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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.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2025
26 people are currently reading
5617 people want to read
About the author
Amber Dean
1 book33 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 - 30 of 71 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!
January 8, 2026
The word “nonchalant” simply does not exist in Jessie’s vocabulary. Idk what I was expecting but it wasn’t that. Insane, graphic, filthy and beautifully bananas. 5 damn stars!!!
December 30, 2025
This is a filthy, unhinged masterpiece. Demented and delicious. I devoured it.
If you ever read something with obsession and rage and find yourself saying you wanted a little more… well, this is it!
Take Basic Instinct and Single White Female, but those are like the gateway for this slowly unraveling slide into depravity.
This book will absolutely not be for everyone. But it is certainly for me.
(The writing is supreme, and the juxtaposition of luxuriousness and repulsion throughout is 👌)
“Not calm. not stable. But broken in a way that bleeds beautiful. The kind of woman who turns pain into poetry, who leaves scars like love letters.”
Thank you, Amber Dean, for this. And thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the eARC!
If you ever read something with obsession and rage and find yourself saying you wanted a little more… well, this is it!
Take Basic Instinct and Single White Female, but those are like the gateway for this slowly unraveling slide into depravity.
This book will absolutely not be for everyone. But it is certainly for me.
(The writing is supreme, and the juxtaposition of luxuriousness and repulsion throughout is 👌)
“Not calm. not stable. But broken in a way that bleeds beautiful. The kind of woman who turns pain into poetry, who leaves scars like love letters.”
Thank you, Amber Dean, for this. And thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the eARC!
January 4, 2026
Hysterical by Amber Dean left me euphoric, and slightly unhinged, pacing the room, replaying every line. From the first pages, this book does not ease you in—it grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go, and you find yourself slightly pressing into its palm saying “squeeze a bit tighter”. There is no slow burn here, only escalation.
Jessie is a ferocious protagonist performing womanhood as a survival tactic but underneath that performance lives unchecked obsession where the duality of desire and violence blur into the same need. She lacks the internal stopgap most people have, and that absence makes her both terrifying and fascinating. Jessie isn’t the victim of the story, she is the horror, the hunter, and the reason for the story. The novel feels like a reclamation after decades of familiar horror tropes, particularly those that punish women first and thoughtlessly.
The writing is razor-sharp and relentlessly quotable. What could feel chaotic instead reads as clarity. This is a brutal, lucid exploration of female rage, obsession, and self-destruction. Nothing has come this close to the impact of Boy Parts by Eliza Clark, until now. This is rot-coded feminist horror at it’s finest. Hysterical feels destined for cult-classic status. If you love female rage in its most feral form this is an easy five stars.
Thank you to Amber Dean for allowing me to read an advance copy of Hysterical in exchange for my honest thoughts. This should be consumed without delay!
Jessie is a ferocious protagonist performing womanhood as a survival tactic but underneath that performance lives unchecked obsession where the duality of desire and violence blur into the same need. She lacks the internal stopgap most people have, and that absence makes her both terrifying and fascinating. Jessie isn’t the victim of the story, she is the horror, the hunter, and the reason for the story. The novel feels like a reclamation after decades of familiar horror tropes, particularly those that punish women first and thoughtlessly.
The writing is razor-sharp and relentlessly quotable. What could feel chaotic instead reads as clarity. This is a brutal, lucid exploration of female rage, obsession, and self-destruction. Nothing has come this close to the impact of Boy Parts by Eliza Clark, until now. This is rot-coded feminist horror at it’s finest. Hysterical feels destined for cult-classic status. If you love female rage in its most feral form this is an easy five stars.
Thank you to Amber Dean for allowing me to read an advance copy of Hysterical in exchange for my honest thoughts. This should be consumed without delay!
December 24, 2025
Bloody, brilliant, unhinged. My jaw was on the floor and I loved every second of it
February 6, 2026
《4.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 5⭐️》
In the electric chaos of 2013 New York City, Jessie Ann is a sharp, reckless woman whose nightlife fueled existence masks a deeply fractured psyche. As Jessie drifts through underground scenes and self-destructive routines, her world begins to orbit dangerously around her best friend Tinsel. Tinsel is beautiful, magnetic, and everything Jessie feels she is not. But we find that what starts as devotion soon curdles into fixation.
Hysterical is messy, raw, and deeply unsettling in the very best way! Jessie is the kind of main character you don't trust but can't look away from, and being trapped inside her thoughts felt claustrophobic, intimate, and honestly exhausting in a very intentional way. The obsession at the center of this story is sharp and uncomfortable, the kind that blurs love, envy, and violence until they're indistinguishable. The writing is darkly funny one moment and grotesque the next, capturing that slippery feeling of losing control while still thinking you're in charge. I found myself wincing, rereading, and questioning what was real right alongside Jessie. This isn't a neat and polished thriller. It's a psychological horror fever dream that leans into instability, desire, and the ugly parts of being human. If you love unreliable narrators, female rage, and stories that make you feel slightly unwell after finishing. .. this one delivers!
Thank you to NetGalley, and Amber Dean for the eARC and special thanks to Amber for sending me a physical copy!
In the electric chaos of 2013 New York City, Jessie Ann is a sharp, reckless woman whose nightlife fueled existence masks a deeply fractured psyche. As Jessie drifts through underground scenes and self-destructive routines, her world begins to orbit dangerously around her best friend Tinsel. Tinsel is beautiful, magnetic, and everything Jessie feels she is not. But we find that what starts as devotion soon curdles into fixation.
Hysterical is messy, raw, and deeply unsettling in the very best way! Jessie is the kind of main character you don't trust but can't look away from, and being trapped inside her thoughts felt claustrophobic, intimate, and honestly exhausting in a very intentional way. The obsession at the center of this story is sharp and uncomfortable, the kind that blurs love, envy, and violence until they're indistinguishable. The writing is darkly funny one moment and grotesque the next, capturing that slippery feeling of losing control while still thinking you're in charge. I found myself wincing, rereading, and questioning what was real right alongside Jessie. This isn't a neat and polished thriller. It's a psychological horror fever dream that leans into instability, desire, and the ugly parts of being human. If you love unreliable narrators, female rage, and stories that make you feel slightly unwell after finishing. .. this one delivers!
Thank you to NetGalley, and Amber Dean for the eARC and special thanks to Amber for sending me a physical copy!
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.
March 10, 2026
5⭐️ - I’m sure no one is surprised that I loved a book featuring an unhinged FMC packed with feminine rage, queer desire, and body horror. If Maeve Fly, You, Open Wide and Bloom had a baby together, this would be it!
We follow Jessie Anne, a woman living in New York City in 2013. She works an unconventional job, spends her nights chasing parties, sex, and drugs, and is completely consumed by her obsession with her best friend, Tinsel. As Jessie spirals further into fixation, the line between reality and delusion begins to blur. What unfolds is a violent descent into madness and an intimate exploration of obsession, desire, and self-destruction.
Jessie Anne is not meant to be likeable, and that’s exactly why she works. We watch her justify her thoughts, rewrite her own memories, and romanticise her worst impulses. The narration is handled brilliantly, constantly making you question what’s real and what exists only inside Jessie’s fractured psyche. I loved how often I doubted her without ever feeling lost.
This won’t be for everyone, but if you love a good “good for her” moment, morally questionable choices, an abundance of female rage, and a side of cannibalism, this is a must-read! I couldn’t put it down!
Thank you to @amberdeanauthor for my gifted copy 🫶🏼
We follow Jessie Anne, a woman living in New York City in 2013. She works an unconventional job, spends her nights chasing parties, sex, and drugs, and is completely consumed by her obsession with her best friend, Tinsel. As Jessie spirals further into fixation, the line between reality and delusion begins to blur. What unfolds is a violent descent into madness and an intimate exploration of obsession, desire, and self-destruction.
Jessie Anne is not meant to be likeable, and that’s exactly why she works. We watch her justify her thoughts, rewrite her own memories, and romanticise her worst impulses. The narration is handled brilliantly, constantly making you question what’s real and what exists only inside Jessie’s fractured psyche. I loved how often I doubted her without ever feeling lost.
This won’t be for everyone, but if you love a good “good for her” moment, morally questionable choices, an abundance of female rage, and a side of cannibalism, this is a must-read! I couldn’t put it down!
