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Fates and Furies

Lauren Groff

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Jun 20, 2016 Nicole R rated it really liked it

Shelves: relationships, ner, audiobook, play-book-tag, contemporary-fiction, favorite, 2016, 2016-pick-a-year-challenge, marriage, unreliable-narrator

Fates and Furies was all the rage last year. Everyone talked about how great and unique it was, and an interesting insight into two views of one marriage. It was the marriage part that had me dragging my feet. I am not married and was afraid I wouldn't relate. I shouldn't have worried, the marriage is the central theme but the book is not a deep dive into relationships.

Lotto and Mathilde are married at 22 and are the envy of all of their friends, and eventually the envy of a broader circle of pr Fates and Furies was all the rage last year. Everyone talked about how great and unique it was, and an interesting insight into two views of one marriage. It was the marriage part that had me dragging my feet. I am not married and was afraid I wouldn't relate. I shouldn't have worried, the marriage is the central theme but the book is not a deep dive into relationships.

Lotto and Mathilde are married at 22 and are the envy of all of their friends, and eventually the envy of a broader circle of professionals and theatre society. But things are not always as they seem. Not from the outside looking in and often not even from two people both on the inside.

Fates is Lotto's perception of his marriage. It starts with insights to his childhood that shaped him into the 22 year old man who married Mathilde. Furies is Mathilde's perception. The two stories overlap at large main events, but ultimately, the beauty in the story is the stark contrast between the two.

I liked the book. It was very character driven and, as I like to say, Franzen-esque. The characters were wonderfully flawed and extremely dark with just enough possibility of redemption for me to not hate them. The cast of supporting characters is fairly limited which adds to the feeling of isolation of the marriage and the belief that these two people could have extremely different perceptions and many hidden secrets.

The general consensus has been favoritism for Mathilde's part of the story, but I was partial to Lotto's. Yes, Mathilde's was more complex and unexpected, but Lotto's had the added benefit of wondering what Mathilde was up to because you knew there was more going on that met the eye, which added to the almost suspense feeling that I then lost in the second half.

But, I did not get the ending. I saw the "twist" from a mile away and then the final chapter just kind of went over my head. Was there supposed to be something profound that I was supposed to garner? I thought the delivery was confusing and had to listen to it twice and then sit in a bookstore and read the final few pages in print. Still didn't really help. Maybe that is where being in a marriage would have provided some insight.

Overall, I am glad I read the book and flew through the audio because the narration really pulled me along, but I think I missed the magical moment that made other people rave. ...more

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Dec 21, 2015 Peacejanz rated it it was ok

Shelves: completed

Many reviewers loved this book. I did not. Boy born into wealth. Daddy dies young - Mother controls all money. Off to boarding school - little contact with mother. Wants to be an actor. Sees lovely mysterious girl. Goes to her - asks to marry her. They marry. He is a failed actor. Behind the scenes, wife is controlling everything (just like his mother). She makes him a success - the preening fool does not know that his wife is pulling all the strings. He dies and then we learn her back story - n ...more

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Mar 10, 2017 Alishia rated it liked it

In a nutshell Fates and Furies is the story of a marriage. There are moments that we can all identify in this marriage...time of struggle, joy, and wanting the please the other; there are also, however dark secrets and and two people telling the same story from very different lenses.

Essentially the story is told in two parts "Fates", which mainly comes from the perspective of the man, Lotto; and "Furies" that comes from the perspective of the woman, Mathilde. Our narrators start of similar to Ro In a nutshell Fates and Furies is the story of a marriage. There are moments that we can all identify in this marriage...time of struggle, joy, and wanting the please the other; there are also, however dark secrets and and two people telling the same story from very different lenses.

Essentially the story is told in two parts "Fates", which mainly comes from the perspective of the man, Lotto; and "Furies" that comes from the perspective of the woman, Mathilde. Our narrators start of similar to Romeo and Juliet, they are intense and impulsive leading to a quick marriage.

Lotto is charismatic and popular, while Mathilde is beautiful and enigmatic; and even though this story is set in the nineties something about it kept putting my mind in a much older place. Perhaps is was the tone of the "kept wife" in the first half, in the end I am not sure, but I never in my mind placed them in the modern setting although the years were mentioned.

I have always been drawn to novels with damaged women, women who turn the story on it's head and lead you directions you did not expect. This novel is no exception to that, however I find it misplaced when it is compared to "Gone Girl" as I have seen it done so many times. True, Mathilde is manipulative, and with out giving any direct spoilers away, also a resourceful liar; Groff tries to pull sympathy from the reader for much of Mathilde's past. In the end I simply found Lotto to be a self centered jerk and her to be a pathetic and mean hearted liar.

I truly wanted to like this book, the writing is very good and the plot had a lot of promise that always ended leaving me frustrated. As silly as it is, the one thing I actually liked was the ending. I felt everything wrapped up very nicely in a way that was slightly redeeming.

Without giving anything away what I can say is nothing in the lives of these two is truly as it seems...who is a good friend or spouse may not always be what it

For more of my reviews please see my blog: alishiamarie.com ...more

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Dec 29, 2015 Alma Tello rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, in-my-bookshelf

This book- give me an extra star. First and foremost, I found Fates just as blah and mundane as Lotto, the main focus. I dislike Lotto, he is a child and self absorbed. The writing seemed simple and I couldn't understand why this book was such a big deal in 2015. And then, WHAM! The writing came to life in Furies. Why? Because of Mathilde. Because Mathilde is an incredible character, she is all that is good and bad in seemingly selfless, quiet spouses of large personalities. Mathilde is poison, ...more

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Jun 05, 2016 Judi Ross rated it liked it

This novel is written in two parts. It is the story of a marriage told from two different view points. I read the first half and didn't get all the hype this book received last year. If I wasn't reading it for a book club I might have put it down. But I am certainly glad I stayed with it to the end. The second half is very powerful and brings the whole book full circle. Looking forward to our group discussion. ...more

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Jan 30, 2016 Kim rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

I found it to be beautifully and interestingly written, although I didn't get fully "into" the book until about 100 pages in. A little slow, redundant. After that I was fully absorbed and couldn't put it down nice I got to the second half. ...more

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Nov 14, 2015 Meredith Estes rated it liked it · review of another edition

When I finished this book, I was reminded of how I felt after reading The Goldfinch. It was very well written and there were times where I didn't want to put it down. Then, there were times where I wanted to skim it to keep it moving. Overall, I am glad I read it, I guess. ...more

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Nov 12, 2015 Ferris Mx rated it liked it

I had such high hopes, but they were not met. The writing was quirky, and the story not credible. I almost took off another star for conflating phone sex with kink, but let's not be as petty as the heroine, shall we? ...more

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