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Victorian Psycho
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. But the longer Winifred spends within the estate’s dreary confines and the more she learns of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family, the more trouble she has sticking to her plan.
Whether creeping across the moonlit lawns in her undergarments or gently tormenting the house staff, Winifred struggles at every turn to stifle the horrid compulsions of her past until her chillingly dark imagination breaches the feeble boundary of reality on Christmas morning.
Wielding her signature sardonic wit and a penchant for the gorgeously macabre, Virginia Feito returns with a vengeance in Victorian Psycho.
Whether creeping across the moonlit lawns in her undergarments or gently tormenting the house staff, Winifred struggles at every turn to stifle the horrid compulsions of her past until her chillingly dark imagination breaches the feeble boundary of reality on Christmas morning.
Wielding her signature sardonic wit and a penchant for the gorgeously macabre, Virginia Feito returns with a vengeance in Victorian Psycho.
202 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 9, 2025
2112 people are currently reading
77529 people want to read
About the author
Virginia Feito
2 books936 followersA native of Spain, Virginia Feito was raised in Madrid and Paris, and studied English and drama at Queen Mary University of London. She worked as a copywriter until she quit to write her debut novel. She lives in Madrid.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 8,025 reviews
February 25, 2025
****Bumping this up to 5 stars bc I CANNOT stop thinking about it, esp after reading and enjoying Mrs March by the same author.
This was out of pocket 😅
It’s about Winifred, a deranged woman that arrives at Ensor House to tutor the owners children, and about all the hell she raises during her stay. It’s like a mix between Maeve Fly and American Psycho, and is just as darkly comedic and depraved as both.
This was gross, with lots of disgusting descriptions of eating old timey food, lots of bodily fluids, and plenty of scenes of bodily dismemberment/injury details. EVERYTHING is fair game in this weird little story- animals, women, children, babies (actual infants), yeah this was *a lot*
The tone overall is comedic and irreverent, which is a bit jarring when you’re reading some of these horrendous things.
Yeah, just be warned!!
Thank you Liveright for the advanced copy for review!!
This was out of pocket 😅
It’s about Winifred, a deranged woman that arrives at Ensor House to tutor the owners children, and about all the hell she raises during her stay. It’s like a mix between Maeve Fly and American Psycho, and is just as darkly comedic and depraved as both.
This was gross, with lots of disgusting descriptions of eating old timey food, lots of bodily fluids, and plenty of scenes of bodily dismemberment/injury details. EVERYTHING is fair game in this weird little story- animals, women, children, babies (actual infants), yeah this was *a lot*
The tone overall is comedic and irreverent, which is a bit jarring when you’re reading some of these horrendous things.
Yeah, just be warned!!
Thank you Liveright for the advanced copy for review!!
April 24, 2025
‘I fail to understand why men think violence will intimidate women. Women, who bleed all over themselves every month. Women who burst open in childbirth.’
Virginia Feito has taken the tried and true “governess in a creepy manor” setup and gleefully dismembered it, figuratively… and maybe a little literally.
Our antiheroine, Winifred Notty, is a governess with some serious issues, like an unnervingly casual relationship with violence, a habit of daydreaming about revenge, and the kind of inner monologue that would make Patrick Bateman blush. She steps into the stately (and severely haunted feeling) Ensor House just in time for Christmas, bringing with her a suitcase full of sarcasm, secrets, and maybe a sharp object or two.
Feito’s writing is wickedly sharp! Like, “you might cut yourself on a sentence” sharp. One moment, you’re laughing at Winifred’s dry wit, the next you’re wondering if she’s about to strangle a child with a garland. It’s gothic horror meets pitch black comedy, with a dash of holiday cheer and a hefty pour of madness.
A gloriously twisted romp through Victorian repression, class snobbery, and homicidal tendencies. You’ll laugh. You’ll cringe and you’ll double check that your nanny doesn’t have a thousand yard stare.
I absolutely adored my time with this book and give it my Highest Recommendation!
Virginia Feito has taken the tried and true “governess in a creepy manor” setup and gleefully dismembered it, figuratively… and maybe a little literally.
Our antiheroine, Winifred Notty, is a governess with some serious issues, like an unnervingly casual relationship with violence, a habit of daydreaming about revenge, and the kind of inner monologue that would make Patrick Bateman blush. She steps into the stately (and severely haunted feeling) Ensor House just in time for Christmas, bringing with her a suitcase full of sarcasm, secrets, and maybe a sharp object or two.
Feito’s writing is wickedly sharp! Like, “you might cut yourself on a sentence” sharp. One moment, you’re laughing at Winifred’s dry wit, the next you’re wondering if she’s about to strangle a child with a garland. It’s gothic horror meets pitch black comedy, with a dash of holiday cheer and a hefty pour of madness.
A gloriously twisted romp through Victorian repression, class snobbery, and homicidal tendencies. You’ll laugh. You’ll cringe and you’ll double check that your nanny doesn’t have a thousand yard stare.
I absolutely adored my time with this book and give it my Highest Recommendation!
November 22, 2024
Holy Hell in a Handbasket, what did I just read?????? Winifred Notty puts the psycho in Victorian Psycho! Seriously, this book is off the hook and brimming with deviousness, gore, and blood! Not for the faint of heart, this book delivers on humor, gore, bleakness, snarky thoughts, cruel actions, and clever dialogue. 🥰🔪📕
Winifred Notty has been hired to a governess to Drusilla and Andrew, the children of the Pounds family. She is a peculiar woman who has certain impulses and engages in questionable behavior. Humor is not lost on her nor is sarcasm. She has dark thoughts and a secret she has been harboring.
I loved the Victorian setting and the eerie happenings in Ensor House. This book was dripping with atmosphere, humor, creepiness, dread, and blood! Readers know from the very beginning that they are in for a dark, gothic, grotesque ride. I enjoyed how the author gave us glimpses into Winifred's childhood and life. It adds to the dark tone and mood of the book. It shows the level of depravity and wicked thoughts she has. 😮😬
This was a wild ride and enjoyed every second of it. What an addictive, imaginative, well written, and well thought out novella! This was my first book by Virginia Feito, and I can't wait to get my hands and eyes on what else she has written!
Whew! What a bloody good book! 🥰🔪📕
Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company | Liveright and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
Winifred Notty has been hired to a governess to Drusilla and Andrew, the children of the Pounds family. She is a peculiar woman who has certain impulses and engages in questionable behavior. Humor is not lost on her nor is sarcasm. She has dark thoughts and a secret she has been harboring.
I loved the Victorian setting and the eerie happenings in Ensor House. This book was dripping with atmosphere, humor, creepiness, dread, and blood! Readers know from the very beginning that they are in for a dark, gothic, grotesque ride. I enjoyed how the author gave us glimpses into Winifred's childhood and life. It adds to the dark tone and mood of the book. It shows the level of depravity and wicked thoughts she has. 😮😬
This was a wild ride and enjoyed every second of it. What an addictive, imaginative, well written, and well thought out novella! This was my first book by Virginia Feito, and I can't wait to get my hands and eyes on what else she has written!
Whew! What a bloody good book! 🥰🔪📕
Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company | Liveright and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖
January 12, 2025
Title/Author: Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: first time
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978163149...
Release Date: February 04, 2025
General Genre: Horror, Suspense, Black Comedy, Satire
Sub-Genre/Themes: Creepy kids, sociopathic behavior, intrusive thoughts, serial killer, filling a nanny position, Christmastime, Victorian era, horror comedy
Writing Style: absorbing, sick & twisted, glorifying the unlikeable characters--HILARIOUS
What You Need to Know: Winifred Notty has taken a governess position at Ensor House, home of the Pounds Family. She does her very best to behave and act like a normal, sweet, and nurturing caretaker for Drusilla and Andrew but we, the readers, are in her head and hear all of her depraved intrusive thoughts. Soon (not surprisingly) she cannot suppress her true nature, and Winifred Notty lets loose. It is not for sensitive readers. The main character is extreme in her acts of cruelty and violence.
My Reading Experience: First things first, immediately after reading Victorian Psycho, I picked up the author's debut novel, Mrs. March.
Virginia Feito made a huge impact on me in under 200 pages. I knew as soon as I started reading that her storytelling voice was a match for me. You know how sometimes it takes several chapters before you feel settled into a book? Victorian Psycho is immediately absorbing. Winifred Notty is a force of nature. A character so foul and unlikable, that it's impossible to understand her motivations- everything she does comes out of left field. Her thoughts pop up on the page with brutal honesty.
I felt bad for laughing at her casual cruelty and maniacal behavior--which is exactly the response the author is going for (which is why I grabbed her debut book too) this is fun! I was completely entertained as a fly on the wall in this estate, watching Winifred slither through every situation like a poisonous snake in the grass. The pages fly by, it's over way too quickly. I enjoyed every moment. I will warn you: this story is pretty extreme. The reader knows what is going to ultimately happen, there are clues dropped here and there. The narrator breaks the 4th wall and talks directly to you a few times. So just know what you're getting into before diving in too deep. Look at my comps so you get a feel for the measure of violence.
Final Recommendation: This is the story of a female psychopath completely void of empathy who is casually cruel, and a blood lust. Like all quality horror stories, the author brings the characters to life on the page so that the stakes feel high--this isn't just a serial killer slashing through a body count. There is substance and weight behind every action coupled with a sharp wit and dark humor.
here are some early expectations with zero spoilers.
You're going to want to read this book if you:
-enjoy historical fiction
-are not squeamish
-read & enjoyed The Laws of Skies by Grégoire Courtois (very similar vibes, storytelling style)
-read and enjoyed Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
-can endure disturbing accounts of gruesome violent acts against people of all ages and animals
-are fascinated by stories centered on people who are casually cruel with zero provocation
-"bad seeds"
In other words, you need it.
