365 Books A Year: Review: Fury by Shirley Marr

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Review: Fury by Shirley Marr

Description from Goodreads:

Let me tell you my story.
Not just the facts I know you want to hear.
If I’m going to tell you my story,
I’m telling it my way.

Strap yourself in...

Eliza Boans has everything.
A big house.
A great education.
A bright future.

So why is she sitting in a police station confessing to murder?

First of all, probably the best YA author you've never heard of. Unless you've heard of her, in which case, you probably agree that this author needs to be read by more people and her books need to be widely available in America. Second, I think that I would personally like the author. Unlike many GR authors, she didn't rate her book. What she did do, well, I was going to describe it, but I'm going to just quote from it and link it instead because this is how authors should behave if they're going to read their own reviews. Seriously. Here's the quote, "Thank You...to every single person who has rated and/or reviewed Fury for better or for the worse! I try and thank everyone I can personally, but sometimes I'm so busy reading and reviewing other books that I forget to keep an eye out! But I do read every review. Above everything else, I value balance and honesty - so thanks for giving me the Bad with the Good!

Please feel free to say whatever you like in the comments. I don't read or post comments on the threads that start under my own novel cos I'm not the police and I don't want to tell/correct/hassle people on how they should feel or think about my book. If you'll like to interact with me, do please befriend and find me chatting away on other books (if you are a fan of realistic Aussie YA, then we definetly [sic] need to be friends.)"

Link to full review: Shirley Marr's Review

My Review:
The book begins with Eliza Boans sitting in a police station being questioned for a murder. It then goes back and forth from the present to the past. The episodes from the past are about the events leading up to the murder. I'm looking at my summary and I know it's inadequate, but I just do not want to do anything to spoil this book. I will say that the transitions in time are done very well. I can also say that I just love the tone of the novel. It reminded me of one of my favorite movies about high school- Jawbreaker. (Also about a murder) And, finally, I just loved how the author was able to make my feelings about Eliza change from the beginning of the book to the end. The way her character was slowly revealed, made sympathetic. Look, just do what you can to get your hands on this book. It's that good. Plus the added bonus of buying a book that rewards an author who both professionally and personally deserves to be rewarded.

Overall Rating: 3 1/2 stars (I'm stingy, remember)

Genre Rating: 4 1/2 stars (Imagine 4 1/2 lockers standing for realistic YA fiction. My son is still in school, I'll work on getting him to do these things over the summer)

If you haven't seen Jawbreaker... well, you really should go and watch that too.