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Hysterical
She’s not the final girl. She’s the reason there’s no one left.
In the chaotic allure of 2013 New York City, Jessie Anne appears to have it all sharp wit, quiet intensity, and a wild nightlife filled with underground raves and unconventional gigs. But beneath her composed exterior lies a fractured psyche consumed by unrequited love for her best friend, Tinsel, and a dangerous fascination with death.
As her infatuation with Tinsel deepens, Jessie’s double life begins to blur. The lines between love, envy, and obsession vanish, pulling her further into fantasies she can no longer control. People in her life become pawns—tools to process her frustration and rejection, leaving a bloody trail in their wake.
Hysterical is a visceral journey into the twisted psyche of a woman navigating love, obsession, and her most disturbing cravings. Amber Dean’s chilling debut blends biting humor with unnerving suspense, exploring the raw underbelly of city life where pleasure and peril collide.
In the chaotic allure of 2013 New York City, Jessie Anne appears to have it all sharp wit, quiet intensity, and a wild nightlife filled with underground raves and unconventional gigs. But beneath her composed exterior lies a fractured psyche consumed by unrequited love for her best friend, Tinsel, and a dangerous fascination with death.
As her infatuation with Tinsel deepens, Jessie’s double life begins to blur. The lines between love, envy, and obsession vanish, pulling her further into fantasies she can no longer control. People in her life become pawns—tools to process her frustration and rejection, leaving a bloody trail in their wake.
Hysterical is a visceral journey into the twisted psyche of a woman navigating love, obsession, and her most disturbing cravings. Amber Dean’s chilling debut blends biting humor with unnerving suspense, exploring the raw underbelly of city life where pleasure and peril collide.
- GenresHorror
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2025
4 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Amber Dean
1 book5 followersAmber Dean is originally from New York. She now lives in Abu Dhabi with her family and rescue animals. Hysterical is her first novel; her second is in progress.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 10, 2025
4.25/5
This book is intense, much like how the main character is described throughout. It’s also deranged, intoxicating and brutal. And for the most part I LOVED IT. The main character, Jessie, is such a great unreliable narrator bc not only is she definitely having some mental health struggles (i.e. is a lil crazy😬) but she’s also an addict and just doing tons of drugs, constantly fueling her obsession, bad decisions and psychosis. The setting is ✨2013 nyc✨and it’s verrrrry 🏳️🌈gay/homoerotic🏳️🌈 feat. a v ☠️toxic female friendship☠️and it was mostly incredibly fun for a weirdo reader such as myself. However, there were a lot of very gory and/or sexual scenes… something I don’t really enjoy, but i must admit was very effective in keeping me engaged with (and disgusted in) the book! The author is super creative, and this is an impressive debut novel imo. While not a perfect 5 star read for me, I think it will be for many, and is especially going to hit for fans of ‘Open Wide,’ ‘Maeve Fly,’ ‘Any Man,’ 'The Eyes Are the Best Part' and ‘American Psycho.’
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the opportunity to receive an ARC of this novel, set to be published 12.15.25!
This book is intense, much like how the main character is described throughout. It’s also deranged, intoxicating and brutal. And for the most part I LOVED IT. The main character, Jessie, is such a great unreliable narrator bc not only is she definitely having some mental health struggles (i.e. is a lil crazy😬) but she’s also an addict and just doing tons of drugs, constantly fueling her obsession, bad decisions and psychosis. The setting is ✨2013 nyc✨and it’s verrrrry 🏳️🌈gay/homoerotic🏳️🌈 feat. a v ☠️toxic female friendship☠️and it was mostly incredibly fun for a weirdo reader such as myself. However, there were a lot of very gory and/or sexual scenes… something I don’t really enjoy, but i must admit was very effective in keeping me engaged with (and disgusted in) the book! The author is super creative, and this is an impressive debut novel imo. While not a perfect 5 star read for me, I think it will be for many, and is especially going to hit for fans of ‘Open Wide,’ ‘Maeve Fly,’ ‘Any Man,’ 'The Eyes Are the Best Part' and ‘American Psycho.’
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the opportunity to receive an ARC of this novel, set to be published 12.15.25!
December 21, 2025
4⭐️
Hysterical is a fearless plunge into obsession, identity, and the feral hunger to understand who we really are beneath the shells we wear. Set against a grim, neon soaked 2013 New York City, Amber Dean delivers a debut that feels raw, erotic, deeply unsettling, and strangely vulnerable. The energy is relentless & it feels like being dragged inside a head that won’t stop spinning.