Thank you to @amberdeanauthor for my gifted copy 🫶🏼
January 30, 2026
I'm talking female rage beyond another dimension and HYSTERICALLY UNHINGED!!! 💀😅👏🏻
If American Psycho, Maeve Fly, Victorian Psycho and Exquisite Corpse got together for an all-nighter... you'd have a TOUCH of the viscerally disturbed energy of this book. I absorbed this book (much like my experience with Maeve Fly) and seriously... Talk about the deep dark wounds and nasty impacts of poorly development attachments 😭🫂🥲
Amber Dean, you are insanely brilliant for creating such an extremely feral example of the best female rage in literature! ❤️🔥
Thank you again BookSirens—this WAS truly hysterical in a deeply horrific way and I'm so grateful I was able to experience this advanced copy read in exchange for my honest opinion of the book.
If American Psycho, Maeve Fly, Victorian Psycho and Exquisite Corpse got together for an all-nighter... you'd have a TOUCH of the viscerally disturbed energy of this book. I absorbed this book (much like my experience with Maeve Fly) and seriously... Talk about the deep dark wounds and nasty impacts of poorly development attachments 😭🫂🥲
Amber Dean, you are insanely brilliant for creating such an extremely feral example of the best female rage in literature! ❤️🔥
Thank you again BookSirens—this WAS truly hysterical in a deeply horrific way and I'm so grateful I was able to experience this advanced copy read in exchange for my honest opinion of the book.
January 1, 2026
This is an absolute firecracker of a debut, and by far the best horror I have read in a while. Amber Dean’s protagonist is at once enticing and repulsive, showcasing a vivid slice of fever dream New York City as she pursues her fantasies of fulfilment. Biting, acerbic, and discomfiting, Hysterical is a worthy contemporary successor to the pop culture legacy of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho.
This is an unpaid and honest review, willingly provided in kind for access to an ebook review copy of this title.
This is an unpaid and honest review, willingly provided in kind for access to an ebook review copy of this title.
January 8, 2026
I read Hysterical while mainlining Mucinex & now I don’t know if I hallucinated the entire plot or if Amber Dean just writes like a goddamn fever dream (complimentary).
This is Maeve Fly x Open Wide’s glitter-crusted love child, raised on delusion, rejection & internalized female rage. I came for the toxic fixation. I stayed because the writing crawled under my fevered skin & refused to leave.
This is Maeve Fly x Open Wide’s glitter-crusted love child, raised on delusion, rejection & internalized female rage. I came for the toxic fixation. I stayed because the writing crawled under my fevered skin & refused to leave.
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.
January 18, 2026
To me this book is if 'Maeve Fly' and 'Boy Parts' got together in NYC. I'm not gonna lie, in my opinion it was definitely the darkest of the three. Where Maeve and Irina's internal dialogue was a lot less subtle about what was up with then, nearly right from the beginning you find out how messed up Jessie is. She is a sugar baby/escort in NYC. Her clients may have her time but Tinsel has her heart. She is obsessed with her best friend Tinsel who at times crosses the line into lover. But Jessie doesnt like the time when Tinsel goes days without texting her, when she's out there posting pictures of her with other people it's driving Jessie mad. Is it so bad that she just wants Tinsel to herself? That she wants to know where she is at all times? That she wants to cut into her flesh, peel back the skin and see if her heart ever loved her at all? Perfectly normal reactions and feelings over here! There is a scene in this book that involves raw ground beef, eggs, and a rabbit (not the animal) that was something else.
There were sometimes when I did feel like dialogue got a bit repetitive, especially with her thoughts on how she wanted to slice and dice people up but there I think we're also a lot of really profound sentences regarding feelings of rejection that really resonated with me. Im sure we've all had times when we wondered why we were good enough for someone and those were the human moments of Jessie where you can really relate to her. So good for Dean for making such a monster relatable at times, not an easy task.
Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing for the ARC of this book.
There were sometimes when I did feel like dialogue got a bit repetitive, especially with her thoughts on how she wanted to slice and dice people up but there I think we're also a lot of really profound sentences regarding feelings of rejection that really resonated with me. Im sure we've all had times when we wondered why we were good enough for someone and those were the human moments of Jessie where you can really relate to her. So good for Dean for making such a monster relatable at times, not an easy task.
Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing for the ARC of this book.
January 3, 2026
A big thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this eARC!
Ho-ly frick… what did I just read? I’m obsessed!
I tore through this in a little under two days, and it is utterly unhinged and deeply disturbing (major disclaimer: This is not horror for beginners) — but also so, so ridiculously good.
