Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede

31 reviews

delaneyanne's review against another edition

dark funny sad fast-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

3.75

It’s not as much like American Psycho as you might expect based on the blurb, but there are similarities. Maeve’s a lot more…sympathetic (I don’t want to say likeable haha) than Patrick Bateman, but they certainly have more than a few things in common.

I wish it was just a bit longer because it wraps up so fast (like unbelievably fast) and the ending feels unresolved, but I assume that was intentional.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Terminal illness

It name checks Patrick Bateman in the description so just bear that in mind. Was American Psycho too much for you? Maybe skip this too. There’s not just sexual content but, like, weird sex stuff and there’s no tag for that so I’m telling you here.

There’s this whole thing with eggs that I don’t know how to explain. Or want to explain. Idk man.

mxpringle's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.25

This is probably one of the most depraved and bizarre books I've ever read, which is definitely saying something. I feel like I could've used more background as to how the events that happened in Maeve's life or thoughts she had led her to doing certain actions in the book, because a lot of the actions she did just seemed so off the rails that I couldn't see any human reasoning behind it anymore. It kind of felt like the things she did were just like trying to get a reaction out of the reader rather than being authentic character development. However, this was still overall a really interesting/enjoyable read (though very dark and depraved). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Mental illness, Rape, Medical content, Blood, Gore, Murder, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Drug use, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Alcohol

Minor: Toxic relationship and Pregnancy

grey_jayne's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

I really wanted to love this book but it first directly references American Psycho and Fight Club before riffing on their styles and I found this jarring. Also, this is a book much more about relationships than slashing. It was okay, it was fine, but I wasn't wowed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Murder, Terminal illness, Violence, Bullying, and Death of parent

cesvar's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

Not sure what I expected, but I found the overarching story and relationships compelling. Great pay off at the end. 
Gruesome scenes are present, but  if anyone is concerned, I would say they can be skipped without any loss of effect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Terminal illness and Sexual content

albernikolauras's review against another edition

dark funny 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

An utterly disgusting book following a grossly unlikeable main character who works as a Disney princess in (what I assume is) California Adventure. This book was one of those "it's a trainwreck but I can't look away" where Maeve is the trainwreck. Cue the body horror in so many indulgently gross ways. I enjoyed this in a very uncomfortable way and just because, in some ways, I think Maeve and the city of Los Angeles were well-portrayed - even if they were unbearable at times.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending. It felt like a complete severing of the tension building throughout the novel. Overall, though, I feel like some of the scenes from this will haunt me - which is exactly what I would want from this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Torture, and Grief

Details on some of the content warnings -

Very graphic scenes of torture, of sexualization of torture, of cutting up bodies or sticking hamsters in orifices. Of doxing people's information. Just a lot.

atmissv's review

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

4.5

I loved this book, but it is DARK! I read a review that compared it with American Psycho, and that is an apt comparison - though this one has more moments of (dark dark pitch black) humor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Grief, Bullying, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

kalex_lcpl's review against another edition

dark funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Body horror, Rape, Medical content, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness, Dementia, and Drug use

trashgobby's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Animal death, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Bullying

Minor: Classism, Cursing, Misogyny, Vomit, Suicide, and Body shaming

teanahk's review

dark

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I was expecting the guts and gore, but this book was excessively rapey for a book about a female serial killer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Sexual assault, Rape, and Gore

Moderate: Medical content and Terminal illness

rosynk's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, Stalking, Sexual content, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Gore, Sexual violence, and Violence