being named Santa Cruz. I love it already. The voice had me pretty much hooked in as well. It had a little bit of a quirk to it, was a little bit of an outcast without diving into the Woe is Me Sea and the plot really started to take off as soon as the pages started turning so I really didn’t have much to complain about. There’s your stereotypical high school bull going on but at least it fuels into the plot itself instead of just mood setting because that’s what it SHOULD be.
What worked . . .
The fact that it was a Santa Cruz setting. I could picture everything the author threw into her setting although it seemed like she rearranged the street layout a little bit. That’s okay. I survived. When I read the author blurb and saw that Wolfson actually lives in Santa Cruz IT MADE SO MUCH MORE SENSE. Ah, love. Love Santa Cruz.
I did like the pseudo-set-up of the story being a play with the stasimons by Ambrosia and her acting as somewhat of a narrator when a scene dimmed. The story went further than I though it would with the Furies aspect and how far the girls took it so I give Wolfson kudos for that. She really didn’t mince words when it came to laying down the Furies law and I kept expecting to find more doubt in Meg but she really kept it away for a longer than normal amount of time. Almost to the point where I started questioning whether the girls would see any repercussions for what they were doing. I just needed to be patient.
I also liked how eroded the girls became as the story went on and their powers grew. They didn’t transform into Ambrosia-like beauties although there was certainly some lead-in to that happening. The story as a whole ended up being a little moralistic but I didn’t feel brow-beaten by it. It worked within the confines of the story and the ending left a hook that I liked. It didn’t open up this book to be more than a stand alone but ended with an ellipses. This isn’t over type of deal. A happy, rather peaceful ending with a but. My kind of ending.
What didn't work . . .
Nothing that really stood out although I didn’t find the book wonderful enough to write home about, you know? It was okay, entertaining enough and I enjoyed it while I read it but I’m not about to reach out and read it again any time soon, even if it is steeped in Santa Cruz.
I wasn’t thrilled how the girls’ antagonist came out and was developed. I felt that came in rather late, was left to simmer for too long, ended up blowing up at the end and it was over too quickly. There was so much build up for the girls getting their power and using it and I know it’s told from Meg’s point of view but the hiccup in their function just ended up showing up and that was it. Sure it was sprinkled throughout the story but it was shoved so far into the background that I wish it had more of a presence from the beginning instead of something that was so easily brushed away.
And in the end . . .
The book as a book fulfilled its purpose in entertaining me while I was reading it. Really I think I loved reading more about the non-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz than I did the story itself but that’s okay. I thought it was a good twist on Greek legend and I liked how pertinent it was made to modern life. It just wasn’t outstanding. I wish I could have liked it more than I did but I did like it. I’m just not flying off my seat about it.
The publicist sent me an email asking me if I’d like to take a look at this one. The blurb sounded interesting enough but what really roped me in what ‘seaside California town.’ What can I say? I’m a sucker for coastal California settings. I can’t help it. A short time later the book came to be in my possession.
Okay, book. You've got 50 pages. Go!
The setting is Santa Cruz without actually being named Santa Cruz. I love it already. The voice had me pretty much hooked in as well. It had a little bit of a quirk to it, was a little bit of an outcast without diving into the Woe is Me Sea and the plot really started to take off as soon as the pages started turning so I really didn’t have much to complain about. There’s your stereotypical high school bull going on but at least it fuels into the plot itself instead of just mood setting because that’s what it SHOULD be.
What worked . . .
The fact that it was a Santa Cruz setting. I could picture everything the author threw into her setting although it seemed like she rearranged the street layout a little bit. That’s okay. I survived. When I read the author blurb and saw that Wolfson actually lives in Santa Cruz IT MADE SO MUCH MORE SENSE. Ah, love. Love Santa Cruz.
I did like the pseudo-set-up of the story being a play with the stasimons by Ambrosia and her acting as somewhat of a narrator when a scene dimmed. The story went further than I though it would with the Furies aspect and how far the girls took it so I give Wolfson kudos for that. She really didn’t mince words when it came to laying down the Furies law and I kept expecting to find more doubt in Meg but she really kept it away for a longer than normal amount of time. Almost to the point where I started questioning whether the girls would see any repercussions for what they were doing. I just needed to be patient.
I also liked how eroded the girls became as the story went on and their powers grew. They didn’t transform into Ambrosia-like beauties although there was certainly some lead-in to that happening. The story as a whole ended up being a little moralistic but I didn’t feel brow-beaten by it. It worked within the confines of the story and the ending left a hook that I liked. It didn’t open up this book to be more than a stand alone but ended with an ellipses. This isn’t over type of deal. A happy, rather peaceful ending with a but. My kind of ending.
What didn't work . . .
Nothing that really stood out although I didn’t find the book wonderful enough to write home about, you know? It was okay, entertaining enough and I enjoyed it while I read it but I’m not about to reach out and read it again any time soon, even if it is steeped in Santa Cruz.
I wasn’t thrilled how the girls’ antagonist came out and was developed. I felt that came in rather late, was left to simmer for too long, ended up blowing up at the end and it was over too quickly. There was so much build up for the girls getting their power and using it and I know it’s told from Meg’s point of view but the hiccup in their function just ended up showing up and that was it. Sure it was sprinkled throughout the story but it was shoved so far into the background that I wish it had more of a presence from the beginning instead of something that was so easily brushed away.
And in the end . . .
The book as a book fulfilled its purpose in entertaining me while I was reading it. Really I think I loved reading more about the non-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz than I did the story itself but that’s okay. I thought it was a good twist on Greek legend and I liked how pertinent it was made to modern life. It just wasn’t outstanding. I wish I could have liked it more than I did but I did like it. I’m just not flying off my seat about it.