🕯️VICTORIAN PSYCHO🕯️by @virgi_stones is my favorite book I have read so far this year! Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher, @w.w.norton for the e-ARC.

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"Superstitions and portents don’t always reach the privileged, or if they do, the privileged assume the warnings don’t apply to them."

Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House three months before Christmas to become the new governess to the Pounds' children. Tending to bratty and self-important Andrew and pouty Drusilla whose head is most certainly in the clouds comes with the benefit of understanding the intimate goings on of the Pounds household. Mr. Pounds, a pompous man with a predilection for the budding pseudoscience of phrenology regales the young governess with his fascinations while the prim and proper Mrs. Pounds scolds and chides Winifred at every move with a firm grasp on her husband's wandering eyes. But Winifred Notty has plans of her own. And she is so very happy to be at home with her new family and has some very exciting and dreadful gifts to give them for Christmas.

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Winifred Notty is an eccentrically wicked young thing and I absolutely gobbled her story up. This deliciously disturbing tale is certainly a train wreck that you can feel coming and cannot look away from.

Do not miss this book if you are a horror fan and love a "good for her" and tangential "eat the rich" type of story. And most excitingly, this has already been picked up as a movie adaptation! I am so excited to see Winifred on the big screen!

Perfect premise. Perfect writing. This book is absolutely masterful at evoking the ick. It's genuinely uncomfortable to read, and that feeling builds and builds... maybe a little too much?

The first half was five full stars. I had to force myself to slow down and savor the story. Unfortunately, the latter half didn't live up to the promise of the beginning. I wanted to be taken somewhere more clever than where I ended up. What was unique in the first half, grew stale by the second, and this book did not, in my mind, stick the landing.

Would still highly recommend to anyone into the grotesque and ridiculous.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!!

Wow, this book was GROSS!! And I loved it lol.

Winifred Notty is a newly hired governess for the Pounds children of Ensor House and she is ….diabolical. Unlike the usual governesses she has a Darkness within her that she happily wishes to unleash on the house. Mayhem ensues!

What I enjoyed most about the book was just how damn funny it was. I did not expect to laugh as much as I did. The author has a gift with words, humor, and breaking the 4th wall with her readers.

This is my second read from Virginia Feito and I will definitely be reading whatever else she puts out.

Victorian Psycho was a raging story about Winnefred Notty who takes a job as a governess with nothing but the darkest intensions. Whether it was the Laudanum given to her as a child, her mothers neglect, or just pure psychopathic nature, shes consumed with thoughts of violence and anti-social behavior. The unbecomings of the Pounds household becomes increasingly transparent, and Winnefreds growing resentments are too much to withold any longer. Mr. Pounds has a wandering gaze and an inclination towards the new governess, and Mrs. Pounds has a curious way of punishing Mr. Pounds for his misgivings. As Christmas approches she begins to plot her gift of revenge against the family and the servants she's been working amongst.

This story is packed with sardonic quips, clever insights, and at times is darkly funny as the reader immerses themselves into the mind of a victorian psycho.

I loved this book! It was sick! I appreciated female rage and the critiques of victorian social norms. not for the faint of heart or squeamish!

I had to read this after seeing the news that it is being made into a movie starring Margaret Qualley. It was dark, twisted, and hilarious. Imagine Patrick Bateman but as a governess with a grudge who's sick of society's shit.

Thank you Netgalley and RBMedia for providing this audiobook for review. All opinions are my own.

In the same way that American Psycho used Patrick Bateman to satirize 80s yuppie culture, Victorian Psycho gives us Winifred Notty to take down the Victorian "polite" society. Winifred accepts a governess position at Ensor House. There, she is charged with schooling the spoiled Poundses children and ensuring their moral upbringing. That proves problematic as Winifred possesses no morality or understanding of human emotions.

The novel delivers on its title as Winifred is a true Victorian psycho. She makes a conscious effort to mimic emotions and decode expressions. She's curious but she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. She simply does not want to be found out and sent away. When she slips up and murders someone, she is equally detached. She is inconvenienced by having to cover her crimes, but never upset. Her combination of curiosity and stoicism makes her a fascinating character. She's also incredibly funny. Her sardonic observations and unexpected reactions had me laughing out loud.

