From the opening details about Maeve's co-worker getting groped by a toddler (while she amusedly watches on) to the unfolding mess, this book was pretty clearly not for me. I'm sure others will love it, and I can perhaps appreciate the intention and the ideology behind it, but I did not enjoy it in any way. (This is on me, as the description itself invokes 'American Psycho,' which I hate.)

MAEVE FLY by C. J. Leede (debut novel)

Release Date: June 6th, 2023
General Genre: Extreme Horror
Subgenre/Themes: City Life, Gross Out, Human Monsters, Psychological, Feminist, Strong Women
Writing Style: First Person, Brisk Pacing, Cinematic, Bret Easton Ellis(ish)

What You Need to Know: You need to go into this one with your eyes wide open. "Inspired by the pages of American Psycho" is not an exaggeration, so if you've read that book you will be equipped to handle this and if you tapped out of it (like I did) or skimmed parts of it, or have avoided it, you should proceed here with caution. There are also a lot of references to a French novella titled, Story of the Eye (French: L'histoire de l'œil) written by Georges Bataille in 1928 "detailing the increasingly bizarre sexual perversions of a pair of teenage lovers" and yes, I see the influence. The MC, Maeve, is quite enamored with that book for reasons. I'm always a little hesitant to use current, bookish buzzwords but the protagonist here is "unhinged". This is her descent into depravity.

My Reading Experience: Wow. This was quite unexpected. I mean, the synopsis does a great job of setting early expectations but still, nothing can really prepare you for the kind of unapologetic sex and violence prioritized in Maeve Fly.
These are unsympathetic characters. The whole cast. So, if liking protagonists is important for you, I'd steer clear of this one. These twentysomething-year-olds are self-sabotaging, un-relatable, and off-the-rails (except for Maeve's obsession with Halloween and good music-I could relate)

"inside my room, I turn on Billy Holiday. There are only two kinds of music in my world. Billy Holiday and Halloween songs."

Friends, Mave, and Kate's day job are to dress up as the most recent/popular cartoon movie princesses at the iconic theme park. An unwholesome duo representing beloved princesses--it's brilliant and uncomfortable.
Our narrator, Maeve, lives with her grandmother an Old Hollywood Starlit who now spends days on her deathbed--her healthcare is managed by a caretaker named Hilda. Maeve passes the time entertaining and pleasuring herself in a variety of shocking activities.

"Men have always been permitted in fiction and in life to simply be what they are, no matter how dark or terrifying that might be. But with a woman, we expect an answer, a reason."

For the first 30% of this book, I felt like the author establishes Maeve's narrator's voice and lifestyle. Nothing remarkable "happens" just character-driven inner mind chat revealing Maeve's unbalanced worldview. around the halfway mark, plot, tension, and conflict present themselves as we escalate toward the climax/finish.
"I have tried the way of the misanthrope, the way of the deviant, the philosopher, the observer, the pretender. But there is one road I have not seriously considered walking down, have not permitted myself to. Perhaps it is time."

It's definitely entertaining. C. J. Leede knows what she's doing in this space, I just feel like I went through a long phase of devouring messed-up extreme fiction and burnt myself out on it a little bit. I skimmed through some of the longer sections of graphic violence, gratuitous sex, and homicidal mania. I loved everything in-between. I'm fairly certain that readers who hunger for extreme horror will absolutely devour this book and it will be a new favorite. Readers that share my current mindset will appreciate the writing chops and skillful character development. It's a wild ride.



Final Recommendation: Definitely pick this up if you are a horror fan who enjoys leaning into the dark side of extreme horror. A deep dive into the mind of a woman who comes face to face with her true nature and unapologetically acts upon it. Graphically violent, unfiltered sexual exploits, and dark comedy make for an entertaining read that is wildly untamed. Dirty, rotten, bananas.

Comps: American Psycho, Story of the Eye, Marquis de Sade, Ottessa Moshfegh, Valley of the Dolls, Natural Born Killers (film), Dark Romance

Finally, we get a dark manic pixie dream girl as a narrator. Maeve Fly only listens to Billie Holiday and Halloween music, and we get to know her thoughts throughout this novel, rather than how others feel about her. I found this really enjoyable to read, even if Maeve as a character was frustrating and annoying quite frequently. I related to a few of her struggles (y’know, the ones about friends and family growing up and moving on, not the ones about how to dispose of bodies), and found the few emotional components to this novel refreshing.
I could have absolutely done without most of the romantic subplot though, as it seemed underdeveloped and unrealistic. The entire novel seems a bit unfinished, or like the pacing is really wonky. I was promised endless blood and gore, yet that really doesn’t begin for most of the novel, despite Maeve’s constant reminders that she is different, and has violent tendencies. A few of the bloody scenes were absolutely fantastic though, with disturbingly graphic imagery.
Again, this was a very fun read, I just am not sure to whom, if anyone, I could recommend it. The majority of the novel and the romance are not exactly thrilling enough for most horror enthusiasts, and the actual horrific scenes would probably be too jarring for readers who enjoy most of the quirky everyday life plotline that takes its time building up to the novel’s graphic rampages. With all that said, Leede’s descriptions of Los Angeles and Disneyland are delightful, and I could probably read a whole novel that takes place within Maeve’s favorite tiki bar. I will definitely keep an eye out for the next one from Leede even if it doesn’t, though.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I just want to say that I was not prepared for this novel. The synopsis seemed like it was up my alley and definitely what I was looking for. . "Disney" princess goes psycho. But what I got was a different thing entirely. Extreme sexual assault depictions. Not on my list of what I was expecting. I think sometimes this books goal was to just be over the top for the sake of it? Was it realistic? N0. But also it just felt like it was trying too hard to prove something? It's worth? Maybe.