Comps: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind, The Laws of the Skies by Courtois Grégoire, translated by Mullins Rhonda
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: first time
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978163149...
Release Date: February 04, 2025
General Genre: Horror, Suspense, Black Comedy, Satire
Sub-Genre/Themes: Creepy kids, sociopathic behavior, intrusive thoughts, serial killer, filling a nanny position, Christmastime, Victorian era, horror comedy
Writing Style: absorbing, sick & twisted, glorifying the unlikeable characters--HILARIOUS
What You Need to Know: Winifred Notty has taken a governess position at Ensor House, home of the Pounds Family. She does her very best to behave and act like a normal, sweet, and nurturing caretaker for Drusilla and Andrew but we, the readers, are in her head and hear all of her depraved intrusive thoughts. Soon (not surprisingly) she cannot suppress her true nature, and Winifred Notty lets loose. It is not for sensitive readers. The main character is extreme in her acts of cruelty and violence.
My Reading Experience: First things first, immediately after reading Victorian Psycho, I picked up the author's debut novel, Mrs. March.
Virginia Feito made a huge impact on me in under 200 pages. I knew as soon as I started reading that her storytelling voice was a match for me. You know how sometimes it takes several chapters before you feel settled into a book? Victorian Psycho is immediately absorbing. Winifred Notty is a force of nature. A character so foul and unlikable, that it's impossible to understand her motivations- everything she does comes out of left field. Her thoughts pop up on the page with brutal honesty.
I felt bad for laughing at her casual cruelty and maniacal behavior--which is exactly the response the author is going for (which is why I grabbed her debut book too) this is fun! I was completely entertained as a fly on the wall in this estate, watching Winifred slither through every situation like a poisonous snake in the grass. The pages fly by, it's over way too quickly. I enjoyed every moment. I will warn you: this story is pretty extreme. The reader knows what is going to ultimately happen, there are clues dropped here and there. The narrator breaks the 4th wall and talks directly to you a few times. So just know what you're getting into before diving in too deep. Look at my comps so you get a feel for the measure of violence.
Final Recommendation: This is the story of a female psychopath completely void of empathy who is casually cruel, and a blood lust. Like all quality horror stories, the author brings the characters to life on the page so that the stakes feel high--this isn't just a serial killer slashing through a body count. There is substance and weight behind every action coupled with a sharp wit and dark humor.
here are some early expectations with zero spoilers.
You're going to want to read this book if you:
-enjoy historical fiction
-are not squeamish
-read & enjoyed The Laws of Skies by Grégoire Courtois (very similar vibes, storytelling style)
-read and enjoyed Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
-can endure disturbing accounts of gruesome violent acts against people of all ages and animals
-are fascinated by stories centered on people who are casually cruel with zero provocation
-"bad seeds"
In other words, you need it.
Comps: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind, The Laws of the Skies by Courtois Grégoire, translated by Mullins Rhonda
November 6, 2024
2 stars.
This story follows the psychotic Winifred Notty, who becomes the new governess for the children in the Pounds household. Right off the bat, I struggled with the writing style, it feels all over the place, wonky. I don’t know if it’s just me, but something about it didn’t sit right.
And then there’s Winifred herself. Somehow, she gets away with everything. She’s out here committing murder after murder, but no one bats an eye? The logic of these scenes are so far-fetched that it’s hard to stay invested in the story.
In the end, none of it made sense, and I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it. Winifred’s psychotic antics could have made for an intriguing, twisted tale, but with all these plot holes and the wonky writing style, it just fell flat for me.
This story follows the psychotic Winifred Notty, who becomes the new governess for the children in the Pounds household. Right off the bat, I struggled with the writing style, it feels all over the place, wonky. I don’t know if it’s just me, but something about it didn’t sit right.
And then there’s Winifred herself. Somehow, she gets away with everything. She’s out here committing murder after murder, but no one bats an eye? The logic of these scenes are so far-fetched that it’s hard to stay invested in the story.
In the end, none of it made sense, and I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it. Winifred’s psychotic antics could have made for an intriguing, twisted tale, but with all these plot holes and the wonky writing style, it just fell flat for me.
October 12, 2025
This book provides a variety of adjectives such as gothic, eerie, blunt, bleak, dark comedy, and grotesque! The antiheroine of the book, Winifred Notty, is a time-travelled, gender-reversed version of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman, with one big difference: she's made a monster instead of being born a villainess. The situations she's gone through since childhood, her psychologically damaged mother's attempts to take her life, and the way she's leaving the world may affect her deteriorated perspective.
She finally gets acceptance for her new governess job, teaching the Pounds family's two children: eight-year-old Andrew and his elder sister Drusilla. She's planned to instruct them in English, French, writing, music, dancing, drawing, and arithmetic, which will help Andrew prepare for his boarding school next year and Drusilla (who will focus on ornamental needlework) find a better suitor for herself instead of filling her head with extra knowledge.
Winifred gets introduced to the Pounds family: Mr. Pounds seems more excited about her arrival, taking her on long walks and requesting her attendance at the dinner table each night, while his wife reluctantly accepts her existence, more suspicious about her motives and acting hostile around her.
Winifred is not like a regular, obedient Victorian governess they hired, telling the worst kind of nightmarish dark stories (more brutal than the Grimm Brothers) at nighttime to the children, telling the people she's coming from a place where they eat children - and she's probably not joking. As we learn more about her past and her previous jobs at other houses that she took a little too far, we realize she's a really dangerous woman with a distorted and uniquely vicious mind. But interestingly, none of the people, including the servants of Ensor house, are like angels; they're even worse than her. When Winifred starts conducting her jaw-droppingly shocking destruction plan that leads her to give an unforgettable show at Christmas as a big gift to this family, the only thing you can do is stop reading this book when things get extremely gory or wear your big girl pants and read it until reaching the climax that will probably make you gasp or scream a little louder.
Overall: The unique, bold, extremely dark but sarcastic tone of the author makes your reading experience so special. The drawings inside the book, the heart-throbbing conclusion, unexpected twist, the vicious-sociopathic but interestingly engaging antiheroine, and eerie cover of the book made me clap harder for the entire execution! If you're open to reading something original, unexpected, gripping, and if historical gothic themes are your genre, this book will suit all your needs.
Many thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company / Liveright for sharing this unique historical book's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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She finally gets acceptance for her new governess job, teaching the Pounds family's two children: eight-year-old Andrew and his elder sister Drusilla. She's planned to instruct them in English, French, writing, music, dancing, drawing, and arithmetic, which will help Andrew prepare for his boarding school next year and Drusilla (who will focus on ornamental needlework) find a better suitor for herself instead of filling her head with extra knowledge.
Winifred gets introduced to the Pounds family: Mr. Pounds seems more excited about her arrival, taking her on long walks and requesting her attendance at the dinner table each night, while his wife reluctantly accepts her existence, more suspicious about her motives and acting hostile around her.
Winifred is not like a regular, obedient Victorian governess they hired, telling the worst kind of nightmarish dark stories (more brutal than the Grimm Brothers) at nighttime to the children, telling the people she's coming from a place where they eat children - and she's probably not joking. As we learn more about her past and her previous jobs at other houses that she took a little too far, we realize she's a really dangerous woman with a distorted and uniquely vicious mind. But interestingly, none of the people, including the servants of Ensor house, are like angels; they're even worse than her. When Winifred starts conducting her jaw-droppingly shocking destruction plan that leads her to give an unforgettable show at Christmas as a big gift to this family, the only thing you can do is stop reading this book when things get extremely gory or wear your big girl pants and read it until reaching the climax that will probably make you gasp or scream a little louder.
Overall: The unique, bold, extremely dark but sarcastic tone of the author makes your reading experience so special. The drawings inside the book, the heart-throbbing conclusion, unexpected twist, the vicious-sociopathic but interestingly engaging antiheroine, and eerie cover of the book made me clap harder for the entire execution! If you're open to reading something original, unexpected, gripping, and if historical gothic themes are your genre, this book will suit all your needs.
Many thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company / Liveright for sharing this unique historical book's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
medium blog
March 19, 2025
this was nuts in the best way and surprisingly so funny
May 17, 2025
Woooohoooohooooooo, that was a darkly delicious and twisted novella!!!!
Buckle up, cause it’s one helluva ride. If you queasy easy, get off the bus, cause this one will rock your socks right on off.
An unapologetically psychotic first person FMC POV, this story was twisted, shocking and utterly addicting. I couldn’t pull myself away from this story! Waaaaay darker than I normally read, it pushed me to some uncomfortable limits but I ultimately enjoyed this mind jarring experience.
This was such a MIND TRIP! A unique story that literally FELT like you were inside the mind of a psychotic person, getting the sneak peak behind someone who is sick and twisted with no moral compass.
Buckle up, cause it’s one helluva ride. If you queasy easy, get off the bus, cause this one will rock your socks right on off.
An unapologetically psychotic first person FMC POV, this story was twisted, shocking and utterly addicting. I couldn’t pull myself away from this story! Waaaaay darker than I normally read, it pushed me to some uncomfortable limits but I ultimately enjoyed this mind jarring experience.
This was such a MIND TRIP! A unique story that literally FELT like you were inside the mind of a psychotic person, getting the sneak peak behind someone who is sick and twisted with no moral compass.
January 8, 2025
It fascinates me, the fact that humans have the capacity to mortally wound one another at will, but, for the most part, choose not to.
Victorian Psycho is a wicked satire of Victorian society told through the implacable gaze of a monster of its own making. Winifred Notty, hired by Mr. and Mrs. Pounds to be the new governess for their two spoiled children, informs the reader upon her arrival at Ensor House at the start of the book that within three month everyone in the house will be dead, and then she proceeds to wreak havoc.
This is a short novella, so I don't want to say much more about the plot, but the story that unfolds is gruesome, shocking (even by today's standards), and scathingly hilarious as told through the sardonic wit, cold-blooded detachment, and mad quirks of Miss Notty. The first real shocker for me came around the 50% mark, and after that I put aside all of my expectations.
This isn't extreme horror, there are no protracted scenes of torture, but be forewarned that the innocent (including children and animals) and guilty alike suffer gruesome ends and that may be too much for some readers. Ultimately, I enjoyed Victorian Psycho even more for the mercilessness of its narrator. I was carried along completely by the story, the writing was excellent, and I couldn't help but find Miss Notty fascinating and strangely endearing. Viriginia Feito's previous novel, Mrs. March, wasn't even on my radar but it's now at the top of my TBR, and I'll be purchasing and rereading Victorian Psycho when it comes out next year.
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for a digital advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. Victorian Psycho will be released February 4, 2025.
Victorian Psycho is a wicked satire of Victorian society told through the implacable gaze of a monster of its own making. Winifred Notty, hired by Mr. and Mrs. Pounds to be the new governess for their two spoiled children, informs the reader upon her arrival at Ensor House at the start of the book that within three month everyone in the house will be dead, and then she proceeds to wreak havoc.
This is a short novella, so I don't want to say much more about the plot, but the story that unfolds is gruesome, shocking (even by today's standards), and scathingly hilarious as told through the sardonic wit, cold-blooded detachment, and mad quirks of Miss Notty. The first real shocker for me came around the 50% mark, and after that I put aside all of my expectations.
This isn't extreme horror, there are no protracted scenes of torture, but be forewarned that the innocent (including children and animals) and guilty alike suffer gruesome ends and that may be too much for some readers. Ultimately, I enjoyed Victorian Psycho even more for the mercilessness of its narrator. I was carried along completely by the story, the writing was excellent, and I couldn't help but find Miss Notty fascinating and strangely endearing. Viriginia Feito's previous novel, Mrs. March, wasn't even on my radar but it's now at the top of my TBR, and I'll be purchasing and rereading Victorian Psycho when it comes out next year.
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for a digital advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. Victorian Psycho will be released February 4, 2025.
December 12, 2025
5/5! Victorian Psycho, you've blown my mind! This deeply unsettling yet hilarious tale follows a bloodthirsty governess during the Christmas season in the late 1800s. From the start, I was captivated by Virginia Feito's poetic yet accessible writing style. Each chapter was a masterful blend of bizarre, disturbing and a little cheeky. Our protagonist, the Victorian Psycho herself, governess Winifred Notty, was a force to be reckoned with – her madness escalating from simmering to boiling over by the grand finale.
The short chapters made it impossible to put down, begging me to devour the book. Reading it during the holiday season was the perfect treat, blending my love of horror and Christmas.
Feito perfectly sets the scene that's equal parts macabre, cold, and creepy – a chilling backdrop for a deranged governess hell-bent on murder. I haven't been this obsessed with a book for while now, and Victorian Psycho has gained a spot as one of my all-time favourites.
Virginia Feito's writing is fantastic, making this festive yet disturbing story an absolute page turner. If you're ready for a wild, unpredictable ride, Victorian Psycho is the perfect choice. Out February 4, 2025!
Thank you so so much to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy!
———
Update December 2025: this review still rings true on my reread. If you haven’t read this one yet now is the time!!
The short chapters made it impossible to put down, begging me to devour the book. Reading it during the holiday season was the perfect treat, blending my love of horror and Christmas.
Feito perfectly sets the scene that's equal parts macabre, cold, and creepy – a chilling backdrop for a deranged governess hell-bent on murder. I haven't been this obsessed with a book for while now, and Victorian Psycho has gained a spot as one of my all-time favourites.
Virginia Feito's writing is fantastic, making this festive yet disturbing story an absolute page turner. If you're ready for a wild, unpredictable ride, Victorian Psycho is the perfect choice. Out February 4, 2025!
Thank you so so much to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy!
———
Update December 2025: this review still rings true on my reread. If you haven’t read this one yet now is the time!!
January 24, 2025
1⭐️s
Look, I’m all for gratuitous fictional violence. I seek it out, I inhale its gore, I relish in its cravenness. But, I also love the art of storytelling. I appreciate getting to know a character, watching them struggle and grow, empathizing with their journey. I love seeing unexpected events play out over the course of time, as characters navigate through an otherworldly and nuanced circumstance.
Unfortunately, this book had all of the former with none of the latter, and it suffered greatly from it.
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Co. for the advanced copy and the opportunity to write an honest review.
Themes…
Violence for the sake of violence.
Character Work…
It was awful being inside Fred’s head. I disliked every moment I spent there.
Prose…
Not my style, but I can tell the author has chops.
Pace…
For a 200 page book, this was a slow read. It felt like a slog for me.
Look, I’m all for gratuitous fictional violence. I seek it out, I inhale its gore, I relish in its cravenness. But, I also love the art of storytelling. I appreciate getting to know a character, watching them struggle and grow, empathizing with their journey. I love seeing unexpected events play out over the course of time, as characters navigate through an otherworldly and nuanced circumstance.
Unfortunately, this book had all of the former with none of the latter, and it suffered greatly from it.
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Co. for the advanced copy and the opportunity to write an honest review.
Themes…
Violence for the sake of violence.
Character Work…
It was awful being inside Fred’s head. I disliked every moment I spent there.
Prose…
Not my style, but I can tell the author has chops.
Pace…
For a 200 page book, this was a slow read. It felt like a slog for me.
December 1, 2025
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Winifred Notty has been selected by the Pounds family to be their new governess at Ensor House in Grim Wolds, England. No doubt the Pounds are hoping that Winifred will be the perfect guardian for their two children, Drusilla and Andrew.
A Mary Poppins, of sorts, who'll raise her charges with joy.
Unfortunately, what they get in Winifred is much more Harley Quinn than Mary Poppins.
As the monotonous days pass, Winifred has a harder time suppressing her violent compulsions. These thoughts aren't new to Winifred, but this vast playground of the Pounds family home is. She has so many new directions to point her murderous fantasies.
Both the adults and the children are getting under her skin. There's only so much more she's going to be able to swallow without acting...
As Christmas approaches, Winifred develops the perfect plan, I mean, gift, to bestow upon this lovely Victorian family. It's sure to be a holiday not soon forgotten.
Quentin Tarantino meets Henry James in this historically-set Horror novel that delves into territory few dare to tread. The synopsis describes this as a story that plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath, and that couldn't be more apt.
Victorian Psycho is an oddly-gripping little book.
The writing was beautifully-dark, but I did find the overall narrative more choppy than I tend to enjoy. Otherwise, I could've rated it higher. The audiobook is a great option for this story though. I had a lot of fun listening to it. Half the time, I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
Having an MC with this type of recurring thoughts is always a bit of a trip, but I think having it in such a traditionally Victorian setting made it all the more jarring.
For me, the gothic vibes only helped to enhance the shocking-nature of this violent and gruesome tale. It's hard to describe and I wish I could have connected a bit more with what was happening in the story. I think it's length, coming in at around 200-pages, maybe didn't do it any favors.
In a way, it is like a punch, quick and impactful, but at the same time, I'm not sure how long that impact will last, as I never truly felt connected with what was happening. With this being said though, it was still entertaining.
Thank you to the publisher, Recorded Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I had fun and would be interested in reading more from this author in the future.
Winifred Notty has been selected by the Pounds family to be their new governess at Ensor House in Grim Wolds, England. No doubt the Pounds are hoping that Winifred will be the perfect guardian for their two children, Drusilla and Andrew.
A Mary Poppins, of sorts, who'll raise her charges with joy.
Unfortunately, what they get in Winifred is much more Harley Quinn than Mary Poppins.
As the monotonous days pass, Winifred has a harder time suppressing her violent compulsions. These thoughts aren't new to Winifred, but this vast playground of the Pounds family home is. She has so many new directions to point her murderous fantasies.
Both the adults and the children are getting under her skin. There's only so much more she's going to be able to swallow without acting...
As Christmas approaches, Winifred develops the perfect plan, I mean, gift, to bestow upon this lovely Victorian family. It's sure to be a holiday not soon forgotten.
Quentin Tarantino meets Henry James in this historically-set Horror novel that delves into territory few dare to tread. The synopsis describes this as a story that plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath, and that couldn't be more apt.
Victorian Psycho is an oddly-gripping little book.
The writing was beautifully-dark, but I did find the overall narrative more choppy than I tend to enjoy. Otherwise, I could've rated it higher. The audiobook is a great option for this story though. I had a lot of fun listening to it. Half the time, I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
Having an MC with this type of recurring thoughts is always a bit of a trip, but I think having it in such a traditionally Victorian setting made it all the more jarring.
For me, the gothic vibes only helped to enhance the shocking-nature of this violent and gruesome tale. It's hard to describe and I wish I could have connected a bit more with what was happening in the story. I think it's length, coming in at around 200-pages, maybe didn't do it any favors.
In a way, it is like a punch, quick and impactful, but at the same time, I'm not sure how long that impact will last, as I never truly felt connected with what was happening. With this being said though, it was still entertaining.
Thank you to the publisher, Recorded Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I had fun and would be interested in reading more from this author in the future.