Meanwhile, the Ensor House, who are so self-involved that they fail to realize the danger they are in. These characters embody familiar archetypes of gothic fiction. They're awful people and I found myself rooting for them to be killed off the same way I root for teens in an 80s slasher to meet their bloody end. I should mention that Winifred has no problems harming children or animals so if that's a trigger for you, you might want to skip this one. I wasn't bothered, I think because we're in Winifred's perspective, and for her murder is clinical. She also does not notice or describe the emotions of those she harms. She simply describes the acts though she is not one to skimp on the gory details.

Don't take that to mean that this is even close to as grisly as something like American Psycho. This isn't extreme horror or splatterpunk. I was more grossed out by Winifred's constant need to lick things and put them in her mouth than by her murders.

So, if you enjoy pitch-black humor, satire, and a bit of bloodshed in your gothic literature, check it out. I finished this in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to A24's upcoming film starring Margaret Qualley and Thomasin McKenzie. If the movie is anything like the book, it's going to be a lot of fun!

If you’re a fan of the “I support women’s wrongs”, Good For Her, feminine rage genre/movement then do I have the book for you (it's also subtly sapphic).  Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito is a story about a bloodthirsty English Governess, Winifred Notty, in the Victorian era who tries to maintain a sense of normalcy and suppress the evil inside of her, until the time is right, while caring for her charges, and living amongst the Pounds family, the rest of their staff, and friendly visitors at Endsor House. 

 I fail to understand why men think violence will intimidate women. Women, who bleed all over themselves every month, who rub blood clots between their fingers and burst them like insects, and sometimes can't because they're not blood clots, they're tongue-coloured strings of meat from the womb. Women who burst open in childbirth, vagina splitting and anus sagging, tiny, hardening fingernails clawing inside of them, placentas like thick filet mignon.

The book reads like a diary from Ms. Notty to the reader, who is not a completely unreliable narrator, as she does let us in on the dark thoughts in her mind, but sometimes waits to reveal them, or is unsure whether or not they are even real. As she continues to let us in more and more, she becomes increasingly more feral. Just barely qualifying as a novella with its slightly under 200 pages, Victorian Psycho has short, easily digestible chapters, and headings that come before them to clue you in on their happenings. Instead of walking you through every moment of her time at Endsor House, Fred sticks to discussing only the most vital ones that had the biggest impact on her, or vice versa. While some may not be a fan of the format of the story due to the length and slight jumps in time, I was. I found that it made the book stick out to me in comparison to books of a similar genre or theme. Feito utilizes each page well, and is able to paint a complete picture of each incident that takes place and the full story, despite the short nature of the book. The diary-like aspect of the book allows us to connect with Fred quickly, and gives us just the right amount of insight into her mind and the heinous acts she commits that we can start to piece together things like why, when and how they may happen, but are still shocked once they do. As a fan of horror, it’s natural for the mind to wander and try to predict what macabre events might unfold in the story we’re consuming, oftentimes imagining a much worse fate than what is delivered, but Victorian Psycho is unafraid to go there, and holds nothing back. Feito masterfully builds up the tension throughout the book, with small moments of unease that eventually lead to actionable offenses by Fred, then brings her back down to earth to clean up her messes and resume her act of normalcy before doing it all over again. Fred’s crimes are just the right amount of cruel and grotesque to keep you appalled, yet interested to see how she recovers, and what she will do next. 

Albeit her clearly odd and wicked nature, you can’t help but like Fred. She has an internal struggle with the darkness inside her as all she really wants to be is loved, but this has kept her from feeling that, and humorously recounts her days not only at Endsor House, but other momentous ones throughout her life as well. You are successfully put into her shoes, and feel like most of the people around her get what’s coming to them, after their unpleasant and mightier than thou behavior towards Fred. Of course the punishments she doles out are far more cruel than the victim’s crimes they are answering for, which are mostly just bad attitudes, but it is easy to make excuses for Fred. Even though the Pounds family is mostly unlikable, they are still represented as simply flawed humans who have their own hang ups,  rather than mythically evil people who we are actively rooting against. In fact, if anyone is mythically evil, it’s Winifred Notty, but by the time we come to understand just how evil she truly is, you are already too connected to her, and can’t help but feel compassion for her, rather than completely disgusted by her atrocities. Once it gets to that point, there’s no turning back for Fred, and each chapter is filled with even more shocking acts, until the culmination of her time at Endsor House. It's as if the evil had been bubbling up inside her this whole time, until suddenly it overflowed and Fred is no longer able to stop herself from committing one shocking act after the next that will leave you feeling floored each time, especially since she transitions from her dormant, as normal-as-she-can-be state to action with such haste and ease. 

