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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
I think I liked this more than the silent patient!
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, Murder
Minor: Sexual violence
I loved this book and was completely entranced right up until the end, and then it all just fell flat. The conclusion was so sudden and rushed, leaving the reader with a lot of questions. The motives didn’t make sense and the timeline suddenly seemed off. Still a great page turner if you want a quick read, but a bit disappointing.
2.5 stars. Unfortunately this novel ended disappointing me.
Let’s start with the good parts. I really liked the setting created for the story. The old elitist college atmosphere could be felt in every page and added and air of mystery and elegance to the novel. In the same way I liked the references to Greek mythology since it complimented so well the dark academia aspects of the story.
I also enjoyed the reference to the Silent Patient, it was a very nice detail.
My problem with the novel starts with its main character: Mariana. We are led to believe that she is this great therapist, a well-educated and intelligent woman, but most times I would fail to see it because she conducted herself with no logic, without any control of her own emotions and she also showed a very small capacity to read others. She was quite dull and how she constantly talked about her grief didn’t help me root for her. I like a character with a complex past, but instead of it making Mariana more fleshed out, her grief distracted from the story and accomplished little more.
Continuing with the psychological aspects of the novel; I also found annoying how we, as readers, would get these very long explanations of some psychological theories. I wouldn’t have minded them if the story was better paced, but it was so slow that those paragraphs just made it slower. I also don’t understand the relevance to the plot, to Mariana’s development or to her point of view of the whole subplot with Henry; it felt like such a waste of narration.
The rest of the characters weren’t any better. I didn’t found Fosca to be as interesting as he was meant to be and Fred was such an unlikely and awkward character that sometimes I wished he didn’t have his random obsession with Mariana so we didn’t have to read more about him (another character that was promising but that didn’t serve any purpose to the plot or to Mariana’s development). In all honestly, every male character in this novel could be described as suspicious creeper that somehow wants to flirt with the supposedly dull average woman.
Going back to Mariana; I think that if the author wanted his main character to investigate the crimes, he should have written about a character that can be involved in the investigation of such crimes. This novel requires suspending all belief, because some civilian having access to a crime scene with a fresh corpse just because she is friends with someone involved in the investigation, doesn’t make any sense. And the detective that was actually investigating the murder was painted as a rude man just because he said what the truth was: what are you doing investigating a series of murders and lying to get into crime scenes and talking with potential witnesses? You are not a detective.
I have to admit that I didn’t saw Zoe being the culprit as some other people did, but her reasons were so unbelievable that I don’t even feel bad about it. The ending of this novel felt rushed, after all the slow burning that barely revealed anything, and the plot twist was kind of cheap. If the author wanted to go for that dark twist, he should have hinted it somewhere, not just throw it at the end as an afterthought. There was nothing that indicated that Sebastian was anything but a saint. At least Mariana could have noticed something, even if she didn’t think much of it and she told it to the reader in a subtle way; or Zoe could have behaved in some weird way about his uncle. But no, Zoe was a normal girl with a happy life and Mariana’s bff till the end when everything was revealed and she became a psychotic killer that hated her aunt. Again I feel like it was a waste of an interesting plot, such as the murders being so ritualistic and well-crafted only for it to be trickery and lousy revenge. Also, after the “big reveal” I expected Sebastian’s random death to be related to his secret, but again nothing come of it. The whole reason for the crimes fit two pages and was nowhere else to be seen through the novel.
At least it was a fast read, even though it wasn’t an enjoying one for me.
Let’s start with the good parts. I really liked the setting created for the story. The old elitist college atmosphere could be felt in every page and added and air of mystery and elegance to the novel. In the same way I liked the references to Greek mythology since it complimented so well the dark academia aspects of the story.
I also enjoyed the reference to the Silent Patient, it was a very nice detail.
My problem with the novel starts with its main character: Mariana. We are led to believe that she is this great therapist, a well-educated and intelligent woman, but most times I would fail to see it because she conducted herself with no logic, without any control of her own emotions and she also showed a very small capacity to read others. She was quite dull and how she constantly talked about her grief didn’t help me root for her. I like a character with a complex past, but instead of it making Mariana more fleshed out, her grief distracted from the story and accomplished little more.
Continuing with the psychological aspects of the novel; I also found annoying how we, as readers, would get these very long explanations of some psychological theories. I wouldn’t have minded them if the story was better paced, but it was so slow that those paragraphs just made it slower. I also don’t understand the relevance to the plot, to Mariana’s development or to her point of view of the whole subplot with Henry; it felt like such a waste of narration.
The rest of the characters weren’t any better. I didn’t found Fosca to be as interesting as he was meant to be and Fred was such an unlikely and awkward character that sometimes I wished he didn’t have his random obsession with Mariana so we didn’t have to read more about him (another character that was promising but that didn’t serve any purpose to the plot or to Mariana’s development). In all honestly, every male character in this novel could be described as suspicious creeper that somehow wants to flirt with the supposedly dull average woman.
Going back to Mariana; I think that if the author wanted his main character to investigate the crimes, he should have written about a character that can be involved in the investigation of such crimes. This novel requires suspending all belief, because some civilian having access to a crime scene with a fresh corpse just because she is friends with someone involved in the investigation, doesn’t make any sense. And the detective that was actually investigating the murder was painted as a rude man just because he said what the truth was: what are you doing investigating a series of murders and lying to get into crime scenes and talking with potential witnesses? You are not a detective.
I have to admit that I didn’t saw Zoe being the culprit as some other people did, but her reasons were so unbelievable that I don’t even feel bad about it. The ending of this novel felt rushed, after all the slow burning that barely revealed anything, and the plot twist was kind of cheap. If the author wanted to go for that dark twist, he should have hinted it somewhere, not just throw it at the end as an afterthought. There was nothing that indicated that Sebastian was anything but a saint. At least Mariana could have noticed something, even if she didn’t think much of it and she told it to the reader in a subtle way; or Zoe could have behaved in some weird way about his uncle. But no, Zoe was a normal girl with a happy life and Mariana’s bff till the end when everything was revealed and she became a psychotic killer that hated her aunt. Again I feel like it was a waste of an interesting plot, such as the murders being so ritualistic and well-crafted only for it to be trickery and lousy revenge. Also, after the “big reveal” I expected Sebastian’s random death to be related to his secret, but again nothing come of it. The whole reason for the crimes fit two pages and was nowhere else to be seen through the novel.
At least it was a fast read, even though it wasn’t an enjoying one for me.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Ik was alweer vergeten hoe snel de boeken van Alex Michaelides lezen door de korte hoofdstukken. Dit boek dan ook in één middag uit gelezen/geluisterd.
Helaas was het alleen niet helemaal mijn ding. Ik had gehoopt op lekker veel secret society, maar kreeg een therapeut die op zoek ging naar wie de moordenaar was. Voor mij helaas erg ongeloofwaardig.
Alsnog heb ik me wel met het boek vermaakt (ik ben er niet voor niets doorheen gevlogen), maar ik denk niet dat het een boek is waar ik nog vaker aan zal denken.
Helaas was het alleen niet helemaal mijn ding. Ik had gehoopt op lekker veel secret society, maar kreeg een therapeut die op zoek ging naar wie de moordenaar was. Voor mij helaas erg ongeloofwaardig.
Alsnog heb ik me wel met het boek vermaakt (ik ben er niet voor niets doorheen gevlogen), maar ik denk niet dat het een boek is waar ik nog vaker aan zal denken.