February 21, 2025
Absolutely unhinged. :D
It doesn’t provide all the answers, but nor do I feel I need them. The writing is fantastic, with an evocative setting, intelligent language, and blood dark humor. A story crammed full of uncomfortable moments and vivid imagery as it moves inexorably towards its violent end.
I loved it. What a nasty little poison bonbon.
Audio Notes: Anna Burnett’s narration is perfection.
It doesn’t provide all the answers, but nor do I feel I need them. The writing is fantastic, with an evocative setting, intelligent language, and blood dark humor. A story crammed full of uncomfortable moments and vivid imagery as it moves inexorably towards its violent end.
I loved it. What a nasty little poison bonbon.
Audio Notes: Anna Burnett’s narration is perfection.
October 9, 2024
If you thought Mrs. March in Feito's debut was an odd duckling then you ain't seen nothing yet.
Winifred "Fred" Notty has just been awarded the governess position at Ensor House. Her wards are Andrew and Drusilla. The longer she works for the Pounds family the more the darkness inside her grows and grows until it can no longer be contained. That's all I'm willing to say plot wise.
This book is absolutely diabolical. And disgusting. Gross to the extreme. 🤮 Feito did not hold back in viscera dripping imagery. I strongly suggest reading this one on an empty stomach. So yeah, I can't say I'd be too comfortable recommending this to others but I admit I kept turning the pages just to see how awful this was going to get and Feito didn't let me down in that respect. This is not a character one soon forgets no matter how much you try to. *gags* 4 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for my complimentary copy.
Winifred "Fred" Notty has just been awarded the governess position at Ensor House. Her wards are Andrew and Drusilla. The longer she works for the Pounds family the more the darkness inside her grows and grows until it can no longer be contained. That's all I'm willing to say plot wise.
This book is absolutely diabolical. And disgusting. Gross to the extreme. 🤮 Feito did not hold back in viscera dripping imagery. I strongly suggest reading this one on an empty stomach. So yeah, I can't say I'd be too comfortable recommending this to others but I admit I kept turning the pages just to see how awful this was going to get and Feito didn't let me down in that respect. This is not a character one soon forgets no matter how much you try to. *gags* 4 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for my complimentary copy.
September 13, 2024
It is important to note that most of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the book's subject matters & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters that contain reflections on the sexual abuse of children, the extreme physical abuse of children, promiscuity, graphic physical violence, violent crime, & others.
Mangled in the Reeds is a whimsical mystery, one that reels the reader through tepid water & oozing sands; Horror must be crafted with care. I have written ad nauseam about the intention that is required of authors when setting out to write a Horror story. Every genre requires a particular set of skills; a good story, remains a good story, no matter who it is for, or under which umbrella of literature it is written.
Yet repeatedly—exhaustively—I find myself met with stories that boast of terror & gruesome horror but deliver none of what was promised. I am left wondering why that is & which reader is lying to the author who pens slop for swine.
In essence, this is a book about a governess who arrives at a wonderful English estate & mass murders all the residents & their guests over the twelve days of Christmas. The plot revolves around Winifred, who goes by Fred, claiming it is the name her inner demon prefers. The main character is a possible Psychopath who might also have Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhidrosis (CIPA). The plot follows her as she arrives at the house, blabbing needlessly to the reader about her need to sexually harass (abuse) others; her intention to violently murder; & finally her silly goose dreams of being hanged.
At first glance, as you read this review you may note that the subject matter is rampant with the need for sensitivity—you would be correct. Indeed, what makes these subject matters so intensive is their cruel participation in the real, non-fictional world. Yet, the simple truth of their existence in the reader’s world does not render any book in which they are included one worthy of reading, or writing.
My main qualm with the Horror genre is that people forget the art of storytelling. This is certainly not specific to the genre, but I find myself curiously disappointed that I am faced with the redundant need to reiterate the obvious when paired with books in a genre I deeply adore. Good writing, good plot-pacing & crafting, good character development, & good structure make for a good story, objectively.
Listing horrible things does not a story make. One need only watch the news to see the horrible things in their interwoven natural states. Though every reader will find different subjects & possibilities frightening & though their tolerance for the cruel, violent, truths may vary, a story is not a list of things; a story is a tapestry.
There is no such tapestry in this book in fact, there is no story here at all. The main character is a person who lived during the late nineteenth century, as per the mention of Queen Victoria & the common use of the bell system in graves—which was designed in 1829.
The timeline is very important, yet it is essentially disregarded by the author. Winifred speaks like a modern American woman & her inner monologue mirrors this. The vernacular that Feito uses in this book does not reflect the time during which the story is meant to take place, nor does it nestle itself in the geographic area where the characters live.
The English high society seldom changed in behaviour & values throughout the centuries leading up to the First World War when the economic standing of the entire United Kingdom suffered enormous loss inducing society to transform into something different & new. However, throughout this entire book, characters who were meant to be of aristocratic stature behaved like grocery store clerks in Appalachia; they didn’t care about dress, behaviour, hierarchy, or stature, they showed up, said some lines & went about their business of reading pornographic books & getting drunk on local liquor. No offence meant towards the Appalachians.
It is strange to have to pinpoint a canvas that lacks direction & flow, in its entirety. Whereas the story could have been saved had the author included characters with gumption, diversity, authenticity, intelligence, & personality, she chose instead to create a mass of hysterical individuals who read like a single glob of flesh fighting against the ostentatious scientist himself.
The over-sexualization of every aspect of the story did not help either. Truly, if one is in the market for a book that simply highlights redundant childhood sexual abuse, one has found the blood-red apple with this book.
Again, I highlight that the reality of these experiences is horrible, but it is not enough to simply name the villain. Humanity knows this reality exists & in some cases, has experienced the venom of vile firsthand. The story needs to introduce these aspects in a format that allows the reader to forget themselves, their comfort, & their safety; making the binds of the book invisible to the touch so that the reader suffocates alongside the characters until the final page turn of reprieve that draws them back to themselves. This is not too much to ask.
Over a few days, perhaps weeks, Fred reminisces about her childhood experiences & attempts to fondle the malleable mind of the reader that her author has declared brain dead. It is interesting for the reader to peer into the truths that the unreliable narrator holds close to their heart like a trump card waiting to be played. Fred is too dull for this to work.
We return to my main point & one which you will see written bulbously & repeatedly throughout this review. It is not enough for Fred to have had a difficult childhood. In fact, it makes no sense that her mother tried to kill her because the alleged Devil lived inside of her. Why did her mother believe this? Is the reader meant to assume that because Fred is a product of an illicit affair her mother developed a psychosis, believing her bastard child the product of the Devil & not, the horny longings of two sexually consenting adults?
Rather than highlight facts in the fiction, Fred narrates her early days as bizarrely silly movements, leaving the reader in the dark, where they remain throughout the entire story. What is the purpose of doing this when the reader is meant to feel disgusted that Fred has an insatiable & somewhat unfounded need to murder at random?
It would have been to the benefit of the plot as a whole to have Fred act somewhat reliably as a narrator. Her recollections of childhood & of a mother who was mentally tormented by the social requirements of her time & class, allow for very intriguing reflections on psychosis, violence, sexual proclivities, & the nature of English society that kept everything, allegedly, in check.
As the times rolled onward, the learned mind explored the negative effects of an overly strict upbringing. Individuals often rebel or reject their experiences entirely, opting to be the polar opposite of what was familiar to them. This is not the case with Fred therefore, what is the situation at hand & what is the reader meant to deduce from this narrator?
What I found most foul in this entire experience is that there appears to have been no effort to write a good story. There are certainly readers who will appreciate the slicing of throats, the murder of babies, the physical despair of children, & the pornographically spiteful behaviours of the characters yet, the author does not attempt to give them any space at the table.
Rather than keep a reader in mind, the author appears to have wanted to write about the floundering extremism that existed in Victorian society without taking the time to research what this meant, in actuality.
Fred is not an anomaly. Indeed, her testimony of sexual encounters, the banal realization that her grandfather was a Pedophile; the morose meandering of her intention to stick her tongue into other people’s orifices, all read as abysmally boring—a word I am loathe to use yet, I find it perfectly reflects the entirety of this book.
This book was boring. Particularly as the author wished to regale the reader with the horrible haunts of humankind, one would have desired a glimmer of perspective regarding the delightful effort that should—& could—have been put forth in the early stages.
Why was Fred speaking in an American dialect? Why was the family so casual concerning her obvious disregard for their children? How was Fred able to murder every single able-bodied adult in the house? Why did Fred spare Drusilla? Why was Fred allowed to stay for Christmas when no one wanted her around—save the patriarch who was interested in engaging in sexual exchanges but, I digress. There are so many questions that can be asked about the events that took place within this book & yet none of them are addressed. Why is that?
A reader might forgive a story that leaves them reeling when they have been taken on a ride. Alternatively, I am left feeling as though my time has been devastatingly wasted by someone whose box of chocolates presented me with sewing needles when what I hoped to find was milky sweets.
There is no excuse for this & you may feel that my review has taken an extreme position of anger over such a small tale of intellectually stunted, wishfully adventurous, & catatonically dreadful characters; I would not contradict you.
I find myself infused with a need to make clear that subject matter of this calibre deserves to be well-written. Each of the characters in this book experienced abuse & although the time in which they lived & breathed was not one of overt kindness or empathy for their experiences, or for anything outside of the status quo; readers will recognize the lessons they have learned in their century & feel flummoxed, too.
When all is said & done I am disappointed that this book turned out to be a Wikipedia article-style wet dream with barbarically derogatory writing, scrapping the barrel of a baboon-brained bot without the heart to write claustrophobia into tenors. There is no reason to invest time in a story that goes nowhere, one that would do well at the bottom of the gutter where Fred’s body will tumble. I would like to be more forgiving; everyone starts somewhere.