We follow Jessie aka Raz who’s spiraling while trying to survive, navigating sex work, power dynamics, a sugar daddy relationship, and a life shaped around performance and survival. What makes this novel hit hard isn’t just the shock value (even though that’s a huge part of it) - it’s the psychology, the ache, the way she studies the masks people wear and becomes obsessed with peeling them away.. almost literally. She wants to crawl inside the ones she loves just to understand the truth of them and which “mask” they wear. Jessie’s fixation becomes feral, desperate, and deeply human in the most disturbing way.
Hysterical dives unapologetically into transgressive territory. Desire, violence, shame, intimacy, loneliness, and self discovery collide in scenes that are difficult to look away from and make you hope that you never come in contact with someone as troubled as her tbh.
This is a sick, twisted, confident, and wildly compelling story. It won’t be for everyone, but readers who love dark psychological character studies and fiction that pushes boundaries will find this electric. Amber Dean shows enormous promise and a voice that refuses to play it safe.
Content considerations include obsession, sexual content, sex work, psychological instability, violence, and disturbing imagery.
I received access to this title through BookSirens. This review is voluntary and reflects my honest opinion.
Hysterical is a fearless plunge into obsession, identity, and the feral hunger to understand who we really are beneath the shells we wear. Set against a grim, neon soaked 2013 New York City, Amber Dean delivers a debut that feels raw, erotic, deeply unsettling, and strangely vulnerable. The energy is relentless & it feels like being dragged inside a head that won’t stop spinning.
We follow Jessie aka Raz who’s spiraling while trying to survive, navigating sex work, power dynamics, a sugar daddy relationship, and a life shaped around performance and survival. What makes this novel hit hard isn’t just the shock value (even though that’s a huge part of it) - it’s the psychology, the ache, the way she studies the masks people wear and becomes obsessed with peeling them away.. almost literally. She wants to crawl inside the ones she loves just to understand the truth of them and which “mask” they wear. Jessie’s fixation becomes feral, desperate, and deeply human in the most disturbing way.
Hysterical dives unapologetically into transgressive territory. Desire, violence, shame, intimacy, loneliness, and self discovery collide in scenes that are difficult to look away from and make you hope that you never come in contact with someone as troubled as her tbh.
This is a sick, twisted, confident, and wildly compelling story. It won’t be for everyone, but readers who love dark psychological character studies and fiction that pushes boundaries will find this electric. Amber Dean shows enormous promise and a voice that refuses to play it safe.
Content considerations include obsession, sexual content, sex work, psychological instability, violence, and disturbing imagery.
I received access to this title through BookSirens. This review is voluntary and reflects my honest opinion.
December 24, 2025
Bloody, brilliant, unhinged. My jaw was on the floor and I loved every second of it
December 23, 2025
If the reaction to a man saying "calm down" were a book, it would be this one.
In all honesty, I had a hard time reading this one at first - not because of anything Dean did but because I came into this having read Maeve Fly by CJ Leede twice this year. I couldn't help but compare the two, and I really love Maeve Fly. There were so many thematic parallels. There were moments when I'd read something and go "I don't think I like this book," and then I'd sit with that feeling only to then go "No, I love this book." I can't remember the last time a book did that to me. I've read a lot of books about feminine rage. I've read a lot of books about unhinged characters who obsess over someone or something else. This one melted those two tropes together like a roux on a stovetop (cooking metaphor appropriate to the source material).
In this one we see Jessie, a part-time sex worker/full-time psychopath, and her relationships (or lack thereof) with her self-obsessed best friend Tinsel and her rich-friend-with-benefits Mr. Wall Street. We don't know too much about Jessie (something I wish we got more of), but we do know she loves her some cocaine, some sex, and some good old-fashioned torture fantasies. She spends her days doing a whole lot of nothing and her nights going to parties, eating and drinking, plotting revenge on anyone and everyone - you know, the usual. Everyone she meets is either delusional, pretentious, oblivious, or obnoxious. I hated every single character in this book, and in this case, I'll say that enhanced the story for me. I could not relate to anyone, and boy did that make this an even more fun read.
First, we learn real quick that Jessie has a hard time with the seemingly one-sided friendship she has with Tinsel. To Jessie, Tinsel is someone with whom she feels a connection that just doesn't always seem to be reciprocated. Their relationship is built on quick bursts of manic love-bombing and what I can only describe as emotional withdrawal. It's in the withdrawal moments where we see Jessie at her most unhinged. This becomes more of a pattern the more we see Jessie interact with Mr. Wall Street as well. I had so much fun waiting to see what ridiculous thought Jessie would embrace and how she'd feed her obsessions (pun intended). When the people closest to her disappoint her, she focuses on how she can punish them. Under most circumstances, Jessie really wants to cut them open and see what's inside - literally.
