My Violent Muse

by Rosie Sycamore

PEOPLE’s Best Books of October 2026 Selection"As if Patrick Bateman’s feminist, anti-capitalist sister narrated her own delicious tale of revenge and comeuppance.” —Lacey Dunham, author of The Belles "The perfect spiritual successor to films like Heathers and Jennifer's Body ." —Saratoga Schaefer, USA TODAY bestselling author “A bloody treat.” —Chelsea G. Summers, author of A Certain Hunger Would you still love me if I were a murderer…?
 
Morello is a a homeless orphan and starving artist with nothing but impossible dreams of escaping obscurity. Then Florence appears—dazzling, dangerous, and offering Morello a way out, on one chilling each year, they must hunt and kill one of the art world’s predatory men. In return, Morello will inherit a life of privilege and promise.
 
Together, they transform revenge into twisted performance art, staging each murder with meticulous, theatrical flair. But when Morello falls for Jude, a wealthy art student who offers her a glimpse of a life sans murder, her carefully curated reality begins to unravel, and she’s one lie away from losing everything she’s killed for. With the body count rising and anonymous threats closing in, Morello must finally ask Is the cost of vengeance ever truly paid? And after a life shaped by violence and manipulation, will she ever become the artist of her own fate, or will she remain forever someone else’s muse?
 
Compulsive and deviant, My Violent Muse is a razor-sharp thriller about revenge, exploitation, obsession, and the dangerous bargains we strike for power, survival, and love.
 

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Queer, Lesbian, LGBT, Adult

333 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2026

About the author

Rosie Sycamore is an Australian author. When not writing or reading, you'll find her following the sun, trying to befriend every animal in sight, or re-watching her favorite films and TV shows. My Violent Muse is her debut novel.

Reviews

[BookishKB]

🖤My Violent Muse 🖤

📖 Bookish Thoughts

My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.

✨ What to Expect
• Psychological Thriller
• Morally Gray FMC
• Revenge Plot
• Dark Academia
• Obsession
_ _ _

📅 Pub Date: October 6, 2026
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[Sapphiclit club · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC via NetGalley.

At times, I wasn't sure what I was reading, but I had a damn good time. This was a romp, and I was here for it fully. Heathers movie quotes and women murdering rich men? Yes, please. I wasn't sure about this rating after sleeping on it because I still have so many questions, but then I thought, fuck it, I enjoyed myself, and this is the rating it deserves. I appreciated the author's note at the end about what she was trying to comment on, and I think she hit the mark. What does it mean that in our society, art is usually above everything and everyone, even when it leaves a trail of victims behind? What happens when those victims get revenge? I don't want to give a lot away, but I do recommend everyone read this and tell me what they think! It's best to go into this one blind. There was a bit of sapphic/wlw in this, but the central "love" story was between a man and a woman. It had a bit of spice.

[ReneeReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is messy and addicting. Morally gray characters, feminine rage, toxic behavior, murder and many questionable choices are included in this book and if that sounds like a good time, you would be correct. I had a blast reading about Morello and Florence and they are so unhinged. What's not to love.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Pub Date: 10/6/26

[Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morello is broke, homeless, starving, trying to become an artist, and Florence’s solution is basically, “Come live in luxury with me and once a year we murder one predatory man from the art world.” And Morello is like... yeah, actually, I can make that work. Ma’am. That is not patronage. That is a murder subscription. But I also understand how she gets there, because Morello has spent years being treated like she is disposable, and Florence walks in looking rich, gorgeous, dangerous, and completely certain that Morello is worth choosing.

That is really the trap. Florence does not just give Morello money. She gives her access. Clothes. Food. Safety. A place in the art world. Attention. She looks at Morello like there is something special there, and Morello is so hungry for that feeling that the fact Florence also wants her to participate in annual revenge killings starts getting filed under “complicated but manageable.” Which is not a sentence anyone should ever have to say about their benefactor.

And Florence is the one I kept wanting more of because she is absolutely magnetic in the worst possible way. She is smart enough to explain every terrible thing she does until it almost sounds reasonable. The men she targets are predators who have used their money and status to exploit women, so Florence decides they should die. Fine, I understand the rage. But then she uses her own money and power to keep Morello tangled up in her, and I started looking at her like, girl, you are getting dangerously comfortable using the same kind of control you claim to hate.

Also, they do not just kill these men and move on. No. They stage the bodies. They make the murders into art. Florence and Morello cannot apparently commit homicide without also asking what the composition is saying. That part is deeply unwell in a way I was very into, because Morello wants so badly to become an artist people remember, and meanwhile Florence is basically turning her into part of the installation.

Then Jude shows up offering Morello a completely different life. He is wealthy, charming, also in the art world, and most importantly he is not asking her to help arrange a corpse. The bar is underground, but still, progress. Morello starts looking at him like maybe she can just have a normal relationship and make normal art and quietly retire from the annual murder program. Meanwhile Louella, Jude’s ex and close friend, is still hanging around, and Morello keeps trying to act relaxed about that whole situation in a way that made me want to crawl through the page and ask whether pretending to be chill has ever once prevented emotional damage.

