Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

8 reviews

mswarning's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Murder

Minor: Eating disorder

avkeenan's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I’m…. Not sure why I finished this. The concept of this book sounded intriguing, a murderous Elsa from our favorite theme park, but it wasn’t well executed. This book was trying to be like a female, LA version of American Psycho. However. It got a little too weird and the gore was gratuitous. Also hated how hard the story was to follow when Maeve’s memories would jump around in time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Terminal illness, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, and Vomit

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

What a deeply disturbing and fantastic book.

Have was such an unhinged character but I somehow rooted for her and was utterly devastated by the ending.

There was a humorous yet strange scene that was definitely an ode to Patrick Batemen watching himself having sex.

This was such a captivating story. It was like a train wreck - I just couldn't look away. Every time I put the book down, it was all I could think about.

It had me physically cringing in disgust and shouting out in disturbance and I loved every moment of it.

This is going to stick with me for a very long time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sarah984's review against another edition

dark medium-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

2.0

I picked this up because of the cool looking cover, after seeing it recommended as "feminist body horror" on Likewise. So if you are like me I will save you some time: it's not feminist or body horror. The cover is cool though.

The main character is a woman but she hates and/or belittles all other women (except her grandmother, who is a complete non-entity in this story) and thinks she's unique as a woman due to her misanthropy. The book makes a big deal about it being sexist that stories require women to have trauma to be villains when men can just do what they want, but then gives Maeve villain trauma. The romance is all "oh he was so much bigger than me" straight people crap.

Several quotes and entire scenes are lifted whole cloth from American Psycho but nothing interesting is done with that at all.

I really have to wonder who this book was for. I feel like it was somehow simultaneously too much and too tame, like it's not extreme horror because pretty much everything "extreme" happens off screen, but too much "extreme" content is implied for this to appeal to normies. Baffling book.

Some of the Halloween music trivia was interesting, so 2 stars.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, and Alcohol

jctur2's review

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

If a Disney princess was the main character in American Psycho.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

vixenreader's review

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Despite some over-indulgence on nihilism, this book is fun, bone-chilling, and surprisingly poignant, especially with the protagonist’s attempts at latching onto the people she cherishes the most. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Classism

Minor: Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Stalking, and Abortion

Be aware that there is a death of a grandparent, bodies in cellars, bones used for decorations, risky kinks and fetishes, urine, unwanted items shoved into unwilling orifices, hunger for fame, “the casting couch,” doll disfigurement, pornography, and drugging beverages for the goal of assaulting someone.

devynreadsnovels's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Rape, Medical content, and Pregnancy

autumnleafgirl's review

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Release Date: June 6, 2023
Genre: Extreme Horror
Themes: Quarter life crisis, killer women, extreme gore, slasher, the entertainment biz

The titular Maeve Fly is a 27-year-old on the brink of her quarter-life crisis: Her coworker and best friend is on the edge of stardom, her kindred-spirit grandmother is dying, and someone is leaving strange dolls at Maeve's favorite haunts in Hollywood. In the days leading up to Halloween night, we watch as Maeve slowly - and then all at once - loses the tight grip that holds her life together and gives into the extreme violence that sleeps fitfully within her.

Here's the thing, though: Maeve might be depressed, disgusting, and deranged but she's also somehow, some way, kind of likeable. Her morbid investment in every little thing in her quickly collapsing world, from the wellbeing of her grandmother's cat to the theme park princess job she unironically loves, is tenderized by her snide humor and endless supply of Halloween music trivia. She's not detached or unemotional - if anything, her big feelings about everything seem to be the thing she hates about herself the most. And frankly, all of that just makes what she does to express those feelings even more squirm- inducing to read about.

While only around 250 pages, this novel still manages to pack a very greasy, gorey punch with Maeve's explicitly visceral descent into madness. Gross from beginning to end with a significant portion of the book essentially a montage of graphic violence, this book isn't for the faint of heart, the faint of stomach, or the early horror reader. Instead, it's perfect for readers who thought Mona Awad's "Bunny" or Ottessa Moshfegh's "Eileen" didn't go far enough and should have been set in the glam and grime of LA. Think long and hard, then wait two hours after eating before dipping your toe in this pool.

The verdict: As nauseated as I still am an hour after finishing up this book, there's an excellent chance that Maeve Fly will top my horror list at the end of the year. I know exactly the horror fiend friends I'll recommend it to, and for those looking to fill a hypersexual murderess-shaped hole in their shelf, Maeve Fly will honestly soar.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for sending an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Dysphoria, and Classism