One of the small issues I had with this book, however, is just how many times Jessie TELLS us she wants to cut someone open or slice them apart and take out their organs. She's hyper-focused on really getting to know people, but the amount of times she uses the cutting and slicing metaphor became a little too much. Issue aside, the slow-burn feminine rage toward Mr. Wall Street in the Airbnb (I'm sorry WHAT did that man just say??) was top-tier. There were couple other instances of Jessie giving it to some dumbass, but I wish we'd seen more of this kind of foot-in-mouth fallout throughout the novel. These moments were my favorite.
By the end of the novel, I felt like I wanted to know more about Jessie and her motivations. She would want everyone around her to drop their masks, but she never really dropped her own until the very end. Maybe that was an authorial choice, but I as much as Jessie was an absolute terror, I loved her for that and I wanted to know what brought her to this point. Maybe one day, we'll get a prequel?
Overall, while I couldn't relate to it, this novel was wild ride that I appreciated. I'm excited to see what Amber Dean does next. She's got a brave, unapologetic voice that I want more of.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Amber Dean for this ARC. This review contains my honest, authentic thoughts and opinions.*
In all honesty, I had a hard time reading this one at first - not because of anything Dean did but because I came into this having read Maeve Fly by CJ Leede twice this year. I couldn't help but compare the two, and I really love Maeve Fly. There were so many thematic parallels. There were moments when I'd read something and go "I don't think I like this book," and then I'd sit with that feeling only to then go "No, I love this book." I can't remember the last time a book did that to me. I've read a lot of books about feminine rage. I've read a lot of books about unhinged characters who obsess over someone or something else. This one melted those two tropes together like a roux on a stovetop (cooking metaphor appropriate to the source material).
In this one we see Jessie, a part-time sex worker/full-time psychopath, and her relationships (or lack thereof) with her self-obsessed best friend Tinsel and her rich-friend-with-benefits Mr. Wall Street. We don't know too much about Jessie (something I wish we got more of), but we do know she loves her some cocaine, some sex, and some good old-fashioned torture fantasies. She spends her days doing a whole lot of nothing and her nights going to parties, eating and drinking, plotting revenge on anyone and everyone - you know, the usual. Everyone she meets is either delusional, pretentious, oblivious, or obnoxious. I hated every single character in this book, and in this case, I'll say that enhanced the story for me. I could not relate to anyone, and boy did that make this an even more fun read.
First, we learn real quick that Jessie has a hard time with the seemingly one-sided friendship she has with Tinsel. To Jessie, Tinsel is someone with whom she feels a connection that just doesn't always seem to be reciprocated. Their relationship is built on quick bursts of manic love-bombing and what I can only describe as emotional withdrawal. It's in the withdrawal moments where we see Jessie at her most unhinged. This becomes more of a pattern the more we see Jessie interact with Mr. Wall Street as well. I had so much fun waiting to see what ridiculous thought Jessie would embrace and how she'd feed her obsessions (pun intended). When the people closest to her disappoint her, she focuses on how she can punish them. Under most circumstances, Jessie really wants to cut them open and see what's inside - literally.
One of the small issues I had with this book, however, is just how many times Jessie TELLS us she wants to cut someone open or slice them apart and take out their organs. She's hyper-focused on really getting to know people, but the amount of times she uses the cutting and slicing metaphor became a little too much. Issue aside, the slow-burn feminine rage toward Mr. Wall Street in the Airbnb (I'm sorry WHAT did that man just say??) was top-tier. There were couple other instances of Jessie giving it to some dumbass, but I wish we'd seen more of this kind of foot-in-mouth fallout throughout the novel. These moments were my favorite.
By the end of the novel, I felt like I wanted to know more about Jessie and her motivations. She would want everyone around her to drop their masks, but she never really dropped her own until the very end. Maybe that was an authorial choice, but I as much as Jessie was an absolute terror, I loved her for that and I wanted to know what brought her to this point. Maybe one day, we'll get a prequel?
Overall, while I couldn't relate to it, this novel was wild ride that I appreciated. I'm excited to see what Amber Dean does next. She's got a brave, unapologetic voice that I want more of.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Amber Dean for this ARC. This review contains my honest, authentic thoughts and opinions.*
December 18, 2025
BWAF Score: 7/10
TL;DR: Hysterical is a sweaty, coke-dusted NYC spiral that starts as sex-work survival math and ends as a love story told with knives, teeth, and a devotional level of bad decisions. It’s viciously readable, often funny in that “oh god, I should not be laughing” way, and it lands hardest when it treats obsession like a religion you keep feeding until it feeds back.
Amber Dean is originally from New York and now lives in Abu Dhabi with her family and rescue animals; Hysterical is her first novel, with a second in progress.
Our POV is Jessie, a young woman trying to build a “safe” life in 2013 New York while escorting, partying, and clinging to control like it’s oxygen. She gets pulled into a glossy orbit of money and curated masculinity through Mr. Wall Street, and into something far more dangerous through Tinsel, a friend-shaped black hole of charisma. Jessie wants to be chosen, kept, adored, and she will do absolutely deranged shit to make that happen, especially once blood becomes part of the plan.
The book’s secret weapon is how it weaponizes longing. Jessie’s not just “unreliable,” she’s strategic about the stories she tells herself, and that makes the descent feel like watching someone tighten their own tourniquet and call it self-care. When the violence escalates, it’s not random splatter. It’s ritual. A table set for two. A body turned into proof. A domestic fantasy pushed past the cliff edge until it’s chewing on you. The late-game commitment to that idea is genuinely jaw-dropping, in the literal “holy shit” sense.
Dean writes in clean, fast, confessional blades. The sentences are glossy when Jessie is performing “girlhood” and clipped when she’s hunting clarity. The book is great at the texture of nightlife: the curated outfits, the humiliations, the hunger hiding under banter, the way men talk like HR complaints are a personality. And when it goes full nightmare, it stays oddly precise, like the narrator is cataloging a crime scene to keep from feeling it. That steadiness makes the book hard to put down, even when you want to take the moral equivalent of a shower.
This is a novel about desire as captivity. Jessie keeps trying to trade herself for safety, then trades safety for intensity, and then intensity for… permanence. Underneath the gore, the horror engine is the belief that love can be earned through enough performance, enough sacrifice, enough making-yourself-small. The aftertaste is rancid and sad: the question of what happens when the only “tenderness” you’ve ever trusted is possession, and the only way you can imagine keeping someone is to make them still.
As a debut, this is impressively confident: it marries transgressive downtown-goth energy to true-crime cultural static, then twists it into a critique of how women are taught to survive by being consumable. It’s not the most elegant book you’ll read this year, but it’s one you’ll remember, partly because it has the guts (sometimes literally) to follow its thesis all the way to the cops-at-the-door endpoint.
A sharp, nasty, darkly magnetic obsession spiral that sticks the landing by refusing to blink first, even when it gets fucking grotesque.
Read if you can handle escalating gore that’s framed like devotion.
Skip if you need likable decisions or a “growth arc” that doesn’t end in a dumpster fire.
TL;DR: Hysterical is a sweaty, coke-dusted NYC spiral that starts as sex-work survival math and ends as a love story told with knives, teeth, and a devotional level of bad decisions. It’s viciously readable, often funny in that “oh god, I should not be laughing” way, and it lands hardest when it treats obsession like a religion you keep feeding until it feeds back.
Amber Dean is originally from New York and now lives in Abu Dhabi with her family and rescue animals; Hysterical is her first novel, with a second in progress.
Our POV is Jessie, a young woman trying to build a “safe” life in 2013 New York while escorting, partying, and clinging to control like it’s oxygen. She gets pulled into a glossy orbit of money and curated masculinity through Mr. Wall Street, and into something far more dangerous through Tinsel, a friend-shaped black hole of charisma. Jessie wants to be chosen, kept, adored, and she will do absolutely deranged shit to make that happen, especially once blood becomes part of the plan.
The book’s secret weapon is how it weaponizes longing. Jessie’s not just “unreliable,” she’s strategic about the stories she tells herself, and that makes the descent feel like watching someone tighten their own tourniquet and call it self-care. When the violence escalates, it’s not random splatter. It’s ritual. A table set for two. A body turned into proof. A domestic fantasy pushed past the cliff edge until it’s chewing on you. The late-game commitment to that idea is genuinely jaw-dropping, in the literal “holy shit” sense.
Dean writes in clean, fast, confessional blades. The sentences are glossy when Jessie is performing “girlhood” and clipped when she’s hunting clarity. The book is great at the texture of nightlife: the curated outfits, the humiliations, the hunger hiding under banter, the way men talk like HR complaints are a personality. And when it goes full nightmare, it stays oddly precise, like the narrator is cataloging a crime scene to keep from feeling it. That steadiness makes the book hard to put down, even when you want to take the moral equivalent of a shower.
This is a novel about desire as captivity. Jessie keeps trying to trade herself for safety, then trades safety for intensity, and then intensity for… permanence. Underneath the gore, the horror engine is the belief that love can be earned through enough performance, enough sacrifice, enough making-yourself-small. The aftertaste is rancid and sad: the question of what happens when the only “tenderness” you’ve ever trusted is possession, and the only way you can imagine keeping someone is to make them still.
