3.75 stars

How is one to possibly resist this horrifying cover and this amazing title?

As one might expect from that aforementioned title, this book features an aptly named Victorian psycho. Winifred is a governess, but she is no Jane Eyre. This character has a lot of thoughts and feelings - and participates in specific actions - that any typical person would consider utterly disturbing. While I'm grateful I won't ever interface with her in life, I'm thrilled I got to spend some time in her absolutely warped mind. This is all made even more appealing by the fantastic setting: GREAT sense of time and place here.

This is not a read for the delicate, but if there's a little darkness in you, you, too, may enjoy getting it out in a safe, vicarious manner!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: What a wild ride. I would have never requested or picked this book up if a friend didn't encourage me too and I'm not really sure why that is. I loved this. If you have read the book Maeve Fly, you will enjoy this. If you are a fan of any of the following please consider picking this up.

*murderous women
* revenge
* dark humor and satire

Things to be aware of, there is extensive animal harm, body horror, very dark themes and gore. The author uses those moments to form characters and aspects of the story, it did not feel tasteless. The ending was like a set of fireworks, it was amazing. And the very last line is one you won't forget. I highly recommended this just make sure you've considered what I warned about above.

I enjoyed this book so much! I loved Mrs March when it came out but this book felt completely different. Darker, creepy, wholly enjoyable

Nope. I tried. I tried again. Then I gave up. I appreciate a good horror novel and I'm not adverse to a bit of gore but this just went too far for me, Interesting concept but it just wasn't my cup of tea and I DNF. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Winifred Notty is the new governess at the Ensor home to two children Drusilla and Andrew. She comes with a purpose to destroy the family by all means necessary. It's so weird to say I had a good time reading this one. There's babies being murdered! I should not have had a good time, but the author did an amazing job at combining the eerie gothic setting with one of humor & satire.

When they say psycho, they mean psycho! Certainly dark, eerie, and creepy, we follow Miss Notty who experiences an extreme devolution in psyche and carries out the ultimate revenge. I enjoyed how the plot and pacing of the story followed where the character was at, the longer the story goes on the more devolved she becomes. The discussion of inherent evil and darkness in unlikeable and disturbed female characters is something this does really well. The tone of the writing was so unique and combined horror and dry sarcasm that made for a fun reading experience. Definitely not for everyone, but if you like a kooky crazy woman who is not afraid to get her hands dirty, Miss Notty might be right for you!

Thank you to W.W Norton and Company and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in Exchange for an honest review

This was a wild ride from page one and I loved every second of it!

Victorian Psycho is dark and disgusting in all of the best ways. The book explores human depravity with incredible irony and humor, and the pace makes it impossible to put down. The setting of a spooky, sprawling mansion is perfect, too. Feito's use of imagery and description is masterful and makes this an immersive read.

Plus: feminine rage and Christmas??? This hits it all.

I am a little conflicted on how I feel about this one. On one hand, I loved the obvious ties to American Psycho with a female protagonist wrecking just pure chaos on a family estate. I laughed out loud several times at some clever quips delivered in just a super unique name. But for some reason, I remained a little removed from this story and I had to force myself to pick it up. When I did, I was glad, but I felt disconnected from the story. I am not sure if it is because the clearly major divide of the MC or the setting but I wished I had that drive a little more.

Winifred Notty is one of the most deliciously wicked characters I’ve encountered. Dry, witty and unabashedly evil, she delights in sharing her tale.

I enjoyed this a great deal. Highly recommended.

This is the exact kind of book that encompasses the whole "I support women's wrongs" thing, lol. The main character here is ABSOLUTELY UNHINGED, but in an extremely fun sort of way. Folks who struggle with gore or grossness or violence may not enjoy this, and I think anyone who struggles with a complex or "bad" main character - especially when they're a woman - will hate this. But I really liked it! I loved the self-awareness Fred seemed to have, balanced alongside this general disconnect she has with the world and society around her. The pacing for the first 70% was a little slow, almost dream-like with things happening and the reader being unsure if the narrator is reliable or not. Once the action starts picking up though, it's a wild ride to the end!

Victorian Psycho
Virginia Feito
Horror / Gothic / Fiction / Historical Fiction


Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess―she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate’s dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family―Mr. Pounds can’t keep his eyes off Winifred’s chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband’s wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . .

Okay, this book was UNHINGED and I loved it.
It kept my attention the whole time & I honestly flew through it. If you are into deviousness, gore and blood, humor and snarky thoughts, then this book is for you!
At only 208 pages, it makes for the perfect quick read!
I will absolutely be recommending this read to everyone in 2025.

Thank you to @netgalley, @virginiafeito, & @liveright for a copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

Many readers will look at this title and immediately have an idea of what this book will be. And they will be right, but it's so much more than a version of Bateman. Victorian Psycho finds its own voice and violent mayhem, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. It is comedically macabre, soaked in blood, and I enjoyed every page of this book. It was superb down to the last word.

Do you like absolutely UNHINGED horror books? Well do I have the book for you! Victorian Psycho is a bloody romp of a good time. Think American Psycho but set in Victorian England. The titular psycho is Ms. Notty, a governess who becomes employed by the rich and pompous Pounds family.

This book GOES THERE and it packs a lot into ~200 pages. The pacing is brisk and the chapters are short. Frito’s prose is gorgeous and also has a glee to it. I laughed out loud so many times because this book is DARKLY funny. Every time I laughed I immediately felt bad about it 😬. I love the tone she sets and the themes she explores.

If you are someone who needs content warnings, consider all of them present with this one. Like I said, she really goes there but it also somehow has a subtlety to it, in that she implies things MUCH worse than on the surface (which is saying something).

This will definitely go into the best of the year contention for later this year. Fantastic book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What made Victorian Psycho stand out was the subversion of the classic gothic governess. Winifred, the governess plays an anti hero with a penchant for violence. The murders she commits are disturbing and graphic, however they are followed with comical reactions. Narrated from Winifred's perspective, Victorian Psycho provides a unique and entertaining voice to the modern gothic.

This book has every trigger warning imaginable--most of it perpetuated by an unapologetic female character. While this story is definitely not for everyone, I really loved this brand of feminism. As a lover of gothic horror and strong female characters, I read this book quickly.

Thanks to Netgalley for my review copy.

A delightfully unhinged (almost campy) horror romp with a fast-paced plot and memorable protagonist. There aren't any particularly big surprises or plot twists, but the story is action-packed and it's hard to look away from the violent spiral of events. Stunningly immersive, creepy, and disturbing. Perfect novel for anyone who likes a gory horror movie and appreciates a side of class commentary.

I loved Feito's debut, Mrs. March, so I was super excited to hear she'd written another book! Happy to say that this one did not disappoint, and Feito is now an auto-buy author for me. The theme of female rage has been quite popular lately, with some books being a bit better executed than others. The market is quite saturated, so for me, a book with this theme has to feel fresh and engaging in a way that hasn't been done to death. Feito has done that. Almost every sentence of this book shocked me, not only with how well written they are, but with the content. This book was gross and subversive in the best way possible, and at the end I actually laughed out loud and said "Good for her!" and meant it!

Ok WOW I thought all of the 5 star ratings might be a bangwagon everyone was hopping on... Nope. This is just as good as everyone is saying. I will be thanking my peer pressure-er's profusely.
I'm learning I'm VERY picky when it comes to horror (not in the sense that I think others are objectively bad, I just know they aren't for mmeee personally), but this checked all the boxes I didn't even know I had. I am so so so excited to have given this a chance.

This reminds me a little bit of My Men by Victoria Kielland translated by Damion Searls, though I'm not sure if it's simply recency bias.

{Thank you bunches to Virginia Feito, W. W. Norton & Company, Liveright and NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!}

There is a Darkness that lives inside Winifred Notty. A darkness that longs for something she holds most dear, and one her mother has tried to snuff out since birth. Dark, twisted, and witty all at once, Victorian Psycho packs a sinister punch.

One of my favorite things this story touches on is how men view women. How they won’t hold certain conversations in front of them as to not cause, ‘hysterics,’ or speak of violence as if it will intimidate them. The author touches on this in many different ways and places throughout the book that I truly loved and ground out my overall feeling that one of the larger jokes is the world's viewpoint on thinking less of women and what they are truly capable of. Like murder.

Victorian Psycho is a dark gothic tale of Winifred’s (whose darkness likes to go by Fred) of a woman on a set mission. She’s held onto letters her mother had kept hidden - letters from her father. A man that has plagued her throughout her life more than her madness. It’s shaped her life completely whether she is aware of this or not but throughout her twisted tale filled with murder. I fear I became engrossed in the psychological aspects of this tale, and it plagued me with thoughts of nature v. nurture and the circumstances of what made Winifred, well, Fred.

There is an interesting play going on throughout this novel that centers around children. How they used to be used for labor with one scene in particular, the Francey’s discussing how a boy, their chimney sweep, was stuck inside. The way Mr. Pounds groans at laws being passed to protect the children's laborers in his factories or even the baby that meets its untimely demise by Ms. Notty, whose parents are never wiser to the deceit she plays later. I did also enjoy the ridiculous beliefs that were held back in the Victorian era when it came to the views of women and their delicate and prone to ‘hysterics’ view. This mindset made it when Winifred outsmarted them or murdered them almost, gasp, enjoyable.

This book far exceeded my expectations and did more than I thought it possibly could. Highly recommend this to anyone who loves gothic horror with a dash of unhinged madness.

Thank you to @netgalley and @liverightbooks for this advanced reader copy.

This book is so grotesque yet so funny. I found the writing, despite being written in the late-1800s style, to be super accessible. The quick pacing suited it well; the short chapters made me hungry for more and I ended up ripping through it.

Do you ever read a book and think “what’s wrong with me?”

Victorian Psycho is 208 pages of pure insanity and I could not get enough of it but it did leave me questioning my integrity. Our main character Winifred Notty is wildly unhinged and so freaking vile making the title absolutely perfect and I loved her even though I know I shouldn’t. It’s the kind of book you have to laugh at sometimes because it’s so out there and absurd and incredibly intriguing even though it’s F’ed up. I loved this one so much and could have gone for another 200 pages of her shenanigans. Because of how much I did enjoy it and the fact that it’s a rather short novel, I flew through this in one sitting and loved the ending. I can only hope it gets adapted into a movie. 😅 I cannot wait to go back and read Mrs. March now, Virginia Fieto is staying on my radar. Thanks to Liveright for my eARC. Victorian Psycho will be published 2/4.