The movie references are everywhere, especially Heathers, and at first I was like, Morello, I promise you can have one thought without filtering it through a film. But eventually it started making sad sense. Movies are how she understands people. They are the scripts she reaches for when real life gets too ugly or confusing. Which is probably not ideal when your romantic reference point includes Veronica and J.D., but given the rest of Morello’s life, that actually tracks.

And that is what made her frustrating in a way I could not completely be mad at. Morello has spent so much of her life being chosen by people with more power than she has that she starts confusing being wanted with being safe. Florence chooses her. Jude chooses her. The art world decides whose work matters. Money decides who gets protected and who gets used. Morello wants control so badly, but half the time she is still waiting for someone else to hand it to her.

Every time Florence came back into the story, I perked up. Every time Morello got deeper into her life with Jude, I understood what she wanted, but I missed the danger. Florence and Morello have this gross, fascinating knot of attraction, resentment, admiration, fear, and dependency that makes every interaction feel like somebody is about to either kiss or ruin the other one. Sometimes both. Jude may be the safer option, but Florence is the person who made me keep thinking, you two need to be separated by several countries and possibly a court order.

By the end, the whole thing gets slippery enough that I was questioning who knew what, who was actually controlling whom, and whether Morello had ever really been making her own choices at all. Some of it clicked. Some of it had me staring at the page like, wait, are we just leaving that there? And I still wanted more from Florence because for someone who takes up that much oxygen every time she appears, I wanted the end of her story to hit harder.

My Violent Muse lands at 3.5 stars for me. Florence fascinated me, Morello stressed me out, Jude and I are not fully aligned, and the annual art-murder arrangement remains one of the wildest professional networking strategies I have encountered lately. I wanted Morello to grab the wheel sooner, but there was enough blood, obsession, exploitation, female rage, awful rich people, and emotionally catastrophic decision-making to keep me fully seated.

Whodunity Award: For Making “Who Did It?” the Least Urgent Question in a Book Where Everybody Needs Therapy, a Lawyer, and Possibly a Hazmat Team

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC, and for introducing me to Florence, a woman who took “support women in the arts” and somehow turned it into money, manipulation, homicide, and a recurring performance schedule. There were grants available.

[Tiffany · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

Would you still love me if I were a murderer…?

What a weird, murderous and movie lined book.
I loved it.

Morello, an orphaned artist is picked up off the streets by art mogul Florence. Florence herself has a specific agenda up her sleeve and sees that Morello would be the perfect assistant. They're just two girls murdering males who have done them wrong, feminine rage at its finest.

There's even an ex-girlfriend, Louella, who loves to hang out with her ex-boyfriend, Judas, who is dating one of murderous girls. Like she has a key to his house, storage unit and they say that they are like brother and sister now.. after they courted for a while and Louella loves to take her tits out, but that's just who she is... Morello is quite accepting of that relationship, much more then I would be. But it made for quite the dynamic in the book!

If you enjoy weird murderous books with feminine rage this is one for you!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the gifted ebook.

My Review

Oh, the things you would do to live a life of luxury and never have to worry about where your next meal is coming from. Morello has been struggling to survive since her art dealer parents were killed, so I could understand why the life Florence offered her would be tempting. But agreeing to kill someone every year in exchange for being taken care of? That still surprised me. Then again, these characters are completely unhinged, so buckle up.

The relationship between Florence and Morello was intense, and there was such a strong connection between them that I was always interested in what was happening between the two of them. I also really enjoyed all the movie references throughout the book. This is honestly a hard book for me to put into words because there is so much going on between the art, murder, relationships, and these wild characters. It was strange, dark, and definitely not your normal thriller, but I enjoyed the ride.

Would I Recommend?

Yes. If you like dark thrillers with unhinged characters, murder, art, complicated relationships, and a story that's a little different, I think this is worth picking up. Just be prepared because these characters make some choices.

[Chera · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was weird (maybe not fully complimentary?). I'm having a difficult time putting my finger on how I feel about it. I think, ultimately, my feelings are split down the middle.

On the one hand, I really like the premise. A mysterious woman plucks an orphaned and homeless artist off the street and promises her the world, on one condition. Once a year, she must help her murder another bad man from the art world as part of her last dinner tableau. In return, she gets entry into an art school, a paid for apartment, and a hefty bank account. I love a story about women behaving badly, and this is a great set-up for that. There are plenty of terrible men in the art industry and the background of her mysterious woman, Florence, shows there is a clear reason for why she'd want to target them.

On the other hand, I don't think the story delivered well off that premise. One, I feel like the art angle of the murders is neither necessary, nor really carried through. There's a weird storyline about how the dead men's bodies are hidden that feels unnecessary? Our main protagonist's (Morelo) boyfriend and his ex-situationship play an outsized role in the story, and they ultimately weaken the culmination of the plot. There are also A LOT of art and movie references that you'll either need to know off the top of your head, or research, to get some of the plot points. All told, it just feels like there is slightly too much going on and a more simplified story could have absolutely made this book into a five star read for me.

So, all told, the book delivers on premise and the trippy atmosphere that Sycamore sets up, but couldn't quite deliver on its potential. It was a book that I devoured pretty quickly, but that left me hungry after I finished.

* Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! *

[Nicole Austin · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“My Violent Muse” by Rosie Sycamore is a beautiful, bizarre, morally messy story about revenge, exploitation, and the dangerous bargains we make when we're desperate to escape the life we've been given.

The story follows Morello, a young artist who has spent years barely surviving after her art-dealer parents were murdered when she was twelve. She's homeless, broke, and desperately trying to make something of herself as an artist when Florence enters her life.

And Florence is a lot, to say the least. She's wealthy, beautiful, mysterious, powerful, charismatic, manipulative, and completely impossible to look away from. She offers Morello a chance to escape poverty and enter the privileged art world, but naturally there is a tiny little catch: Morello has to help Florence get revenge on powerful men in the art world who have exploited and abused women. Oh, and that revenge involves murder. Every year. As art.

I absolutely loved the premise. There is something inherently compelling about taking a young, struggling artist and dropping her into this bizarre world of wealth, privilege, manipulation, revenge, and morally questionable decisions. It has this fever-dream quality where everything feels slightly unreal, which honestly worked really well with the story.

The characters are definitely the strongest part of the book for me, especially Florence. I could not stop thinking about her.

She has this magnetic presence where every time she shows up, the entire story seems to revolve around her. The more we learn about her past, the more understandable her anger becomes, but that doesn't necessarily make her methods any less disturbing. She wants to punish powerful men for exploiting women, yet she also uses her own wealth and influence to control the people around her.

Her relationship with Morello was probably the most interesting relationship in the entire book for me. Morello is completely captivated by Florence, and there is this strange mixture of admiration, dependence, obsession, curiosity, and power between them. Morello sees Florence as a kind of muse, but there is always the question of whether Florence sees Morello as a person, an artist, a pawn, or something else entirely. I desperately wanted more of that dynamic.

Morello also has a romantic relationship with Jude, and while I liked their relationship, it sometimes felt almost too good. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. There were definitely moments where I wondered whether Jude genuinely loved Morello or whether there was some hidden motivation lurking underneath everything.

But even with that relationship, my attention kept drifting back to Florence. I came for the revenge murders and stayed for the psychologically complicated woman who may or may not be ruining everyone's life.

The book also does some interesting things with trauma and the different ways people respond to being hurt. Morello and Florence have overlapping experiences, but they've taken very different paths. Morello is trying to figure out who she wants to become, while Florence seems much more interested in controlling the world around her so she never has to feel powerless again.

The art-world setting was another thing I really enjoyed. There's a lot going on with wealth, artistic value, exploitation, celebrity, and the way powerful people can manipulate the system. The story clearly draws on real-world abuses of young women by wealthy and influential men, which gives the revenge plot a disturbing sense of relevance.

That said, I definitely had some mixed feelings.

The biggest issue for me was that there is a lot happening. We've got the revenge plot, the art world, the murders, Morello's relationship with Jude, Florence's backstory, various side characters, body disposal, movie references, art references, shifting perceptions of reality, and a whole lot of psychological weirdness.

Overall, “My Violent Muse” is a fascinating and ambitious debut that isn't afraid to get weird. It doesn't always execute every part of its premise perfectly, but when it hits, it really hits. The atmosphere is fantastic, the characters are complicated, and Florence is the kind of morally gray character who will probably live rent-free in my head for a while.

[hannah ⊹ ࣪ ˖ · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

This was an INCREDIBLE debut! My Violent Muse is absolutely BONKERS, and I mean that as a compliment. Morello is a starving, homeless artist who gets taken under the wing of Florence, a wealthy and wildly magnetic woman who offers her everything she could ever want…provided she helps murder one predatory man from the art world every year. That is certainly one way to fund an artistic career, and I am totally here for it. The whole concept of turning revenge into performance art is so twisted and theatrical, and I was completely hooked from the very beginning.

Florence was definitely my favorite part of this book. She's charismatic, manipulative, intelligent, terrifying, and somehow compelling all at once. I understood exactly why Morello became so enamored with her even while screaming internally at approximately 90% of her decisions. Their relationship is such a fascinating tangle of power, admiration, obsession, dependence, and control, and I loved watching Morello slowly grapple with how much of her life was actually her own. Jude offered her the possibility of something softer and more normal, but I honestly found myself much more interested whenever Florence entered the picture because there was just SO much going on beneath the surface of that relationship.

