Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

22 reviews

samgray's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

thisiskellyok'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

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

The sexual violence and animal death happens “off screen” or whatever the equivalent of that is for a book, but it is mentioned and described though not while it’s happening.

baileybeloved's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Things I loved about this book: extended metaphors, Maeve's all-consuming possessiveness, and the absurdity of being a Disney princess / killer. CJ Leede does not shy away from or minimize the dark nature of Maeve and I respect that a lot. 
Leede is also great at detailed scenes and places which really transport you. Gore/body horror were definitely there, but some things glossed over enough that even I (new to the body horror subgenre) was okay with reading it. Suspense was definitely there - I felt genuinely nervous reading this. Ending was exactly what it was going to be, with who Maeve is. I was disappointed by and for her, but it never could have ended any other way.

Things I didn't love about this book: 
-the pacing!!! I felt like the first 60-70% were just slow meanders through Maeve's head, with no real plot or character development or an occurring - either make the book longer or make things happen faster. The back of the book talks about her following Patrick Bateman but that is such a small short part of the story that I felt the selling premise was not an accurate reflection of the book's contents. 
-the egg subplot/kink (but not for the reason you think). My issue with the egg thing is that it just seemed very heavy handed (lol) for the metaphor the author was trying to convey. On one hand, I get it - Maeve's constant struggle is eased when she finds someone who can help her, who does not judge her interests but instead assists with them, that Maeve is all or nothing so she never considered anything in the middle ground. But on the other hand.... really? She has been

attempting to put an egg in her ass for YEARS and never considered a temperature between hard boiled and raw?????? How many eggs has she wasted on this??

. This is probably also a commentary on the single-minded pursuit of her goals, how inflexible she is, how everything must go exactly as she imagines it, that she needs a companion to ..... soften ? .... her ridged nature. But I was just so annoyed by this for some reason. 
-the answer about the dolls:

It seemed so obvious to me that  Gideon was making the dolls. I did not for one second consider or buy that it was some random girl making them

. The writing seemed to say we should be shocked by this but I was not surprised at all.

Other: A lot of the really positive reviews are audiobook specific so maybe I would've liked it more if I would have listened to it. Also I ADORE the other cover, with Maeve in the princess dress holding an eye.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

henripop's review

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

snerp_reads's review

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? Yes

2.5

Stop marketing this as a feminist book please, I am BEGGING you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

lizzymorang'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

4.5

Wow, I found it so hard to put this down! Not for the faint of heart, this story is truly gut-wrenching in every sense. A perfect way to start my Halloween reading this year, and one I might return to in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

This is extremely dark! Please be careful when reading this!

paperbackbookies's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

While this book made me absolutely sick to my stomach it kept me on my toes, coming back chapter after chapter. 

Maeve is a complex and also seemingly predictable character and yet I couldn’t stop reading, waiting to see how she’d unknowingly ruin her life again and again, over and over, never getting a moment of peace because it’s not what she deserved. It was  like a reward watching her life fall into ruin after all she did and all she’s ever done. 

I would’ve given this book a 5 stars if it wasn’t for the constant mention of SA (and then the ACTUAL SA). The part in the book where Maeve sexually assaults a young woman made me absolutely sick to my stomach and I did stop reading for a while after that. The scene was completely unnecessary and the way they glazed over it made me beyond angry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Cannibalism

lots of disturbing sexual parts, slight cannibalism, drug use, and a sexual assault that only lasts for a page but is still graphic and mentioned later again in the book

annathechaoticreader's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

taylorgraves555'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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual assault

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

This was a pretty fun weird girl book, with some great classic horror references and a unique storyline. 

I personally wouldn’t describe it as ‘feminist horror’ like i’ve seen it described by other reviewers. Maeve is absolutely not a feminist character, she’s actually quite actively misogynistic at times and SAs a lot of her victims, so I think it’s very misleading to describe this book that way.

But apart from the misleading descriptions, i did enjoy this book. It was pretty campy at times, and very gory, and even though i think more could have been done with the gore and actual horror scenes, this is a pretty solid story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail