Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

223 reviews

erin_mae9797's review

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.0

I feel kinda all over the place with this book. It felt really weird throughout the first half. Maeve talks a lot about her hatred of people but specifically her disgust for men. But then her initial two victims are women? I guess I could understand why

Hilda

gets the boot but I really didn't feel like

Claire's torture thing

was necessary. Also I really didn't like the fact that a lot of the more sexually violent methods of torture seemed to mostly happen to her female victims. Again, I just don't see how that aligns with her other beliefs or added much to the story.

Near the last 75 pages is where I was enjoying the story most. Once she finally breaks, the level of violence is so outlandish that it becomes fun. Whereas the violence in the first half of the book feels like it is teetering the line of being serious and being weird, the last section goes full throttle on the gore and absurdity. Maeve using

real human ears on a pair of mickey mouse ears

was so funny. Also the descriptions, specifically relating to the outcome of

the band and Dereck

were the perfect amount of stomach turning and cathartic gore for me. 

Weird mixed feelings on this one...was hoping to like it more than I actually did, so I guess I'll leave it at a 3  ╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Blood

fei_chan's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

sydneyema'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

tangiblereads's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Maeve Fly was so not what I was expecting.  First I loved the love letter to all things LA, which I didn't get a lot because I'm not from there but can appreciate it.  It is definitely a pretty crap show.  And I loved the female killer.  Now her obsession with the egg and other wierdo sicko things made me want to vomit.  Halloween will never be the same again. The ending was chef's kiss, and kinda sad.  I mean 2 is better than one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

trashynucleus's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, and Alcohol

huntland's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

marinerbovig's review

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

2.0

Half a psychological study of the mind of a Disney Princess and half baby’s first splatterpunk, this was almost a really fun read for me. The glaring discrepancy that legitimately ruined the book for me was the use of sexual violence. There’s some pretty nasty stuff and it is exclusively done to women. And yeah, sure, at some point a dude’s you-know-what gets chopped up but it’s par for the course with his other appendages and not a real focus. When it comes to women, it’s used as a psychological and physical torture tool and far more horrifying than cutting anything up could be. Unbelievably disappointing from a wannabe feminist novel written by a woman.


Could have been good, I would have loved it if it wasn’t for the disparate treatment of the female characters. The story wouldn’t have lost a thing if the sexual violence www traded for regular violence, or if that somehow is too big of an ask, if it was equal among genders.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Sexual harassment

denee16's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

2.25

I'll start by saying I actually really like CJ Leede's writing. Her word choice, vivid descriptions, well constructed characters (despite the insanity) was truly impressive. 
The amount of times I had to pause and process the insanity that I read was too many to count. I'm awful with gore descriptions, if you are too, this isn't the book for you. It was, to say the least, a LOT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Toxic friendship

spocks_asscheek's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

fayziekaywolf's review

dark tense medium-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

4.75

"Maeve Fly" by C.J. Leede was a wild ride from start to finish. Right away, I was hooked by the writing—the rhythm and cadence of the prose made it so easy to fall into Maeve’s world. She’s such a fascinating character, and I loved being inside her head, following her through her day-to-day life as a theme park princess by day and something much darker by night.

This book was so close to being a 5-star read for me. While I loved the beginning and the overall atmosphere, I felt the middle section lost a bit of momentum. The pacing got a little choppy, which pulled me out of the story at times. But once the horror elements kicked in, they really kicked in. The last stretch of the book was an intense, fast-paced dive into gore and body horror—something I personally enjoy—but I do wish the author had spread those elements more evenly throughout the story to really let the gruesome moments land with full impact.

That said, I still think Maeve Fly is a great horror novel. It’s not for everyone—it leans into the grotesque and isn’t afraid to make the reader uncomfortable—but for those who enjoy extreme horror with a unique, modern voice, it’s definitely worth picking up. Leede delivers a bold and fearless debut, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for whatever she writes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use