I also really enjoyed the themes running underneath all the murder and madness. For example, the exploitation of women, the relationship between art and trauma, feminine rage, the way money and status determine whose voices matter, and the question of whether revenge actually gives you back any power. Morello’s constant movie references initially took a little getting used to, but once I understood why she relied so heavily on films to make sense of the world, they became some of my favorite details. And the Heathers influence? Absolutely UNHINGED. The dark, decadent art world atmosphere paired perfectly with the increasingly disturbing choices these characters make.

This is messy, toxic, violent, and overall just an obsessive little fever dream, and I had SUCH a good time with it. There were a few moments where I wanted a little more depth or resolution from certain characters and relationships, but the overall experience was so entertaining that I could easily overlook those things. Rosie Sycamore has created a debut that feels stylish, provocative, and completely unafraid to get weird. If you like morally gray women, toxic relationships, psychological thrillers, art-world drama, revenge, and characters who desperately need to make better decisions but absolutely refuse to…add this one to your TBR. It's perfect for spooky season!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[kiki’s delivery witch ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I just watched a very expensive, very unhinged gallery opening where the wine was poisoned and half the guests were already dead. Rosie Sycamore’s debut is a bloody mess of female rage, class bitterness, and sapphic tension.

Morello starts as the classic starving artist orphan: homeless, hungry, full of talent and zero opportunities, until Florence sweeps in like a glamorous fairy godmother. The deal? Kill one predatory art-world man per year, stage it like the world’s most fucked-up performance piece, and get a life of privilege in return. They turn revenge into theatre. It’s theatrical and occasionally so extra I wanted to throw a velvet cushion at the page.

Then Jude shows up, the wealthy art student who represents a soft, murder-free existence, and suddenly Morello’s carefully curated bloody reality starts cracking. The body count slowly climbs, anonymous threats arrive, and you’re left wondering if she’s ever going to stop being someone else’s violent muse and start being the main character of her own life.

Florence is magnetic and terrifying in equal measure; Jude is the dangerous temptation of normalcy. The whole “would you still love me if I were a murderer” premise is handled well

Sometimes the plot leans a little too hard into the “look how twisted and aesthetic we are” energy and the middle section drags just enough that I checked my phone once. (Okay, thrice, final offer.) Also, a couple of the supporting characters feel more like set dressing than people, but honestly when the main trio is this compelling I mostly didn’t care.

This debut is messy in the best way… it’s lush, pointed, a bit unhinged. It’s Killing Eve if the assassins were bitter art school dropouts with a shared Pinterest board of revenge aesthetics. I had a genuinely good time being unsettled by it.

* Female rage / unhinged women
* Toxic mentor / morally grey sapphic dynamic
* Eat-the-rich class satire
* Murder as performance art
* Starving artist makes a devil’s bargain
* Obsession & codependency
* Art world predators get what’s coming
* Soft love interest vs. bloody lifestyle choice
* Found (toxic) family vibes

Would recommend if you like your thrillers pretty, nasty, and slightly pretentious with a lot of art name drops and movie lines.

[✩｡°⋆ Lala ⋆｡°✩ · Rating 4 out of 5]

📖 Title: My Violent Muse
🖋️ Author: Rosie Sycamore
📅 Pub Day: October 6, 2026
💌 Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
📚 Format: Digital
🏷️ ISBN: 9781538779149
⏱️ Length: 336 pages
📌 Genre(s): Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction, Dark Academia
⭐ Star Rating: 4

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──  

I picked this one up because the cover is absolutely gorgeous, so I went in blind and ended up obsessed. Turns out, this had basically everything I love in a book: art, female serial killers with a moral compass, power dynamics, obsession, and really good writing.

I loved watching Morello try to untangle how much of her life was actually her own choice versus something shaped by everyone around her. The setup with Florence, the murders, and the way revenge gets mixed into the art world made for a really fun and interesting story.

For some reason (more than likely the cover), I was expecting this to be a sapphic story, but I was completely fine with Morello and Jude's relationship. It worked for the story, and I ended up enjoying their dynamic.

This is Rosie's debut novel, which honestly surprised me. All that pressure stacking up made for a book that stayed tense from start to finish, and I thought the ending wrapped everything up really nicely.

I'm very glad I took a chance on this one because of the cover. 🩸🎨  

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──  

If you like:
✔️ Female serial killers
✔️ Art world setting
✔️ Morally gray women
✔️ Obsessive relationships
✔️ Power dynamics
✔️ Revenge stories 

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Thank you to NetGalley, Rosie Sycamore, and Grand Central Publishing for gifting this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

This review is cross‑posted across multiple platforms.

[Gosia · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Florence, 27, and Morello, 22, form a dark partnership targeting wealthy, powerful men who have abused others. Florence collects their bones, and together they make influential men disappear. Told through dual timelines, the story follows their secret past while, in the present, Morello is engaged to a wealthy man who knows nothing about her life.

I don't usually enjoy horror or graphic violence, but this was a compelling and perfect fall read. At its heart, the novel explores the abuse of young women by powerful men and the moral grey area between being a victim and becoming a perpetrator. The ending completely caught me off guard, and I'm still impressed by how cleverly the author crafted this chilling story.