I first heard about Victorian Psycho in December, when news of A24 acquiring the rights to produce a film adaption of it with Margaret Qualley and Thomasin McKenzie attached. Author Victoria Feito is set to write the screenplay, with Qualley’s past Sanctuary collaborator Zachary Wigon set to direct. I can easily imagine Qualley in the titular role of Winifred Notty, and have no doubt that she will kill it. While reading the book, concerns did cross my mind about how the film would be able to pull off the delicate balance of being sympathetic yet fearful of Fred that the book’s first person narrative effortlessly captures, but there’s certainly no better person to write the script than the author herself, and I’m sure she will know just how to remold the story to get all of the same things across in each version of it.  

I’m thankful to NetGalley and W.W Norton & Company for receiving an ARC of Victorian Psycho. Only when I saw the title available on NetGalley did I realize that it had yet to be released, as it came out February 5. With the current risk averse state of the industry where producers only want to make sure fire hits, and place high importance on things like the amount of followers the creatives involved have, Victorian Psycho securing a film adaption prior to the book’s official release definitely set some pretty high expectations for me, and thankfully it did not disappoint! You might think of it as The Haunting of Bly Manor meets American Psycho meets Crimson Peak, all of which I love, so as a sort of combination of them, its safe to say I loved this story. Ultimately, I give Virginia Feito’s Victorian Psycho five out of five stars, as it perfectly delivers everything you expect from a Gothic Horror story.

WOW. This book was a wild ride. From the very beginning, there is a sense of foreboding that just seems to build and build. I wondered where this story was going to go, and felt like the main character kept making very strange choices. It almost felt like a fever dream. There was a twist that I was able to predict pretty early on, but overall, I enjoyed the crazy journey that was reading this book.

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito is an exhilarating dive into psychological horror, where the boundaries of reality and madness blur in the most captivating way. Feito’s writing is both elegant and unsettling, drawing readers into a world where tension mounts with every page. The protagonist’s unraveling psyche is portrayed with a depth that keeps you questioning what is real and what is imagined. Feito excels at creating an atmosphere of dread, making each scene pulse with unease, while the darkly gothic setting feels both timeless and incredibly fresh. It’s a thrilling, thought-provoking novel that not only plays with the conventions of the genre but also offers a nuanced exploration of mental deterioration. Fans of psychological horror will find Victorian Psycho a fascinating and deeply immersive experience.

I really wanted to enjoy this story more, but I found it to just be okay. I disliked all the characters and thought they all got what they deserve!

Bloody, brutal and glorious. This story is the combination of Jane Eyre meeting American psycho. Winifred is all sorts of unhinged and I couldn't look away. There's so much blood and gore, and our governess revels in it all. As more of her past is revealed, we get more of a glimpse into her psyche. I couldn't wait for the last nail in the coffin that made her let loose and go there.

Thank you to NetGalley for the E-ARC!

4.5 stars

The nitty-gritty: A grim, bloody delight with pitch perfect black humor, Victorian Psycho will make you gasp and laugh in the same breath.

Virginia Feito has just rocketed to the top of my “must read” author list, mostly because I have never read a book quite like Victorian Psycho. This is the story of a female serial killer who is out for revenge, and it’s shocking, funny and emotional, sometimes all three of those in the same paragraph. The main character is a frumpy woman named Winifred Notty (and don’t think for a second that the author chose her last name by accident!) who tells her story in a no nonsense voice and has perfectly good reasons for every heinous thing she does. I imagine this would also be excellent in audio format, since Winifred’s a larger-than-life character with a commanding voice. I was both horrified and awed by her and couldn’t believe what was coming out of her mouth. Because of that, I’ll be highlighting more quotes than usual in the this review, I just couldn’t resist!

