ARC Review: Furious by Jill Wolfson

I shall start this review by quoting a part of the book: "What is punishment? What is revenge? Who has the right to determine what is just and fair? Who decides when justice has been served?" These are some of the questions that will linger inside the reader's mind as they read this book.

Title: Furious by Jill Wolfson
Release Date: April 16th 2013
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. BYR
Source: Publisher (Thanks, Ksenia!)
Buy: Book Depository

Summary (from Goodreads):

Three high school girls become the avenging Furies of Greek legend.

We were only three angry girls, to begin with. Alix, the hot-tempered surfer chick; Stephanie, the tree-hugging activist; and me, Meg, the quiet foster kid, the one who never quite fit in. We hardly knew each other, but each of us nurtured a burning anger: at the jerks in our class, at our disappointing parents, at the whole flawed, unjust world.

We were only three angry girls, simmering uselessly in our ocean-side California town, until one day a mysterious, beautiful classmate named Ambrosia taught us what else we could be: Powerful. Deadly. Furious.

They were girls with these in common: hate, anger and resentment building up inside them for years. There's Alix the surfer chick who only wants to protect her brother Simon, who was differently abled, from the bullies. Stephani, who wants to change the world and make people more aware of Mother Earth. Meg, shuffled from one foster home to another, dumped by her parents to the system and currently living a miserable life with a crappy foster parent. They all had their shares of hardships in life, and now they want revenge for the unfairness of it all. Enter Ambrosia, seemingly perfect, popular, rich and powerful. She will help these three girls and unleash the power they have, but at what cost?

Of all three girls, I sympathize with Meg the most. Meg was the only one of the three who seem to still have that capacity for kindness in her, where no matter how her spirit was crushed or how much people wronged her, she can still forgive. Both Alix and Stephanie were already too jaded with life. Alix's motivation is something I can still understand, having to protect her brother when no one else could, but with Stephanie's I was a little unconvinced. Her personality and problems were something I couldn't easily connect with, especially when you compare them to what Alix and Meg had to go through. Meg has always been the key to the Furies' success, to the fulfillment of Ambrosia's fervent wish. But despite of that, there were times where I just got so frustrated with how the three of them behaved. It's a good thing Raymond was there. Sweet, funny, smart and witty Raymond. He was the voice of reason, the one who is surprisingly the most forgiving, most trusting person in the book. His hardships were just as harrowing as the three, having been a smart, sometimes know-it-all gay high school teen, but he was just this amazing person that kept everything from going worse than they already are. He's my favorite character in this book, hands down!

Revenge. It's like a drug, an addictive, adrenaline rush that comes once fulfilled. But when does one stop? When one has been avenged for the wrongdoings another person has done to them, will that be the end of it? If you have the power to bring justice to others, why not be the savior? Revenge, highly addictive, dangerous, toxic. It destroys you, eats away inside and consumes you until it's all you can think and breathe of. Consequences be damned, you will get it, no matter what it takes. Revenge transforms you into the very thing you are afraid of, you become the bully, you become the monster, as it was clearly illustrated with what happened to Alix, Stephanie and Meg. It renders you blind to all the things that matter, until it's too late. My heart went out for Meg and what happened to her and Brendon. It was another nick in the heart of someone who was too consumed by revenge to clearly see what's fake and what's not, when it's love and when it's pretend.

Furious is a story that started out so simple, until it becomes a chilling read that will challenge the readers to think hard and understand just what is deemed right and wrong, blurring the lines between doing good and bad. A masterful storytelling by Jill Wolfson, Furious had me anticipating every turn of the story as I go through each chapter, bracing myself for the good, the bad, and the ugly. Furious explores the different facets of humanity, not necessarily the good but the bad sides as well. How much has this world been corrupted? How much of the world has been ruled by greed, envy and the incessant thirst for power? These heavy themes wove themselves into the story and was made into one captivating novel by Jill Wolfson. Interesting, thrilling and an absorbing read.

Content (plot, story flow, character):
This would have been a really awesome read were it not for the fact that I just couldn't stand Alix and Stephanie's attitude most of the time. I feel sympathy for Meg but not for the other two. And I still can't get what Stephanie's full motivation is for becoming a Fury. It was a good reason, yes, but it felt nothing compared to Alix's and Meg's.

Shining: Worthy of a Goddess' Love!

Book Cover:
When you read the book and you see the visual for the three of them, it's actually a little bit frightening.