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schausjk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Drug abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Self harm
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Death of parent, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse, Car accident, Torture, Suicide, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Classism, and Medical content
tacochelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Mental illness, and Stalking
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Self harm
Minor: Drug use and Infidelity
joscelynhe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, and Stalking
Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
hannah_steven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Animal death
irene_g08's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It's been a while since a book has been able to captivate me in the way The Maidens did. It felt like each new page added to the strange and chilling mystery our MC was trying to solve. I thought I knew what was happening, but when the plot twist was revealed, I could never have imagined it even in my craziest guesses. This story is creepy, twisted, and downright disturbing at times but I'm glad I read it. It opened my eyes to a world I was unfamiliar with. It was a bit too much for me resulting in half a star lost but I was genuinely impressed. Now, I need to go and read The Silent Patient.
Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Sexual content, and Pedophilia
Minor: Death of parent and Drug use
daybreakreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I actually suspected the right person early on (ultimately for the wrong reason), but mostly dismissed it because of a very powerful red herring (even though I at one point suspected the red herring as being such). I would say the true ending would be very difficult if not impossible to guess the first time through; I almost want to re-read it again now that I know how it ends.
The audiobook was fascinating to listen to; they used a different voice actor for the alternate perspective.
Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Murder, and Death
Minor: Infertility, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization
miggyfool's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Torture, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
syinhui's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.25
Zoe suddenly going unhinged and murderous in front of Marianna feels so random. Fred following her and for some reason knowing she’ll be in danger is just convenient.
I could see Zoe as a total nutcase. Still sticking with the plan to frame up her professor. She’s suspicious from the very start and I wouldn’t mind if the second pov was actually her alternate personality/identity. With a little tweaking, it would probably make sense. Better than a kid having romantic and sexual relations with a deranged man twice her age.
"Oh, I’ve got an idea for the twist! What if we make someone who has no established motivation so far whatsoever our mysterious killer?? Remember how I’ve repeatedly alluded to the story of the Maiden, Persephone? That’s the central focus. Not those characters who I already hinted to have daddy/mummy issues. Nooo! Everything else is a mere diversion. The goal is not to weave clues together but to have readers think in retrospect. For what could be more effective than the dead? The least harmless character in the story. Plus, this serves as a sort of divine punishment or justice, y’know. I bet no one would see that coming."
Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Stalking
Minor: Confinement, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Abandonment
kccool12255's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
There are MULTIPLE adult-minor relationships in this book that make me feel icky (Fred and Mariana I don't count because that's a 7-year age gap, but they're both adults), and there's just a lot of sex this time around that I feel like was unnecessary. The Maidens is basically just a big orgy with Edward Fosca, one of the other professors is sleeping with one of The Maidens too, and Zoe and Sebastian had a relationship going while he was married to Mariana, and it's just...a lot. I haven't even mentioned the fact that one, Zoe and Sebastian have a 16-YEAR AGE GAP, and two, HE IS HER UNCLE BY MARRIAGE. It's fornication, infidelity, adultery, incest, adult-minor relationship, it's all the things. They also DON'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE'S HER UNCLE. I just...feel SO bad for Mariana.
BUT THEO FABER IS IN THIS BOOK. HE IS IN THIS BOOK.
In conclusion, wow. Just wow. Alex Michaelides writes some messed-up stuff. (also, are you okay, dude? I'm not even that concerned about all the murder and sex and stuff, but your characters have some MESSED-UP families. Did you have daddy and mommy issues? Because your MCs do. Just some food for thought.) A lot of messed-up things, but I love them. These books have FANTASTIC plot twists, and I want to do something like that in my own characters, especially with the MCs meeting each other. Just incredible.
Moderate: Death, Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Incest, Grief, Infidelity, and Murder
Minor: Gore, