Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

161 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

What a deeply disturbing and fantastic book.

Have was such an unhinged character but I somehow rooted for her and was utterly devastated by the ending.

There was a humorous yet strange scene that was definitely an ode to Patrick Batemen watching himself having sex.

This was such a captivating story. It was like a train wreck - I just couldn't look away. Every time I put the book down, it was all I could think about.

It had me physically cringing in disgust and shouting out in disturbance and I loved every moment of it.

This is going to stick with me for a very long time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ashleyxx8's review against another edition

dark sad tense

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

emilymae303's review

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Definitely a shocking read with a lot of blood, gore and torture. Being from a female perspective is a nice twist on the classic serial killer trope and while there were themes that explored the inherent misogyny in most horror novels, it felt like the author didn’t dig deep enough into those themes and opted for just shock and gore instead. 

It’s a quick read and the dichotomous relationship between the setting “happiest place on earth,” mixed with the themes was dark and quirky.

 It ultimately read like a love story to LA, which seemed fitting given the fake persona Maeve tried to carry throughout the book, ultimately to succumb to her true darkness. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

jamiee_f's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

5.0

What a fucking ride. I loved this book but it was so deranged. I wish it was longer and we got more from it!!

This book was a chilling and fun descent into horny, horrific madness with our protagonist, where we learn a little bit more about how she became what she is. Reminiscent of American Psycho, but with the added twist of modernity and Hollywood glam. Maeve is so demented and she meets her match with Gideon, but she doesn't realize just how perfect of a match he is until it's too late.

I would have read 200 more pages of this story!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Blood, and Murder

rachelunabridged's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing and Drug use

Minor: Cannibalism

kittiesss's review

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, and Murder

Minor: Cannibalism

tyleriscool's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Too much gore for me tbh😭

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, and Murder

kaylajardim's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

fairygodfish's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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? Yes

3.0

Hmm. Could have done without

the sexual assault. It didn’t add anything to the experience and kind of ruined the tone

. Other than that I honestly quite enjoyed it, think the author has a few views on womanhood I don’t quite agree with but would love to talk to them about. Would also love a Tallulah Fly-centric book. 

At the end of the day it’s extreme horror and some of it is horror is for the sake of being shocking. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for me,

aside from, once again, the sexual assault

. Sometimes the camp tone feels forced but sometimes it’s kind of awesome. I definitely appreciate the character of Maeve Fly and am glad she’s out in the world. Contained in these pages. Please god, nobody let Maeve Fly out in the world. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, and Abandonment

Minor: Abortion

dporfirio's review

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder