I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK! Frozen meets Carrie meets American Psycho. I was seeing mixed reviews but this blew me away. Most criticism says it was less horror and more romance but I could not disagree more. This was absolutely depraved in all the best ways. There is a love story of sorts, but it doesn’t dominate the plot and serves as more fuel to the fire that is Maeve.
This book is also a love letter to Los Angeles. I’m also an LA transplant and I love everything about this city - the history, the culture, all of it. I loved seeing the city and so many familiar places through her eyes. The presence of a drunk, violent maybe-Johnny Depp was a surprising, but not unwelcome addition. It added a melancholic depravity to the story.
The Disneyland culture is also a big part of the story. The theme park is like an LA rite of passage - you either sneer at it or let it become a huge part of yourself (I’m the latter). I loved the descriptions of the park, Maeve moving through it.
The horror itself is absolute insanity, Leede holds nothing back. If you like body horror, this book is for you. Maeve is angry, a force to be reckoned with. But she is also so, so alone. The use of Elsa was brilliant symbolism and we see what she could have been.
I will 100% be buying a physical copy of this book, likely to be furiously annotated. It will be released to the public on June 6, 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit with this one. I lost count at how many times I stopped breathing and my eyes widening at the pages. I did enjoy the character Maeve. Some of her thoughts I found intriguing and true at the beginning. The romance was a surprise to me. I wasn’t expecting any. I didn’t mind it and it helped tie some things together. I would definitely check your trigger warnings before reading this one. It’s a great gory horror story but definitely check those warnings first.

First and foremost this book has a long list of triggers, so please check that out before you read. If you are going to enjoy this book then you better be ok with a-lot of gore.

This book was a surprisingly great read. It starts off alittle slow but once things get going they go.

When I saw the cover of this book, I knew I had to read it. As a character, Maeve is definitely a bit unhinged and insane. Having a front-row seat in her mind was an interesting experience, especially when it was clear that she was unraveling. I don't think this book will be for everyone, but this will be a hit for people who like gross and disgusting books. I like horror but I will admit that parts of it were too excessive for me.

I'm giving this 3 stars because while I did enjoy a lot of Maeve Fly, it took me a while to get into it. Also, I didn't love the romantic aspects of this book but that's just my opinion.

Thank you Tor and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC!

Oh. My. God. I went into this book knowing virtually nothing about it and I'm so glad I did. It was jarring and surprising and horrific. Having grown up in Los Angeles, I enjoyed reading the nods to fun places around the city.
Well... enjoyed isn't really the right word for this book. I haven't found the right one yet as I cringed through much of it, but it was so good. It feels like such a new take on this.

What fun for a horror fan! Funny, scary, gross, and touching, all set in Hollywood. Truly a horror fan's dream.

This book is definitely graphic and intense and not for everyone. I highly recommend eating something BEFORE reading this because you won’t be able to eat during or after!

Maeve Fly is as entertaining as it sounds. It has lots of gross parts and I couldn’t put it down. I read this in all of one day, and now I feel sick in a way that only a good horror could make me feel. I felt like laughing and puking at the same time for the most part.
I loved the Halloween playlist woven throughout the story, and the twisted homage to Story of the Eye, which I’ll definitely have to read.

Thank you Netgalley, Tor Nightfire , and CJ Leede for a read I’ll never forget in exchange for review.

I really wanted to like this because of the writing style and I loved Maeve but I just couldn't get into it. I loved the atmosphere of LA and all the descriptions of Disneyland and how magical she thought it all was but I felt like it took a while to get to the point of this book.

So, this was a trip...I gamely went along for the ride as Princess Maeve takes us through her rage, mutilation, and destruction of all she knows and holds dear in modern day Los Angeles.
Warning: this book has extreme violence, torture, and gore!!
By day Maeve is a Frozen Disney Princess working at Disneyland, while at night she bar hops with her friend Kate and tries to quell the murderous rage growing inside her. This rage comes to a peak when she gets fired, from the happiest place in the world.
Maeve lives with her dying grandmother, who apparently had similar tendencies and eliminated everyone who got in the way of what she wanted. She instructs Maeve in all these techniques. We never get an idea of why she is so angry, but she laments that men can get away with this much more easily than women, and wallows in books that subscribe to the same theory. Did Maeve inherit these tendencies from her grandmother? Could she have been helped by a professional? Who knows. She seems to meet her soulmate in Gideon, Kate's brother, but as the finale queues up, not even he is immune from her rage.
As a fellow non-murderous Angelino, I did like the architectural references about Hollywood, the La Brea Tar Pits, and other sites of interest.
But as it veered into 'American Psycho' territory, it was just gross. It kept my interest though and horror fans would probably enjoy.

DNF at 30%. I started reading this book during spooky season and then got off track. When I got back around to it, I just couldn't get back into the story. Most likely a case of right book, wrong time. I will try this one again later.

** spoiler alert ** [I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.]

First, let me say it is an absolute travesty that this book was not released in October.

Second, this will delight a very specific demographic. This demographic will include people intrigued by: American Psycho with a rough sex romance, Danger (not)Disney, masturbatory doxxing, broody hipster reading lists and tooth achingly specific music tastes, soft boiled eggs, and sequestered dive bars.

Maeve is an interesting if not likeable character, and she surrounds herself with others of a similar vein. There isn’t a person in this story that I found myself cheering for (except perhaps Lester the Cat, an agent of chaos and absolute gem), but it was a compelling story and I found myself pulled along, invested in witnessing how their stories would unfold. If you enjoy a good gory horror/thriller, Halloween and a decent dose of wonton violence, this’ll be a good fit for you.

Maeve Fly is an interesting one.

I immediately requested this book due to the gorgeous cover and promise of a California female American Psycho. In some ways, it delivered and in other ways, it was disappointing.

The positive are that the prose is genuinely good, and Maeves voice is loud and clear. She is a unique protagonist that has something to say. Unfortunately, the front half of this short book is packed with filler that does not provide a lot of forward movement or intrigue. I was hoping it would lead to some interesting character revelations, but this book truly does take awhile to get to a point where you are digging deep into maeve beyond a surface-level grumpy girl who lives with grandma. I think I just wanted a little more American Psycho style at the beginning. I was expecting the whole story to be more psychological. Sadly, the romance and side characters don't stand on their own well enough for build up.

WHOA. I finished this in three days because I just couldn't put it down. The writing style is very flowy and easy to read, and I really loved the obvious allusion to Disney World. The last fourth-fifth really ramped up to. I enjoyed seeing Maeve's relationships through her perspective. Plus, who doesn't love a female sociopath?

Maeve Fly isn't like other women. Raised by her old Hollywood grandmother in Los Angeles, Maeve accepts that there are few people in her life who will ever truly see her. She isn't perturbed by this realization. After all, she's got an amazing job at a theme park as a princess, the companionship of her likeminded grandmother, and a single friendship with a rising actress. Except, everything is changing. Her grandmother is ill, her friend is on the path to fame and fortune, and a new manager has been hired to assess her work performance. On the brink of so many changes, Maeve is uncertain about what her future holds. Enter Gideon, the sexy hockey player who shows an interest in Maeve, but she isn't good at letting people in. What happens if Gideon finds out her secret?

Leede creates a visceral gore-fest for the reader to devour. The setting reads as a love letter to old Hollywood while exposing the underside of a city filled with dreamers. Maeve stands out as a complex character readers will struggle to dislike despite the skeletons in her closet. Her raw and honest characterizations plays well against the violent horror aspects of the plot, creating mixed emotions within the reader as secrets unravel and blood splashes. At the heart of this story is a universal truth: the desire to be seen as one really is, to not be alone. Readers who enjoy Chuck Palahnuik will find themselves loving the similar writing style and tone of Leede.

