Skylar’s by far the most irritating character, but certainly not the only one. And the way Meg seems to push her character from flawed to fatally flawed, what was that about? I don’t get it. Is she an example of someone who genuinely deserves the wrath of the Furies even though I wouldn’t go as far as to call her irredeemably evil? Someone who deserves redemption even though nothing I read redeemed her - at all? I don’t know. But no matter how delusional she becomes, and there’s not just one but many scenes that are just cringe-worthy to read about, that’s how deluded she is, when I just wished the Furies would go violent on her a-, that heartless b-, but I honestly don’t understand what the point of her character is at all. She’s vain, petty, jealous, so awful I actually wished what happened to Chase in the last book happened to her. I don’t know what her role in this book is supposed to be - hero? antihero? villain? - because she’s one of the most unlikable characters I’ve ever had the misfortune of reading.

And I don’t just mean the Furies targeting Emily and her friends when there are plenty of bigger fish in the world to fry - as I said, the Furies are capricious, they punish whoever they want, it’s not fair - or even what these beings of vengeance are doing in Maine - Envy actually gives a half decent explanation for their presence, but it’s this combination of unsatisfying, even repulsive characters and moral ugliness all around that makes this series such a huge turn off. It’s a tough act to balance, and Miles hasn’t done what’s necessary at all, between what happens to Chase in Fury and new girl Skylar in this book, it’s only really appreciable by someone with an extremely twisted sense of justice. These are tough characters to write, they have to be flawed enough to deserve the attention of the Furies, but not so fatally flawed that they become unsympathetic. A bunch of teenagers engaging in questionable behavior and drawing the wrath of the vindictive, capricious Furies may sound good on paper, but the execution just doesn’t work. Just don't.Īt this point, I don’t think the premise is salvageable. Whereas Fury was merely a train wreck I couldn't look away from, Envy is just frustratingly bad - the first book on steroids, or, in this case, more bad behavior, more shallow romance, and generally more moral ugliness.

I don't know how it's possible, but even as the covers of the Fury trilogy have gotten more beautiful, the books themselves are getting far uglier.

Fury by Elizabeth Miles