Yet, the author & I have a search tool in common & the casual sense to use it. Aspects of this story that did not make sense left me fact-checking a rather obscene number of occurrences in this book such as the: invention of Safety Coffins by German, Dr. Johann Gottfried Taberger—which lent credence to the time when the story occurs & the nature of the fear of physical proximity; the familiarity of the word “Bitch” as a derogatory term for women—which was used by Fred’s father but did not come into common use, in the way it is known now & in the way it was used in the book, until the late twentieth Century; & the wax moulding of Winifred’s head after her hanging—which was a more common practice in France with Marie Tussaud & would not have been legal in England due to the Obscene Publications Act of 1857 which dictates the illegal display of human bodies, according to the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, to mean, “the display of anatomical specimens as potentially obscene.” (Bates AW. Dr. Kahn's Museum: obscene anatomy in Victorian London. J R Soc Med. 2006 Dec;99(12):618-24. doi: 10.1177/014107680609901209. PMID: 17139064; PMCID: PMC1676337)
Ultimately, with patience, effort, & talent, a worthy story can come from the moulding pile of rotten Long Pig that undulates the ravenous blunt teeth of the mouth that feeds on fireside stories & sultry serpent tongues.
I would encourage the author to spend time with their local librarians, peer-reviewed research papers, worthy editors, & collections of macabre marvels; a story worthy of writing & reading is perhaps yet to come to from their pen, even though the bodice’s ink currently runs dry.
Thank you to NetGalley, W. W. Norton & Company, & Virginia Feito for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Mangled in the Reeds is a whimsical mystery, one that reels the reader through tepid water & oozing sands; Horror must be crafted with care. I have written ad nauseam about the intention that is required of authors when setting out to write a Horror story. Every genre requires a particular set of skills; a good story, remains a good story, no matter who it is for, or under which umbrella of literature it is written.
Yet repeatedly—exhaustively—I find myself met with stories that boast of terror & gruesome horror but deliver none of what was promised. I am left wondering why that is & which reader is lying to the author who pens slop for swine.
In essence, this is a book about a governess who arrives at a wonderful English estate & mass murders all the residents & their guests over the twelve days of Christmas. The plot revolves around Winifred, who goes by Fred, claiming it is the name her inner demon prefers. The main character is a possible Psychopath who might also have Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhidrosis (CIPA). The plot follows her as she arrives at the house, blabbing needlessly to the reader about her need to sexually harass (abuse) others; her intention to violently murder; & finally her silly goose dreams of being hanged.
At first glance, as you read this review you may note that the subject matter is rampant with the need for sensitivity—you would be correct. Indeed, what makes these subject matters so intensive is their cruel participation in the real, non-fictional world. Yet, the simple truth of their existence in the reader’s world does not render any book in which they are included one worthy of reading, or writing.
My main qualm with the Horror genre is that people forget the art of storytelling. This is certainly not specific to the genre, but I find myself curiously disappointed that I am faced with the redundant need to reiterate the obvious when paired with books in a genre I deeply adore. Good writing, good plot-pacing & crafting, good character development, & good structure make for a good story, objectively.
Listing horrible things does not a story make. One need only watch the news to see the horrible things in their interwoven natural states. Though every reader will find different subjects & possibilities frightening & though their tolerance for the cruel, violent, truths may vary, a story is not a list of things; a story is a tapestry.
There is no such tapestry in this book in fact, there is no story here at all. The main character is a person who lived during the late nineteenth century, as per the mention of Queen Victoria & the common use of the bell system in graves—which was designed in 1829.
The timeline is very important, yet it is essentially disregarded by the author. Winifred speaks like a modern American woman & her inner monologue mirrors this. The vernacular that Feito uses in this book does not reflect the time during which the story is meant to take place, nor does it nestle itself in the geographic area where the characters live.
The English high society seldom changed in behaviour & values throughout the centuries leading up to the First World War when the economic standing of the entire United Kingdom suffered enormous loss inducing society to transform into something different & new. However, throughout this entire book, characters who were meant to be of aristocratic stature behaved like grocery store clerks in Appalachia; they didn’t care about dress, behaviour, hierarchy, or stature, they showed up, said some lines & went about their business of reading pornographic books & getting drunk on local liquor. No offence meant towards the Appalachians.
It is strange to have to pinpoint a canvas that lacks direction & flow, in its entirety. Whereas the story could have been saved had the author included characters with gumption, diversity, authenticity, intelligence, & personality, she chose instead to create a mass of hysterical individuals who read like a single glob of flesh fighting against the ostentatious scientist himself.
The over-sexualization of every aspect of the story did not help either. Truly, if one is in the market for a book that simply highlights redundant childhood sexual abuse, one has found the blood-red apple with this book.
Again, I highlight that the reality of these experiences is horrible, but it is not enough to simply name the villain. Humanity knows this reality exists & in some cases, has experienced the venom of vile firsthand. The story needs to introduce these aspects in a format that allows the reader to forget themselves, their comfort, & their safety; making the binds of the book invisible to the touch so that the reader suffocates alongside the characters until the final page turn of reprieve that draws them back to themselves. This is not too much to ask.
Over a few days, perhaps weeks, Fred reminisces about her childhood experiences & attempts to fondle the malleable mind of the reader that her author has declared brain dead. It is interesting for the reader to peer into the truths that the unreliable narrator holds close to their heart like a trump card waiting to be played. Fred is too dull for this to work.
We return to my main point & one which you will see written bulbously & repeatedly throughout this review. It is not enough for Fred to have had a difficult childhood. In fact, it makes no sense that her mother tried to kill her because the alleged Devil lived inside of her. Why did her mother believe this? Is the reader meant to assume that because Fred is a product of an illicit affair her mother developed a psychosis, believing her bastard child the product of the Devil & not, the horny longings of two sexually consenting adults?
Rather than highlight facts in the fiction, Fred narrates her early days as bizarrely silly movements, leaving the reader in the dark, where they remain throughout the entire story. What is the purpose of doing this when the reader is meant to feel disgusted that Fred has an insatiable & somewhat unfounded need to murder at random?
It would have been to the benefit of the plot as a whole to have Fred act somewhat reliably as a narrator. Her recollections of childhood & of a mother who was mentally tormented by the social requirements of her time & class, allow for very intriguing reflections on psychosis, violence, sexual proclivities, & the nature of English society that kept everything, allegedly, in check.
As the times rolled onward, the learned mind explored the negative effects of an overly strict upbringing. Individuals often rebel or reject their experiences entirely, opting to be the polar opposite of what was familiar to them. This is not the case with Fred therefore, what is the situation at hand & what is the reader meant to deduce from this narrator?
What I found most foul in this entire experience is that there appears to have been no effort to write a good story. There are certainly readers who will appreciate the slicing of throats, the murder of babies, the physical despair of children, & the pornographically spiteful behaviours of the characters yet, the author does not attempt to give them any space at the table.
Rather than keep a reader in mind, the author appears to have wanted to write about the floundering extremism that existed in Victorian society without taking the time to research what this meant, in actuality.
Fred is not an anomaly. Indeed, her testimony of sexual encounters, the banal realization that her grandfather was a Pedophile; the morose meandering of her intention to stick her tongue into other people’s orifices, all read as abysmally boring—a word I am loathe to use yet, I find it perfectly reflects the entirety of this book.
This book was boring. Particularly as the author wished to regale the reader with the horrible haunts of humankind, one would have desired a glimmer of perspective regarding the delightful effort that should—& could—have been put forth in the early stages.
Why was Fred speaking in an American dialect? Why was the family so casual concerning her obvious disregard for their children? How was Fred able to murder every single able-bodied adult in the house? Why did Fred spare Drusilla? Why was Fred allowed to stay for Christmas when no one wanted her around—save the patriarch who was interested in engaging in sexual exchanges but, I digress. There are so many questions that can be asked about the events that took place within this book & yet none of them are addressed. Why is that?
A reader might forgive a story that leaves them reeling when they have been taken on a ride. Alternatively, I am left feeling as though my time has been devastatingly wasted by someone whose box of chocolates presented me with sewing needles when what I hoped to find was milky sweets.
There is no excuse for this & you may feel that my review has taken an extreme position of anger over such a small tale of intellectually stunted, wishfully adventurous, & catatonically dreadful characters; I would not contradict you.
I find myself infused with a need to make clear that subject matter of this calibre deserves to be well-written. Each of the characters in this book experienced abuse & although the time in which they lived & breathed was not one of overt kindness or empathy for their experiences, or for anything outside of the status quo; readers will recognize the lessons they have learned in their century & feel flummoxed, too.
When all is said & done I am disappointed that this book turned out to be a Wikipedia article-style wet dream with barbarically derogatory writing, scrapping the barrel of a baboon-brained bot without the heart to write claustrophobia into tenors. There is no reason to invest time in a story that goes nowhere, one that would do well at the bottom of the gutter where Fred’s body will tumble. I would like to be more forgiving; everyone starts somewhere.
Yet, the author & I have a search tool in common & the casual sense to use it. Aspects of this story that did not make sense left me fact-checking a rather obscene number of occurrences in this book such as the: invention of Safety Coffins by German, Dr. Johann Gottfried Taberger—which lent credence to the time when the story occurs & the nature of the fear of physical proximity; the familiarity of the word “Bitch” as a derogatory term for women—which was used by Fred’s father but did not come into common use, in the way it is known now & in the way it was used in the book, until the late twentieth Century; & the wax moulding of Winifred’s head after her hanging—which was a more common practice in France with Marie Tussaud & would not have been legal in England due to the Obscene Publications Act of 1857 which dictates the illegal display of human bodies, according to the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, to mean, “the display of anatomical specimens as potentially obscene.” (Bates AW. Dr. Kahn's Museum: obscene anatomy in Victorian London. J R Soc Med. 2006 Dec;99(12):618-24. doi: 10.1177/014107680609901209. PMID: 17139064; PMCID: PMC1676337)
Ultimately, with patience, effort, & talent, a worthy story can come from the moulding pile of rotten Long Pig that undulates the ravenous blunt teeth of the mouth that feeds on fireside stories & sultry serpent tongues.
