Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

50 reviews

diziet's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Disney princess by day, killer by night. Real skeleton Halloween decorations - so good that cop ask if he can get help to decorate his house. Halloween costumes with real blood. 

There is a lot to like in CJ Leede’s Maeve Fly - a female take on American Psycho. With the dark humor angle of ‘Patrick Bateman arguing with dry-cleaner about getting blood out of sheets’.

But too many serial killers in one place and Maeve as character is not quite convincing - or funny. Going in too many different and opposite directions: caring for grandmother and cat, attachment to Kate and her brother, deep involvement with job, complete self-absorption,  and extreme - and way way out there - torture & murder.

Killings escalate in goriness way too fast…and it just becomes kinda silly, and not scary. Except that scene
with the hot iron.
That is a huge big noppity nope nope. 

The rats are ewwww in American Psycho
and mice likewise here. I mean I get it with the mouse - but still, just no.

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haunted_toaster's review

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

3.75


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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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citybound13's review

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dark tense fast-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

2.75

I loved the beginning of this book but the second half had some serious pacing issues. The budding romance between two of the main characters was the best part of the book aside from the murderous debauchery and I felt like that aspect gets neglected at the end. 

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welsh_witch's review

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I loved this from the first sentence, and I read about 3/4 of it, but Maeve got too disgusting and disturbing for me and I put it down, intending to DNF it. But I kept thinking about it… Had to go back and finish it off. Unfortunately, I’m not sure the ending
(starting with the drugging, torture, and murder of Andre and Liz, which is where I tapped out)
was as good as the rest of the book. Anyway, not for the faint of heart.

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sam_pocketrockbooks's review

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

I am of two minds about this book. The horror of it is captivating and sick, but I'm not sure what to ultimately think beyond the shock factor. I will probably return to review more after I think on it 🤔

Disney Adult x Hockey Player disguised with a extreme gore and erotic focus.  

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theld17's review

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

3.5

That was a wild ride of Maeve's decent into madness as her world crumbles around her. It's compelling and disturbing at the same time, and definitely not for the faint of heart or squimish. This book mixes old Hollywood glamor with classic horror flick to make the Frankensteins monster of a book. While the prose may be off-putting to some as it's a bit long winded and Maeve has a superiority complex, it makes the book seem so much more surreal. 

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thisiskellyok's review against another edition

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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

Deliciously dark, if a bit too much for me at times. A little let down by the ending, but overall a good one. 

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lilbookbee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Wow. What can I even say about this book?

I spent much of this book absolutely baffled by what was going on. Maeve was a fascinating character, whose actions left me with question after question. Everybody in this book is terrible in their own way, and I think that's part of the appeal.

When the book concluded, I felt myself trying to puzzle out *why* everything had happened. There was so much brutality, so much violence, and I wondered if it crossed the line into gratuitous. But, the longer I pondered the point, the more I realized *that was the point*. Early on, Maeve talks about how men don't have to have reasons for the horrible things they do, but they always question why women do horrible things. I think I fought with the urge to do the same, to try to make sense of it all. But her violence and lack of reason behind it, that was all that mattered. We didn't need any answers beyond that.

Now, Gideon. The romance reader in me desperately wanted this strange little hockey romance to turn into murder spouses. I mean, cmon, it could've been so fun.  But I don't think it would've made sense for Maeve's story. Maeve's entire arc was about feeling alone and hiding who she was, which by the end she seemed more able to embrace both the loneliness and her inner "wolf". She was, arguably, finally free at the end, but at great cost. 

I think that, overall, this book was worth reading. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook (shout-out to a great narrator) and I really did tear through this book wanting to hear more. Do I think it was profound? Well, no. Do I think I'll recommend it or ever read it again? Probably not. But I'm happy I did read it, and it was enough to warrant me picking up this author's other book.

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lackof_shelf_control's review

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3.0


‼️ᴛᴡ: ʀᴀᴘᴇ, ᴅʀᴜɢɢɪɴɢ, ɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄ ɢᴇɴɪᴛᴀʟ ᴍᴜᴛɪʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴅɪsᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀᴍᴇɴᴛ, ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ, ᴛᴏʀᴛᴜʀᴇ, ᴀɴɪᴍᴀʟ ᴀʙᴜsᴇ ‼️ 

ɪ ᴍᴇᴀɴ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴏɴ ɢᴏᴏᴅʀᴇᴀᴅs sᴛᴀʀᴛs ᴡɪᴛʜ “ ᴡᴛғ ᴅɪᴅ ɪ ᴊᴜsᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅ?” , ʙᴜᴛ sᴇʀɪᴏᴜsʟʏ ᴡᴛғ ᴅɪᴅ ɪ ᴊᴜsᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅ? ᴀ sᴛᴏʀʏ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴀ ᴅɪsɴᴇʏ ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇss sᴀᴅɪsᴛ 🤯 ɪ sᴀᴡ ᴀ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀ ʙᴏᴏᴋsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡᴇɴᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪs ʙʟɪɴᴅ 😳 ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴀʟʟ ɪɴ ᴏɴ ᴛʜɪs sᴛᴏʀʏ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴜɴɴᴇᴄᴇssᴀʀɪʟʏ ɢʀᴏss. ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪʀᴅ sᴇx ᴀɴᴅ ᴠɪᴏʟᴇɴᴄᴇ 🤮 ɪ ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ sᴍᴜᴛ, sᴏ ᴛʜɪs ᴡᴀs ᴀ ʙɪɢ ᴘᴜɴᴄʜ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴍᴇ. ʟᴜᴄᴋɪʟʏ, ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɪsɴ’ᴛ sᴜᴘᴇʀ ʟᴏɴɢ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜɪs. ɪ ᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ 𝟹 ⭐️ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪ ᴅɪᴅ ғʟʏ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴄᴇʀᴛᴀɪɴʟʏ ɴᴏᴛ ғᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜɪs ᴏɴᴇ - ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ɪ ᴡɪsʜ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ. 

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