Uptown Oracle Reads… The Furies | A 90’s Witch Club Goes Rogue

The Furies
Katie Lowe

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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?

I definitely picked up The Furies expecting, you know, The Furies of mythology to play a big part but I didn’t really know what I was going into. My first impressions were that it feels very 90s with the secret clique that are a group of witches, which is apt as it’s set in 1998. The key thing you should know is that it clearly takes a lot of inspiration from The Craft. 

There’s a clear sisterhood of 4 formula that The Furies tries to follow, but I found that it only fleshed out half the group with any real depth. None of our characters seem particularly likeable, and honestly I think that was on purpose. They all have an unhealthy dependence on each other and many other flaws which create tension in the relationships, but don’t seem to break them.

Violet is our main character and the new girl in school. She has a traumatic past after losing her dad and sister, and her mother has checked out. Pairing this trauma with high school insecurities and low self-esteem makes her the perfect addition to the secret society. Violet’s the kind of girl that doesn’t make her own decicisions and her change throughout the book is both unfuriating (because why is she being so dumb) but then you realise it’s real – this is how teenagers genuinely act because of their self-esteem. 

Robin is the leader of the school group and has an aura of confidence which draws people to her, including Violet. She’s an interesting character because there’s always a sense that you can’t quite trust anything she says – but Violet (our POV) of course always does. Robin is our first introduction to the darkness that lies within teenage girls and it’s both thrilling and terrifying. 

Whilst Robin and Violet seem like fleshed out characters, I found Alex and Grace to move in and out of the book a lot. Whilst they were a group of four, they often paired off which left Alex and Grace to have a storyline of revenge but not much outside of the immediate plot. Whilst (as far as I know) there weren’t secret witch societies and murders at my own all girls school, the relationships I read between all 4 girls felt very reminiscent of people I already know. This meant they felt very real.  

Katie Lowe’s writing style is beautiful throughout the book, and it draws you into wanting to know what will happen next. But the writing also horrifies you (and has many dark turns) which makes you want to throw the book down and run in the opposite direction. If you like dark topics, this is probably a good book for you, if not I wouldn’t recommend. The trigger warnings include murder, animal sacrifice, rape and drug abuse. 

The book does slow down quite a bit in the middle. There’s a touch of mean girl high school drama, which can get a bit old – but it does create a tension which leads into the more interesting end section. The book as a whole is very slow burn psychological thriller, but I wouldn’t say it’s a murder mystery (which some people have tagged it as). There’s really limited exploration of the death at the start of the book, and it acts more of a catalyst to the story rather than a goal. 

I also found the world building could have been better. It’s meant to be set in a rural coastal town, which has an elite all girls school and also a college nearby. I couldn’t really picture any of the areas we visit, except the clocktower. Although this was a typical spooky clock tower, my brain may have filled in the gaps for it. 

Despite the flaws, the ending left me wanting more. The book as a whole was an enjoyable read and there were still questions left open to interpretation at the end. So, I’m excited to see what else Lowe comes out with. 

Positives of The Furies

• True to life relationships
• Enticing story

Negatives of The Furies

• Poor world building

I received The Furies by Katie Lowe from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review