By day, Maeve Fly works at the happiest place in the world as every child’s favorite ice princess.

By the neon night glow of the Sunset Strip, Maeve haunts the dive bars with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, imitating her misanthropic literary heroes.

But when Gideon Green – her best friend’s brother – moves to town, he awakens something dangerous within her, and the world she knows suddenly shifts beneath her feet.

Untethered, Maeve ditches her discontented act and tries on a new persona. A bolder, bloodier one, inspired by the pages of American Psycho. Step aside Patrick Bateman, it’s Maeve’s turn with the knife.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the eARC of this dark and disgusting (in the best way!) work of fiction that truly brings Patrick Bateman to his plastic-clad knees. Maeve is an ice princess turned cold-blooded killer, and it is such a fun transition to watch come to life. With a plot that carefully weaves dark comedy, horror, and intimacy– readers are in for an all-encompassing treat. With this being C.J. Leede’s debut novel; I was impressed and delighted by her style and how she does not shy away from details of the gory or sexy kind. It’s truly a raw, unfiltered experience.

We meet Maeve in a transitionary period in her life. She works in the happiest place in the world, but can’t feel that joy for herself. She has so many emotions brewing under her skin; but it takes her best friend’s brother, Gideon Green, coming to town to set them free. The two begin to explore their innermost and ruinous desires with each other, and all hell breaks loose. It is literary whiplash seeing Maeve go from her glittering day job with children to nights out on the street as an absolute hunter. It serves as a reminder, however, that you can never tell what a person is like on the surface.

This book is not for the faint of heart. However, if you’ve read the synopsis and are a horror fan in the least bit, I don’t think it will faze you. There are some trigger warnings: graphic sex and torture, sexual assault, abuse, general violence, and of course– murder. All of this makes for a truly chilling experience that will keep you hooked on every page. You never know what will happen next, and that rollercoaster ride feeling of your stomach dropping at the very top never relents. I very much recommend this to any torture porn fan or strong-stomached horror buff. You won’t be able to look at an egg the same way again.

5/5 stars