The lifestyle and atmosphere, the way relationships are portrayed, the slow, brutal unravelling of the MC, and the absolute brutal violence… I devoured every second of it. Incredibly written, unapologetic, and just plain wild.
I know this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s fine. But I’m already impatiently waiting for Amber Dean’s next book.
Ho-ly frick… what did I just read? I’m obsessed!
I tore through this in a little under two days, and it is utterly unhinged and deeply disturbing (major disclaimer: This is not horror for beginners) — but also so, so ridiculously good.
The lifestyle and atmosphere, the way relationships are portrayed, the slow, brutal unravelling of the MC, and the absolute brutal violence… I devoured every second of it. Incredibly written, unapologetic, and just plain wild.
I know this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s fine. But I’m already impatiently waiting for Amber Dean’s next book.
March 4, 2026
Hysterical | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Horror | 298 Pages | ARC Ebook
I am unwell at the level of unhinged that has just been processed in my brain and I can easily say this one’s not a horror for beginners. Get your barf bag ready friends.
Our main character is a conundrum. You love her. You hate her. You’re disgusted by her. And you pity her. She takes all her gory revenge thoughts and brings them to life with no remorse or guilt. In fact, she thrives on them.
It’s the classic woman scorned story but to the extreme. All she wants is for someone to love her for who she is, and boy when the doesn’t happen, you dead. 👀
I am unwell at the level of unhinged that has just been processed in my brain and I can easily say this one’s not a horror for beginners. Get your barf bag ready friends.
Our main character is a conundrum. You love her. You hate her. You’re disgusted by her. And you pity her. She takes all her gory revenge thoughts and brings them to life with no remorse or guilt. In fact, she thrives on them.
It’s the classic woman scorned story but to the extreme. All she wants is for someone to love her for who she is, and boy when the doesn’t happen, you dead. 👀
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 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.*
January 6, 2026
After hearing how unhinged this book was, I needed to get my hands on it and see for myself.
Hysterical is told through the perspective of Jessie as she navigates her wild life in New York City. Full of steamy encounters, illicit substances, and a hefty amount of murderous tendencies. We get both her obsessive daydreams and violent fantasies while she goes through her dark encounters
This book is pitch dark and fairly demented but all told through an elegant prose that frames the vulgar in a charming almost pretty way. This book was high octane and fast paced, but that could definitely be a testament to how pulled in I was by the story. While some of the sensual aspects weren't exactly for me, they were written with a care and delicacy that didn't make them too uncomfortable to read.
This book is a must read for fans of Maeve Fly, feminine rage, unreliable narrators, and squelched viscera presented on a pretty silver platter
Hysterical is told through the perspective of Jessie as she navigates her wild life in New York City. Full of steamy encounters, illicit substances, and a hefty amount of murderous tendencies. We get both her obsessive daydreams and violent fantasies while she goes through her dark encounters
This book is pitch dark and fairly demented but all told through an elegant prose that frames the vulgar in a charming almost pretty way. This book was high octane and fast paced, but that could definitely be a testament to how pulled in I was by the story. While some of the sensual aspects weren't exactly for me, they were written with a care and delicacy that didn't make them too uncomfortable to read.
This book is a must read for fans of Maeve Fly, feminine rage, unreliable narrators, and squelched viscera presented on a pretty silver platter
January 27, 2026
Hysterical by Amber Dean was depraved and disgusting. It gave me nightmares and impacted me deeply. So naturally I’m giving it 5 stars.
You might find yourself thinking isn’t this the second American Psycho inspired book I’ve read in a week? And yes, yes it is. But while I read American Psycho through my fingers, terrified about how far Bret Easton Ellis was going to push this. Hysterical scared me for an entirely different reason. Arguably pushing the gore nearly as far as Ellis, Dean terrified me because I understood. Not one bit of me got Bateman, I didn’t understand him, I wasn’t empathetic towards him and he seemed like a tool for a message. Jessie on the other was a reckoning. Like Effy from Skins, I was infatuated with her and fascinated by her crazy. I was forced to come face to face with a very dark part of myself and I can honestly say this is the first time I have ever ‘enjoyed’ reading gore and extreme horror. I’m uncomfortable, I don’t like it but this book has buried itself under my skin and will easily be on my favs for the year.
Oh did I mention this is an INDIE PUBLISHED DEBUT NOVEL.