I would encourage the author to spend time with their local librarians, peer-reviewed research papers, worthy editors, & collections of macabre marvels; a story worthy of writing & reading is perhaps yet to come to from their pen, even though the bodice’s ink currently runs dry.
Thank you to NetGalley, W. W. Norton & Company, & Virginia Feito for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2025
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!
“It is early fall, the cold is beginning to descend, and in three months everyone in this house will be dead.”
Virginia Feito has done it again! This darkly humorous gothic novella is deeply unsettling and grotesquely macabre.
Winifred Notty has been hired as the new governess of Ensor House, charged with overseeing the education of the Pound children, Andrew and Drusilla. Winifred “Fred” is not your typical Mary Poppins. Instead, she is slowly succumbing to madness, revealing a terrible secret and unleashing a visceral violence that will take everyone by surprise.
“Sometimes evil is born in one of the Lord’s creatures and there’s nowt to do about it, nowt at all.”
This character driven gothic horror plot is absolutely bonkers! If you thought Mrs. March was mad, you need to meet Winifred! This psychopathic antiheroine will have readers furiously flipping the pages to reach the gory conclusion.
Steeped in Victorian feminism, this gripping novella is not to be missed! Feito has achieved auto-request status with this reader!
5/5 stars
Trigger warnings: violence toward children and animal cruelty
Expected publication date: 2/4/25
Thank you to Edelweiss and W.W. Norton publishing for the ARC of Victorian Psycho in exchange for an honest review.
“It is early fall, the cold is beginning to descend, and in three months everyone in this house will be dead.”
Virginia Feito has done it again! This darkly humorous gothic novella is deeply unsettling and grotesquely macabre.
Winifred Notty has been hired as the new governess of Ensor House, charged with overseeing the education of the Pound children, Andrew and Drusilla. Winifred “Fred” is not your typical Mary Poppins. Instead, she is slowly succumbing to madness, revealing a terrible secret and unleashing a visceral violence that will take everyone by surprise.
“Sometimes evil is born in one of the Lord’s creatures and there’s nowt to do about it, nowt at all.”
This character driven gothic horror plot is absolutely bonkers! If you thought Mrs. March was mad, you need to meet Winifred! This psychopathic antiheroine will have readers furiously flipping the pages to reach the gory conclusion.
Steeped in Victorian feminism, this gripping novella is not to be missed! Feito has achieved auto-request status with this reader!
5/5 stars
Trigger warnings: violence toward children and animal cruelty
Expected publication date: 2/4/25
Thank you to Edelweiss and W.W. Norton publishing for the ARC of Victorian Psycho in exchange for an honest review.
February 25, 2025
yet another example of “weird girl lit fic” becoming the fast fashion of the publishing world. if i’m being honest; there’s nothing i liked about this book other than the cover. if it had been a physical copy or ebook rather than an audiobook there’s absolutely no way i would have finished. thank god for 2.5x speed.
i love reading a good horror, i don’t mind the gratuitous violence and body horror/gore that comes with it, however in this instance it felt soooooooo unbelievably juvenile. nasty just for the sake of it with no payoff, no good story line, boring writing. i counted 4 instances of lines that included sucking of fingers. “her boobs jiggled in her corset” literally made me laugh out loud and not in a good way.
sorry for such a nasty review but i felt particularly burned by this book. i’ve seen so many booktokers and bookstagrammers absolutely living breathing dying over this one and i am very suspicious. i have a feeling they’re being paid for good reviews. MAYBE NOT. perhaps i just didn’t enjoy it. but let me live in delusion for a minute.
i love reading a good horror, i don’t mind the gratuitous violence and body horror/gore that comes with it, however in this instance it felt soooooooo unbelievably juvenile. nasty just for the sake of it with no payoff, no good story line, boring writing. i counted 4 instances of lines that included sucking of fingers. “her boobs jiggled in her corset” literally made me laugh out loud and not in a good way.
sorry for such a nasty review but i felt particularly burned by this book. i’ve seen so many booktokers and bookstagrammers absolutely living breathing dying over this one and i am very suspicious. i have a feeling they’re being paid for good reviews. MAYBE NOT. perhaps i just didn’t enjoy it. but let me live in delusion for a minute.
May 14, 2025
The feminine urge to become an unhinged 19th century governess and casually murder the entire household of one's employer.
January 6, 2025
Wonderfully perverse, sometimes bleakly comic take on the Victorian gothic, served up with more than a dash of sensation fiction and a generous dollop of penny dreadful. Outwardly-dutiful governess Winifred Notty is a subversive, unsettling cross between Jane Eyre and Michael Myers, her gruesome past slowly revealed after she takes charge of the son and daughter of the wealthy Pound family. It’s England in the 1850s, the Pounds reside in their isolated, rural, ancestral home Ensor House, its overblown trappings and rigid hierarchies signifying the suffocating excesses and social inequalities of Victorian England – references to James Ensor’s bizarre artwork one of several (heavy) hints at what’s to come. And it’s soon obvious that what’s to come is likely to be a bloodbath, albeit with some unexpected twists and turns along the way.
Feito’s narrative’s deliberately – sometimes ridiculously - over the top culminating in a macabre rescripting of A Christmas Carol. Body horror with a feminist slant, Feito’s combination of revenge fantasy and gorefest plays out like a slow-motion slasher movie – a film version’s already in the works. Feito knows her Victorians, weaving into Notty’s story ongoing commentary on the period’s widespread repression and depravity: from the casual exploitation of the impoverished and enslaved to the prolific murders of babies by foster carers like the notorious Amelia Dyer to the women confined for apparent signs of hysteria and the children tied up at night to guard against masturbation. Although the pacing could be more even, and the critique of gender roles more sophisticated, at its best this is gloriously grisly fun.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher 4th Estate for an ARC
Rating: 3.5
Feito’s narrative’s deliberately – sometimes ridiculously - over the top culminating in a macabre rescripting of A Christmas Carol. Body horror with a feminist slant, Feito’s combination of revenge fantasy and gorefest plays out like a slow-motion slasher movie – a film version’s already in the works. Feito knows her Victorians, weaving into Notty’s story ongoing commentary on the period’s widespread repression and depravity: from the casual exploitation of the impoverished and enslaved to the prolific murders of babies by foster carers like the notorious Amelia Dyer to the women confined for apparent signs of hysteria and the children tied up at night to guard against masturbation. Although the pacing could be more even, and the critique of gender roles more sophisticated, at its best this is gloriously grisly fun.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher 4th Estate for an ARC
Rating: 3.5
March 31, 2025
Don't expect too much from this romp that mixes tropes from Victorian literature with American Psycho and turns it into a satire: It's a fun beach read - not more, and not less. While Bret Easton Ellis' Patrick Bateman functions as a metaphor for narcissism, hypercapitalism and a form of self-improvement that only serves to conform to societal expectations (a.k.a. the most generic idea of "success" or "the American Dream"), Feito's protagonist Winifred Notty has not that many layers to offer, except that she gives sociopathy, murder and the lust for revenge a feminist spin. She is hired as a governess by the equally unlikeable Pounds family to care for their two insufferable, arrogant children (props for writing horrible children - because young people can be assholes, too! :-)). Right at the beginning, we learn that soon, everyone in the family estate will be dead...
I enjoyed how Feito plays cruelty and gore for funsies, adding humor to mutilation and murder - it's intentionally tasteless, a kind of Victorian horror spin on camp. It's grotesque, exaggerated, and implausible, and that's the whole point. Sure, one could ponder whether Winifred's dark urges are nature or nurture, and what Feito aims to say about class and gender, but more than anything this is no-holds-barred entertainment.
A little too superficial, but there should be more grotesque, campy, extra-bloody horror novels.
I enjoyed how Feito plays cruelty and gore for funsies, adding humor to mutilation and murder - it's intentionally tasteless, a kind of Victorian horror spin on camp. It's grotesque, exaggerated, and implausible, and that's the whole point. Sure, one could ponder whether Winifred's dark urges are nature or nurture, and what Feito aims to say about class and gender, but more than anything this is no-holds-barred entertainment.
A little too superficial, but there should be more grotesque, campy, extra-bloody horror novels.
