Page Count: 348
Publication Date: March 25, 2014
Publisher: Momentum Books, Pan Macmillan
In the tradition of Divergent comes a novel about a world where negative emotions are stolen ... and only those with fury can stand up and fight.
Eighteen-year-old Josephine Luquet wakes naked and covered in blood that is not hers on the same day every year—when the blood moon is full. Josi has not responded to the "Cure"—an immunization against anger mandated by the government—and believes herself to be a threat to others.
Then she meets Luke. Luke has had the Cure but seems different to the other "drones"—and he's dead set on helping Josi discover the truth about herself before the next blood moon.
But time is running out. Is Luke willing to risk his life to be near her? Does he truly understand what violence she is capable of?
Raw and full of passion, Fury is a story of love in a dystopian world, and how much we are willing to forgive in the struggle to remember our humanity.
About the Author:
Charlotte started writing her children’s fantasy series ‘The Strangers of Paragor’ as a teenager and has since gone on to publish five novels. After a Masters degree in Screenwriting she wrote ‘Avery’, the first in her adult fantasy series ‘The Chronicles of Kaya’, published by Random House. She now lives in Sydney, Australia, and has just released a new dystopian sci-fi novel called ‘Fury – Book One of The Cure’, published by Momentum.
Connect with the author:
Giveaway:
Disclaimer: I received this book from CBB Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
"I am a flame of fury. The last flickering flame in a world long since burned out. I have rage threaded through my skin, whispering against my ears, tied tightly around each of my bones. My eyes, one brown and one blue, leak with it.
Most of the time this frightens me.
But sometimes I like it."
--- 1% September 11, 2065 Josephine
Can I just say that I loved this book? Oh well, too late, I said it. This quote encompasses and explains what I can't say about it. Not only is this one of the best beginnings of a book that I have ever read, but it displays Charlotte McConaghy's excellent writing, as well as portrays exactly who the main character -Josephine- is.
Premise: Fury was such an interesting novel to read because of how it dealed with emotions, a subject I am very interested in. I suppose that's what I enjoyed most about the novel as well. Even with the cookie cutter dystopian plot line, an author has to come up with some sort of selling point. A world where anger is eradicated, simply fascinates me. When I told my mom about the book I was reading (for the umpteenth time I might add), she thought it was great that anger had been eradicated.... until I told her what the effects of this were. An example the author gave was when she said that wives whose husbands had cheated on them, didn't react, and a family who was being burglarized just sat there and laughed while their possessions were stolen.
Romance: So the romance in Fury was a bit of an insta love situation, something deeply despised by 99% of the blogging community. I actually am not usually effected by instalove, but in this particular situation, I was. There is some background that would spoil things that would explain why it isn't so creepy that Luke picks up Josephine and takes her home after just meeting her, but it still doesn't compensate for the instant connection the two of them had.
On the other hand, no self respecting teenage girl can deny the swoonworthiness of Luke. I mean, WHHHHHY does he have to be so old? Not in general, but for me at least. Even though we learn that his motives weren't exactly pure 100% of the time, he was still so charming, and attractive, and charismatic, and all the other adjectives that I can't think of at the moment.
Points of View: We all know that I gotta have my good narrators, and Fury does not disappoint. I think the best way it can be described is if it were to be compared to All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill. All Our Yesterdays is a book set in two separate times, before and after a horrific event, and told in in two points of views from different times.... so basically four points of view, even though there are only two people narrating. It is the same way with Fury, but better with three different narrators. Present and Past Joesphine and Luke, as well as present Anthony. McConaghy does this in such an amazing way, making each person (even if they're the same) have their own voice, and making it 100% understandable. Fury could have been confusing when it jumped from one time period to the other, and the narrators could have all sounded the same.
Characters:
"Perhaps you're right.... I did imagine them. Sometimes I think I must have, I don't know how something so wild could exist within a world like this, one that is so unforgivably void of life."
I don't tell her what's on the tip of my tongue: that this is exactly what I see when I look at her.
--- 29% September 13, 2065 Anthony
I simply fell in love with the characters of Fury, both their past and present selves. Anthony, is one of the many in this world thas has been given the Cure, yet there is still emotion left in him, and a lot of times throughout the story, that emotion is love for Josephine. While his thoughts about making Josephine love him, despite Luke, were malicious to say the least, you could still feel empathy because you knew where that desire came from. He was a very puny character at times, kind of like Nathan in All Our Yesterdays, in that he was a geek when it came to some of his different talents.
Josephine was also a little spitball of fire, as she was not given the Cure, and still feels anger and other emotions. She was an independent, strong female character that could take care of things by herself, and didn't want to accept help from anybody, but realized that she still needed it, like Josephine March from Little Women.
"Music," he says, but not to me. "Blue and white."
Music starts to play from speakers, something I've never heard that's fun and lovely. "Blue and White?" I ask, assuming this must be the name of the band.
"I'm synesthetic," he explains. "Means I remember things in color and shape and texture. Blue and white music for me is upbeat, something with a lot of bass, stuff that makes you want to danc. I programmed my sound system to understand color cues."
--- 17% September 20, 2063 Josephine
Not only is this a unique character trait for Luke, but I just had to share it with you because it sounds insanely cool, similar to Josephine's eidetic (remembers EVERYTHING) memory, but without all of those nasty repercussions and side effects.
Cover: Oh my god! Somebody give me a hard copy of this novel so I can stroke and caress it to death. I don't know where McConaghy got the image, or even what the image is, but it is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It appears to be the Earth surrounded by a ring of fire, and manages to express everything this novel is about.
Plot: What did make me stumble at times during Fury were certain events, as well as chains of events that I didn't understand because I didn't understand what triggered that chain. I will definitely be rereading Fury, so I will be able to catch more of the subtle nuances and explanations, but it was definitely confusing at times. The whole situation between the Bloods and the Greys and the Reds and the Blues was difficult to understand at times, and I would totally explain what each of those are.... if I could comprehend them myself.
Writing Style: Need I say more than the quotes below? I have now concluded that Charlotte McConaghy is the goddess of setting the scene in stories. She offers so much description to her readers without it being tedious, or boring.
Ending: What I was disappointed in, was the ending of Fury. It's not as if it let me down, trust me it was freaking EPIC. What I mean is that it seemed too predictable after the roller coaster of thoughts, emotions, and relevations that had just unfolded. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's along the lines of Reboot (Amy Tintera) and Uglies (Scott Westerfeld). That's all I'm going to say.
Continuation 85%: If CBB Book Premotions does another tour for the sequel, somebody reserve me a prime spot on it this very moment. I loved Fury so much and am extremely interested to see what Charlotte McConaghy does to capture her readers.
Conclusion: I will definitely be recommending Fury because it was a fabulously written novel, in terms of narration and characters, as breath of fresh air concept wise.
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