Bravo @amberdeanauthor and thank you for the ARC ebook, I’m going to need to buy myself a shelf trophy.
You might find yourself thinking isn’t this the second American Psycho inspired book I’ve read in a week? And yes, yes it is. But while I read American Psycho through my fingers, terrified about how far Bret Easton Ellis was going to push this. Hysterical scared me for an entirely different reason. Arguably pushing the gore nearly as far as Ellis, Dean terrified me because I understood. Not one bit of me got Bateman, I didn’t understand him, I wasn’t empathetic towards him and he seemed like a tool for a message. Jessie on the other was a reckoning. Like Effy from Skins, I was infatuated with her and fascinated by her crazy. I was forced to come face to face with a very dark part of myself and I can honestly say this is the first time I have ever ‘enjoyed’ reading gore and extreme horror. I’m uncomfortable, I don’t like it but this book has buried itself under my skin and will easily be on my favs for the year.
Oh did I mention this is an INDIE PUBLISHED DEBUT NOVEL.
Bravo @amberdeanauthor and thank you for the ARC ebook, I’m going to need to buy myself a shelf trophy.
December 31, 2025
She’s not the final girl. She’s the reason there’s no one left.
With an opening line like that just in the synopsis I knew it was going to be something I needed to read to cure my curiosity...and i am so glad I did.
For a debut novel, this book worked the angles that I liked...Unhinged, brutal, sultry, and dark...
Enter Jessie, nicknamed Razor...shes our disaster of an unreliable narrator, who reminds me of a girl version of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
She’s the human version of a red flag, waiting to happen but all wrapped up in a leather jacket, making terrible choices and for what?
For an obsession with a girl named tinsel, who i found absolutely annoying as fk, and kept thinking to myself thqt she can do so much better!
So you could say i was the poster girl for Jessie! I was cheering her on like she was doing God’s work. Every chapter I’m whispering, “GIRL...no…”
and at other times I'm whispering "GIRL...just DO IT ALREADY"
And then there’s the holy quartet:
Sex, Drugs, Blood and Feminine rage
No exaggeration — one of the most deranged, delicious, and wildly entertaining reads I’ve devoured this year.
Thank you to book sirens for the ARC
With an opening line like that just in the synopsis I knew it was going to be something I needed to read to cure my curiosity...and i am so glad I did.
For a debut novel, this book worked the angles that I liked...Unhinged, brutal, sultry, and dark...
Enter Jessie, nicknamed Razor...shes our disaster of an unreliable narrator, who reminds me of a girl version of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
She’s the human version of a red flag, waiting to happen but all wrapped up in a leather jacket, making terrible choices and for what?
For an obsession with a girl named tinsel, who i found absolutely annoying as fk, and kept thinking to myself thqt she can do so much better!
So you could say i was the poster girl for Jessie! I was cheering her on like she was doing God’s work. Every chapter I’m whispering, “GIRL...no…”
and at other times I'm whispering "GIRL...just DO IT ALREADY"
And then there’s the holy quartet:
Sex, Drugs, Blood and Feminine rage
No exaggeration — one of the most deranged, delicious, and wildly entertaining reads I’ve devoured this year.
Thank you to book sirens for the ARC
March 3, 2026
Oh man, how do I even review this? Hysterical was an absolutely unhinged and graphic whirlwind that didn't hold back at any point whatsoever.
Hysterical follows Jessie, who is in love with her best friend, Tinsel, and is also wrapped up with a man she recently met that she's dubbed Mr. Wall Street. Her relationship with Tinsel is very push-and-pull, but Jessie wants more from her than she is currently giving - MUCH more.
Looking past the heavily gory and sexual nature of this book, there is something very primal here. The need to be needed, for someone to see all of who you are and accept it despite your flaws, to peel back your facade and love what's underneath. While Jessie certainly takes that to an extreme level, her desire to be known and loved strikes true to many of us in our 20s as we navigate adulthood and figure out where people fit in our lives.
The writing of this book is very stylized, but it works well for Jessie's inner monologue. The choppy sentence structure mimicked what it feels like to have your thoughts racing when you're in a downward spiral, unable to control where your brain is taking you. The narration was masterfully done and I felt at home in Jessie's brain, seeing myself a bit in her darker tendencies as the self destructive urges sink their claws in.
And honestly? Good for her.
