This book is so unhinged, in the best way possible. It's an atmospheric story that transports readers to a different time period, featuring a main character who is absolutely (for lack of a better word) psycho. From the outset, as the governess for two young children, Winnifried Notty appears to be putting on a show, presenting a facade that hides their true nature. Behind closed doors, however, they unravel, revealing a more sinister and erratic persona. I mean her actions are just so unpredictable and absurd that just thinking about it right now makes we want to laugh. It's a short book and a really really fun read.

WINIFRED NOTTY YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS!! This is one of those books that feels like it was written just for me (a little freak.) It's like Jane Eyre meets Halloween. I loved it! Feito does a sensational job of immediately absorbing you into the words on the page and world that they've built. Though the language isn't always entirely accurate (our modern vernacular is inescapable no matter how hard one tries) it was wholly entertaining. A new auto-read for me because Feito feels like an author who will always bring their true story to live and that is always a story I want to read.

This book has the feel of being dark just to be dark. Of being shocking just to be shocking. Of being gross just to be gross. It didn't lead to anything in the end. I want a story that ebbs and flows. I want more than just a self-proclaimed "Victorian Psycho" giving daily examples of why she considers herself so. It leads up to a violent event that falls flat for me.

This was such a fun and disturbing ride. Reading from the point of view of said Victorian Psycho was great. I loved how out of left field some of her comments came and just how unhinged she was. This was very campy and just an entertaining horror overall. I will say some parts moved a bit slow for me but once we get into it we are into it. I also like seeing the Victorian upper class and how they behave through the view point of once again a Victorian psychopath and just her comments on the class structure overall.
I highly recommend if you want an entertaining horror
May also be good for the holiday season.

This book was a trip in the best way possible. The main character is an unreliable narrator who is suffering from a mental psychosis, though at times it questions whether it is nature or nuture that led the character to be the way she is. As a shorter book, it plunges you quickly into the plot and has you gasping aha! while also questioning just how much darker and twisted it could get. Definitely not for the faint of heart but perfect for those with a cross section of interests in the darker parts of the victorian era and the stability of the mind.

I have never read ANYTHING like Victorian Pyscho. This is horrific and hilarious all at the same time. I mean, just look at the cover. READ THIS!

I was really looking forward to this one mostly because of its fun title and cool concept. But when I started it I realized I might be a little burnt out on this “unwell women” genre that’s been so popular the past few years. I didn’t suffer my way through this or anything, but a lot of the choices made here felt obvious. I was a little underwhelmed with the ending. A lot of the book just felt like sick for the sake of it. Maybe Im desensitized but it just didn’t make an impact on me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Gruesome in the best way, Victorian Psycho is a sharp, blood-soaked thriller that doesn’t hold back. The writing style is unique, with the main character frequently breaking the fourth wall—not in a cringy way, but in a way that makes the madness feel even more intimate. At first, it seems like there’s no real method to the chaos, but as the story unfolds, the reasoning behind it all becomes clear and I did not see it coming. With plenty of on-page violence and gore, this book is not for the faint of heart, but at just over 200 pages, it’s a quick, compulsive read. I couldn’t put it down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Liveright Publishing for this e-ARC that I chose to review.

Thank you @atriabooks and @liverightbooks for the ARC of this unforgettable novel. So good, I had to get a finished copy.

This book was disgusting in all formats yet so well written; honestly, horror is a favorite subject for a reason. The ability to want to throw up and laugh at the same time is how this novella made me feel.

Winifred might have been out of her wits but jeez did I adore her. If you think she’s the antagonist, you must read it again, she’s far from it. The chapter headers added some charm to what is about to happen and trust me, you will not believe what you are reading: ABSOLUTE GENIUS.

It was a quick read that I recommend reading but not after you finished your chicken dinner.📚

Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect Victorian governess—she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children.

Winifred has a problem though, her mind wanders and where it goes is rather dark and scary. She has compulsions she wants to hold in, a darkness that wants to take over. She tries,but it can be hard when you have willful children and rude employers. When she breaks she breaks and the ensuing result is nothing short of jaw dropping.

Gory as all get out yet strangely humourous, I found it almost impossible to put this down. And once I knew why Winnie was there...well it became almost impossible not to root for her.

If you like a good horror that is not only bloody but intelligent and engaging, Victorian Psycho is the one.

Highly recommended. Published 2/04/25

Thanks to @netgalley and W.W. Norton and Company for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I knew that this novel would not be a typical Victorian saga when, in the opening scene, the new governess, Winifred “Fred” Notty, considers how her breasts were “jiggling in my corset” as she is being transported to her new post at Ensor House in Grim Wolds. When Fred is introduced to the housekeeper, Mrs. Able, she muses that she “is a woman who has never held a penis.” If there is any question that Feit has upended the Mary Poppins trope, it is demolished when it is announced in the first charter that “in three months everyone in this house will be dead.”

Fred will be working for the Pounds, attending to their two lazy and spoiled children, Drusilla and Andrew, although the former’s education is of no moment to her father who is concerned that she is “of an age when she risks her fertility from the ravages of overeducation,” and the latter is eight years old and soon bound for boarding school. Fred taunts her charges by telling them that she eats fat children and then horrifies them when she bashes in the head of a doe with a rock. Fred’s disdain for the children is compounded by the lecherous Mr. Pounds whose gaze often settles on Fred’s bosom and the jealous Mrs. Pound who find ways to retaliate against the sultry governess with her own cruelties.
This is a bloody and grim tale but, somehow, deliciously entertaining. Feit’s “heroine” is cold, sarcastic, naughty, deranged, deluded, impulsive, charming, and straining to control the darkness within her. A movie adaptation starring Margaret Qualley and Thomasin McKenzie is set to start filming next month. Thank you Liveright and Net Galley for this wildly grotesque and utterly entertaining novel.

