Katie Lowe | THE FURIES

Plot (via Goodreads):

In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead.

She's posed on a swing on her boarding school's property, dressed all in white, with no known cause of death. Whispers and rumors swirl, with no answers. But there are a few who know what happened; there is one girl who will never forget.

One year earlier: a new student, Violet, steps on the campus of Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl's boarding school on the outskirts of a sleepy coastal town. 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.

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 "academic" interest in the occult; of gruesome 17th 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 turn for the darker and spiral out of control, she begins to wonder who she can trust, all the while becoming more deeply entangled. How far will these young girls go to protect one another...or to destroy one another?

Review:

I've never read The Secret History by Donna Tartt, but from what I can tell The Furies is The Craft meets Donna Tartt. Based on the fact alone that Katie Lowe's prose is unworldly and when you combine it with a sinister opening scene, a devilish plot, and characters that will stay with you long after you finish it - The Furies is an instant classic.

Obviously when it comes to witchcraft in a thriller, you have to be both sensitive and yet make it believable. Lowe nailed this aspect for me. It was realistic and effective without being over the top, yet added this shroud of mystery that kept me invested and was woven together beautifully with this story and these characters. While I wouldn't necessarily consider this one a thriller, there is a mystery aspect to it but this is more of a dark coming-of-age tale and showcases the specialty of female friendship through a tale that is twisty and harrowing. What I appreciated with this was Lowe took a cliche of the new girl coming into a friendship of three girls thad has already been built a la Heathers, The Craft, and even a little Mean Girls and diminished the cliche of it - there weren't many scenes that felt forced and I really enjoyed how these girls became friends organically.

This story flowed so greatly. With the coming-of-age aspect present the entire time, I absolutely loved how the the darkness of the story flowed brilliantly with the plot and though there were moments that definitely focused more on the relationships than relying on events or twists and turns to take it up a notch, the slower parts definitely kept me still invested and I didn't find myself begging for something to happen, but curious as to how this was going to end. I took my time with this one and read it over the course of four days and felt that this is not one that you binge-read or devour in one sitting, but rather take a little bit at a time and let it digest before continuing. Toward the last quarter of the book, things definitely pick up a pace and I got so many answers to things that I didn't even know or I forgot I had been questioning. All of these answers were spread apart enough for me to fully digest and comprehend where the story was going and I can honestly say, I've never enjoyed witches more.
A dazzling and razor-sharp debut with a poignant coming-of-age story, I am officially a fan of Katie Lowe and I am desperate to know what she does next.

Special thanks to St. Martins Press for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5