Winifred Notty has been hired by Mr. and Mrs. Pounds as a governess for their two children, Andrew and Drusilla. Ensor House is a cold, bleak mansion in the town of Grim Wolds, and once she arrives, she’s tasked with the care of the children, who seem to dislike her immediately. But Winifred is made of stern stuff, as the reader learns very quickly, and she isn’t afraid of two little children.

As Christmas approaches and the Pounds welcome their guests to the house for the holidays, Winifred sets her grim plan in motion. No one in Ensor House is safe...

Winifred is one of the most deranged characters I’ve ever met, and yet throughout the story we get glimpses of her terrible childhood, which made her feel more human and, dare I say, evoked a feeling of sympathy. She doesn’t seem to have a filter at all, an odd way for a woman to act in Victorian society, and she says whatever is on her mind, shocking not only the family members but all the other servants as well. Her descriptive observations of everything around her are full of menace:

“Leaves are strewn across the grounds in hues of bile and blood.”

Or:

“The guests take to their dancing while I serve myself some wassail from a large silver bowl on a corner table, disturbing the bronzed apples and lemon slices that bob like drowned corpses on the surface.”

Or:

“‘I am Andrew Pounds,’ announces the little master. Rusted freckles sprinkle his strikingly long forehead like the indiscriminate spray of blood from a slit throat.”

The reader understands that Winifred has indeed seen the spray of blood from a slit throat herself, otherwise how would she know? Feito’s writing is full of examples like this, perfect similes that unsettle the reader again and again, yet how can you not applaud such gleefully horrifying writing?

The story has a wonderfully immersive Victorian feel to it as well, almost as if it were written during the time of Dickens or the Bronte sisters. Feito hasn’t just written a story that takes place in Victorian London, she’s magically transported herself and her readers into Winifred’s grim, bloody life. The sights and smells are so vividly described, along with lush descriptions of food, and later, blood.

My favorite thing about the story, though, is its perfectly done black humor. Winifred, who is a true sociopath, makes calm observations about the people around her as she’s slaughtering them. There’s one memorable scene involving a baby that I had to read twice, I couldn’t believe the author went there. But she did, and that scene was funny, believe it or not. 

I wasn’t sure if Feito would be able to pull off a believable ending, but she managed to surprise me yet again with a perfectly horrifying finale. Not surprisingly, Victorian Psycho is being made into a movie (in preproduction right now), so I recommend getting your hands on a copy of the book first. 

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy. Quotes were taken from an uncorrected proof and may differ in the final version of the book.

I enjoyed this book despite the over-sexualization of the children. I think some of that content could have been left out. Winifred herself sometimes comes off as a bit of a perv. The book tells the story of Winifred Notty, who becomes the Governess at Ensor House. She is to teach and train Mr. and Mrs. Pounds kids, Drusilla and Andrew. Winifred swears she will be the perfect Victorian Governess, but the longer she is in the house and exposed to the many people who live and visit the house, her emotions and rage become uncontrollable.

The sexual tension between Winifred and her father is quite disturbing. That is, if you are to believe Winifred to be a reliable narrator. The scene with her arguing with an infant, I had to question whether the infant is talking or is it all in Winifred's mind. Winifred is definitely disturbed and perhaps a psychopath. I also couldn't believe that a mother of one of the characters, would not recognize her baby. Well at least she keeps a baby, because the truth would be too much to bear. I totally didn't see that one coming; it came out of left field.

I found this to be an interesting read that kept my interest. I did find some of the characters rather drab, but the main characters: Mr. and Mrs. Pounds, Drusilla, Andrew and Winifred held my interest. The story didn't feel exactly like the Victorian era, because many of the characters dialogue and behavior, especially Winifred seemed more contemporary. That being said I did enjoy this read and it held my interest. I wanted to see the outcome, and What an Outcome!

I didn't expect what happened to happen in that manor, but I was there for it. The Drusilla twist took me by surprise although there were hints given earlier on. There are so many scenes here that I could highlight or talk about, because many are vivid in my mind. I felt shocked, at times disturbed, and found humor in many things. I found myself laughing at many scenes while reading this book. I loved the way she referred to the first baby as original baby, it made me chuckle. I think the ending was good. For me, if the ending is not right it can definitely tank a book, but the ending was the right one. I love that there were images in the book, especially the ending one. If one likes horror with a bit of satire, they will definitely gravitate towards this one.

