Fury

Is vengeance deserved when one girl kisses another's boyfriend? When one student humiliates another? And what level of vengeance is appropriate%E2%80%94more humiliation? Isolation? Death? Miles's debut novel explores the notion that "people really do get what they deserve," with mixed results. The attempted suicide of Sasha Bowlder, the humiliated student, is the starting point for two voyages of self-discovery: Emily Winters, who wrestles with her attraction to her best friend's boyfriend, and Chase Singer, burdened by his trailer-park origins and a dark secret about Sasha. They are first haunted, then openly approached by three beautiful, frightening women who hand out red flowers and cryptic dooms that neither can escape. Combined with the hothouse pressure of junior year, the tension causes both Em and Chase to crack. Much of the story resembles a teen horror flick, and in the end, the book veers from its "eye for an eye" trajectory, and the Furies become a foe to be vanquished instead of an unstoppable force. Readers won't understand why Em and Chase have been targeted any more than they do%E2%80%94that question is left to future books. Ages 14%E2%80%93up. (Aug.)