The girls were okay. It was everything happening around them that was stupid. ( )

Well written and intelligent book for young adults with lot of references to Aeschylus. ( )

Furious, by Jill Wolfson is set in Santa Cruz and is about three girls who all have terrible lives. Meg is a foster child living with an abusive and neglectful foster mom and her school life isn’t any better either. She’s picked on and shunned by everyone except for her best friend. Alex is a poor surfer girl with a deadbeat father and no friends. All of the surfer guys harass and bully her. Stephanie is a nature activist with parents that are the leading real estate owners in the area. Stephanie is made fun of at school for loving the environment while her parents’ real estate company goes around destroying it. These three teens wind up meeting Ambrosia who shows them how to fix their lives and the people that they should be.

My favorite part of Furious is Meg’s romance with her crush, Brendon. It starts out nice and romantic but turns horribly wrong when Ambrosia secretly sets them up for failure. Wolfson did an amazing job portraying their emotions and feelings so accurately that it was like I was looking into their heads.

If you’re a fan of The Percy Jackson series and other mythological thrillers, Furious is the book to find!

Ryan W., SC Teen Book Crew

*3.5 Stars*

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.

We are straight out of mythology, goddesses who avenge, retaliate, punish, haunt, hunt, and don't stand around being victims, but make things happen.

I was really expecting to love Furious. And while I liked it, this didn't add up to "love" for me; although I wish it could have. The first seemingly small thing that I couldn't get past was the fact that it's based in America. Normally, this isn't a big deal, as most YA books are based in America. But the fact still remains that this is a GREEK myth come to life. Why isn't it based in Greece?

I realize that this is a small thing... but come on! I never got an explanation for it. And I would have liked to have seen one. The other thing that bothered me was "The Plagues". I could possibly see how someone might come up with a set of nicknames like that, but I really doubt that it would be a group of teenage boys. It just doesn't ring true for me. I can't imagine boys going by nicknames such as "Gnat", "Bubonic" or "Pox". This is also a small thing. The rest of the book was fairly enjoyable!

I liked the character of Stephanie; I believe that she was my favorite. I could relate to her, because in her own way she was trying to change the world. I loved that about her. Even when she could have (or even should have) given up, she kept trying to stand up for what she believed in. As a result, I admired her. Alix and Meg, however, didn't really do it for me. Alix was too tough and hardcore (with no sense of mercy) and Meg was... how do I say this gently? I felt like Meg was way too power-hungry, which threw her sense of justice out of whack.

Meg definitely grew as a character throughout the book, though, which is a bit more than I can say for Alix. Stephanie figured it out too, eventually. I was proud of them for that. I felt bad for Meg's friend Raymond, though. He always seemed like such a happy light-- I wish that he had gotten a bit more character time, you know? I also wish that the romance between Meg & Brendon would have been given more time. They fell "in love" by the second date, which is a big no-no. Thankfully, the romance was such a small part of the book that I easily overlooked it.

My favorite part of this book was the myth of the Furies. I loved it when the girls took out their fury on people; it gave the story so much. It was so easy to see why they did, and I'm positive that the story would have been lacking if they hadn't thought that they were justice itself. As Furies, they were superbly power hungry and mildly insane.

All in all, I would definitely recommend Furious is you're in a mythology mood (like I was), and don't mind a few minor things. ( )

(Real rating would be more like 2.75-2.80)

With its unnecessary prologue and stereotypical evil foster mom, Furious almost lost me in the very beginning. Fortunately, I did stick around and finish the book. Objectively, what I found was an interesting philosophical study. Subjectively... well, I'll get to that in a second.

What is true justice? Is it the eye-for-an-eye practice of ancient times? Is it the more benevolent justice refined by acts of forgiveness and mercy? How is justice enacted? Who enacts it? It's an interesting puzzle, if a bit muddled in the climax. Ms. Wolfson does a fabulous job of showing the seductive nature of vengeance. At first, vengeance feels right. It might even create something good. Attractive and addictive, the desire for revenge makes the justice-seeker feel powerful and in control. But instead, those who hunger for revenge are no more in charge than a junkie seeking her next fix.

So yes, from a philosophical standpoint, Furious was interesting. However, despite Ms. Wolfson's best efforts, I found I didn't care about the fates of the girls or their victims. I never connected with Meg, and I certainly had nothing in common with vindictive tree-hugger Stephanie or pugilistic surfer Alix. It is for this reason that I have very little to say in this review. However, I urge you all to try it for yourself, for I suspect the story and the characters will connect with you much better than they did with me.

READ THE ORIGINAL REVIEW AT: http://shelversanon.blogspot.com/2013/05/2-for-1-review-poison-study-and-furious... ( )