Virginia Feito's debut novel, Mrs. March made it to my top favorites of last year, so I was elated to get an ARC for her newest book, Victorian Psycho.

This is the chilling, yet acerbic tale of Winifred Notty, a newly employed governess at Ensor House. Running from her past violent compulsions, she situates herself in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Pounds, a wealthy and unempathetic couple, and their two children, Andrew and Drusilla. Through flashbacks, we learn more about Winifred and her troubled youth and uncertain parentage as well as the mystery behind what led to her employment at the manor. [ After a series of progressively heinous nighttime activities, the story culminates in Winifred's slasher-esque killing spree of the Pounds family and their Christmas guests. (hide spoiler)]

Partially a revenge story, and wholly a horror story, Victorian Psycho treats readers to tongue-in-cheek carnage. Blood and gore, but made witty and indifferent. I was hoping for a bit more from the story, either in the direction of Drusilla's ending, or the resolution with Mr. Pounds, or even just Winifred herself, who seemed to barely mind her own demise. But, for what it was, I had fun time.

Thank you to W.W. Norton and Company for providing this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! Giving this a 4.5 because I really enjoyed my time with this book! Am I becoming a horror girl??? If you've read the title, you know what the story is about which is so fun. It reminded me somewhat of Samantha Allen's Patricia Wants to Cuddle in that it has spooky/gory elements but was still humorous somehow? I really enjoyed the pacing as well! I didn't feel like there were any lulls in the story. I would have actually liked the story to be a bit longer! I felt like the development of all the guests of Ensor house could have gone further. However I think that's a good sign though because it just means I was left wanting more! I also loved how the chapter subtitles tell you what is going to happen in the chapter, and how Winifred addresses the reader directly a few times. Overall a really fun time!

I loved it! It was bloody and gory and an absolute mess of events that the main character creates. It was unhinged and very descriptive. It was witty and held my attention from page one. It was a quick read and the audiobook was perfect. The narrator really delivered all the gory details in the best way possible.

Nope. This definitely is not for me for multiple reasons. First of all, the writing style is super strange and all over the place. I felt like I couldn't collect my thoughts to get anywhere in this story. I also thought the line "breasts jiggling in my corset" is a wild way to open up a book. I think this will be great for a small group of major horror fans, but this won't work for a lot of people.

A Darkly Witty Descent into Madness

Virginia Feito’s Victorian Psycho delivers a unique blend of gothic horror and dark comedy, centering on Winifred Notty, a governess with a macabre imagination and a penchant for mischief. From the moment she steps into Ensor House, Winifred’s presence disrupts the dreary monotony of the Pounds family, and her sardonic wit quickly becomes the novel’s greatest strength.

Winifred is undeniably engaging—her sharp humor and twisted sense of amusement breathe life into the bleak, claustrophobic setting. However, while her antics keep the pages turning, the overall story doesn’t quite match her energy. The plot unfolds in a slow, measured way, building toward an unsettling climax that, while effective, may not fully satisfy readers looking for deeper psychological complexity or stronger narrative momentum.

Feito’s writing is stylish and clever, capturing the eerie atmosphere of Ensor House with a modern edge. Victorian Psycho doesn’t reinvent the gothic governess trope, but it does inject a delicious dose of wickedness into it. For readers who enjoy biting wit wrapped in creeping dread, this novel offers an entertaining, if somewhat uneven, ride.

I just finished reading Victorian Psycho and unfortunately, it was my first flop of 2025. I had high hopes for this book, but the plot was non-existent and the pace was slower than a snail. I almost gave up on it multiple times, but I pushed through hoping for a redeeming ending. Sadly, that didn't happen. The main character, Winifred, was a total psychopath with zero development and the creepy elements were just thrown in randomly.

If Jane Eyre and Patrick Bateman wrote a book together, this would be it. So disturbing but also darkly funny. It’s very inspired by penny dreadfuls. It was everything I hoped it would be. I am not surprised in the slightest that A24 is already making this into a movie and I cannot wait. Thank you to Netgalley and Liveright for letting me read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Virginia Feito and W.W. Norton for this ARC!

I’m fully embracing the Weird Girl Winter trend by hibernating and devouring strange fiction. Trust me—it’s a vibe! Enter “Victorian Psycho”—possibly one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read, but I was obsessed.

🩸 What I Loved:
First, do not read this book while eating—seriously, just don’t. Some scenes are downright stomach-turning. The plot is filled with deviousness, blood, and moments of dark humor that kept me glued to the pages. The dialogue is razor-sharp and often laugh-out-loud witty. And that Victorian setting? Absolutely perfect for the eerie atmosphere, drenched in gothic vibes and a creeping sense of dread.

🔥 Read If You Like:
🖤Unlikeable female leads
⚔️Graphic violence
🎭Breaking the fourth wall

⏩ Pacing:
At just over 200 pages, this book grips you from the first chapter and doesn’t let go. You’ll be wondering, WTF am I reading? but unable to put it down.

👀 Do I Recommend It?
Absolutely—if you can handle the chaos and gore. The main character is one of the most unlikeable, wickedly witty psychopaths I’ve ever encountered. It’s unsettling, odd, and exhilarating. A fever dream I was more than happy to ride out.

A fast-paced dreamy gothic nightmare. This was at time really gross but in the best way. Feito really goes there and isn’t afraid to shock the reader. I loved how bizarre and cut throat Winifred is.

This story is so brutal and jaw dropping. You never knew what in the world was coming next. Short and sweet and to the point. A monster of a story wrapped up and presented, teeth and all.