Review: The Furies by Katie Lowe

Have you ever read a novel that you could swear was fanfiction but its seems like no one else has noticed? That is this novel. Going in it felt a little familiar but by the time I got to around 10%, I could have sworn it was following the plot of The Craft. For those of you not in the know, The Craft was a 1996 movie that starred everyone’s favourite 90’s actresses Robin Tunney and Neve Campbell, alongside the amazing Fairuza Balk and rounded out by the stunning Rachel True. At the time, it was a movie that was so ridiculously taboo that all my friends, as well as myself, were banned from watching because our parents must have been afraid we would turn into a mass of tiny goth children yelling ‘We are the weirdos mister’ and scaring the other children. But I mean when your parents say no, you just have to right? Following its surprise success, it became a cult classic and everyone embraced their inner goddess while chanting ‘light as a feather’ and pretending to lift their bestie off the floor. It’s a movie I have seen roughly eight million times so, if there’s a fanfiction regardless of whether its meant to be one, I will pick up on it. But I digress.

Going in, I got distinct The Craft vibes, which is not a problem because as you may realise, I absolutely adore that movie. The further in I got, the more it was resembling it. From the meeting at the bus stop, to the attempted thieving of ritual candles and the summoning on random deities in a field, it’s all there as subtle (sometimes not so subtle) nods to one of my favourite movies of all time. Even the book cover looks distinctly like that powerful portrayal of teenage anger that graces the movie’s poster. Thankfully around the 65-70% mark, it changes direction, although honestly, I kind of wished it would remain all girl power and vengeance. Also, don’t get me wrong, I love a good fanfic – Carry On is a perfect example of things done right. Going through the reviews written by other people, however, no one else seems to have made this connection that I have found. Maybe I am drawing parallels that don’t exist, I wont know until someone else who is a great lover of 90’s girl power movies weighs in.

So, the narrative follows Violet, the new girl to her school and daughter to a fairly recently deceased parent. Her mother has gone off the rails due to the loss of her husband and youngest daughter and Violet has been left to continue on with her life despite the hardships she has endured in losing her father and sister. On starting at her new school, she meets the weird but intriguing Robin (I know, I saw that too) and her two friends, Grace and Alex, who collectively are the weird kids at school. But I mean, weird isn’t necessarily bad right? Together the four attend special classes with the school’s art teacher and learn about things that are a little more occult than your standard high school syllabus. Antics ensue and then things start happening that eventually get worse resulting in a rather surprising ending.

As a standalone coming-of-age crossed with witchy business novel, it fills all the briefs. There’s the drug addict and the rich snob, the pushy guy, and the overprotective teacher, but there’s also the mystery of a dead girl on the school grounds to throw a spanner in the works and people pointing fingers in every direction they can think of in order to find her killer. It’s all relatively fast-paced and punchy with the pace staying fairly steady throughout. I will warn you now though reader, if you don’t like the thought of underage girls getting drunk, taking drugs, and doing things that are completely illegal, this novel is not for you.

Each character has its place but overall most are pretty standard for a teenage thriller. There’s the mean girl, the preppy one, the outcast, and the new kid. Although no one really stood out as a favourite, the 4 way sisterhood has been tried, tested, and everyone knows it works, so I didn’t really expect to be choosing favourites. While it’s not the classic ‘everyone bonds for the common good’ type scenario, the friendships between the girls for the majority of the book are goal-worthy in a genre that usually pits teenagers against each other for the fun of it.

Here is where I will let you know, as mentioned before, there is illegal activity and underage drug and alcohol abuse. There is also a rape, it’s not a violent scene a la Bardugo’s Ninth House, but it does traumatise the character involved and there is deliberate ignoring of protests. There’s animal sacrifice as well as an inappropriate relationship with a minor. While most of these themes are relatively stock standard and not particularly impactful (for the most part), readers who are sensitive to these should go into the novel aware of their presence. There is also a scene involving a characters death and subsequent displaying of their body – while not graphic, it may be traumatising to some readers.

So, this is getting really long winded and should probably be wrapped up before you click the back button and head to greener pastures. Overall it is a well-balanced novel that is extremely reminiscent of The Craft for a long period. Its characters are well-rounded, each performing their role within the sisterhood in a relatively enjoyable fashion. While I can’t choose a favourite, most characters play well to their strengths. The pacing is punchy and flows fairly quickly, addressing themes that while sometimes disturbing are relatively norm in today’s young adult scene. I found it to scratch the itch I never realised I had and would recommend it to those who love witchy coming-of-age stories and ones which end with the ultimate karmic retribution.

The Furies is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.

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