Book Description Review Praise for Furious Thing“A painfully enthralling, fiercely feminist account of emotional abuse and appropriate rage.” – The Guardian”Piercingly well-observed.” – Financial Times”A wise, gripping and skilfully told story… It gives permission to rage when fury is warranted.” – Sunday Times”One of the best YAs I have EVER READ. Full of feminist righteousness, this is a book I wish I had read when I was 16.” – The Bookseller”The sort of YA that the industry should be aiming for.” – Minerva Reads”It shows how we all have the power to protect ourselves, to stand together, to stand for what’s right if we embrace our anger and fury, and refuse to let despair and sadness win.” – Happiful MagazinePraise for Unbecoming:A Stonewall Honor BookEntertainment Weekly Must List pickA Publishers Weekly Best Book of the YearA Bookpage Best Teen Book of the YearShortlisted for the YA Book PrizeShortlisted for The People’s Book PrizeAn iBooks Best Book of the Month pick“[A] beautiful, funny, and heart-breaking story of family and life itself.” — Bustle* “Her prose gets right down inside human fragility, tenderness, fury, gusto, and strength — leaving sweet, sharp images that are impossible to forget. Exceptional.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review* “Downham’s third novel offers implicit commentary on the historical and contemporary constraints on young women’s lives and their freedom to love with abandon.” — Horn Book, starred review* “Extraordinary.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review* “A strong choice for thoughtful readers.” — School Library Journal, starred review”Fluid, perfectly paced, and can be easily read in one sitting. This is a heartfelt book that sensitively and honestly reveals family issues, and it’s one that teens won’t want to miss.” — Bookpage, Teen Top Pick”This beautiful rumination on the relationships between mothers and daughters should be on every woman’s reading list.” — Buzzfeed Read more About the Author Jenny Downham is a critically acclaimed, international bestseller. Her debut novel, Before I Die, was shortlisted for numerous awards in the UK, including the Guardian Award and the Lancashire Children’s Book of the Year, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and won the Branford Boase Award. Before I Die was turned into a movie called Now is Good starring Dakota Fanning in 2012. Her most recent novel, Unbecoming, garnered four starred reviews and was an Entertainment Weekly Must List pick. Jenny lives in London with her two sons. Read more Customers Review: Lex used to have a fairytale life with her mother, and the two of them shared the close bond of people trying to hunker down against the rest of the world. Then Lex’s mom met John, the man who seemed like he was the answer to all of their problems: the prince who sweeps the princess off to happily-ever-after. But John isn’t as nice as he appears; and Lex, once the apple of her mother’s eye, is losing herself to a furious and sweeping anger.FURIOUS THING is such a good book. It’s nonstop drama, from start to finish, but has more value than a book written purely to titillate. It’s about a girl who is the victim to emotional abuse in a toxic and enabling family dynamic, who acts out with anger, and nobody bothers to understand why she’s upset. The book is about Lex struggling to deal with her anger and trying to break the vicious cycle, all the while trying to show other people the side of her stepfather that nobody else seems to see.I think this will be a really hard read for some people, because as other reviewers before me have said, there aren’t any easy answers. Many of the things that Lex does are wrong, but her sister, mother, and stepfather aren’t blameless, either. It really shows the fine line between emotional abuse and the usual family flare-ups, and how a toxic environment can amplify maladaptive behaviors. I didn’t really like anyone in this book but it was a great story and I couldn’t put it down; I had to see what happened.If you like books that challenge your way of thinking about the world and don’t provide you with all the answers, I think you’ll like this book. It kind of reminds me of those edgy YA novels that came out under the Speak imprint in the mid-2000s; it has that same kind of “voice.” I really enjoyed it.Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!4 out of 5 stars
Sometimes you pick up a book, and it just draws you in so much from the first page, it’s hard to put it down. This was one of those books.Furious Thing is written from the first-person view of Lexi, a 15 year old girl who keeps having angry outbursts. It’s pretty apparent from the beginning that Lexi doesn’t have a very positive opinion of herself. The more she tries to hold back the outbursts, the worse they seem to get. Over the course of the story we learn about her relationship with her future stepfather, John, and with the way he’s constantly putting her down, it’s no wonder she has such a low opinion. You also begin to see that it’s not just Lexi, but also her mother who is being treated this way. This story is about emotional abuse and the toll it takes on someone. We get many glimpses of the past and see the evolution of this relationship and how Lexi came to have the mindset she has.There were times in the story when I thought Lexi’s outbursts were downright overboard, even as a victim of abuse, and I didn’t understand how she even came to that point. As a parent myself, it can be hard to take the side of the child that’s acting out. But I also reminded myself that’s she’s only 15, being abused, and even she didn’t understand why she was doing what she did.There were some interesting supporting characters who made this story all the more real. One of the most complicated relationships was with Lexi’s (future) stepbrother, Kass. She was madly in love with him, and given that she was only 15 and he was in college, the dynamic of it was a bit unsettling, I just didn’t have the best feeling about it. But, I can also understand them having a strong bond since he was one of the only people who really knew what was going on.It’s empowering to see how Lexi grows over the course of the story, gradually finding herself and bringing to light what she has been going through all these years. She is able to make new friends with some unlikely people who help support her through this transformation. While the story doesn’t end with everything resolved and packaged with a neat little bow, it feels realistic and give you a sense of hope. I could see this being an empowering story for someone in Lexi’s position.There were many references to fairy tales through the story that paralleled what was happening in the story. It was an interesting viewpoint and I think the fairy tale mindset was a part of Lexi’s transformation.Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and it turned out to be a quick read for me. It gets 4 stars: I like it.
This book pulled me in from the very first sentence.Alexandra (Lexi), 15 has severe anger issues. In her case for good reason. A large part of her anger issues stem from her future stepfather John who is emotionally abusive and who hounds and goads her mercilessly. Lexi’s mother appears to be complicit in this unhealthy dynamic by not defending Lexi. Lexi has a half sister, Iris, 6 who is viewed as the platinum standard in daughters. Fortunately the girls get along.Lexi misses her stepbrother Kass, who is a freshman in college. She becomes friendly with his soon to become former girlfriend who gives her helpful social tips and advice most times. I was bothered by how far things had gotten between these two. However, he was a viable ally in that he is John’s son and knows what kind of a person John really is behind the mask.Lexi has a wonderful acting teacher. He is also one of her staunchest allies. A love for theater and fairy tales make acting a good fit for Lexi. After a particularly horrific meltdown Lexi had after, of all things a successful audition for a part he comes to her defense after she throws a chair through a window. It is a miracle the poor girl didn’t suffer severe repercussions.Lexi has a real friend in Ben, a classmate and Ben’s mother, Meryam. I just loved them and they proved their friendship in ways that warmed my heart. Lexi does, thanks largely to them develop a sense of empowerment and she learns to take proactive steps in exposing her stepfather without the mask.An excellent, serious and in your face book I highly recommend this one. Due to language and some adult issues, this is better suited for an older audience. The characters are vivid, realistic and well fleshed out. As much as I disliked John, I wasn’t too fond of the mother either for not protecting Lexi or really listening to her. While nothing is neatly resolved, which is good because real life isn’t like that, Lexi does control the monster or the “furious thing” inside her. |
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