This was only a 3-star for me. I really thought I would enjoy it, but something about it just never clicked for me. I don't think that it is badly written or that there's anything in particular wrong with it, it just wasn't the book for me. I loved the descriptions and I can totally see someone falling in love with it. I loved the mention of the Victorian mummy unwrapping parties, they are such a strange and morbid piece of history.

Absolutely bonkers and so in brand for this author! I loved it so much. Cant wait to read more from her.

TW/CW: sexism, drinking, toxic family relationships, animal death, murder, blood, child abuse, death of parent, gory scenes, violence, baby death

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
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. . . .Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House.
Release Date: February 4th, 2025
Genre: Horror
Pages: 208
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Cover
2. Writing was so good
3. Gothic atmosphere
4. Gross scenes

What I Didn't Like:
1. All the animal death/torture

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

"Satisfied that there are no monsters but the ones I carry inside me"

Ohhhh sucking on the children's fingers ewww.

Wow that crow scene is not something you want to be eating while reading. Feeding the other children the crow with the maggots was intense and dark.

Omg omg she killed the baby!! And then steals another baby. They aren't a dead fish how can you just replace them? Honestly how can the mother not notice?

The bodies are definitely adding up - she's killing everyone. Miss. Lamb is now dead.

When she let's Mr. Pounds know he is her father he promptly fires her. This whole time you're thinking it's much more between them but really he is (maybe) her father. Guessing from his reaction though it's hard to deny.

That gory crazy ending wow. The poor maid killing herself by going over the banister when being let go of. Perfect ending!

Final Thoughts:
Seriously this is how you do a graphic gothic horror book!

I loved all the gore and craziness. It was such a fun ride.

The writing was so good that I was hooked on every word that was written. I feel the author did such a great job making me feel as though I was in this era. Author also did a great job at making things so atmospheric.

I am so happy they are turning this into a movie from A24 because I could definitely see how it would make an insane movie! Can't wait!

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Thanks to Netgalley, Liveright, and Recorded Books for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Virginia Feito for granting me the ARC of this book.

Holy unhinged Jane Austen. Fred is an icon in all the worst ways. Starting off the bat with an ominous air, this book keeps you waiting for the right time to strike and when it does, it doesn’t not disappoint. Truly a wonderful social commentary on the wealthy elite not only of Victorian times but how relevant that can be to today’s society as well. I loved how this book would just cruise along as any normal Victorian classic would and then suddenly blindside you with an onslaught of the macabre. This book will surprise and horrify you when you least expect it. Right when you think you’ve gotten comfortable, it hits you.

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito was all the right things. This gothic tale embodies the Victorian-era so beautifully, while also semi-breaking the societal norms of the mid-1800’s. Follow Notty as she governs two small children, heirs of the Ensor house, while also trying to fight her dark nature. She leads you down a winding road of machination, ill nature, and contempt.

This book pulled me in from the beginning. Notty is a very entrancing character and the way the author brings the readers into the story is something you don’t see often. I enjoyed the imagery that Feito is able to accomplish and felt like I was in the gothic manor watching everything unfold.

This book is a 4.5 for me, as I think it was executed favorably.

This book was so much fun! The story begins with a governess arriving at her new job. "It is early fall, the cold is beginning to descend, and in three months everyone in this house will be dead". That is all you really need to know before starting Victorian Psycho. This book is atmospheric, Gothic, very dark and yet there were multiple times I laughed out loud. I am still feeling out horror as a genre and it was too gross for me in certain parts, but the excellent writing kept me reading. She describes sleet as "tiny hands holding tiny knives that slice at one's fingers and cheekbones" and freckles "like the indiscriminate spray of blood from a slit throat". I am excited to explore her backlist as this is my first novel by Virginia Feito. I was initially drawn to Victorian Psycho by the incredible cover and hearing that it has been optioned for film. I highly recommend this to anyone who is not too squeamish, appreciates an original voice and a historical Gothic theme, and incredible writing with dark humor. 4.25 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for an advanced e copy.