I was so excited to receive a copy of The Furies! The story summary, about four private-school girls and the occult reminded me of The Craft, and when I got the novel, even the cover art reminded me of The Craft. In a great way,  because I love YA witchcraft, whether it’s a straight-up magic school or witchcraft-as-metaphor-for-female power, or hiding magic from the boring adults, or seeking occult revenge. I also love school stories, and haunted locations, so I loved discovering Elm Hollow Academy.

I’m, uh, slightly older than when I first watched The Craft, so I was more interested in the girls’ charismatic, powerful art teacher. I analyzed Annabel carefully, trying to decide if she was an inspiring movie teacher or if she was someone who taught high school because they secretly crave teenage approval (it’s a weird archetype, but go to any teaching convention and you’ll meet these guys). I enjoyed carefully considering her comments and trying to figure out just how much she knew.  One of the best scenes was when the girls bumped into her in the occult shop, and I just had to know what she was really doing there.

There was a lot to enjoy in this story, but there was one major dealbreaker. Our protagonist, Violet, is pulled in by Robin, who just wasn’t an aspirational friend to me.  Robin said hi to Violet on her first day at a new school, but that’s about the only appealing thing. I didn’t see what attracted Violet to her, and I didn’t much want to meet Robin for coffee a second time, much less take unmarked pills, accept her meanness, or follow her down dark paths. She was more of a pretty bully than a friend with a dark side.

This was less about teen girls discovering their powers than Robin just telling Violet what to do, and Violet following her. Again, not an appealing friendship for me. Even when the girls took much-needed occult revenge, I felt that Violet was passively present in Robin’s actions, while the two other girls, Alex and Grace, had almost interchangeable personalities.

It’s possible that I’ve aged out of understanding dysfunctional teen friendships (like the out-of-touch dean at Elm Hollow, I just wanted Violet to make some nice friends), but the relationship at the heart of this story didn’t work for me, which made it hard for me to enjoy the novel as a whole.

The Furies will be out in the US on October 9, 2019.  I received an advance copy of this novel for review purposes.