Thanks to Netgalley and Victory Editing for this ARC!! 💞
Hysterical follows Jessie, who is in love with her best friend, Tinsel, and is also wrapped up with a man she recently met that she's dubbed Mr. Wall Street. Her relationship with Tinsel is very push-and-pull, but Jessie wants more from her than she is currently giving - MUCH more.
Looking past the heavily gory and sexual nature of this book, there is something very primal here. The need to be needed, for someone to see all of who you are and accept it despite your flaws, to peel back your facade and love what's underneath. While Jessie certainly takes that to an extreme level, her desire to be known and loved strikes true to many of us in our 20s as we navigate adulthood and figure out where people fit in our lives.
The writing of this book is very stylized, but it works well for Jessie's inner monologue. The choppy sentence structure mimicked what it feels like to have your thoughts racing when you're in a downward spiral, unable to control where your brain is taking you. The narration was masterfully done and I felt at home in Jessie's brain, seeing myself a bit in her darker tendencies as the self destructive urges sink their claws in.
And honestly? Good for her.
Thanks to Netgalley and Victory Editing for this ARC!! 💞
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!
March 1, 2026
“What did you see in me?
What mask was I wearing?
What mask were you?”
Hysterical is a fever dream. It was a world that smelled like body spray, clove cigarettes, glitter, mint gum. It tasted like the chipped nail polish between your teeth. Gritty. Addictive. Methodical. Hypnotic.
Thank fu*k I wasn’t eating while reading the ending, phew, because this was one of the more disturbing books I’ve ever read. I feel like this was more mind altering than when I read Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis when I was fifteen, which I had no business doing, frankly. I had to stare at a wall to collect my thoughts, because all my brain could initially compute was, wtf wtf wtf repeatedly.
Our Jessie was like if Patrick Bateman and Jefferey Dahmer had a love child. Don’t ask me how that works; it is how it is. Jessie was unhinged. Feral. Cloaked. Frankly, she kept me on tenterhooks, and I couldn’t help rooting for her and her spiral. And what a spiral. Everything I was hoping would happen, did, and that left for one sickening and gruesome ending.
Wow, Amber Dean. Your mind. I hope you’re alright lol. I cannot wait for your next book.
What mask was I wearing?
What mask were you?”
Hysterical is a fever dream. It was a world that smelled like body spray, clove cigarettes, glitter, mint gum. It tasted like the chipped nail polish between your teeth. Gritty. Addictive. Methodical. Hypnotic.
Thank fu*k I wasn’t eating while reading the ending, phew, because this was one of the more disturbing books I’ve ever read. I feel like this was more mind altering than when I read Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis when I was fifteen, which I had no business doing, frankly. I had to stare at a wall to collect my thoughts, because all my brain could initially compute was, wtf wtf wtf repeatedly.
Our Jessie was like if Patrick Bateman and Jefferey Dahmer had a love child. Don’t ask me how that works; it is how it is. Jessie was unhinged. Feral. Cloaked. Frankly, she kept me on tenterhooks, and I couldn’t help rooting for her and her spiral. And what a spiral. Everything I was hoping would happen, did, and that left for one sickening and gruesome ending.
Wow, Amber Dean. Your mind. I hope you’re alright lol. I cannot wait for your next book.
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.
January 27, 2026
Wow this book is intense. It is raw and gory and UNHINGED. It is not for the faint of heart. I had a great time with it though. This is an unraveling of our MC, Jessie as she searches to be loved completely. She intensely struggles with being seen and cared for by others as much as she cares for them. She constantly worries about the masks others wear and wonders how to gain their trust enough to see what's underneath. These are fears and desires I think everyone struggles with at some point in their lives. But Jessie feels so intensely and her ways of becoming closer to the ones she loves may not be what everyone else would try.
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 31, 2025
This book was a journey into the mind of a messy unhinged woman and I absolutely loved it. Amber Dean was able to put into words what people think and never say, she’s nonchalantly hilarious in her dark humor. The societal commentary was on point. The character overflows with gruesome fantasies you cannot look away from no matter how visceral they become. Reading from the POV of an emotional psychopath as opposed to the usual sterile, calm and put together serial killer was refreshing and made the story so much more relatable. She feels what we all feel she just takes it WAY too far. Best horror book of our generation.
March 16, 2026
This book is an insane fever dream nightmare.
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