'Fates and Furies' by Lauren Groff is Amazon's Best Book of the Year

Amazon hails Lauren Groff's third and latest book outing "Fates and Furies" as the best book of the year. According to a press release, the editorial team of the largest online retailer found the book "dazzling" with the language "electric."

Sarah Nelson, the editorial director of books and Kindle for Amazon, praised the 37-year-old novelist for her "ingenious plotting," adding that the title is unlike any other books she encountered in years. "Our editors adored it," she simply said.

 "Fates and Furies," which was a finalist for this year's National Book Award, follows Lotto and Mathilde, whose every aspect of their lives is admired by the people around them. The novel focuses on the "tall, glamorous" couple's marriage and is told from the two's personal perspectives.

When New York Times reviewed Groff's book, the publication turned out to be one with Amazon, calling the title "an unabashedly ambitious novel that delivers - with comedy, tragedy, well-deployed erudition and unmistakable glimmers of brilliance throughout."

Closely trailing behind "Fates and Furies" is "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which is a narrative of the author's answers to his adolescent son's questions about the realities and struggles of "what is it like to inhabit a black body" as Penguin Random House describes it.

Other notable runners-up include "Purity" by Jonathan Franzen and "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins. Amy Ellis Nutt's tale about a transgender girl titled "Becoming Nicole" made it on the list as well as Sabaa Tahir's YA title "An Ember in the Ashes."

Here is the complete list as provided by Business Wire:

1.         "Fates and Furies" by Lauren Groff                          

2.         "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

3.         "Becoming Nicole" by Amy Ellis Nutt

4.         "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir                                       

5.         "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah

6.         "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough

7.         "H is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald

8.         "Purity" by Jonathan Franzen

9.         "Hold Still" by Sally Mann                                           

10.      "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

According to The Guardian, not all critics agree with Amazon about "Fates and Furies" being the best book of the year. The publication quotes its very own Susanna Rustin, who said that the book had "hard-boiled four-word sentences with abstract musings, jarred" for style.

Hannah Beckerman from The Observer thinks that the book that connecting with the characters is difficult owing to the fact that the portrayals are not rounded and the story itself "lacks the psychological insight."

Nonetheless,  "Fates and Furies" won the hearts of Amazon and for the retailer, Groff's masterpiece is the best book of the year.

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