[Temple Ruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My Violent Muse was addictive and full of unexpected twists — once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. Orphaned Morello lands in the underbelly of the art world's dark side, and alongside the mysterious Florence sets out on a mission of righting men's wrongs. I won't spoil anything, but this book is a lot: the relationships are slippery but strong, and Jude and Lou — where does one even start? The descriptions are vivid; I could picture every painting, every outfit, every interior. Great ending. This one will be with me for a while.

[Samantha (Reading_Against_Noise) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was like a weird fever dream. I did enjoy this but I am torn as well. The first half had me sold. Unhinged characters, female rage and revenge with an art gallery backdrop. But then, I don't know, it's like the story took a step back and it became more about loyalty, relationship drama, and random movie references. While I understand this story is also labeled as satire, it didn’t feel balanced and I am still left a little confused on certain things but overall I enjoyed it and would love to read more from this author. 3.5 stars rounded up

[Jeannelle · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

FEMININE RAGE!!! 🔥 Stay homeless or kill a predatory man once a year and live the good life but also feeling stuck?! There were parts where I was like “WTF, no way” and then a few pages later I was like “HELL YA.” 😂 Dark, unhinged, and had me questioning my own morals.

[Hannah Rowan · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Toxic female friendship, female rage, murdering horrible men. I couldn’t help but picture this as a movie with Nicole Kidman in it.

[Alu · Rating 4 out of 5]

What first drew me to My Violent Muse was the framed picture of The Reluctant Bride on the cover. Then I read the summary: female rage, revenge, murder, art, and a sapphic relationship. Of course, I wanted to read this!!

And honestly? I loved this book. I absolutely loved the plot, and the characters were just wonderful. There were dark themes in the book, and I loved how the author brought them out.

The story follows Morello, whose art-dealer parents were murdered when she was twelve after a deal went wrong. Since then, she has been homeless, struggling to survive while trying to become an artist. When the wealthy and dazzling Florence offers her a way out, Morello accepts. She finds herself in Florence's mission of revenge against powerful men who have abused models/artists.

One of the things I loved most about this book was its characters, especially Florence.
Florence is fascinating. She carries a magnetic presence whenever she appears on the page. Maybe it's because Morello was in awe of her and took Florence as her inspiration, but still, I loved Florence. Her background and how she used it to her advantage to make money is absolutely heartbreaking. I also felt Florence ended up being just like the men she hated. No, she might not have abused, but she used her power and wealth to bind Morello to her bidding.

Morello and Jude's relationship was so nice, although at times it felt too good to be true. I sometimes questioned if Jude genuinely loved Morello and if there was any hidden motive. I loved how the relationship still felt pure after everything - the trust, care and understanding. Yes, it was beautiful. But the relationship I was more interested in was the one between Morello and Florence. Although it ended as soon as it started, I badly wanted to know what Florence felt and why she was kind of obsessed with Morello.

There were a few parts that did bother me.
At the beginning, Morello accepts Florence's offer. You might argue that she was poor and homeless, and Florence was her way out. However, in less than one day, she was abused, shown the dark side of the upper class and accidentally killed someone. Florence was also someone Morello could not trust. Even though I could try to understand Morello, I felt she had so much more to lose.

The ending - Jude turned out to be a hero who rescued Morello from Florence, without Morello even knowing until the end. It's beautiful, showing the trust and love Jude had for Morello. But this didn't sit well with me because I was expecting an ending where Morello could break free on her own, maybe with help from Jude. I also felt Florence wasn't given a proper ending and turned into a villain, and strong actions/warning/steps weren't taken on the men who abused women at the end.

Overall - I liked the book, I will certainly be recommending it!!

Thank you, Netgalley, Publisher and Author for giving me the chance to read this wonderful book.

[Nikki Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my arc.

This was one of those books where the characters completely overshadowed everything else, in the best possible way.

The story centers on Morello, a young artist who has spent years trying to survive after the violent loss of her parents. When she crosses paths with Florence, a wealthy and influential woman with her own agenda, Morello is pulled into a world of art, privilege, revenge, and power.

Florence was easily my favorite part of the book. She is the kind of character who commands attention the moment she enters a scene. I was endlessly fascinated by her because she never felt easy to define. The more I learned about her past, the more I understood her anger, but I also found myself questioning her methods. She may have set out to fight against powerful predators, but she often used her own influence to control the people around her. That moral complexity made her impossible for me to look away from.

While there is a romantic relationship in the story that I enjoyed, it wasn't what kept me turning the pages. The connection that truly grabbed my attention was between Morello and Florence. There was an intensity to their dynamic that felt layered and difficult to explain. Admiration, dependence, curiosity, power, it all blended together in a way that left me wanting more.

By the end, I was less interested in the outcome of the revenge plot and more interested in understanding these characters. Their choices, flaws, and motivations felt incredibly compelling, and Florence in particular is a character I'll be thinking about for a long time.