Well behaved women rarely make history .. 🤩 wow this book had me in a chokehold! What a crazy ride I had so many moments of “did that just happen?”. Are main character is Meave , she works as a princess with her best friend. Her grandmother is one of the old beauty’s of Hollywood in the golden age. Life is good right? Wrong Meave has a dark secret at night she is anything but a delicate princess. Id like to describe this book as if American psycho and promising young women had a baby. What a complex character I found myself at times well most of the time cheering Meave on, even thought I should definitely not be lol which is the power of great writing!! I want more of this book! I will be recommending this book to anyone that will listen. Read this book, thank me later 🖤🖤🖤🖤

This book aches to be a female lead American Psycho type of novel, with protagonist Maeve Fly at the wheel. Maeve is obsessed with Halloween music, doxxing terrible people online, and her job at DisneyLand where she impersonates Elsa from Frozen. Maeve is indifferent to most people except for her best friend Kate and dying grandmother, a former Hollywood silent movie star, Tallulah Fly. I enjoyed Maeve’s journey although sometimes Maeve’s obsessions and edginess seemed forced. Most of the brutal scenes weren’t described in detail – we were only hinted at what would happen and it’d cut to black. For a book promising an edgy, dark character it kind of annoyed me (but I’m probably in the minority here) that we didn’t get to see more gore.

I read Story of the Eye in my early 20’s and have recced this book to many people (is this why they think I’m twisted?), and Maeve is obsessed with this book too. I must say, that I was supremely HAPPY that a certain scene came to fruition after the promise of the book’s cover. I would’ve been annoyed otherwise.

However, I did LOVE this book – so don’t take my little gripes at heart. I just love girl villains so want people to push the envelope when it comes to that. The final line of this novel though is PURE PERFECTION and I absolutely love it. In other words, I will definitely look forward to this author’s next novel!

A disturbing, shocking, uncomfortable, and brilliantly written debut, Maeve Fly is both a horror novel and a love story. A scathing critique of society and a vehement demand for feminine rights. With duality at its core, this novel explores the masks of normalcy we don in an attempt to hide the darkness that is humanity.

Leede takes us on a journey with Maeve through the glitz and glamour of famous theme parks and well-known strips while simultaneously exposing the greed and corruption barely hidden below the surface. As a reflection of this contradiction, Maeve, herself, embodies these extremes posing as a princess by day while harboring an ever increasing propensity for violent outbursts. As Maeve’s world begins to crumble, her sanity unravels, and everyone becomes a target.

Maeve Fly is the inversed Patrick Bateman, the psychotic main character of American Psycho. This story is written with complex ideologies and sophisticated language arming the reader with tools to dissect the world in which we live much as Maeve dissects her victims.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As disturbing as this book was the biggest problem I had with it was the fact that it seemed to be using many negative stereotypes older generations have made about millennials as the basis for the character foundation for Maeve. I’m not sure if this is intentional so as to make a commentary of how these things are ridiculous, or if it was just easier to write a character based on fictitious generalizations of an entire generation.

Another problem I had was that it takes way longer than I expected for Maeve to murder her first victim. I wanted to read this book because I thought it was about a Disney princess moonlighting as a serial killer so having to wait that long for the first murder was kind of annoying.

There were many scenes that I think will make a lot of people uncomfortable, so people definitely need to read the contact warnings. However, I’m not sure that the content warnings will prepare people enough for some of the things they’ll read. For example: on an app that I use it gives me the option of putting the content warning for sexual content but nowhere does it give the option of indicating there is non-main stream fetish content. I don’t know how else to say it other than to say not whips, chains and handcuffs. Not even foot fetish stuff, it’s more specialized and obscure fetishes, at least for main stream media.

I rated this one star mostly because it irritated me, but also because it felt like the entire book, the character did things to shock the reader, but not because that was necessarily what her character would do. The entire book just felt like it was meant to shock the reader, more than tell a story. I actually began to like it in the last few pages because we got more character development as Maeve’s world and relationships go through some upheaval and change. This book had the potential of being at least a four-star, but the way the character was portrayed (with regards to the stereotypes) and the weird, prolonged introduction of superfluous characters before the first murder, brought it way down. I feel like less time should’ve been given to the constant mention of Cinderella and Snow White, and a little bit more time should’ve been given about why they had such a problem with Liz. This was just a weird book.

