Published by: Harper Collins
1998. 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.
They’ve kept their silence.
This page-turning, harrowing debut is the story of a girl trying to fit in, whose obsessive new friends and desperation to belong leads her to situations she'd never imagined...dark, dangerous, and even violent places.
It feels to Violet as though her life is put on hold after the death of her father, and sister, in an accident. Her mother seems unable to move beyond her grief and, taking advantage of her disinterest, she opts out of school. Take your time, everyone says, until, finally, her mother suggests that she use the money they received after the accident to attend Elm Hollow Academy – a prestigious, artistic school.
The story really gets going when Violet steps on the campus of Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl's boarding school on the outskirts of her sleepy coastal hometown. This is her fresh start, her chance to begin again in the wake of tragedy, leave her demons behind. Bright but a little strange, uncertain and desperate to fit in, she soon finds herself invited to an advanced study group, led by her alluring and mysterious art teacher, Annabel.
Without really realising it, Violet is lonely and is soon attracted by the unconventional, carefree and confident Robin. She can hardly believe it when she is included in the small group – Robin, Grace and Alex, and – as there so often is in these novels – teacher, Annabel. There are warnings; word of a girl, previously included in Robin’s group, who mysteriously disappeared, but Violet doesn’t take it too seriously.
There, with three other girls -Alex, Grace, and Robin- the five of them delve into the school's long-buried grim history: of Greek and Celtic legends; of the school founder's supposedly ‘academic’ interest in the occult; of gruesome seventeenth century witch trials.
Annabel does her best to convince the girls that her classes aren't related to ancient rites and rituals, and that they are just history and mythology. But the more she tries to warn the girls off the topic, the more they drawn to it, and the possibility that they can harness magic for themselves.
Violet quickly finds herself wrapped up in this heady new world of lawless power--except she is needled by the disappearance of a former member of the group, one with whom Violet shares an uncanny resemblance. As her friends' actions take a dark turn and spiral out of control, she begins to wonder who she can trust, all the while becoming more deeply entangled.
Sometimes I feel really in the mood for a book to show up whispering dark academia, mystery and murder. The Furies is here for that. The book is set in an all-girls school and it is maddeningly twisted and introspective, full of complex and possessive friendships, and deliciously dark twists.
The Furies is a well-written and unique book that involves murder, magic, toxic friendships, and rituals. It has a bit of a slow start, but the further I got the more interested and intrigued I became.
It really was a plot that kept me guessing until the very end, and I loved the various plot twists and ultimate reveal in the final pages. I’d definitely recommend this one to fans of darker themed books. The novel has interesting characters, a pretty creepy premise, and makes for a very gripping read.