For me, this was a character-driven story at its finest, filled with complicated people, messy relationships, and plenty of moral gray areas. I loved every minute of it.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

When orphaned artist Morello is taken under the wing of art mogul Florence, she is thrust into a world of debauchery and violence. Fortunately, she finds solace in her boyfriend, Jude, who offers her a much needed respite from Florence's influence...and grisly tasks Morello remains on the hook for.

At first, I found Morello somewhat annoying - the movie references went from quirky to annoying fairly quick. It is only when we learn the reason why Morello contextualizes everything with film that the habit becomes reasonable. It made me reflect on how so much of media (and art, for that matter) today is used as surrogate life experience, particularly for children and teens. They draw connections in their life back to what they see on screen, so it can be an effective tool for teaching, but also an effective tool for corruption.

SO MUCH HEATHERS (1988). It only makes sense why Morello is attracted to violent and lustful people, if the picture perfect couple in her mind is Veronica and JD. (0 complaints - love Heathers)

My only complaint of this book is that I had a hard time rooting for Jude, though perhaps that was intentional. Though, surely if I could root for JD, & Veronica, I could root for Jude & Morello?

This book taps on some common trends I've been reading about in 2026 Horror:
- The connection between Art and Trauma
- The connection between Art and Sex
- Use of human remains for wellness products
- "Mentor or Lover? What's the difference?" WLW

And I ate. it. up.

Chefs kiss on the chapter titles being chapter quotes -- there were many that had me asking "Alright, how the heck is that going to come up?" and then eagerly reading to find out.

Bravo, Rosie Sycamore!

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central for the ARC

[VeroniCanRead · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐ ARC Review

TLDR; Loved this look at a dark side of the art world, feminine rage, and toxic relationships. Perfect for anyone who loves gothic fiction and psychological thrillers!

🖌️ For Fans of:
- gothic thriller
- toxic relationships
- the art world
- psychological thriller
- revenge
- queer rep
- atmospheric
- bisexual rep
- back and forth timeline
- single POV

✏️ Spoiler-Free ARC Review
Morello, a homeless orphan, grew up in the art world and now knows all about its dark corners as she helps Florence, her lover and mentor, murder men. As she grows up and tries to become her own person, she meets Jude and wants out. The mind games begin and the murders don’t stop.

This book had toxic relationships and friendships of every type imaginable, it was almost fun to pick them out and psychoanalyze them.

I loved the movei quotes throughout the book. Since they are such a meaningful part of Morello’s life, it felt so natural for them to be sprinkled throughout the book like glitter.

I also really enjoyed the characters. There are some characters you fall in love with and others you hate with your whole heart, but the back and forth timeline of Morello makes the emotions of her character all the more relatable and makes everyone more well rounded.

Last, I just have to say how much I loved the blend of my favorite genres - horror, gothic, and psychological thriller. It was everything I didn’t know I needed!

🖤 Thank you to author Rosie Sycamore and publishers Grand Central Publishing and Hachette Book Group for the advanced reader copy (ARC) via NetGalley.
As always, my reviews are honest, my own, and voluntary!

📚 Book: My Violent Muse by Rosie Sycamore
📅 Release Date: October 6, 2026
⭐ Rating: 4.5 out of 5

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What value do we seek in the female form, and what value do we seek in women beyond their physical form and beauty?”

What if the perfect muse is a dead girl? Showing silence that is just as heavy as you think and a world of feminine rage where money is power in the art world of manipulation, value, and drunken sex that felt too real maybe too nice?

Holy smokes! This debut was absolutely mind-blowing and riveting. It felt like a fever dream in this dark psychological thriller where obsession turns into lust and deadly. An art world of wealthy men of revenge while the killing turns into art. It’s about cleansing the world of their sins. Quite a performance I must say!

Florence is someone you will feel drunken off their presence. She’s smart, beautiful, mysterious, manipulative, and Morello is utterly infatuated by her. This story felt so sharp and thrilling but Morello is caught in her bargain that is now her muse.

This debut was absolutely bonkers but all so entertaining at the same time. I loved how fast-paced it felt and showing you two different worlds of a life you could have.

It was also sexy combining the art world and lust between Morello and Florence as Morello sees herself completely different with the villain meanwhile she is in love with someone else. But can’t help her desire towards Florence. It was like an illusion.

This story was both beautiful and tragic and refreshing of telling a story of a dangerous woman that you shouldn’t have made a bargain with. Or would you..? 👀

Thank you Grand Central Pub for the e-galley! I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy soon! 🖌️🩸

[Allison Hammat · Rating 3 out of 5]

These violent delights have bad book endings or whatever Shakespeare said.

Could you imagine being an orphan, homeless, down to your last four dollars and then this gorgeous well-dressed woman with lilac nail polish swoops in and tells you she’ll change your life forever if you just help her with one small thing? I would immediately sign up, no questions asked and that’s exactly what Morello does, too. Florence has a magnetic aura that Morello is drawn to. She can have her art school dreams, a bank account, and a fancy apartment, she just has to help Florence kill one predatory man from the art world each year. Sounds like a no brainer, right? Except Morello decides to fall in love with Jude, a fellow art student who happens to be rich and hot. Now Morello wants out of Florence’s deal, but Florence isn’t willing to let go that easily.

