One week ago, Virginia Feito released her horror novella, Victorian Psycho. The title actually works as a succinct but sufficient summary: In Victorian-era England, a psychotic governess, Winifred, is bent on revenge and murder, and she narrates her evils over the course of three months leading up to Christmas.

A word of warning: She does harm children, babies, and animals, so take care in reading this gruesome tale.

Why I Chose This Book:
I’ve long been a fan of horror, and I was interested in reading a dark tale set in the Victorian era. The main character is a governess, naturally reminding me of Jane Eyre (who is much nicer and, ahem, not murderous), and the title evokes American Psycho. So many quick comparisons, but this novella stands on its own perfectly well.

What I Liked:
- Winifred is indeed a violent psycho… but she’s oddly charismatic? And funny? In a demented, evil way, of course.
- “Oops” in response to the harm she inflicts on others.
- She’s kind of crazy in terms of her conceptualization of time. She talks about perceiving feelings from the future, losing her place in time, and so on.
- Slowly but surely, layers of her past are revealed to show how she ended up this way and why she’s at this house, terrorizing this family.
- She says out loud the unkind things normal people would keep to themselves. Lol.
- Are her victims a little bit wicked, too?

What Didn’t Work for Me:
- Some of what Winifred does is disgusting and detailed… but that comes with the genre!

Audiobook
Anna Burnett does a superb job of getting us into the mind of Winifred. She delivers the character’s lines with a perfect amount of straightforward simplicity and humor, capturing her disturbed mind. Listening to the audiobook was the perfect way to read this novella.

Final Thoughts
By the time Victorian Psycho ends, I was left feeling a little stupefied. Like, what did I just read? But for all the violence and evil doings here, it was an oddly enjoyable read, with a charismatic but dangerous narrator leading us down her path of violence. I only wish the ending had offered some last surprises.

SO GROSS! So snarky! So enjoyable! It was like reading (listening to) Sweetpea’s great-great-grandma’s diary. The audiobook narrator was absolute perfection. This is my first book by Feito, and I’d definitely like to read more!

This will definitely not be for everyone, but if you like your unrepentant psychopaths coupled with a bit of Victorian class politics and a whole lot of game meats, this is the book for you.

If you like horror and gory details but also want witty comebacks and humor this book is for you. From the start you get introduced to our main character, Winifred Notty, an unconventional governess to say the least…who let’s you know from the start her deepest darkest thoughts. As the book progresses you realize life events in Winifred’s childhood play a role in putting the psycho in victorian psycho and it’s a hell of a ride until the end. I enjoyed this one and the audiobook was special, making you dive right into victorian era.

Literally American Psycho in Victorian times.
Very graphic and gory, which is usually not my thing. But I loved this. Ate it up.
For me, the best part is the sister aspect that comes together at the end.

Chapters are very short and immersive. Writing is incredible.
I listened to this on audiobook. Sometimes I find posh British accents grating to listen to on Audiobook. however Anna Burnett is FANTASTIC.

It has a literary horror feel, with a graphic payoff. First 5 Star of 2025!!!
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review! #victorianpsycho #netgalley

One of my more unsuspecting, enjoyable reads this month.

"Victorian Psycho" brilliantly subverts the traditional Victorian governess narrative, transforming it into a disturbing psychological horror that examines class dynamics and trauma. The story's power lies in its protagonist's distinctive voice—clinical and detached—which narrates increasingly horrific events with the same measured tone she uses to describe everyday occurrences.

The novel succeeds in making readers sympathize with an obviously disturbed character through her sharp observations of Victorian society's hypocrisies, particularly regarding class and gender relations. The protagonist's recollections of her childhood, including her early experiences with fear and pain, are described with an unsettling clinical detachment that provides insight into possible psychological depravation.
The violence escalates throughout the novel with a terrible inevitability, each brutal act described with the same precise, dispassionate tone used for mundane observations. This approach makes the horror more impactful, serving as a physical manifestation of the psychological and social violence underlying Victorian society.

The author's greatest achievement is creating a complex exploration of trauma and its effects while simultaneously delivering a scathing critique of class relations. Through the protagonist's eyes, we see the dehumanizing aspects of domestic service and the casual cruelty of the upper classes. By the end, I find myself, not only understanding, but even rooting for a character whose actions are objectively horrific. This uncomfortable alignment raises questions about the nature of evil, the impact of social systems on individual psychology, and the thin line between victim and perpetrator.

While not for the faint of heart, the novel succeeds both as psychological horror and social commentary, forcing readers to confront uncomfortable truths about society, human nature, and their own capacity for empathy with the morally reprehensible.

Full review at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213395480-victorian-psycho

This was a great, dark, short read. Winifred is so terrible from her inner thoughts to actions… dang!!!
Although I did laugh as much as I gasped at how awful she is while listening to the audiobook.
Narrator did an excellent job.

Living up to it's namesake, in "Victorian Psycho," we follow Winifred Notty as she takes on the role of governess to two children, all the while trying to conceal her true...well..psychotic nature. We are following along with her inner monologue and get to hear just how violent, depraved and unhinged her true nature is, all while she tries to appear normal, respectable even, to her new employers. The family she has come to work for has their own secrets and may not be as upstanding as they first appear.

Overall, I had fun with this one. Our main character was so compelling that I was immediately drawn into the story. The writing was very good but for me there was something about the pacing that felt inconsistent. Sometimes it all flowed and worked really well and other times it felt like the build up didn't receive the ultimate pay off I was hoping for. Having said that, Winifred is such a good character that despite any faults or flaws I found in the story, I continually felt propelled to continue on.

