Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede

35 reviews

whatkatyread87's review

dark funny informative tense fast-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

4.0

It’s almost as if someone looked at Patrick Bateman, and then said “Hold my Fucking Beer”. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

paperbackbookies's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

While this book made me absolutely sick to my stomach it kept me on my toes, coming back chapter after chapter. 

Maeve is a complex and also seemingly predictable character and yet I couldn’t stop reading, waiting to see how she’d unknowingly ruin her life again and again, over and over, never getting a moment of peace because it’s not what she deserved. It was  like a reward watching her life fall into ruin after all she did and all she’s ever done. 

I would’ve given this book a 5 stars if it wasn’t for the constant mention of SA (and then the ACTUAL SA). The part in the book where Maeve sexually assaults a young woman made me absolutely sick to my stomach and I did stop reading for a while after that. The scene was completely unnecessary and the way they glazed over it made me beyond angry. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Cannibalism

lots of disturbing sexual parts, slight cannibalism, drug use, and a sexual assault that only lasts for a page but is still graphic and mentioned later again in the book

disguisedposer's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

This was a pretty fun weird girl book, with some great classic horror references and a unique storyline. 

I personally wouldn’t describe it as ‘feminist horror’ like i’ve seen it described by other reviewers. Maeve is absolutely not a feminist character, she’s actually quite actively misogynistic at times and SAs a lot of her victims, so I think it’s very misleading to describe this book that way.

But apart from the misleading descriptions, i did enjoy this book. It was pretty campy at times, and very gory, and even though i think more could have been done with the gore and actual horror scenes, this is a pretty solid story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

pigsjillyjiggs's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Alcohol

hauntedantiqueshop's review

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!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Really weird sex stuff. Like uncomfortably weird sex stuff.

mxpringle's review

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). 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Toxic relationship and Pregnancy

alicelalicon's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

albernikolauras's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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 against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

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