Grab the Lapels

Maeve Fly by CJ Leede

Maeve is a woman her twenties who has no contact with her parents. Instead, she lives with a grandmother who was Hollywood royalty back in the day. However, “back in the day” means long enough ago that lots of younger folks don’t remember her, even though she was a striking, sexy, and emotionally-cold woman. Now, grandma is in a coma, ill, and we realize that she’s dying. However, Maeve denies that her grandmother is just about dead because she loves her so much.

During the day, Maeve and her best friend, Kate, work at a not-so-vague theme park (it’s clearly Disneyland in California) as two princes that have something to do with ice (it’s obvious that Maeve is Elsa and Kate is Anna). Interestingly, author CJ Leede writes that Maeve looks like her character, and I found that grounded me when picturing what this little psycho was doing. There’s an extreme contrast between a blond princess and a brutal destroyer of flesh. Maeve, despite being Halloween-loving woman with an inner wolf she keeps at bay, loves working at definitely-not-Disneyland. Ahem. And then, Kate’s brother, a professional hockey player who went to Harvard shows up, and things get terrifying.

It isn’t Kate’s brother that releases Maeve’s inner wolf (picture the werewolf from Cabin in the Woods), it’s that all the classic novels with men who do what they want aren’t teaching her enough about how to be:

At first I was drawn to illicit, banned, or subversive books because they were just that. But after a time, and especially since my grandmother’s illness set in, I’ve been using them as sort of instructional guides. How to Exist, as told by misanthropes throughout the ages.

And then the last book on the shelf stars Patrick Bateman.

Let’s be clear: Maeve Fly by CJ Leede is one of those depraved books that make you wonder why you’re reading what you’re reading. So, you text your friend, “Hey, this books super depraved, but at least all the depravity is the character saying what she’s going to do and then in the next chapter it’s already done! Yay for violence off the page!” And then having to turn around and text your friend, “I stand corrected.” Maeve Fly earns the comparisons to Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, so if you know anything about that book or film, you’ll have a good sense of whether Leede’s novel is for you.

I will say the ending of Maeve Fly surprised me, making me root for all the wrong people, a trick I have not fallen for since I heard Jeremy Irons read Lolita. It’s just that when you’re in a psychopath’s head, you understand where they’re coming from and get attached to all the wrong things. Either that, or I need to read some self-help-for-potentially-morbid-people books.

33 comments

  1. I’ve neither read nor seen American Psycho but I know enough to say that anything that draws a comparison to it is probably not for me. I also hate pictures of eyeballs so I could never handle reading a book with that cover!

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    • Which aspect of American Psycho was not readable for you? I find the story here better than American Psycho (note: I’ve only watched the movie). So, it’s possible you’d like this one. In fact, when I scheduled the review, I remember thinking you might be one of the few readers who would like this novel.

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        • Ah, makes sense. I just started a body cast that looks at the development of horror through time, but only does one subgenre per season. Actually, they’re British, so maybe you know them? It’s Mike Muncer doing the podcast Evolution of Horror. I just got to the season on body and mind horror, and I’m worried! Body horror and sci-fi are two that will always upset me.

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  4. Not for me probably either, but I loved the idea of her reading “How to Exist, as told by misanthropes throughout the ages.” And I loved your review, particularly your closing sentence.

    Oh, and the cover is intriguing too but it immediately tells me that it’s not for me, which perhaps is also the role of a cover – to tell you what you might OR mightn’t like.

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  5. As a teenager my favourite actress was Dianna Rigg. I imagine it’s a long time since anyone remembered her.
    I have American Psycho in the to be read soon space in my bedroom (it’s been there a while). You probably remember Justine Ettler referencing it in the interviews we did with her.

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  6. WordPress is giving me the shits! I can’t logon to comment until I have written something, and when I do, it deletes it and gets me to start over.

    My favourite actress when I was a teenager, now long forgotten, was Dianna Rigg.

    Have American Psycho waiting to be read.

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    • Ah! I thought that comment might be yours because I don’t know anyone else who has heard of Justine Ettler. I’ve never read American Psycho, but I’ve seen the movie. I think I like Maeve Fly better than the American Psycho movie. On the other hand, I’ve heard the novel version is pretty gruesome, with several folks noting a rat scene that is not in the movie.

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        • Watching Christian Bale be so precise and controlled was fascinating, but recently I saw The House the Jack Built, and if you’re going to do a psychopath who kills people, I’d recommend The House that Jack Built. Anyway, I’ve heard American Psycho (the book) is pretty gruesome. Are you better with horror on the page instead of screen?

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    • This is a very late comment as I gradually catch up on reading and commenting, but I had to chime in and say that Diana Rigg is not long forgotten in the UK! However, she’s probably most known for her mid-late career character acting – not the roles she was playing in the 60s and 70s. In fact, until I saw your comment I had rather assumed she was one of those people who become tremendously successful in middle age. Although now I’ve looked her up I do remember that she was in The Avengers.

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      • Thank you Lou for updating me on the love of my teenage life. The last time I heard mention of her career she was going to be naked on stage, but I didn’t have money for a ticket, let alone the fare to England.

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      • I Googled her and see she was probably revived in the public eye thanks to her work on Game of Thrones, a show I never watched because A) I don’t pay for TV and B) I had heard tell there were a number of gratuitous rapes scenes in the show that weren’t even in the book. I see she was also in One Night in Soho, a movie I would like to see.

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  8. So based on your review, I’m guessing Maeve kills alot of people? There seems to be a resurging interest in women serial killers, sort of a twisted ‘girl power’ type theme, when the woman has good reason to murder people (usually men who are assholes). Are we supposed to root for Maeve in this book, or despise her? Or is this the tricky part?

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    • Yes, Maeve kills a lot of people, and it always feels new even though we learn more about her past and learn we are wrong. I loved the mix of murder and Disney princess and Hollywood glamour. It’s weird how I wasn’t rooting for her, but I wanted things to work out for her. I guess that IS complicated!

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  13. What books would you recommend that are similar to Maeve Fly? I love books similar to these. Maeve’s psycho and morbidness was just what I needed. Not in a weird way though, I just like those types of books.

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    • Great question! I’m sure the obvious answer would be go read American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. If you want more of the gory stuff, definitely get the short story collection Altmann’s Tongue by Brian Evenson. All his stuff is amazing, though this was his only book I can remember being quite dark. The rest of his stuff is more like Hitchcock or deep, horrifying philosophy stuff that I also love. When Darkness Loves Us by Elizabeth Engstrom was great–creepy, you feel weird, it’s dark. That one is two novellas in one collection. She also has a bizarre novel called Black Ambrosia that was good. I really dug This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer. I have a review of that coming soon. Here are some books I’ve heard are similar: Mary by Nat Cassidy, Daphne by Josh Malerman, Lost and Found by Ruby Jean Jensen, and I Am Margaret Moore by Hannah Capin.

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