June 9, 2025
—— 𝟒.𝟐𝟓 ✰ 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬. 🐦⬛
❝‘𝓦𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓽𝔂,’ 𝓘 𝓼𝓪𝔂. 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻, 𝓾𝓹𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼, 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷.❞
📖⋮ 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐅𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐨
🗓️⋮ 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝟜/𝟜/𝟚𝟝 - 𝟜/𝟝/𝟚𝟝
📝⋮ 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲
「 ”The riveting tale of a bloodthirsty governess who learns the true meaning of vengeance.”」
‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹
❝𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓵𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓵𝓵, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓭, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓱𝓼 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓭.❞
ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ★★★★.𝟸𝟻
ɢᴏᴏᴅʀᴇᴀᴅꜱ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: 𝟹.𝟼𝟻 ☆ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ
ᴘᴀɪʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ: ᴡᴀꜱꜱᴀɪʟ 🥃
ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ: 🍂🎄
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: 📻 ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ ꜰʟᴏᴏʀ ♪ ꜱᴏᴘʜɪᴇ ᴇʟʟɪꜱ ʙᴇxᴛᴇʀ
ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅ?: ɴᴏᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ
ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
🐦⬛ᴅᴀʀᴋ ʜᴜᴍᴏʀ
🐦⬛ᴇᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪᴄʜ
🐦⬛ᴠɪᴄᴛᴏʀɪᴀɴ ᴇʀᴀ
🐦⬛ᴀᴍᴇʀɪᴄᴀɴ ᴘꜱʏᴄʜᴏ
🐦⬛ᴜɴʜɪɴɢᴇᴅ ꜰᴇᴍᴀʟᴇꜱ
🐦⬛ᴜɴʀᴇʟɪᴀʙʟᴇ ɴᴀʀʀᴀᴛᴏʀꜱ
🐦⬛ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴄᴀʟ ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ x ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ
⚠️ TW: body horror, child abuse, child/baby death, animal torture, animal death, violence, gory scenes
❝𝓢𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓯𝓲𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮 𝓶𝓮.❞
‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹
💬⋮ Ok wow… I finished this book late last night & literally had to sleep on my review. I went into this book thinking it was going to be a thriller, spooky nanny story like the show Bly Manor so you can understand my surprise when we got a look into Winifred’s… unique.. mind.
• Victorian Psycho is a hard one for me to rate. I wouldn’t say it was a happy or a necessarily enjoyable read, but it was so unhinged, unpredictable, unsettling, & humorous that I couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what Winifred’s next move was going to be.
• I would’ve rated this higher if it wasn’t for Winifred’s constant need to lick her bloody/gory fingers (out of all the gory scenes that’s what gave me the ick the most go figure 😂), but the number one reason was the animal abuse. I mean I get why it was needed, to show how much of a psychopath Winnifred is, I just can’t handle any animal abuse. Other than that, I probably would’ve rated this a a little higher.
• Don’t read this if you’re not a horror fan & please check the trigger reviews because some scenes were A LOT.
‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹
❝𝓢𝓾𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼 𝓭𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓰𝓮𝓭, 𝓸𝓻 𝓲𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓭𝓸, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓾𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓭𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶. 𝓜𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓫𝓪𝓭 𝓵𝓾𝓬𝓴 𝔀𝓪𝓼𝓷’𝓽 𝓪 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓼𝓮𝓻𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱𝔂. 𝓘 𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓿𝓮 𝓲𝓽, 𝓽𝓸𝓸. 𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮, 𝓱𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻, 𝓘’𝓿𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓮 𝓫𝓸𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓾𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓬𝓬𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼 𝓷𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓵𝓪𝓭𝓭𝓮𝓻.❞
‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹
✒️𓂃 ᴍᴏʀᴇ Qᴜᴏᴛᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴛᴜᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ:
❝𝓘𝓽 𝓯𝓪𝓼𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼 𝓶𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓪𝓬𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓾𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓪𝓬𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽, 𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓸.❞
❝𝓘 𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓽𝓸 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓱𝔂 𝓶𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴 𝓸𝓯 𝓿𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝔀𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷. 𝓦𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷, 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓼 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓱, 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓻𝓾𝓫 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓬𝓵𝓸𝓽𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓼, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓬𝓪𝓷’𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂’𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓬𝓵𝓸𝓽𝓼, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂’𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓾𝓮-𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓶𝓫. 𝓦𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓷 𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓭𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱, 𝓿𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓪 𝓼𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓾𝓼 𝓼𝓪𝓰𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓽𝓲𝓷𝔂, 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓪𝓲𝓵𝓼 𝓬𝓵𝓪𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶, 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓸𝓷.❞
❝𝓛𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵𝓼 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓲𝓵𝓵, 𝓽𝓸𝓸 – ’𝓽𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓭𝓸.❞
‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹ ‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹ ‧
July 20, 2025
You can never be too careful about who you let watch your kids. Winifred appears to be the perfect governess when she arrives at Ensor House to care for the Pounds family’s children, but she has secrets…dark ones. And this Victorian estate is about to turn into a bloodbath. Putting a spin on the gothic genre, this story features a governess as the villain…or at least, as one of them.
This macabre dark comedy was deliciously fun to read. Winifred isn’t a particularly likeable main character but it was a hell of a lot of fun being inside her head. The story is tightly paced with an excellent ending. I wouldn’t recommend this one if you’re squeamish or sensitive to violence. Otherwise, you should definitely read this book!
This macabre dark comedy was deliciously fun to read. Winifred isn’t a particularly likeable main character but it was a hell of a lot of fun being inside her head. The story is tightly paced with an excellent ending. I wouldn’t recommend this one if you’re squeamish or sensitive to violence. Otherwise, you should definitely read this book!
February 5, 2025
Gory, gristly, odd, and unhinged. What did I just read?
Okay, let’s just start with this line:
"It is early fall, the cold is beginning to descend, and in three months everyone in this house will be dead."
With that, I knew I was in for something twisted but I didn’t expect anything like this. I’m still trying to figure out how I felt about it. I think this review is where I’ll untangle my feelings, but one thing is certain: this book was a lot.
Mrs. March Losing Her Mind—Winifred Lost All Restraint
I loved Virginia Feito Mrs. March. It was all about paranoia, repression, and a woman unraveling under the weight of her own insecurities.
But in Victorian Psycho, Feito has forgotten slow-burn psychological horror and hurled us headfirst into pure, grotesque excess.
Winifred and Mrs. March couldn’t be more different. Where Mrs. March is anxious, fragile, and suffocated by societal expectations, Winifred is bold, wickedly sharp, and utterly untethered. This isn’t the fun, messy kind of unhinged. Winifred is cruel, broken by the world, and rather than crumbling, she’s decided to set it all on fire.
Monster or Feminist Force
Winifred isn’t your typical governess–meek and at the mercy of her employers. She’s rebellious, sharp, and maybe even a feminist force forging her own twisted cruel path. Her perception is grotesque as if she chooses to filter the world through the lens of brutality. But why? Is she evil? The product trauma? A woman reclaiming power in the only way she knows
And yet… her razor-edged humor is entertaining. Her snide remarks and biting observations were darkly entertaining.
Gory, Grisly, and Completely Unhinged
There are unhinged characters, and then there are unhinged plots—and this one takes the cake. At first, the horror creeps with little crumbs of gore, unsettling enough to make me pause, tilt my head, and wonder, Did that really just happen? And then thrown headfirst into unrelenting, gore that my mind started filtering out.
Reading or Listening?
Honestly, I think you need to do both. I had both an eGalley and audiobook—and I had to constantly switch between them just to give myself a moment to breathe. I enjoyed the narrator and listening to but it did require me to stay focused and I times I was not sure I wanted to.
This isn’t quiet horror. This isn’t a slow unraveling. This is full-throttle chaos
I received both an eGalley and audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley
Okay, let’s just start with this line:
"It is early fall, the cold is beginning to descend, and in three months everyone in this house will be dead."
With that, I knew I was in for something twisted but I didn’t expect anything like this. I’m still trying to figure out how I felt about it. I think this review is where I’ll untangle my feelings, but one thing is certain: this book was a lot.
Mrs. March Losing Her Mind—Winifred Lost All Restraint
I loved Virginia Feito Mrs. March. It was all about paranoia, repression, and a woman unraveling under the weight of her own insecurities.
But in Victorian Psycho, Feito has forgotten slow-burn psychological horror and hurled us headfirst into pure, grotesque excess.
Winifred and Mrs. March couldn’t be more different. Where Mrs. March is anxious, fragile, and suffocated by societal expectations, Winifred is bold, wickedly sharp, and utterly untethered. This isn’t the fun, messy kind of unhinged. Winifred is cruel, broken by the world, and rather than crumbling, she’s decided to set it all on fire.
Monster or Feminist Force
Winifred isn’t your typical governess–meek and at the mercy of her employers. She’s rebellious, sharp, and maybe even a feminist force forging her own twisted cruel path. Her perception is grotesque as if she chooses to filter the world through the lens of brutality. But why? Is she evil? The product trauma? A woman reclaiming power in the only way she knows
And yet… her razor-edged humor is entertaining. Her snide remarks and biting observations were darkly entertaining.
Gory, Grisly, and Completely Unhinged
There are unhinged characters, and then there are unhinged plots—and this one takes the cake. At first, the horror creeps with little crumbs of gore, unsettling enough to make me pause, tilt my head, and wonder, Did that really just happen? And then thrown headfirst into unrelenting, gore that my mind started filtering out.
Reading or Listening?
Honestly, I think you need to do both. I had both an eGalley and audiobook—and I had to constantly switch between them just to give myself a moment to breathe. I enjoyed the narrator and listening to but it did require me to stay focused and I times I was not sure I wanted to.
This isn’t quiet horror. This isn’t a slow unraveling. This is full-throttle chaos
I received both an eGalley and audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley
January 9, 2025
‘Victorian Psyco’ es una novela macabra, oscuramente divertida y atrapante.
Winifred Notty (jeje) llega a Ensor House para trabajar como institutriz de los hijos de los señores de la casa y deberá hacer todo lo posible para educarles en la rectitud victoriana. Todos en esa casa ocultan secretos que poco a poco irán saliendo a la luz y os adelanto que no faltará sangre. ¿Cuál será el papel de la señorita Notty en todo esto?
Si has leído ‘La señora March’, encontrarás en esta historia el que ya podemos decir estilo característico de la autora: narradora no fiable, personajes con un pasado que les atormenta, capítulos cortos, escenas ambiguas para despistar,…
🩸Lo que más me ha gustado:
-La ambientación victoriana
-La mezcla entre novela gótica, de misterio y thriller psicológico
-El humor oscuro y sarcástico
-Winifred Notty, toda ella
-Lo que me enganchó (devorado en 2 días)
-Las escenas que me dejaron con la boca abierta
-Guiños a novelas que amo como ‘El papel pintado amarillo’ o ‘El cuento de la criada’ entre otras.
🔪Lo que menos me ha gustado:
-Un poco inverosímil (pero es verdad que eso lo hace más diver)
-Hubiera apreciado más páginas y detalle en algunas cosas que quedan solo bosquejadas
-Un poco predecible
‘Victorian Psyco’ consiguió esa sensación mágica de absorberme y que hiciera lo que hiciera, mi cabeza estaba en la novela. Me sacó un par de carcajadas y amé a Winifred con toda su oscuridad. Con todo, no puedo evitar sentir que me faltó algo para que terminara de encantarme, pero el disfrute del camino, nadie me lo quita.
Un libro genial para cuando busques un “pasa páginas” perverso y divertido pero si buscas una novela seria, no es esta.
Winifred Notty (jeje) llega a Ensor House para trabajar como institutriz de los hijos de los señores de la casa y deberá hacer todo lo posible para educarles en la rectitud victoriana. Todos en esa casa ocultan secretos que poco a poco irán saliendo a la luz y os adelanto que no faltará sangre. ¿Cuál será el papel de la señorita Notty en todo esto?
Si has leído ‘La señora March’, encontrarás en esta historia el que ya podemos decir estilo característico de la autora: narradora no fiable, personajes con un pasado que les atormenta, capítulos cortos, escenas ambiguas para despistar,…
🩸Lo que más me ha gustado:
-La ambientación victoriana
-La mezcla entre novela gótica, de misterio y thriller psicológico
-El humor oscuro y sarcástico
-Winifred Notty, toda ella
-Lo que me enganchó (devorado en 2 días)
-Las escenas que me dejaron con la boca abierta
-Guiños a novelas que amo como ‘El papel pintado amarillo’ o ‘El cuento de la criada’ entre otras.
🔪Lo que menos me ha gustado:
-Un poco inverosímil (pero es verdad que eso lo hace más diver)
-Hubiera apreciado más páginas y detalle en algunas cosas que quedan solo bosquejadas
-Un poco predecible
‘Victorian Psyco’ consiguió esa sensación mágica de absorberme y que hiciera lo que hiciera, mi cabeza estaba en la novela. Me sacó un par de carcajadas y amé a Winifred con toda su oscuridad. Con todo, no puedo evitar sentir que me faltó algo para que terminara de encantarme, pero el disfrute del camino, nadie me lo quita.
Un libro genial para cuando busques un “pasa páginas” perverso y divertido pero si buscas una novela seria, no es esta.
March 7, 2025
fun fact: queen Victoria inspired blue eyes in dolls. before her they used to just be brown hehe
this was the perfect amount of unhinged & the sophisticated writing with the balance of intensity and humor is brilliant.
this was the perfect amount of unhinged & the sophisticated writing with the balance of intensity and humor is brilliant.
March 24, 2025
This book was deliciously fun. It is aptly titled. All the character names cracked me up because they were so on the nose (Winifred Notty, everything about whom is a duality and a conundrum and both knotty and naughty, Mr and Mrs Pounds who are full of British pounds, Miss Lamb who is both innocent and a sacrificial lamb, Mrs Able who is an able servant, Miss Fancey and Miss Manners who socialize with the Pounds - these are the ones that come to mind, but pretty sure everyone had a name like that).
It’s hard to tell how much of what Fred tells us is true, how much is fantasy/homicidal ideation, how much is imagined, etc.). It’s unclear if she is a true psycho or if all of the gore only lives in her head, or if she actually ought to be diagnosed with some other mental illness, like schizophrenia. As a result, there are a lot of unanswered questions (like, how did she really get this job, what is her real relationship with John, why haven’t there been any consequences, why hasn’t anyone connected the dots, etc.).
I also found the contrast with the upper class hysterical. They expect the governess to raise the children, one woman obviously doesn't even know what her baby’s face looks like, and no one notices when servants go missing, as a few examples.
Our Fred is certainly a survivor of nothing else. If we are to believe her narration completely, she has been getting away with murder done childhood. She’s gotten clever enough in how she’s been disposing of bodies (especially the babies). She can gaslight with the best of them. She has enough wherewithal to know she has to pretend to want a heteronormative life. She is well focused on her objectives. She knows how to take care of her own business, no mater the situation. As far as psychos go, I love this character, and the ending is pretty great. She goes out like the rock star that she is. She’ll be a legend for ages after she’s gone too, while all those wealthy and privileged people she hates will be nothing be footnotes in her outsized life. Go Fred!
I loved it so much that I read it twice back to back!
It’s hard to tell how much of what Fred tells us is true, how much is fantasy/homicidal ideation, how much is imagined, etc.). It’s unclear if she is a true psycho or if all of the gore only lives in her head, or if she actually ought to be diagnosed with some other mental illness, like schizophrenia. As a result, there are a lot of unanswered questions (like, how did she really get this job, what is her real relationship with John, why haven’t there been any consequences, why hasn’t anyone connected the dots, etc.).
I also found the contrast with the upper class hysterical. They expect the governess to raise the children, one woman obviously doesn't even know what her baby’s face looks like, and no one notices when servants go missing, as a few examples.
Our Fred is certainly a survivor of nothing else. If we are to believe her narration completely, she has been getting away with murder done childhood. She’s gotten clever enough in how she’s been disposing of bodies (especially the babies). She can gaslight with the best of them. She has enough wherewithal to know she has to pretend to want a heteronormative life. She is well focused on her objectives. She knows how to take care of her own business, no mater the situation. As far as psychos go, I love this character, and the ending is pretty great. She goes out like the rock star that she is. She’ll be a legend for ages after she’s gone too, while all those wealthy and privileged people she hates will be nothing be footnotes in her outsized life. Go Fred!
I loved it so much that I read it twice back to back!
January 31, 2025
Little girls everywhere will know they can aspire to kill, too - 'tis not only the men that do.
There's pretty much a whole sub-genre of books deconstructing Victorian culture and literature from a feminist viewpoint but none quite as gleefully perverse and blood-drenched as this one. And I mean that in the best way.
Feito knows her Victorian literature and starts, as so many books do, with the arrival of a new governess at the local 'big house' belonging to the archly-named Mr and Mrs Pound. And names, in a Dickensian fashion, matter here: our governess is the nihilistically appelled Miss Notty who has come from Hopefernon (hope for none) to Grim Wolds.
But the fun doesn't stop there. A self-confessed psychopath with no feelings, Miss Notty forms strange bonds with her pupils, especially the girl, Drusilla (think The Turn of the Screw) and sets out on her wayward career of destruction to culminate in that tradition of the Victorian Christmas.
Throughout there are nods and winks to the reader from the death-filled prologue ('it's crushed in paint, it's papered on the walls. Everywhere, death') to the allusions and intertexts to Victorian classics: the Brontes, Dickens, Wilkie Collins - and a direct reference to The Yellow Wallpaper: 'through the damask pattern in the wallpaper, a woman beckons to me'.
This may not be subtle in the way it takes on all the tropes that repress and contain women in Victorian fiction but it is huge fun. It's also short enough not to outstay its welcome and contains some striking images: the burning woman wandering through the house, the eyes of the family portraits, the final bow and arrows (that also made me think of We Need to Talk About Kevin and its engagement with motherhood).
I guess it's worth saying that some of the original texts, especially those of the Brontes, have already been read by feminist scholars to contain their own contestations of the Victorian ideologies they purport to uphold - so in that sense this isn't doing anything particularly revelatory or insightful. Nevertheless, this is a fun pager-turner that romps along using all the tropes of Gothic and nineteenth century decadence in a productive manner. And there are some glorious one-liners: 'Mrs Able, I muse, is a woman who has never held a penis' - reader, I laughed out loud! 3.5 stars
Thanks to 4th Estate for an ARC via Netgalley.
October 9, 2025
Bonkers!
Miss Winifred Notty is employed by Mr and Mrs Pound as governess to their children Andrew and Drusilla and I’ll say no more as to meet Miss Notty (and the children are like no other) is a treat (?!?!?) in store.
It’s horrifying in places and a hoot in others as some of Winifred’s observations are hilarious so I range from bursting out laughing to grossing out! It’s wicked, mad, ghostly, eerie, creepy and revolting in turn and yet I couldn’t put it down. Really captures the tone of a 19th century gothic novel in language etc but I doubt Victorians would have approved of this! I’m glad I jump aboard this crazy ride.
Miss Winifred Notty is employed by Mr and Mrs Pound as governess to their children Andrew and Drusilla and I’ll say no more as to meet Miss Notty (and the children are like no other) is a treat (?!?!?) in store.
It’s horrifying in places and a hoot in others as some of Winifred’s observations are hilarious so I range from bursting out laughing to grossing out! It’s wicked, mad, ghostly, eerie, creepy and revolting in turn and yet I couldn’t put it down. Really captures the tone of a 19th century gothic novel in language etc but I doubt Victorians would have approved of this! I’m glad I jump aboard this crazy ride.
August 2, 2025
Unfortunately, there was nothing about this that I liked. The basic synopsis is Winifred Notty has been employed as governess by the Pound family. Winifred has a bit of dark humor, which is the only reason I didn’t give this one star. There is no plot until the very end and I struggled with the writing style. I did like the cover on the hardback copy if that counts for something.
I feel like I should have more of an in-depth review, but really don’t have anything more to say about this one.
I feel like I should have more of an in-depth review, but really don’t have anything more to say about this one.
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