Savage!! I just finished and I am speechless!! F*cking speechless!! Grotesque, brutal, I can’t write a review yet, but I will. I’m hyped up and **NO SPOILERS** THAT ENDING!!! It damned crushed me!! It’s perfect but it sucks EGGS!!!!!! I’ll be back. GOD, I can’t breathe!! I’m shaking. The RAGE!!! This was so fucking good!! I’ll be back…….

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Tor, and the author for this!! I don’t reread books, ever, but I will absolutely read this one again.

Deliciously unhinged and psychotic, Maeve Fly is a modern-day Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)! I loved every twisted element in this book, from Maeve's job as Elsa in Disneyland (or something like it), her crusade to dox conservative soccer moms online, and her love of Halloween. The backdrop of LA was the perfect setting for Maeve to exist- what better atmosphere to kill in where you're among the masses donning wolves' clothing? But, Maeve's not all bad-her dedication to caring for her ailing Grandmother drives her actions, but what dark secrets lies in the history of her Grandmother's life in Old Hollywood? I loved all the references to real-life places in LA, including the tar pits, and Viper Room, and the pace of the book really kept me on the edge of my seat. And let's talk about this amazing cover art! I was instantly drawn to it, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I do judge a book by its cover! TOR Nightfire continues to bring the best in horror year-to-year, and I'm so stoked to see what this author and the publisher put out in the future! Thanks NetGalley and TOR!

You’ve heard of American Psycho get ready to meet Anaheim Pscyho. Maeve Fly works as a princess ( Elsa ) at the happiest place in the world ( DIsney ) but by night she haunts bars with a drink in her hand a book in the other. One thing about her is that she is twisted, she’s a wolf hiding behind her pretty face and quiet demeanor. Maeve has been happy to be alone... until she meets Gideon Green, her best friend’s brother. Gideon tells her that he see’s her, they are both alike, and that they should be together. Gideon see’s the darkness and the void in her but Maeve refuses to believe there is someone else like her. The more Maeve spends time with Gideon the more she can’t resist his pool but then there’s also the issue of her giving into her bloodier temptations and as bodies drop her impulses rises and there will be consequences. I have to say this book was a LOT, like dont even get me started on the egg thing. What completely ruined it for me was the ending, my god that ending COME ON. I WAS ROOTING FOR THEM FOR GIDEON AND HER because they were both similar types of twisted and god it just had to end like that?! It was such a disappointment and let down from everything else that was going on. This book is not for the faint of heart let me be clear, it definitely has strong STRONG American Psycho vibes, so if you are into that kind of horror then this is right up your ally.

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tor Nightfire for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Whew!

This was a fun, gross, gory, horror book with romance.

I enjoyed the flow and pace of the writing,
and the LA scenery depicted. It is nice to read a female serial killer book (since most are male) and hear the inner thoughts of the killer as you read. This would make a fun scary movie and I think it will be a really successful book.

I will definitely be giving away a copy on my tiktok page @hauntedhousebooks close to debut time.

TYSM for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I found this book beautiful, in a way, & read it in one day. As a Halloween lover I felt seen. I liked the romance & I found the ending predictable, but I don't hate it. I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to see Maeve as more of an antihero or just batshit crazy. She is certainly the latter, but I still found myself wishing her a happy ending. A lot of the narration was corny, & the book felt like it was trying too hard - too hard to be edgy, intellectual, sexual, fumny, gorey, & some of the social commentary was just... weird. It kind of had "I'm not like the other girls" vibes. Perhaps all that was intentional. I'm not opposed to splatterpunk/extreme/shock horror so that isn't a problem in itself. Also, I did cackle a few times (A certain celebrity was a treat). Overall I had fun reading it & I would love to read the next book by this author. Thanks to NetGalley, Tor & the author for a digital ARC copy

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

This was a fun, face paced, horror. I usually don’t like a lot of humor in my horror books, but I think this one does it well. Blood good time.

I enjoyed this crazy story. Good storyline , twisted, and fun. Look forward to more by this author. Unexpected ending

This title will be featured in the April 2023 issue of FANGORIA magazine. Please reach out to the reviewer directly for more information. They are currently in contact with Tor publicists.

Absolutely incredible! Disturbing and funny and odd. Leede’s writing feels fresh and exciting, I ate this up and wanted seconds!

I’m a huge fan of horror, but this book just isn’t for me, and that ok. Many people will love this book and the American Psycho vibes.

Maeve Fly is a bit of a slow burn at first. It takes a long time before you even realize what sort of book you're reading. The story meanders a bit, not necessarily in a bad way, for a good two thirds of the book before getting into the meat of the story at the end. There's some sado-masochist sex stuff in there that wasn't for me, but other readers might enjoy a lot.

It's a lot like American Psycho, which is the worst book I've ever finished reading. But in my opinion anyway, Maeve Fly is a lot better. Read it if you want to get inside the head of an unapologetic killer.