First off, thank you so much to #Netgalley, the publisher and especially the author for this ARC!

This book was really fun to read, I did take off a star because the main character felt a little one dimensional. Also, I would take a look at the trigger warnings for this book before reading it :)

When I saw this cover I requested it without
even reading the description. Grady Hendrix had blurbed it “An apocalyptic Anaheim Psycho" and that sold me immediately.

Our main character Maeve is a serial killer who works as a Disney princess at the happiest place on earth. When she's not at work bringing laughter to little girls she's exposing strangers secrets on the internet and cutting of mens ears to make custom Mickey Mouse ears.

Maeve is thriving in Hollywood among all the fakes
maintaining a perfect double life until she meets Gideon her best friends brother. He seems to see through Maeve's facade but what would happen if he really saw all of her..

I don't know how to describe it better than Henridx. This truly reads like a west coast love letter to American Psycho. There were a couple moments in this where I had to stop and settle my nerves so I could read the grotesque violence. But it also bizarrely made me cry for the psychotic Maeve. She was also hilarious and that helped lighten the mood of the book for me.

I'm definitely going to pick up a physical copy of this when it comes out next year. If you love horror, female villains, or enjoyed American Psycho you're not gonna wanna miss this one.

Thank you Tor and Netgalley for providing me with the ARC!

This book was a crazy and disturbing ride. I loved the writing style, which drew me in immediately. Maeve's character greatly intrigued me, and I found myself contemplating a lot of her thoughts. The depths of Maeve's thoughts and the way she thinks was extremely disturbing and the highlight of the novel. Because of Maeve's thought process, the book is instantaneously creepy, even though it doesn't get super intense until the last 30%.
I wasn't expecting so much romance to be in it, and I feel that the book could have been much better without any romance. There was a lot of sexual content that, while definitely disturbing, was a bit over the top. There were also a few loose ends, and (although I think I have them figured out) I would have liked to see them expanded a little more. I really enjoyed Maeve's thoughts on the acceptance of monstrous men vs. monstrous women, but that was also something that I was left wanting more of.
The last 30% was more of what I'd been expecting, but I still enjoyed the build-up and suspense to it. Overall, I think this ended up being a solid, gory horror novel but could have been better if it hadn't been drenched in romance.

Maeve Fly is CJ Lede’s debut horror novel, and it definitely delivered. Maeve Fly lives in LA with her grandmother, a former Hollywood star. Maeve works at a Disney park as a princess during the day. Maeve is very close to two people in her life, her grandmother and her friend Kate, and as she feels she is losing those connections, she is slipping more and more into her own insanity.
I honestly don’t know how to properly write a review for this book. It was disgusting and I liked it.
Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an advanced copy of Maeve Fly in exchange for my honest opinion.

4.5/5

To start, I'd like to thank Tor Nightfire for the ARC.

This book gripped me on page one; I didn't want to put it down, and when I had to, I found myself wandering back to Maeve and her horrifying yet fascinating personality.

Leede's writing is brilliant. She really captures the essence of a late twenty-something in Anaheim, CA with the notion that they are other, superior, a lone wolf. Her descriptions were visceral and disgusting, and I mean that in the best way possible. Though the book isn't overflowing with gore, there is a fair amount of it, and it is done with finesse and tact.

While I enjoyed the story, I would have preferred the ending to be less obvious. However, despite being predictable, I thoroughly enjoyed Maeve's journey into madness and debauchery from beginning to end.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers set in California and female serial killers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the opportunity to read an early copy of Maeve Fly. I first off love the cover and title of this novel. I was not sure where this was going and was concerned it was falling into a dark romance novel. I really enjoyed Maeve’s unraveling, there were some very good torture scenes. Maeve is capable of horrendous acts but is loyal to the few people she cares about. This was a quick read and very enjoyable. I’m looking forward to any future novels by this author.