As a debut, this is impressively confident: it marries transgressive downtown-goth energy to true-crime cultural static, then twists it into a critique of how women are taught to survive by being consumable. It’s not the most elegant book you’ll read this year, but it’s one you’ll remember, partly because it has the guts (sometimes literally) to follow its thesis all the way to the cops-at-the-door endpoint.
A sharp, nasty, darkly magnetic obsession spiral that sticks the landing by refusing to blink first, even when it gets fucking grotesque.
Read if you can handle escalating gore that’s framed like devotion.
Skip if you need likable decisions or a “growth arc” that doesn’t end in a dumpster fire.
December 20, 2025
(4.25/5) When I first heard Amber Dean tease her book, I was immediately intrigued. It sounded right up my alley but lemme tell you, I was not ready for what this story had inside. haha In a good way! There were elements I had not experienced in a book before and I think Amber Dean wrote it extremely well. I ate this book up.
This book transports you to the night life of New York seen through the eyes of an unhinged, obsessive FMC who is slowly experiencing more and more madness. She's doing what she can to make money. She has a toxic relationship with her best friend, who she loves. She ends up living and being cradled by basically a Sugar Daddy. There's parties, sex, drugs. But she wants more, she needs more, she craves more. So what happens when you have this kind of character in a city that doesn't look twice at the violent chaos that happens in the shadows? Find out by reading Hysterical.
This story was unhinged, visceral, erotic. Think Maeve Fly but turned up a bit. I'd recommend it to those who love the toxic obsessive relationships, the grotesque, night life, and some cannibalism.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Victory Editing for providing the arc for a review!
This book transports you to the night life of New York seen through the eyes of an unhinged, obsessive FMC who is slowly experiencing more and more madness. She's doing what she can to make money. She has a toxic relationship with her best friend, who she loves. She ends up living and being cradled by basically a Sugar Daddy. There's parties, sex, drugs. But she wants more, she needs more, she craves more. So what happens when you have this kind of character in a city that doesn't look twice at the violent chaos that happens in the shadows? Find out by reading Hysterical.
This story was unhinged, visceral, erotic. Think Maeve Fly but turned up a bit. I'd recommend it to those who love the toxic obsessive relationships, the grotesque, night life, and some cannibalism.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Victory Editing for providing the arc for a review!
December 9, 2025
I went into this wanting the vibe of Boy Parts by Eliza Clark, but honestly, this was even better! There was just something so visceral and thought-provoking here, with scenes that will definitely stick with me. I also like how unapologetically queer this was, and that the queer themes weren't the things causing conflict. These are just people that happen to be queer that also are very, very messy in different ways. Fun in the craziest way! My only critique is that some of the things the main character thought about were repeated a bit too much. I feel like that could have been edited down just a bit.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy
Arc reader review.
Well fuck.
I didn't know what to really expect when I decided to download the book on booksirens but once again, it did not disappoint.
Jessie is spiraling out of control, love can do that to one person especially when the need to be seen, wanted and kept becomes an obsession.
It was really nicely written, easy to be hidden in the dark corners of every room to watch Jessie's chaos.
That is such a great debut. I can't wait to read more from the author.
Well fuck.
I didn't know what to really expect when I decided to download the book on booksirens but once again, it did not disappoint.
Jessie is spiraling out of control, love can do that to one person especially when the need to be seen, wanted and kept becomes an obsession.
It was really nicely written, easy to be hidden in the dark corners of every room to watch Jessie's chaos.
That is such a great debut. I can't wait to read more from the author.
December 2, 2025
This book was everything! Unhinged, brutal, sultry, dark, and ~hysterical~ (pun intended).
A story about obsession told by Jessie, an unreliable narrator who you just can’t help but root for, who just continues to spiral deeper and darker throughout the story.
Sex, drugs, blood, and female rage… literally everything you could possibly need for a solid horror book.
One of the best books I’ve read all year.
A story about obsession told by Jessie, an unreliable narrator who you just can’t help but root for, who just continues to spiral deeper and darker throughout the story.
Sex, drugs, blood, and female rage… literally everything you could possibly need for a solid horror book.
One of the best books I’ve read all year.
December 21, 2025
Jessie is in love with her best friend and she’s spiraling.
This was intense. The slow decline of Jessie into a sort of madness was perfectly done. It moved at the right pace and kept me reading. Her obsession with Tinsel was so frustrating though, I just wanted her to stop obsessing but that’s like telling her to stop breathing. This was really visceral too, I cringed a lot at the various descriptions of Jessie’s fantasies and her eventual actions. Really impressive book, I loved it.
