Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

17 reviews

recklessric's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Just going to wrap all this in a spoiler tag since I'm not 100% sure how that works. This book starts out feverish in the best way before a bit of a mid book lull and then and end that does a pretty good job of misdirection before the twist. This issue for me, though was that the twist comes so late that it makes the last 1/3 of the book a bit of a chore because it feels like it's heading for something cliched and obvious so I like the ending but didn't enjoy getting there. Also I think this book contradicts itself a lot in terms of its philosophy and the philosophy of the characters which was ultimately a bit of a let down. I think it strives to be something more than shock value slasher fare and that's admirable but ultimately that's all this is to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

iambigsmelly's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book is difficult. In a sense that it's messed up in every way. But this trope of body mutilation during sexual acts is tiresome. It's too easy. I was recommended this as body horror. It is not. It's scrapping the bottom of the barrel in terms of body horror. 

That being said it is a book that makes you want to keep going. Every "what the fuck" moment makes you want the next one. Just like our killer Maeve it taps into a primal obsession. 

It's odd, disgusting, but intriguing, possibly projecting? 

I give it 4.5-5 in terms of how it's written, fast paced, and in your face. Poetic but not too cliché that it's boring. But it takes a bit hit cause IMO I hate this trope in "body horror". It's 2 dimensional. Instead of putting things in places that don't belong, why not make places become something that don't belong?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

josie_reads_books's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

anouverlinden_'s review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was, honestly, amazing. I did not expect to love it as much as I do. 

You can definitely see the influence/inspiration of American Psycho but make it feminist, which is the best thing you can come up with. As disturbing as Maeve is, I weirdly grew fond of her and was extremely distrought by the ending.

You would think one wouldn't get attached to two killers, who happen to find one another and have a promising future together. Well, I did grow extremely fond of them and was even rooting for them, which is pretty fucked up if you think about it but it also made the ending even worse than it may have been when I wasn't so attached to them. Maeve really grossed me out with what she did to people (but that's what I signed up for) yet the fact she got back together with Gideon made me as happy as would I have been reading a romance. When he said 'Maeve, me too' but she still killed him, I couldn't function anymore. My brain was shut down and I was in disbelief of what I just had read. Why should that have been the ending? Why do authors do this? The ending is really similar to a tragedy (in my opinion, the ending makes this a tragedy) and I hate it (but also love at the same time because it makes me feel this way)

Yeah, this book really is one of my new favorites. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

l1ndz7's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

This story was so disjointed and there didn’t really seem to be a point to anything.

I also really didn’t like the neglect of her grandmother. As a former caretaker that was so awful and I don’t think it needed to be in the story. You would think if she cared so much she would have gotten another carer for her instead of trying to do it herself and end up killing her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Drug abuse

eisenbuns's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

katreading's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ARC review

Maeve Fly accomplished exactly what it sets out to do. It is disturbing, horrible, and thought-provoking - a true train wreck that I couldn't put down. What Maeve Fly might lack in plot or character development it makes up for in atmosphere. We are in LA, it's Halloween, we're visiting the "happiest place on Earth" theme park, and we are seeing everything through the eyes of our deeply unhinged main character. It turns the serial killer stereotype around, gives it a princess dress, and explores what's going on inside the monster. It's Chuck Palahniuk meets Disney Princess meets the goriest horror movie you've ever seen. Overall I enjoyed the pacing and writing. There is one plot hole that is bothering me and a few instances where I questioned whether the story felt "believable." At some points, it seemed a little extreme just to prove a point, but the story is extreme by design and you don't want to believe anything in this story could be believable - that's kind of the nature of horror!

Give it a try if: you love graphic gory horror, you want a creepy Halloween read that doesn't hold back, or you are looking for a novel that explores the dark side of LA and Disney.
Skip it if: you are disturbed by graphic descriptions of body gore/horror, SA, murder, torture, or drugs. If you are looking for a book with any diversity.

would recommend to a friend with extreme caution

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse