Victorian Psycho did not live up to it’s name.

When I first saw the cover for Victorian Psycho announced, I was immediately sold based alone on the title and cover, even more so intrigued when I read the plot synopsis. As of writing this post, I've finished reading the book, and I'm incredibly disappointed.

The title "Victorian Psycho" promises a thrilling story of an unhinged governess in Victorian era England that doesn't really deliver on that promise. The first half of the book is a slow burn peppered with anecdotes of her troubled upbringing that barely scratch the surface, supplemented with random, seemingly unhinged thoughts. To me it felt expositional. While there's bits and pieces to inform us, the reader, that she's meant to be mentally disturbed, she still comes off as someone who simply hates her job. Right off the bat, Mrs. Pounds resents Winifred due to her husband, Mr. Pounds, obvious lust towards Winifred. While the book felt like it was building up for a manipulation and seduction towards the couple, respectively, instead he's her father? I was confused by that, because while we know that her mother had to hide her baby from her employer, there wasn't really anything to suggest that Mr. Pounds was the father.

While I was appreciative that we finally got to see just how unhinged Winifred was at the halfway mark, the remainder of the book felt clunky. The last 25% of the book, especially, felt rushed – Winifred slaughters the entirety of the household, servants and all, suddenly Drusilla, the Pounds' daughter, joins in helping Winifred slaughtering even though the impression was given that she didn't like Winifred. Once the massacre is done, the book fast forwards, which is told paragraph by paragraph, day by day, to her execution.

My final issue was the prose. I appreciate the author was trying to emulate the writing style of the period, but it was inconsistent. One page I felt like I was reading a Jane Austen novel in how thoughts and feelings were described, while the next page felt that writing style slip away for a more modern style of writing. It kind of made the pacing feel a little bit off.

All in all, I'd give this book 3 stars. It's not a bad book, it just feels unrealized and, therefore, unfinished. Virgina Feito could have strove to really dive into Winifred's mental state, really could have played into the title "Victorian Psycho", but it just fell flat for me. While I'd still recommend it, I wouldn't re-read it.