This was intense. The slow decline of Jessie into a sort of madness was perfectly done. It moved at the right pace and kept me reading. Her obsession with Tinsel was so frustrating though, I just wanted her to stop obsessing but that’s like telling her to stop breathing. This was really visceral too, I cringed a lot at the various descriptions of Jessie’s fantasies and her eventual actions. Really impressive book, I loved it.
December 3, 2025
An interesting debut novel from Amber Dean.
Jess, aka Razor, is obsessive. Particularly, she's obsessed with her best friend Tinsel, whom she has a strange homoerotic and codependent friendship with. She never quite feels like she can keep Tinsel, that she will always float away from Jess when all Jess wants is to love, and be loved by, her. But Tinsel is not the only thing Jess is preoccupied with. Her thoughts become darker, more stained red over time. When a big shot Wallstreet man, only called by his former job title, enters the picture, Jess unravels more as her feelings for both him and Tinsel feed into her already unstable mental state. Will her darkest fantasies finally get the best of her, or will Jess finally find the balance and love she's been longing for all this time?
This book is a drug fueled, dubioisly narrated romp in 2013 New York City, where nobody really notices the blood caked under your nails so long as your dress is tight enough. It was a fun read, but one I wanted more from. I felt that while Jess is obviously unstable, sometimes the flow of the story could be hard to follow. You could read it as a reflection of the main character's fluctuating mental state, but sometimes I did feel lost in what exactly was going on. There's a big emphasis on fashion and wealth in the style of American Psycho, but it didn't feel the same as it did in that novel. Jess isn't a sociopath in the same way Patrick Bateman was, which was the big point of his obsession with material things and consumerism in general. Jess has emotions, maybe too many, and the attempt to try to present her in a similar vein to Bateman didn't work for me. I know she's materialistic and vain, but there were other ways to demonstrate that.
I do find the level of obsessiveness to be entertaining. It's always fun to watch people who have more than they could even conceptualize fall apart because of the few things they can't have. Selfishness being its own punishment is cathartic. And I think the ending is fitting. It made my heart race a bit even. I do wish we had found out more about the characters involved, particularly Wallstreet. I was very interested in his deal and want to know more about what he had hidden under the surface.
Overall, this is a fun, bloody good time from a new author that shows promise.
Jess, aka Razor, is obsessive. Particularly, she's obsessed with her best friend Tinsel, whom she has a strange homoerotic and codependent friendship with. She never quite feels like she can keep Tinsel, that she will always float away from Jess when all Jess wants is to love, and be loved by, her. But Tinsel is not the only thing Jess is preoccupied with. Her thoughts become darker, more stained red over time. When a big shot Wallstreet man, only called by his former job title, enters the picture, Jess unravels more as her feelings for both him and Tinsel feed into her already unstable mental state. Will her darkest fantasies finally get the best of her, or will Jess finally find the balance and love she's been longing for all this time?
This book is a drug fueled, dubioisly narrated romp in 2013 New York City, where nobody really notices the blood caked under your nails so long as your dress is tight enough. It was a fun read, but one I wanted more from. I felt that while Jess is obviously unstable, sometimes the flow of the story could be hard to follow. You could read it as a reflection of the main character's fluctuating mental state, but sometimes I did feel lost in what exactly was going on. There's a big emphasis on fashion and wealth in the style of American Psycho, but it didn't feel the same as it did in that novel. Jess isn't a sociopath in the same way Patrick Bateman was, which was the big point of his obsession with material things and consumerism in general. Jess has emotions, maybe too many, and the attempt to try to present her in a similar vein to Bateman didn't work for me. I know she's materialistic and vain, but there were other ways to demonstrate that.
I do find the level of obsessiveness to be entertaining. It's always fun to watch people who have more than they could even conceptualize fall apart because of the few things they can't have. Selfishness being its own punishment is cathartic. And I think the ending is fitting. It made my heart race a bit even. I do wish we had found out more about the characters involved, particularly Wallstreet. I was very interested in his deal and want to know more about what he had hidden under the surface.
Overall, this is a fun, bloody good time from a new author that shows promise.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Amber Dean, for the ARC.
📝 Short Summary
Hysterical follows a story steeped in psychological tension, where fear, control, and unraveling realities collide. As the narrative unfolds, the line between what is real and what is perceived begins to fracture, pulling the reader into an increasingly intense and unsettling experience that refuses to let up.
Review
This book was intense in the best possible way. From the opening pages, Hysterical creates a suffocating atmosphere that tightens with every chapter. The psychological tension is relentless, building a sense of dread that feels deeply personal and invasive rather than distant or abstract. Amber Dean’s writing is sharp and immersive, drawing the reader straight into the emotional and mental turmoil at the heart of the story. What stood out most was how controlled and deliberate the pacing felt, allowing the intensity to rise naturally while never losing momentum. The story does not rely on cheap shocks but instead digs into discomfort, fear, and instability in a way that feels raw and powerful. This was one of those reads that completely consumed my attention, leaving me unsettled and thinking about it long after I finished. It was gripping, unsettling, and incredibly well executed.
✅ Would I Recommend It?
Absolutely yes. This is a must read for fans of intense psychological horror and thrillers that focus on atmosphere, emotional tension, and a slow but devastating unraveling.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Amber Dean, for the ARC.
📝 Short Summary
Hysterical follows a story steeped in psychological tension, where fear, control, and unraveling realities collide. As the narrative unfolds, the line between what is real and what is perceived begins to fracture, pulling the reader into an increasingly intense and unsettling experience that refuses to let up.
Review
This book was intense in the best possible way. From the opening pages, Hysterical creates a suffocating atmosphere that tightens with every chapter. The psychological tension is relentless, building a sense of dread that feels deeply personal and invasive rather than distant or abstract. Amber Dean’s writing is sharp and immersive, drawing the reader straight into the emotional and mental turmoil at the heart of the story. What stood out most was how controlled and deliberate the pacing felt, allowing the intensity to rise naturally while never losing momentum. The story does not rely on cheap shocks but instead digs into discomfort, fear, and instability in a way that feels raw and powerful. This was one of those reads that completely consumed my attention, leaving me unsettled and thinking about it long after I finished. It was gripping, unsettling, and incredibly well executed.
✅ Would I Recommend It?
Absolutely yes. This is a must read for fans of intense psychological horror and thrillers that focus on atmosphere, emotional tension, and a slow but devastating unraveling.
Review of advance copy
I absolutely love that we don’t even start getting names until the fourth chapter. The narrator is quick to blame someone else for nicknames, but it’s very telling that she herself does the same thing. Is it emulation of someone she likes, or a self-protective mechanism to try to keep emotional distance? Does she realize she’s doing the same ‘dehumanizing’ thing? Does she tell herself she’s doing it for the same reasons when really it just shows her fears?
The protagonist, gah, she’s just the best kind of unreliable narrator. I don’t often jive with first person POVs but in rare cases like this one, it’s so easy to get swallowed up in her, with her.
This is Dean’s first book, and I will be stalking for news of her next one. In a non-creepy stalking manner.
Some non-spoiler-y lines that struck me:
“As long as boys will be boys is an acceptable pass - boys will never become men.”
“The stain’s still there; it just reeks of lavender and vinegar now, a distraction from the deeper rot.”
“My spider plant is already reaching toward the window like it believes in a future here. Stupid, hopeful thing.”
“You never know who’s a prophet, who’s a predator, who’s having a breakdown, or who just forgot they were visible.”
“No one keeps all of me. They take a piece, a pulse, a pretty lie, then flinch when it starts to rot.”
——
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The protagonist, gah, she’s just the best kind of unreliable narrator. I don’t often jive with first person POVs but in rare cases like this one, it’s so easy to get swallowed up in her, with her.
This is Dean’s first book, and I will be stalking for news of her next one. In a non-creepy stalking manner.
Some non-spoiler-y lines that struck me:
“As long as boys will be boys is an acceptable pass - boys will never become men.”
“The stain’s still there; it just reeks of lavender and vinegar now, a distraction from the deeper rot.”
“My spider plant is already reaching toward the window like it believes in a future here. Stupid, hopeful thing.”
“You never know who’s a prophet, who’s a predator, who’s having a breakdown, or who just forgot they were visible.”
“No one keeps all of me. They take a piece, a pulse, a pretty lie, then flinch when it starts to rot.”
——
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 17, 2025
This disturbing harrowing novel is set in New York City in 2013. But this isn't the tourist friendly wonderland version of NYC. This examines the seedier underbelly of the city. With its underground parties, sex clubs, and lots of cocaine. Where your desires can be found for a price no matter how depraved they might be.
In the center of it all is Jessie, a young woman who yearns for someone to really see her for who she is and accept all of her regardless. Her best friend and obsession often leaves her behind and a man she meets, a Wall Street dude, promises a lot but she still wants more.
It just so happens that Jessie discovers a way to keep people in her life through murder. And a serial killer is born!
The murders themselves are gruesome enough but the dialogue in her head produces the true horrors of this book. Her thoughts are extremely twisted and grandly gross and we'll read about them in delightfully disgusting detail throughout.
It's difficult to determine if Jessie is truly just mentally depraved or if, perhaps, her reasonings are justified (even though her subsequent actions never are). But the narrative progresses into a chilling and absolutely messy examination of love, self esteem, and the price you pay for acceptance.
This one is vicious, wicked, and will make you squirm and I highly recommend it.
In the center of it all is Jessie, a young woman who yearns for someone to really see her for who she is and accept all of her regardless. Her best friend and obsession often leaves her behind and a man she meets, a Wall Street dude, promises a lot but she still wants more.
It just so happens that Jessie discovers a way to keep people in her life through murder. And a serial killer is born!
The murders themselves are gruesome enough but the dialogue in her head produces the true horrors of this book. Her thoughts are extremely twisted and grandly gross and we'll read about them in delightfully disgusting detail throughout.
It's difficult to determine if Jessie is truly just mentally depraved or if, perhaps, her reasonings are justified (even though her subsequent actions never are). But the narrative progresses into a chilling and absolutely messy examination of love, self esteem, and the price you pay for acceptance.
This one is vicious, wicked, and will make you squirm and I highly recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
If you have a sensitive stomach, make a U-turn now. This book is grotesque, grisly, and full of all the blood and guts in the best way! The visceral descriptions in this book made my eyeballs sting. I loved the progressive obsession, the spiral, the madness, and the way this is all involved in the drug-drenched party central of New York City. It explores the ups and downs, the co-dependency, and the negative spiral of female friendships and relationships, the ugly, the gritty, and all the in-between.
I have to say the ending left me satisfied. This book is very internal, and a crazy narrator makes the whole book a nightmarish fever trip. The language is violently sexual and vivid. I did find at times the descriptions became overwhelming or repetitive, although I can see how this adds to the obsession of the main character; it did at times feel like it distracted too much from the story.
Overall, an enjoyable read for anyone who thrives in the dark side of literature, horror, and weird girl lit.
I have to say the ending left me satisfied. This book is very internal, and a crazy narrator makes the whole book a nightmarish fever trip. The language is violently sexual and vivid. I did find at times the descriptions became overwhelming or repetitive, although I can see how this adds to the obsession of the main character; it did at times feel like it distracted too much from the story.
Overall, an enjoyable read for anyone who thrives in the dark side of literature, horror, and weird girl lit.
December 21, 2025
This book is more 4.5/5. Definitely top 10 favourite book I have read this year.
Hysterical by Amber Dean is a bold, unsettling novel that thrives on discomfort. The protagonist, Jessie is an intensely messy, impulsive and often unreliable narrator. But her rapidly unravelling mind is exactly what makes this story so compelling. Dean refuses to soften her edges or offer easy explanations, allowing Jessie's anger, instability and overall, a desire to be needed feel raw and painfully human.
The not-so-happy ending is one of the book's strongest choices. Rather than wrapping everything up in a happy Hollywood ending, it stays true to who Jessie is and leaves a lingering sense of unease. Hysterical won't suit readers looking for redemption or comfort. But for those, like me, who appreciate flawed characters and unresolved endings, Hysterical is a memorable read. Bravo Dean on your debut novel. Cannot wait to read what you have in store next.
Thank you to NetGallery and Victory Editing for providing a copy of Hysterical for my review.
Hysterical by Amber Dean is a bold, unsettling novel that thrives on discomfort. The protagonist, Jessie is an intensely messy, impulsive and often unreliable narrator. But her rapidly unravelling mind is exactly what makes this story so compelling. Dean refuses to soften her edges or offer easy explanations, allowing Jessie's anger, instability and overall, a desire to be needed feel raw and painfully human.
The not-so-happy ending is one of the book's strongest choices. Rather than wrapping everything up in a happy Hollywood ending, it stays true to who Jessie is and leaves a lingering sense of unease. Hysterical won't suit readers looking for redemption or comfort. But for those, like me, who appreciate flawed characters and unresolved endings, Hysterical is a memorable read. Bravo Dean on your debut novel. Cannot wait to read what you have in store next.
Thank you to NetGallery and Victory Editing for providing a copy of Hysterical for my review.
December 25, 2025
Amber Dean - I thank you for giving voice to a woman's anger and how does a woman cope.
The horror of real life - unrequited slightly obsessive love of a best friend and toxic friendship all around; the use of men; men who see women harmed but do nothing.
And that urge - that powerful urge to move on. But not being all cute and coy.
Rage - a woman's rage, must have outlets.
This book fed my soul.
The horror of real life - unrequited slightly obsessive love of a best friend and toxic friendship all around; the use of men; men who see women harmed but do nothing.
And that urge - that powerful urge to move on. But not being all cute and coy.
Rage - a woman's rage, must have outlets.
This book fed my soul.
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