Review: The Furies' Bog

★★☆☆☆

This was everything I expected and on the other hand nothing like I expected. The blurb promises a lot, it's maybe a bit too ambitious. 

The story is told in two different settings: The first one on Earth, where a group of scientists try to unearth bodies from a bog in the middle of nowhere, and the other on Mars, where three astronauts who just mostly hate each other decide to land unauthorized on Mars. And how do these two settings connect? The synopsis says the bog is the answer but in the end, it didn't really seem like it. The two settings felt too separate, and sometimes I couldn't help but wonder that why there were the two different groups? Why not just build the story around one of the groups?

I can't delve too much into the development of characters or how their relationships saved the world because neither of those things happened. Most of the time the characters, on both settings, hated or somewhat despised each other. There was no groundbreaking dialogue to mention.

I'd say that a big part dampening my overall rating is the technical part of the book. I give the author a round of applause for the background work she has done for the book. Going back to school and spending hours upon hours researching is something. But. Sometimes the book got a bit too technical. There were parts when had to google to actually understand what the characters were talking about or what was happening. This is not a book everyone can read and understand fully without any difficulties.

I've now only told you about the downsides of the book and you must be wondering 'why two stars and not one?' Well, the last fifty or so pages. Otherwise, the story progressed in moderate pace but the last fifty pages were packed. They had action and twists and life-like characters and emotions. Those last fifty pages were better than great. They were written so well, that I felt it earned another star.