Reviews with content warning for Schizophrenia/Psychosis - Maeve Fly

Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede

12 reviews

orizenda's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I really liked this book except for the romance, which I didn’t realize would be such a large plot element. Like to me this felt like a love story with some other weird fucked up stuff happening around it and then some genuine emotions. I would have liked it a lot better if it had been about Maeve and Kate ijs i think a love story there would be a lot more potentially interesting. but like interesting plot elements, although sometimes i think it feels like there’s too much going on for such a short story. idk.

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hauntedantiqueshop's review

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dark mysterious 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

3.5

Hey, quick question— what the fuck was this?

Oddly enough, I did kind of like it though. Not the gross shit but the overall story I suppose. The ending made me a little sad for Maeve but I didn’t really expect a happy ending for her. Definitely not a book for everyone, I don’t think there’s anyone I would ever recommend it to. But I am interested in reading something from this author again!

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gretaslittlelibrary's review

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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

4.25/5⭐️

“Men have always been permitted in fiction and in life to simply be what they are, no matter how dark or terrifying that might be. But with a woman, we expect an answer, a reason.”

The more I sit and think on this book, the more I enjoy it. Maeve cleaved her way into my brain and won’t leave. I crave more Maeve (someone please pick up the rights to a movie, it would crush as a movie) or CJ please give us a sequel, or a prequel about grandma??

This book was raunchy, gory, entertaining, and horrific. However, it was also so much more. The above quote really resignated with me and was a pretty major focus of the book. It was nice to see a FMC just be terrible. I saw some reviews that say she actually wasn’t and that her trauma from her grandma showing her what she did when she first got to LA. But I didn’t get that from the book, in fact Leede writes it so we know that Maeve was terrible before she got there, it’s part of what helped her bond with her grandma. It was nice to just feel her rage, annoyance, confusion, and sense of loss. There’s also a ton of other things you can look into this book for such as psycho-sexual nature and misanthropes, but I don’t feel the need, or want, to dive farther into it right now. It was a fun and dark read and I just want to enjoy it and continue to think about it. Maybe I’ll reread and dive deeper into the themes at a later dated.

Relating to the raunchiness, goriness, and horrificness: I know a lot of people talk about the eggs, but for me it was the teeth. I don’t like teeth things to begin with so that almost threw me off this book, but I’m so glad I powered through. I do wish there was a little more of the gore and horror in the beginning of the book, prior to the pool table scene, but I get why (I think) the author didn’t do it it. It let us get to know Maeve and then let us witness Maeve’s world turn when Gideon entered the picture.

A few other things I loved about it: the twist ending, the Halloween incorporation, and the descriptiveness of places around LA (as someone whose never been, I felt like I was there with Maeve).

My biggest dislikes: The ending felt a little rushed and ended with no resolution. Teeth things! And the Johnny Depp/Bartender scenes, if anyone’s read this and can explain the reasoning for these other than it’s a place Maeve calls her own, please let me know!

Please check trigger warnings before reading, some big ones I can think of is body horror, sexual assault, descriptions of violent murder and torture, mutilation, etc.

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iambigsmelly's review

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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

3.5

This book is difficult. In a sense that it's messed up in every way. But this trope of body mutilation during sexual acts is tiresome. It's too easy. I was recommended this as body horror. It is not. It's scrapping the bottom of the barrel in terms of body horror.

That being said it is a book that makes you want to keep going. Every "what the fuck" moment makes you want the next one. Just like our killer Maeve it taps into a primal obsession.

It's odd, disgusting, but intriguing, possibly projecting?

I give it 4.5-5 in terms of how it's written, fast paced, and in your face. Poetic but not too cliché that it's boring. But it takes a bit hit cause IMO I hate this trope in "body horror". It's 2 dimensional. Instead of putting things in places that don't belong, why not make places become something that don't belong?

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rachelunabridged's review

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dark 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

3.25

i am so conflicted about this book! on one hand, i really liked the exploration of this absolutely depraved character, but would i recommend this book to anyone, NO. because i don't want to be responsible for any mental scarring. y'all, i have seen things.

tbh, i had a hard time getting into this one at first because the beginning was just kinda meh. once it got good and started though, i found myself morbidly curious about how it was going to play out. i don't read a lot of extreme horror so i had a few "well that's enough of this book for today :)" moments. it's definitely not for the faint of heart.

i've been going back and forth about it for a few days now and settled on 3 stars, dropped from a possible 4. for one thing, this book heavily depends on the reader being familiar with american psycho (which i've never read, but know the broad strokes of), and i'm just not very impressed when an author uses a better known work as a springboard for their own. anything can serve as inspiration, but i felt like it was overplayed in this particular book.

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