ARC Review: The Fury

The Fury (The Fury, 1) by Alexander Gordon Smith, July 23, 2013. 688 pages. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). Source: Publisher.

Imagine if one day, without warning, the entire human race turns against you, if every person you know, every person you meet becomes a bloodthirsty, mindless savage . . . That’s the horrifying reality for Cal, Brick, and Daisy. Friends, family, even moms and dads, are out to get them. Their world has the Fury. It will not rest until they are dead.

In Alexander Gordon Smith’s adrenaline-fueled saga, Cal and the others must uncover the truth about what is happening before it destroys them all. But survival comes at a cost. In their search for answers, what they discover will launch them into battle with an enemy of unimaginable power.

First Sentence:

It was an ordinary afternoon in June when the world came to kill Benny Millston.

Generally, I would wait to finish a book before setting out to write down my thoughts on it...unless it is one that I have DNF'd. While  have not entirely given up on The Fury, I have decided to go ahead and write my review since I will be putting this one on hold for the time being. At some point, I will probably write another shorter post about my thoughts on the end of the book.

So, if I'm not DNF-ing The Fury, why am I writing my review now. Well, that's because I'm just a little bored with it even though I want to see it through to the end. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually enjoying the plot and main story-line, just not the slowness of it.

After reading Lockdown, I was quite interested to see what the author's next series/book would be about, hence why I started on mammoth that is The Fury.
   While I have enjoyed the originality of the plot and the author's writing, half the time I've felt that there was too much left unsaid in regards to the why's (why the Fury happening, why, the characters are the way they are...).

Even though I'm writing this ahead of finishing The Fury, I will till you why I plan on finishing it. The unique story and plot. One of the things I have, thus far, enjoyed about Alexander Gordon Smith's books is that he has a fresh approach when it comes to putting together books. Generally, what you see in his books can be found nowhere else. That being said, I thought it was interesting to see what he would do with a book about the world turning on a group of kids-who don't even know each other-and how he would bring their story to life. The concept, mixed with Alexander Gordon Smith's writing is definitely why I'll came back and finish his latest book when I have time.

Okay, so I mentioned that I was getting a little bored reading The Fury. Now the story and writing are both quite good, with a pretty original plot. My problem is that while the book is good it is just not making enough progress and sometimes makes me feel like I'm reading one of those fantasy books where the characters are endlessly traveling with nothing happening. To be more precise, a few hundred pages of the book and most of the characters are in the same place not doing much of anything to figure out why the world has turned on them. Yeah, so that's why I'm stepping away from this one for a while. The story in itself is interesting, just a little sluggish.

Final Verdict: The Fury- While a little slow, it is definitely one unique story that could only come out of Alexander Gordon Smith's head.