Again, as the title would imply, our character has a complete lack of empathy and the acts of violence in this book may be too much for some. For fans of horror, I think this will be a really fun romp into the inner workings of a truly cruel main character. The writing was very good and there are moments of wit and humor that shine through all the blood. While it ultimately left me wanting a little more, I still enjoyed my time with it and would definitely recommend.

It’s not very often I say this but I think this would be a much better film than it was a book. It’s a short book that doesn’t feel like it has much of a plot save for gratuitous violence. As much as I love a female rage narrative but this doesn’t hit the spot for me, it’s oddly paced and even though our anti-heroine is supposed to be unlikeable it doesn’t quite land right as there just wasn’t enough to her character to make any of her thoughts or actions feel believeable.

“And in three months everyone in this house will be dead”

We love unhinged Women!
Winifred Notty defiantly is the Psycho in Victorian Psycho- and possibly one of my favourite FMCs.
Set is a perfectly eerie and Gothic grand estate complete with creepy kids, creepy male employers and the saddest wife, Victorian Psycho delivers a hilarious, blunt, bleak and gruesome story of a Woman just trying to find her place in the world
“Sometimes evil is born in one of the Lord’s creatures and there’s nowt to do about it, nowt at all.”

I loved Miss Nottys unflinching narration, she made a perfectly unflinching and unhinged FMC, having been lucky enough to receive the audio arc, narrator Anna Burnett really bought the story to life for me.

A must read or listen to any one, I’ll be grabbing all of Virginia Feitos works from now on.

Delicious. For us horror fans - this had plenty of gore, intrusive thoughts, and f-ed uppery that I seek when I’m picking up horror. This satisfied from the first to the last page.

Oh my thank you NetGalley for providing this audiobook .

I loved every twisted gore filled minute of Miss Winifred Knotty.

Her inner monologue shocking you with hints of her serious madness, her deviant thoughts about licking .

She fantasises about murder revenge takes a fancy to people but in the end she is misunderstood.

I can 👌 only hope that the wonderful Virginia Feito writes more of the genre .

I laughed so hard at her straightforward attitude.

The new Victorian customs and culture I didn’t know about.

Thanks again I loved this book so much it makes me want to bite a horse and wear a bright green arsenic dyed gown.

I am so glad I got to be a fly on the wall to Winifred's inner monologue even if it was only for a short time. This was dark, disturbing and downright spine tingling at times but boy oh boy I savored every moment. I listened to the audiobook version (thanks a bunch NetGalley!) and the narrators voice and cadence was absolute perfection for this sordid tale. She brought the character to life so well and I did not want it to end. I don't like giving any spoilers away so all I'll say is governess with a taste for blood gets revenge. Highly, highly recommend especially the audiobook

If you are into Gothic, perversely satirical black humor, this is the book for you. At first the writing struck me as a bit pretentious but once I saw where the author was going, I just let it wash over me like a wave of blood from one of her many victims. This is Jane Eyre except she is a psychopath and written as if Brontë was having a really bad shroom trip. *chef’s kiss* Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Oooo this is good. We're all about feminism and women being able to do what men can.....so why can't a Victorian woman be a murdering psycho!? The story is pretty simple, with a nice little twist, but the writing is great and the blood and guts are deliciously disgusting.
This will make you wince and cringe in the best way!

Talk about daddy issues!! a very dark and disturbing read, which I loved. Winifred is a very unhinged character, she has these horrible intrusive thoughts that eventually gives into.

She is the governess to the Pounds children, Andrew and Drusilla. Their father is utterly bizarre, and their mother is downright wretched. So can you really blame her for what she ends up doing?

I devoured this in one sitting I simply couldn’t stop listening to the audiobook. The narrator did a fantastic job as Fred, bringing the story to life in a way that made it easy to picture every scene in my mind.

“I’m sorry, are we not allowed to eat the children?”

Thank you to Netgalley for my audiobook ARC.

Did not finish book, personaly preference that I dont enjoy accents when listening to audiobooks because it maes it hard for me to follow along, personal mistake.

Is it weird for me to say that I found this really entertaining and funny? I ended up listening to the audiobook arc and I just loved how mad the main character Winifred (or Fred, for short) was. Winifred is really the epitome of what happens when you let the intrusive thoughts win. There were so many gruesome scenes and it reminded me of why I love picking up horror books in the first place, and I loved how eerie and gore-filled this was! I loved the twist and absolutely had to stop, rewind, and listen to it again because I was so sure I heard it wrong! If you've been looking for a book that will make you say "what the fuck" out loud, multiple times, then this might be one you need to check out! I'll for sure be getting myself a physical copy and rereading this one and checking out her previous book Mrs. March!

When I started this book, I got mixed feelings about it because right away, I was not focused on the story, it felt off at some point but soon after a few chapters things began to take its course. It's surely a book that I'm still conflicted about however the author was good with the writing style and expression but the pacing is rather gradual.

I loved it! It was bloody and gory and an absolute mess of events that the main character creates. It was unhinged and very descriptive. It was witty and held my attention from page one. It was a quick read and the audiobook was perfect. The narrator really delivered all the gory details in the best way possible.

Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook!

This book is delightfully unhinged the whole time, while it might not be the longest book, it is pretty much comes out the gate from the start. No descent into madness for our main character, she is just right there from the first chapter hinting at prior crimes, wild asides on her internal monologue and generally unsettling behaviour.

The narrator did a phenomenal job bringing this character to life who's been told how she should behave but really can't be bothered nor understands why she must.