Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

275 reviews

diziet's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

elvenpanther's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I'm not really sure how I want to rate this one. I appreciate how well the author fleshed out the MC and gave her, her own distinctive voice. That said, I did not like the MC at all, but that's kind of the point. We are supposed to see how twisted & monstrous she is, how obsessively wrapped up she gets in her own perceived reality. She makes rash choices without taking the time to understand how they will impact not just those around her, but herself as well. In her actions, she makes her fears of being alone a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I liked the cat though
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

haunted_toaster's review

Go to review page

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kimnairn86's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

carkam17's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

apitts33's review

Go to review page

dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.25

This was only ever going to end in tragedy. 

Maeve Fly is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. It’s haunting and dark and gruesome but also funny at times and a reflection on grief. CJ Leede maintains all of these elements in perfect balance and then the ending wrecks you even though you know it’s the only possibility because “we are who we are who we are.”
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

t_bird's review

Go to review page

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

citybound13's review

Go to review page

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lauren_g91's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ccraig1323's review

Go to review page

dark tense fast-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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings