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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’m sincerely torn about this book. I liked where it was going but the ending felt really rushed and left a lot of loose ends/tied them up too quickly. I felt like there were underdeveloped characters thrown haphazardly into the narrative to throw us off the scent of the killer. But it almost felt unnecessary cause the plot twist was so left field.
Was NOT expecting that ending at all! Complete twist and the whole story had me guessing. Gave me some great dark academia vibes as well.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When you’re assigned an essay in an English class, you do some brainstorming. You write quick notes about a topic, plan out some sentences. Then you flesh it out a bit more in the first rough draft. Unfortunately, Michaelides somehow got the barely-fleshed-out rough draft published. Harsh, I know, but it’s true.
Let’s talk about the writing style. It was basic, boring, and bland. DRY. The book alternated between passages of thick walls of text and lines of dialogue that provided no substance. The words felt stiff and redundant. The dialogue stuck out to me. Lots of telling, and not showing. There were moments where it would say, “She shook her head. ‘No, she said.” There is no reason to add that piece of dialogue. When the character shakes their head, we understand that the character is not agreeing with something that has been said.
As for the characters and plot, I really don’t know where to begin. Everything was awful. The ending was so rushed it’s ridiculous. I’m sorry, but 4 pages of the murderer describing why they did what they did is not sufficient, especially that. I get it, it was meant to surprise the reader, but honestly, it was a cheap shot. There should have been more hints, some TENSION for god’s sake, sprinkled throughout the book—just enough to justify the killer’s motive and not spoil it for the reader. I really think Michaelides chose the killer at random. Anyone could’ve been the killer, and that’s a bad thing. It means he didn’t flesh out any of his characters. Heck, at one point I thought Mariane would be the murderer with her unstable self.
I’ve read some static characters, but this book takes the cake. Up until she had a certain meeting with Fosca, Mariane did not have any LOGICAL reason to suspect him of murdering anyone. Michaelides did not spend enough time developing her motive. You would think that as a psychotherapist, Mariane would have a more scientific basis to accuse him of murdering the girls beside him being good-looking and charismatic. Aside from that, Mariane (overall) was a poorly written character (they all were, but her most of all). There was an attempt to give her depth by having her deal with the loss of her husband and her father (though that’s a stretch), but she still came across as bland and idiotic. No wonder the police didn’t take her seriously. It wasn’t misogynistic. They just weren’t going to take her seriously because she didn’t act like a professional psychotherapist. She acted like a teenager who took one psychology class and thought she was a therapist. I wouldn’t take her seriously. As for the other characters. Not only did they lack depth, but they were also caricatures, automatons. They were not human, but robots. They spoke stiffly, their mannerisms were stiff, the way they interacted with one another was stiff. There was nothing natural about any of them. The Maidens were the worst of them. The book was named after that group, the murders were centered around them—and YET, no depth was given to them. Wow, they’re beautiful and intelligent. That was basically all I got from them. I expected more. Also, like at least half of the characters were unnecessary. They added absolutely NOTHING to the plot.
Another thing that annoyed me was the relationships/connections. I failed to understand the significance of Mariane and Sebastian’s marriage. We were simply TOLD about it from Mariane’s present. It would’ve been better to include several flashback scenes with Mariane, Sebastian, and Zoe. That way, we could have really gotten the bigger picture of Mariane’s grief (and something else). It just would’ve made more sense. Also, we were TOLD that Mariane felt responsible for her niece, Zoe, but we didn’t even have enough time to REALLY understand why. More flashback scenes were necessary. Also (this might be petty), I don’t understand why Fred, Henry, and Edward were all interested in Mariane. She was the blandest, dumbest character I have ever read. There was nothing special about her. There was also nothing interesting about the way each of these men tried to pursue her.
Nothing about the plot was believable—including the twists. I feel like a lot of it was written for shock value. The police officers didn’t act like police officers. They acted like what a child who has never interacted with police officers thought they acted like. And again with Mariane, she did not act like a professional therapist. She did not have an internal monologue that even SUGGESTED she was a therapist. She was basically a blubbering idiot with severe issues. She needed a therapist herself. This was one of the rare books where I wanted to tell the character, “You know what. Forget about the plot. Just get some therapy. And once you get healed, we can continue with the pot.” Such a mess.
I think that this story would’ve been more interesting if the story was told from someone else’s perspective—a student perhaps. Like Zoe’s roommate—someone who wasn’t taking lessons with Fosca. Or maybe a young professor with her own tragic past, someone whose friend was murdered by a teacher years ago. And then that way, Michaelides could have the time to flesh out The Maidens and bring them to life. Those are just my thoughts.
Normally, I would DNF something like this, but to appreciate 5 ⭐️ books, every once in a while, you have to suck it up and read a clear 1 ⭐️ book. I don’t recommend this at all. It was one of the dumbest books (characters, plot, structure, etc) that I have ever read. No amount of words can describe my disdain for this.
I wish I could give this book negative stars, but since I can’t, I will settle for 1 ⭐️. I will not be reading from this author again.
Side note—please do not compare this to “The Secret History.” That would be BLASPHEMY.
PS. If you ever see me recommend this book to someone, know that I hate that person & want them to suffer—because I would NEVER recommend this to someone I like or respect.
Let’s talk about the writing style. It was basic, boring, and bland. DRY. The book alternated between passages of thick walls of text and lines of dialogue that provided no substance. The words felt stiff and redundant. The dialogue stuck out to me. Lots of telling, and not showing. There were moments where it would say, “She shook her head. ‘No, she said.” There is no reason to add that piece of dialogue. When the character shakes their head, we understand that the character is not agreeing with something that has been said.
As for the characters and plot, I really don’t know where to begin. Everything was awful. The ending was so rushed it’s ridiculous. I’m sorry, but 4 pages of the murderer describing why they did what they did is not sufficient, especially that. I get it, it was meant to surprise the reader, but honestly, it was a cheap shot. There should have been more hints, some TENSION for god’s sake, sprinkled throughout the book—just enough to justify the killer’s motive and not spoil it for the reader. I really think Michaelides chose the killer at random. Anyone could’ve been the killer, and that’s a bad thing. It means he didn’t flesh out any of his characters. Heck, at one point I thought Mariane would be the murderer with her unstable self.
I’ve read some static characters, but this book takes the cake. Up until she had a certain meeting with Fosca, Mariane did not have any LOGICAL reason to suspect him of murdering anyone. Michaelides did not spend enough time developing her motive. You would think that as a psychotherapist, Mariane would have a more scientific basis to accuse him of murdering the girls beside him being good-looking and charismatic. Aside from that, Mariane (overall) was a poorly written character (they all were, but her most of all). There was an attempt to give her depth by having her deal with the loss of her husband and her father (though that’s a stretch), but she still came across as bland and idiotic. No wonder the police didn’t take her seriously. It wasn’t misogynistic. They just weren’t going to take her seriously because she didn’t act like a professional psychotherapist. She acted like a teenager who took one psychology class and thought she was a therapist. I wouldn’t take her seriously. As for the other characters. Not only did they lack depth, but they were also caricatures, automatons. They were not human, but robots. They spoke stiffly, their mannerisms were stiff, the way they interacted with one another was stiff. There was nothing natural about any of them. The Maidens were the worst of them. The book was named after that group, the murders were centered around them—and YET, no depth was given to them. Wow, they’re beautiful and intelligent. That was basically all I got from them. I expected more. Also, like at least half of the characters were unnecessary. They added absolutely NOTHING to the plot.
Another thing that annoyed me was the relationships/connections. I failed to understand the significance of Mariane and Sebastian’s marriage. We were simply TOLD about it from Mariane’s present. It would’ve been better to include several flashback scenes with Mariane, Sebastian, and Zoe. That way, we could have really gotten the bigger picture of Mariane’s grief (and something else). It just would’ve made more sense. Also, we were TOLD that Mariane felt responsible for her niece, Zoe, but we didn’t even have enough time to REALLY understand why. More flashback scenes were necessary. Also (this might be petty), I don’t understand why Fred, Henry, and Edward were all interested in Mariane. She was the blandest, dumbest character I have ever read. There was nothing special about her. There was also nothing interesting about the way each of these men tried to pursue her.
Nothing about the plot was believable—including the twists. I feel like a lot of it was written for shock value. The police officers didn’t act like police officers. They acted like what a child who has never interacted with police officers thought they acted like. And again with Mariane, she did not act like a professional therapist. She did not have an internal monologue that even SUGGESTED she was a therapist. She was basically a blubbering idiot with severe issues. She needed a therapist herself. This was one of the rare books where I wanted to tell the character, “You know what. Forget about the plot. Just get some therapy. And once you get healed, we can continue with the pot.” Such a mess.
I think that this story would’ve been more interesting if the story was told from someone else’s perspective—a student perhaps. Like Zoe’s roommate—someone who wasn’t taking lessons with Fosca. Or maybe a young professor with her own tragic past, someone whose friend was murdered by a teacher years ago. And then that way, Michaelides could have the time to flesh out The Maidens and bring them to life. Those are just my thoughts.
Normally, I would DNF something like this, but to appreciate 5 ⭐️ books, every once in a while, you have to suck it up and read a clear 1 ⭐️ book. I don’t recommend this at all. It was one of the dumbest books (characters, plot, structure, etc) that I have ever read. No amount of words can describe my disdain for this.
I wish I could give this book negative stars, but since I can’t, I will settle for 1 ⭐️. I will not be reading from this author again.
Side note—please do not compare this to “The Secret History.” That would be BLASPHEMY.
PS. If you ever see me recommend this book to someone, know that I hate that person & want them to suffer—because I would NEVER recommend this to someone I like or respect.
This was a fun thriller that combined Greek mythology, serial killers, and Oxford
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was a dark and twisted story, good thriller, I liked the connection to the silent patient! Overall it was ok!
4,75 falan olabilirdi aslında çünkü sonu açıktı ve ben hafif yarıda bırakılmış kitaplardan biraz rahatsızlık duyuyorum... ANCAK o kadar WAOOOWWW oldum ve ÜRPERDİM Kİ puan kırmaya kıyamadım... Çok etkileyiciydi.
2.5 stars
weird book felt very unfulfilling for some reason but the ending had me
weird book felt very unfulfilling for some reason but the ending had me