Fury

Although I like to think of young adult fiction as the best storytelling out there, as with any other genre, there are sometimes pieces that are pure wastes of time. How dare I say such a thing about art, but at least for me, I find this to be true. If a work of fiction does not leave me happy, satisfied, entertained, or even one of those, I don't see the point. If I want real, dirty life, I don't need to pick up a novel to see it.

Fury, by Elizabeth Miles, was such a waste of time. I thought it might get better, have redeeming value...okay, you've heard that from me before, but I really do try to give every story a fighting chance. It's just really hard to enjoy a book if you hate the characters, if they are so bad or so wrong you can't remotely identify. Maybe some people can identify with stealing a best friend's boyfriend only to find out he's a jerk, using your best friend and you. I sure don't.

Fury is about two teenagers in a little town in Maine, Em and Chase, who have each made their own separate mistakes. They don't know about furies, the witches who arbitrarily choose who deserves to be punished, but the furies know about them and are here to make them pay, eye for eye.

Besides being about people I couldn't summon enough camaraderie with to like, the odd thing about this book is that it's really two stories that barely ever join together. Em and Chase are acquaintances at the same school, connected only by the odious Zach. They briefly befriend each other, though in the end (do I even have to say SPOILERS here?), one of them pays more dearly than the other, but basically, both of them lose out. Yep, it's a disappointer up to the very end. I suppose the author thought there might be room for a sequel, I really don't know. Sounds like I care, too, doesn't it?

Oh, and don't even get me started on the morality of this book. Let's just say there's a lot of teenage nudity, not graphic but just there, standing stupidly, perhaps trying to raise the reader's dwindling interest? There's no sex, but there might as well have been. Why go that far and not all the way? (If you've never read my blogs before this one, please, please note the sarcasm and that this is not a statement to be taken at face value.)

Don't be seduced by the beautiful cover with the lovely redhead staring out at you hauntingly, begging you to pick her up. Don't mess with the furies. Great cover; it does just what a fury would: lures you in to wreak havoc, mess with your mind, and leave you feeling very badly...or very bad, take your pick.