Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Revenge has never tasted better.”

As well as a fabulous revenge thriller, this book is well and truly a love letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald and I loved it! I’ve never read Fitzgerald but I’m so curious to read Gatsby as well as Tender Is The Night after reading this! I appreciated what the author had done here so much and if a dark, glamorous thriller piques your interest, I think you will love this. So happy to share my review of Sweet Fury!

About the book

Famous film star Lila Crayne is America’s Sweetheart: she’s generous and kind, gorgeous and magnetic. A golden girl. She and her fiancé, visionary filmmaker Kurt Royall, have settled into a stunning New York apartment, and are embarking on a new movie: a modern feminist adaptation of a classic twentieth-century novel.

To prepare for the leading role, Lila begins work with charming and accomplished therapist Jonah Gabriel to dig into the trauma of her past. Soon, Lila’s impeccably manicured life begins to unravel on the therapy couch – and Jonah is just the man to pick up the pieces. But everyone has a secret, no one is quite who they seem, and before long, careers, reputations and lives are in danger of being irrevocably destroyed…

The beginning

I always go on about how much I love a good prologue, and the prologue in this book had a very intriguing feel, a very dark feel that I really liked. It gives us a taste of whats to come, and it made me so eager to read more and get my teeth into this story! The opening chapters had such an original style; we begin by reading notes from therapist, Jonah Gabriel, and despite the note format feeling quite difficult to read at first, I very quickly grew to love it, especially as it was such a prominent part of the narrative at first. We alternate between Jonah’s notes documenting his sessions with film star Lila Crayne, and Lila’s glamorous lifestyle and relationship with filmmaker, Kurt Royall. It felt different, fresh, and unique compared a lot of other books like this I’ve read, and I couldn’t wait to see where the author would take this story. Lila and Kurt are making a new movie, a more feminist approach to Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (you can tell right from the start that this book is a love letter to Fitzgerald and I really admired this!) However, all isn’t at it seems behind the scenes…

“If someone has done something terrible to you, can you ever truly heal? Or will you always have a scar?”

I’ll be honest, I really disliked these characters as people, but I found it fascinating to read about them and their privileged lifestyle, even though I didn’t approve or agree with a lot of their choices. Lila’s mother, Karen, was particularly vile! Lila’s therapy sessions would hopefully prepare her for her new film role, and through these sessions, we begin to see a more vulnerable side to her as she opens up to Jonah. She reveals Kurt could be aggressive. That he’d hurt her. There was such a brilliant contrast in Lila’s life in front of the cameras, to her life behind closed doors, which seems to be the case with a lot of successful, famous people. As well as learning about the darker side of Lila’s relationship with Kurt, about what life was like on set for their new film production, what some of the actors have to put up with, we also see another interesting angle; Lila’s growing connection to Jonah. She becomes infatuated with him, he becomes the shoulder she can cry on, her crutch, someone she can talk to, because let’s be honest, she can’t talk to her husband. And this would soon have consequences.

The middle

I loved following the actors’ rehearsals as they practice and perfect their roles. It was so well written that at times I only remembered they were acting when Kurt interjected with a, “Cut!” The book is split into different Acts, and I think moving into Act II was my favourite part. It was so interesting to hear more about Jonah and his life outside of his therapy notes. I was surprised by a different angle to him, how there is so much more to him than we originally think at the start. It was such a nice little twist, navigated perfectly to throw us off balance a little. In this part of the book, perspectives change. We follow Jonah more closely, understand his home life, his school life and education growing up, his relationship with his fiancée Maggie. And the very first time he came across Lila. Lila’s perspective switches to her diary entries, snippets of writing only to be shared between herself and Jonah. Snippets of writing explaining her thoughts, her experiences with Kurt. I adored the switch in narrative, so clever and imaginative. I loved the drama, the secrets and at times, not knowing who was telling the truth. I couldn’t stop reading!

“And then, at last – as your favorite author once wrote – we will look at each other with infinite hope as we cross over into the new sweet warm darkness.”

There was a real thrill as Jonah tries to work out how he feels about Lila, as well as keep his relationship with Maggie alive. I appreciated his honesty and how he comes clean about his feelings for Lila, but would he ever be able to stay away from her charm? And would Maggie ever be able to fully trust the man she loves? My feelings for characters were changing, and as time went on, there was actually a part of Lila’s mother, Karen, that I admired after initially finding her a bit much. She’ll do, quite literally, anything to protect her daughter. And it helped that she already hated men, especially Kurt, with a passion. Despite being labelled a thriller, which it is at it’s heart, there was a heavy lean on the relationship side in this book, the romance, the lust, but I loved it. I loved how it wasn’t happy and bright and full of sunshine. It felt dark, and at times, uncertain. Dangerous. And I had a feeling there was so much more to Lila, so much more that she was capable of. Were all the feelings she felt genuine, or were they all a part of something bigger? What was her end game? I was constantly curious and I didn’t want to miss out on any tiny detail.

The end

Things felt so different here to how they felt at the start, but I loved how the plot was changing, like something was about to go really wrong for someone, more than likely Jonah. I could sense something wasn’t right; Jonah had become almost obsessive about his feelings, blind to anything that might seem off or wrong to your average person. I felt like I needed to warn him that he was about to be in trouble, that something bad was going to happen. That he might be about to make the biggest mistake of his like. Act III was short, but it sure packed a punch. It was so full on, full of shocking moments. Jonah commits an act that would change everything and I couldn’t believe who I was rooting for at this stage. There was yet another twist that once again shifted how I felt about certain characters, and everything came together so well. It was so immensely satisfying. I think Lila was my favourite character throughout all this for so many reasons – she isn’t perfect, far from it, but the development of her character was one of the best I’ve read.

“I’d always wondered if there was another side to you, a darker side you’d hidden from me – and now I know I was right.”

There were so many lies, so much betrayal entangled in those final scenes that I couldn’t look away. More information is revealed about the past that was so chilling, so horrifying I couldn’t quite believe what I was reading. It screams at us to be careful who we trust and to realise that not everyone is who they seem on the surface. And what comes out of their mouths isn’t necessarily the truth… I thought about this book so much after finishing that last page. It wasn’t anything like the thrillers I usually read, but I loved how different it felt, how it didn’t fit the usual thriller blueprint. It’s one of those books you’ll want to read again to see if there was any little clue about where things were heading, maybe something that you may have missed the first time around. Such a brilliant feminist revenge thriller, and a new author for me that I’ll be keeping an eye on in future. If you liked this book and want another similar recommendation, try When Sally Killed Harry – you will love it! And if you have any book recs for me in this genre, please let me know – I’m loving revenge thrillers at the moment!

Overall thoughts

Sweet Fury is a twisty, unpredictable feminist revenge thriller that had me hooked from the prologue. Film star and filmmaker (as well as Vogue’s favourite couple) Lila and Kurt, are working on a new movie; a feminist adaptation of Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Through therapy sessions, diary entries and chapters from different POVs, we’re thrown into a revenge plot so sinister, so clever, so deeply layered. It was such a wild ride from start to finish! The characters are certainly not likeable, but they fascinated me, the author regularly blurring that line between who is a victim and who is the one inflicting pain and suffering. The writing is completely beautiful and captivating, making you think, making you question so much. I’m tempted to do a reread to see those subtle clues I’d missed the first time around! Dazzling and glamorous, but also dark and intense. The perfect contrast!

Huge thanks to the author, Sash Bischoff, and the team at Bantam Books for my proof copy and extra goodies! You can grab your own copy of Sweet Fury right now on Amazon or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following the author over on Instagram for more updates!

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