Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

109 reviews

sydneyema's review

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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

4.0


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kelsylee's review against another edition

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dark funny sad fast-paced

4.25


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trashynucleus's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

2.75


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zoidtobias's review

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challenging dark tense medium-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

4.25


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amaranth_wytch's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75


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gmrickel's review against another edition

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3.0

This was my first extreme horror & transgressive novel and WOW was it a lot! Despite unlikeable characters and <i>really</i> disturbing, violent scenes, the writing was really compelling and I found myself glued to the story. Did I like it? Eh, lol, not sure I can say that. But it did grip me. Definitely something I'd suggest for a very specific reader. I can't wait to read Leede's sophomore novel!

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throwback682's review against another edition

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In short: I put this down when I got to the
torture and rape
scene involving the female bartender. Nope. 

I put this on my TBR after I saw a promo the author did with Chuck Tingle for her other book, American Rapture. Maeve Fly did somewhat remind me of Tingle’s recent hit Bury Your Gays, and I liked some aspects of it, but ultimately it wasn’t worth it. 

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anatomicalpuppet's review

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challenging dark funny tense medium-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

3.5


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t_bird's review

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dark 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

2.0

I was going to give this book a better review until a rape scene with zero trigger warning made it an instant no for me.

Outside of that, it was going to be a 3.75. I found myself alternating between rolling my eyes at some of the wannabe edgy misanthropic inner thoughts and delighting in the just plain weird bits. 

Some of a gore was a bit much for me, but wouldn’t necessarily be an issue for everyone. 

Despite some occasionally relatable lines about the female experience, I was honestly surprised to see that this book wasn’t written by a man, but I get that we’re not really supposed to like Maeve so her own internalized misogyny is part of the story? Idk it still got annoying.

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bucketsjen's review against another edition

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DNFed after the main character and her love interest rape a woman on-page. 

Weirdly, I can still see someone as a troubled or fucked up but still sympathetic protagonist when they've killed. But casually committing sexual assault has made it so I now just don't care what happens to either of these characters. It might seem like an odd difference but it's where it lands for me personally. Extreme violent behavior and murder is rare enough that it just hits a different compared to sexual assault that happens to a disturbingly high percentage of women, somowrhais that's why. I'm not traumatized but I think the book was gearing up for a tragic end and I just can't see myself caring about sorrow falling on them, so it feels pointless to continue reading. 

Even before that particular point, I knew that I wasn't enjoying the book as much as I thought I would based on the premise. It tries a little too hard to be unique and edgy (just like its protagonist, who I think would have come off better if she'd been set as a younger age - her Holden Caulfield vibe just hits different when the character is 27). It plays with violence and sexual deviance and taboo in ways that are sometimes interesting but are also sometimes trying too hard to be weird and outlandish. 

The detailed description of Southern California were not quite right. It reads like someone who was fascinated with the history and idea of Los Angeles and the surrounding area but was most definitely not from there. I'd say it'd fit the main character since she's not from the area but it didn't read like she was supposed to be seeing things falsely. 

I did like that despite being edgelordy, Maeve also did genuinely enjoy things. The strict rules and expectations she maintained in her world was also interesting to see, and it touched her rage in ways that existed even before Gideon started to encourage her. 

Overall, though, the book just didn't land for me. 

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