I loved the first 80% of My Violent Muse. Sycamore knows how to write complex characters and suck you into their interactions. At points I didn’t care what was happening in the story because the characters themselves were so enchanting. Without giving any spoilers, the ending did not serve our main character justice. I see why the author went that direction, and no shade to Sycamore, but I found myself banging my head off my desk once I read the last line. Maybe that’s what Sycamore wanted, and if so, I’ll gladly change my review to five stars.


Read this book if you love:
-Toxic sapphic relationships
-Feminine rage and revenge
-Obnoxiously quoting movies with someone you love
-Artemisia Gentileschi
-Books where the MC is an artist


Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the e-ARC of this book.

[Kimberly Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

This was an absolute dream of a thriller. Every bit of 5 stars. I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. I had to devour this book! The ending was not expected to me at all and usually I guess what was going to happen. Florence was diabolical but I think she definitely met her match at the end. It is an ambiguous ending and I’d love to read a second one about these characters. Absolutely every single one of them are interesting and it would be like watching a train wreck reality show that you can’t look away from.

Thank you @netgalley and @grandcentralpub for the arc!

Description:
Morello, a destitute and orphaned artist, is desperate to escape a life of obscurity. Her fortunes change when she meets Florence, a glamorous yet dangerous figure who offers her a path to a wealthy and promising future. The catch? Every year, the two must target and eliminate a predatory man from the art community. Together, they turn these deadly acts of revenge into elaborate, theatrical performances. However, Morello’s life grows complicated when she falls in love with Jude, a wealthy art student who shows her the possibility of a peaceful existence without bloodshed. As her secret world starts to fracture, Morello finds herself on the brink of ruin. Confronted by mounting casualties and mysterious threats, she must face a crucial choice: will she take control of her own destiny, or remain trapped as a pawn in someone else's game? My Violent Muse is a dark, gripping thriller exploring vengeance, power dynamics, obsession, and the extreme measures people take to survive and love. 

[Lauren (sharonoldsfanclub) · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5 rounded down) One for the gruesome girlie pop aficionados! Following Morello, an orphan living on the streets of an unnamed city, who is “adopted” by Florence, an unknowable, glamorous woman of indeterminate wealth. Florence, through conniving means, draws Morello into her habit of murdering men who harm women within the art world. The book moves between past and present, with the present seeing Morello as an art student, about to graduate, and deeply in love with her boyfriend, Jude. At Jude’s art show, someone leaves behind a sinister photograph, putting Morello on edge that her secret side is going to be exposed. I had so much fun reading this. I loved Morello as a character - she was funny and sharp and kind of psychotic, but also sympathetic. She’s been manipulated and abused by everyone in her past, including Florence, and she struggles with everyday life because of it. The writing is very aware of itself, so self-referential it occasionally borders on eye-rolling. But I’m also someone who enjoys pop culture sprinkled in my novels. I like when a character speaks to the audience about their behavior (in most cases - there are a few I find intolerable, but that is not the case here). I enjoy this deluge of women-centered horror novels that are speaking to a real aspect of moral rot in our society while being packaged in a candy pink, glamorous aesthetic. Those novels are not for everyone, but they are typically for me. Just like this one! Also loved the ending here. Fun with bite. (Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the arc)

[Kelly Krebs Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, thank you to Rosie Sycamore, NetGalley, and Grand Central Publishing for an advance reading copy of My Violent Muse in exchange for my honest review. This was such a great psychological thriller that had me hooked. It blows my mind that this is a debut novel for Rosie Sycamore. Her writing and creative is incredible!

If you are looking for a book that is intense, unique, and will keep you wondering what happens until the last chapter. My Violent Muse is for you. The cover alone made me want to read this book, and I'm so glad I did. The opening chapter will hook you in and won't let go until the end.

The overall theme of this book is obsession, and would you love a killer if the killings were justified? Morello gets sucked into the web of Florence, who wants to kill powerful and abusive men in the art world. Together they kill one man a year, but when Morello starts to want out, Florence threatens to tell the police everything.

Every character in this book is deeply flawed, and you will find it hard to root for any of them. The ending is perfect and will leave you feeling satisfied. This book reads like a juicy thriller where everyone is attracted to or lusts after each other. They lust for different reasons and find muses in each other. It's definitely a tangled web they weave.

This book is perfect if you want a thriller where no one is completely innocent, filled with facts about art, full of feminine rage, and women who kill. It's a great book to read this October!

[Madd]

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, a DNF at 26%.

