Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff: A Review
I started 2016 off strong so far with my reading goal. Just starting the second month of the year, I'm already three books in and working on my fourth! The January Literary Junkies read was Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. I was really looking forward to this book but I have to say, I was incredibly disappointed. I thought the writing was done well but I could not enjoy the story or like even one of the characters.
via Goodreads
What Goodreads Says:
Every story has two sides. Every relationship has two perspectives. And sometimes, it turns out, the key to a great marriage is not its truths but its secrets. At the core of this rich, expansive, layered novel, Lauren Groff presents the story of one such marriage over the course of twenty-four years.
At age twenty-two, Lotto and Mathilde are tall, glamorous, madly in love, and destined for greatness. A decade later, their marriage is still the envy of their friends, but with an electric thrill we understand that things are even more complicated and remarkable than they have seemed.
What I Say:
Let me start by saying I was extremely disappointed in the two different perspectives. I was expecting a hit to the gut type of reaction when I started reading Mathilde's perspective but I pretty much saw it coming the entire time I was reading Lotto's. Both of these characters were incredibly self-centered. I can see how their friends envied them of their marriage because they were fantastic at putting on appearances. I honestly couldn't understand how they didn't figure out each one was keeping secrets. It was blatantly obvious.
I was deeply disappointed with the outcome of this novel. I had a really high expectation and it was not delivered. I felt that the story fell flat, it was drawn out exponentially and where there should have been character arcs, there were none. If anything, Lotto and Mathilde only grew more self-centered as time went on so I guess you could say they had backward character arcs. I will say that I did love how Groff wrote the novel. It was the style of writing that kept me going. I thought it was beautifully executed and I love her use of words.