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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Hard to believe this is a debut novel -- it was so good! Someone said in a review that Maeve was like a "female American Psycho," and certainly there's that (she even refers to that novel), but I thought she was more like a female Dexter if he hadn't have had a father who understood him, but rather a father who was the same. I liked a lot of the song references too, also similar to [b:American Psycho|28676|American Psycho|Bret Easton Ellis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436934349l/28676._SY75_.jpg|2270060]. All in all, I liked it a slight bit more than American Psycho, because I found Maeve more interesting than Patrick. I can't wait for C.J.'s next novel in October :)
dark
medium-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
FMC is deranged! In a fun way. She's dark and moody, we're in her head the whole time, so if that bothers you, beware. Pretty violent, but I hadn't seen the original source material. I was shocked. If you know the material drawn on, your mileage may vary.
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
If Patrick Bateman was a Disney princess lol
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was waffling between a 3 and a 4 and decided to round up because I didn’t dislike this book - it was really engaging and easy to read and I honestly loved the ending fourth. That said, I have some issues.
First of all, Maeve is so annoying. I GET that the author is doing a Patrick Bateman/American Psycho thing; I just don’t think it’s successful. The positioning Maeve as a woman who can see how men and women move in the world and acknowledging the power men have over woman makes her seem like a character you are supposed to like and root for, which is antithetical to the American Psycho idea. Now, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have worked I just think it REALLY doesn’t. Instead she seems whiny and pretentious and so within her own bubble that it seems unrealistic that she would be able to exist without notice in the world.
Also, for a book that opens discussing violence against women it’s interesting that the majority of the very graphic and sexual violence enacted in this by Maeve is enacted against women (specifically, that bartender and Liz, but also Hilda and the racist woman). It could have been done this way to show Maeve’s hypocrisy, but I don’t think so. I think it was done this way because the author thought it was so interesting to be lewd and sexually violent for shock value. The first third of this book truly felt like it was just one shock value moment after another; I thought this was building the character of Maeve but ultimately it wasn’t super relevant to her character or reasonings.
Once we met Gideon this book got better, and the back half was successful for me. I really liked Maeve’s end rampage and I thought her breakdown was interesting, even if it didn’t at times make sense. I also liked the location (esp the park) and the world Maeve lives in. The very end was a bit of a let down but also I loved the ramp up and don’t know how else it could have ended without feeling hokey so I do understand why it ended the way it did. It just felt silly that Maeve couldn’t understand the very obvious thing that was going on with Gideon.
Overall: I don’t read books I don’t like, so having finished this definitely says something, as does the fact that I ended up rounding my rating up. It’s just sad that I had to get through the first half to really enjoy the last half.
First of all, Maeve is so annoying. I GET that the author is doing a Patrick Bateman/American Psycho thing; I just don’t think it’s successful. The positioning Maeve as a woman who can see how men and women move in the world and acknowledging the power men have over woman makes her seem like a character you are supposed to like and root for, which is antithetical to the American Psycho idea. Now, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have worked I just think it REALLY doesn’t. Instead she seems whiny and pretentious and so within her own bubble that it seems unrealistic that she would be able to exist without notice in the world.
Also, for a book that opens discussing violence against women it’s interesting that the majority of the very graphic and sexual violence enacted in this by Maeve is enacted against women (specifically, that bartender and Liz, but also Hilda and the racist woman). It could have been done this way to show Maeve’s hypocrisy, but I don’t think so. I think it was done this way because the author thought it was so interesting to be lewd and sexually violent for shock value. The first third of this book truly felt like it was just one shock value moment after another; I thought this was building the character of Maeve but ultimately it wasn’t super relevant to her character or reasonings.
Once we met Gideon this book got better, and the back half was successful for me. I really liked Maeve’s end rampage and I thought her breakdown was interesting, even if it didn’t at times make sense. I also liked the location (esp the park) and the world Maeve lives in. The very end was a bit of a let down but also I loved the ramp up and don’t know how else it could have ended without feeling hokey so I do understand why it ended the way it did. It just felt silly that Maeve couldn’t understand the very obvious thing that was going on with Gideon.
Overall: I don’t read books I don’t like, so having finished this definitely says something, as does the fact that I ended up rounding my rating up. It’s just sad that I had to get through the first half to really enjoy the last half.
I feel like an absolute psychopath for reading this book and rating it 5 stars but what can I say, I loved it