I really like the concept of this book, and I think a lot of people are going to like it more than I did. I may give it another try in the future. Morello and Florence are very interesting, and I was intrigued by the idea of women getting revenge on the men of the art world. On the other hand, and maybe I just didn't get far enough in, but I wasn't sure how to feel about Jude. That's just a minor issue, though. The bigger one was that, uh. I was expecting more murder than sex. And there was a LOT more sex than murder, even in just this first quarter. It started really getting on my nerves, and Louella kind of pushed me over the edge. Even the brief time I saw her felt like we were going to be putting other women who weren't Morello and Florence down. (Plus, I must admit, I thought this was supposed to be queer? I maybe just didn't get far enough in, but it wasn't very queer in this first quarter. If Morello is bisexual and just in a relationship with a man right now (which is totally fine and valid queer rep mind you) that's not really the indication I was getting? I don't know maybe I'm crazy.)

It was a pretty fast read, and I did like the voice despite it being in 1st person (something I'm very picky about), so like I said, I may give this another try in the future.

[9/25/26 - 9/28/26]

[natalielikesbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Those bones were her trophies. In freezing their bones, Florence kept those men eternally immobilized and within her control. If there was some kind of life after death, she was making sure the spirits of those men would never feel warmth again.”

This story had me completely hooked from the first page! Morello was a very complexed character with a sad past but I really liked her. I also oddly enough, liked Florence in the beginning and she was similar in some way to Morello When she would pop up in the chapters I was always locked in because her character was also complexed but she had this aura about her😂 The relationship with Morello and Jude kinda reminded me of Joe and Love from You 😅 and I was wondering how his character would come into play and when it finally hit us as a reader I was like 😱 I definitely wasn’t expecting that! I really liked the revenge killings and art being mixed together cuz it was a very interesting concept and when it comes to female revenge, it’s always “good for her” lol. I also liked the call back to actual art pieces and the constant movie and pop culture references. I had a fun time with this..the ending had me looking everywhere cuz I was like wait, where is this going and what the hell is happening?!? Cuz I pictured this book ending completely different than it did but I actually liked how it ended. And for this being this authors debut too? 👏🏽👏🏽

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the arc.

[Zaidee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Violent Muse is strange, dark, and ultimately pretty fun. Morello makes for an engaging narrator, though at times the writing style left me a little confused as to what she was experiencing and what was actually real. The high stakes and the huge amount of wealth at play often make the story feel a little otherworldly, like a modern day fantasy.

I enjoyed how entangled all the characters were, in their histories, their flaws, desires, but I do wish some aspects had been made a little more concrete. The ending for instance left things pretty unresolved between Morello and Florence. There were parts of the ending that I found to be surprising, a bit of a twist, but I also felt like I should have seen it coming through the copious amounts of movie references being made.

There are sections of the story that are definitely referencing (potentially processing) the real life abuse of young women and girls by men like Epstein and others with money and power. Morello and Florence, though they have many overlapping experiences, also find each other odds, representing different responses to trauma, guilt, and a need for control.

Overall, I found My Violent Muse to be a successful and unique debut. It's a fascinating tangle of art and pop culture pushed up against tragedy and abuse.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the digital ARC!

[sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Grant Central Publishing for the ARC of this book!

My Violent Muse is a violent and messy story of art, revenge, blackmail, and love. It’s fast paced and I couldn’t put it down. The story left a lot of questions and suspense but it was fitting. I was not expecting the plot twist at all. Morello is the daughter of two wealthy art dealers and winds up being orphaned and homeless at 12 years old. Ten years later, she meets Florence, an extravagant and wealthy girl a few years older. Florence takes Morello under her wing with promises of helping Morello with her dream of attending art school. Florence tells her that she wants to create art out of the men who exploit her and other women for their own art. Someone winds up dead, and Morello is forced under Florence’s control. Morello must kill one man from the art scene a year and Florence will provide her with anything she wishes. After this is established Morello meets Jude, an extremely wealthy art student, who is tied up with his ex Louella. Once Jude falls in love with Morello, she wants out of her deal with Florence. But Florence has photo evidence proving only Morello as guilty, and one of Florence’s photos appears in Jude’s photography exhibit. Unknown to Florence and Morello, somebody knows more than what they let on, and betrayal is on the horizon.

[Tee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I found this book to be a rather entertaining read!

Feminine rage, morally gray characters, toxic behavior, murder—this story was unhinged in a lot of ways, which I found to be intriguing.

I love a book that supports women’s wrongs. And boy oh boy, is Florence oh so wrong—but for all the right reasons. She murders horrible man, and as a reader, it’s very easy to feel that the kills are justifiable. So it was entertaining to see Morello join Florence as her partner in crime!


While I liked Morello as a character, some of her quirks (like the movie references) weren’t my favorite after a while. I would say Florence was probably my favorite character (and I would’ve loved a story written from her POV).


Although I enjoyed the plot, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending, mainly because of Jude’s involvement. (I just wish Morello had had a bit more agency in what went on, rather than needing assistance from a man.) In general, it was actually hard for me to root for Jude, which may have been intentional.


All and all, I thought this was an enjoyable read, and I think those who like a dark story that supports women’s wrongs will enjoy it too!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to read the eARC!