“in the cold light of suspicion, every kindness became a threat; a goodness made sinister.”

Sometimes, you don’t realise that you need to read a book to feel.

I’m pretty sure I picked up The Furies because it had spent enough time on the TBR list (thanks Orangutan Librarian for bringing this book to my attention!) but what happened was that I devoured the book on a day where I felt listlessly unproductive and it brought back the feelings of the intensity of youth and made the day feel pretty worth it.

The Furies is supposed to be about a murder. We know, when the book starts, that a girl has been found dead. We also know that Violet is the new girl at an exclusive all-girls boarding school; a school with a history of witchcraft. When Violet joins a new, secret class on history, myths, and magic, she quickly finds herself closer to the possibility of power than before.

So… this book. I just finished it and honestly, it was an experience. I know there are deaths and disappearances in this book, but I found it more to be an experience than a mystery. Violet’s feelings: especially her insecurity and her rage were very clear and strong to me. Why are witches so attractive? Because they provide an example of power in a world where she feels powerless. Why does she cling to friends that may not be actual friends? Because she wants to belong. In a way, Violet’s feelings are an intensified version of what I used to feel, especially the part about friendship insecurity.

And though the book is about a group of four girls, the two stars are really Violet and Robin. Violet as the one who feels like an outsider, Robin as the friend who alternates between hot and cold, whose true feelings violet is never really sure of either. Are they truly friends, or is Violet just a substitute for a friend who has gone missing? This unanswered question is what drives Violet’s actions and makes for compulsive reading – we can see that Violet is making some not-too-wise decisions, but we understand why.

There’s also a lot in here about myths (greek myths, of course), and I thought the tinge of magic made the book feel a lot more intense. Are we just experiencing the world through violet’s eyes, where you tell yourself stories while believing in them? Or is there truly magic at work, that rituals have power and witches are real? In a way, this book reminded me of You Let Me In, where the story can be read in two ways.

As you can tell, I really liked this book. It’s not the most pleasant read, and most of the characters here aren’t pleasant, but it is intense and it was what I needed on an unproductive day during a stressful season.

Featured Image: Photo from Canva