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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“the maidens” is a thriller novel surrounding the murder of young girls at cambridge university. all of these girls were part of a select group of a greek tragedy professor, edward fosca, called the maidens. marianna is a group therapist who has recently lost her husband, and she is determined to find the culprit before her niece zoe can become the killers next victim.
this book is a solid three stars in the way that i don’t have any strong feelings about it in itself. it was a fast read, the writing is easy to comprehend and the chapters are quick so i breezed right through this when i read it which was nice. i found marianna’s story of grief to be the most touching and the dark academia vibes were cool. unfortunately, i found myself not connecting with marianna or any other character and truthfully didn’t care about seeing the mystery solved. i think the author had an interesting premise but didn’t seem to follow through. while the ending gagged me lowkey, i still found it to be a rushed and abrupt ending, providing no satisfying conclusion.
SPOILERS!!!!
i’m gonna discuss the spoilers (and rant) here!! turn back now if you have any desire to stay in the dark!
i think the most interesting part of this book is we find out that zoe and marianna’s dead husband sebastian were sleeping together, aka sebastian had groomed zoe and made plans to kill marianna and take her money. when sebastian dies zoe follows through with the murders. the author did a really cool narrative thing where in our heads sebastian was this really good guy, and we grieve him with marianna, only for our stomachs to drop when we find out the truth. but after this revelation nothing more is explained, and edward fosca, who had more page time than i enjoyed, was literally just like “oh he was actually sleeping with all the girls, he’s done, bye” like?? and moreover we don’t get any reflection about sebastian and how he was horrible. while it might have been done intentionally to make a point it came off as sloppy to me. both the bad men in this book were just treated with the “they did it the whole time lol, bye!” and then they left the page?? like?? and also the author spends the entire book setting up that the kills are related to the sacrificial rites of demeter and persephone, and loops in greek tragedies and the twist renders these points, which have been HUGE elements of the plot, null and void and completely useless. a twist should enrich your plot and expose things the reader was blind to, but in this one the entire point of the book was just thrown away!!
also the plot with henry was completely unnecessary?? henry is one of marianna’s clients who is mentally unstable, stalks her, and tries to kill himself in front of her. this was done for nothing more than shock value and it rubbed me the wrong way. it seemed like the author used mental health as a plot device, which okay, but it also doesn’t feel like he understands the severity? henry literally shows marianna his self harm scars that are fresh and nearly kills kimself in front of marianna and there is no lore mention of him ever, zoe is groomed and sexually abused by sebastian and no comments are made, and then the maidens themselves are being raped by their professor and the resolution happens off page?? the author made most of his female characters experience sexual violence and i don’t think he handled it with the degree of care these issues need. obviously its a thriller but the way he used mental health sexual violence as a plot device rubbed me the wrong way. it was only used for shock value, not to provide commentary on the way abusive and powerful men often manipulative young girls and how they often go undetected. and if the author was trying to push this message he did a half asses job.
also making marianna get with fred at the end was crazy work. fred is this guy who sees her on the train and proposes to her three times despite only knowing her for three days. fred stalks her, kisses her without her consent, and is generally very creepy!! and she ends up with him?? author what are we doing.
it’s very obvious to me this book was written by a man.
all this to be said, i liked that the book was fast paced and the ending truly did gag me, but i just know deep in my heart i won’t remember this book when i wake up tomorrow. el oh el.
The audiobook reader, Louise Brealey is great!
I think the central idea of this book had a ton of potential, but to me it didn't fully live up to what it could have been. The idea that our detective is the ultimate victim is great, I just wish I cared more about her; apart from that fact that she is rich and lived part of her life in Greece, she has no real personalizing characteristics. Despite having an advanced degree in psychology, she seemed to be terrible at reading people and as bad at her job as a group therapist. And while the final twist that it was her niece acting out a murder plan her late husband came up with would be something she would have a hard time accepting/seeing on her own, her ability to navigate interactions with anyone else seemed pretty bad. Also the professor and Fred were obvious red herrings.
Also, if the novel is going to introduce pedophilia in the last act, it needs to treat it with much more care. The fact that Zoe was groomed from a young age by her uncle, repeated sexually assaulted while a child, witnessed a murder, and then went on to commit many murders "for him" when he died needed to be navigated better.
I think the central idea of this book had a ton of potential, but to me it didn't fully live up to what it could have been. The idea that our detective is the ultimate victim is great, I just wish I cared more about her; apart from that fact that she is rich and lived part of her life in Greece, she has no real personalizing characteristics. Despite having an advanced degree in psychology, she seemed to be terrible at reading people and as bad at her job as a group therapist. And while the final twist that it was her niece acting out a murder plan her late husband came up with would be something she would have a hard time accepting/seeing on her own, her ability to navigate interactions with anyone else seemed pretty bad. Also the professor and Fred were obvious red herrings.
Also, if the novel is going to introduce pedophilia in the last act, it needs to treat it with much more care. The fact that Zoe was groomed from a young age by her uncle, repeated sexually assaulted while a child, witnessed a murder, and then went on to commit many murders "for him" when he died needed to be navigated better.
Interesting premise but it didn't quite click with me like I expected to, based on the hype for the author as a suspense novelist. None of the characters are particularly likeable, the main MC is frustratingly dense, the mystery majorly fizzles out by the reveal, and it ultimately doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Mariana was honestly such a bad therapist. She clearly struggles with boundaries in every area of her life, personally and professionally, but yet thinks she's so smart because she "understands psychology"... Perhaps her personal flaws were intentional, since she is so easily fooled by multiple characters for the plot of the story to unfold, but I didn't feel like it was played like that.
The twist reveal is not super surprising, but the "why" of it all is so convoluted and contrived that the only thing that makes sense is where the perpetrator ultimately ends up...
I didn't read "The Silent Patient" but, now that I've read this one I'm not sure that it that would have landed with me either.
Mariana was honestly such a bad therapist. She clearly struggles with boundaries in every area of her life, personally and professionally, but yet thinks she's so smart because she "understands psychology"... Perhaps her personal flaws were intentional, since she is so easily fooled by multiple characters for the plot of the story to unfold, but I didn't feel like it was played like that.
The twist reveal is not super surprising, but the "why" of it all is so convoluted and contrived that the only thing that makes sense is where the perpetrator ultimately ends up...
I didn't read "The Silent Patient" but, now that I've read this one I'm not sure that it that would have landed with me either.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Great quick read! Another good book with Easter eggs by Alex Michaelides. I enjoy books by him. Didn’t see the end coming
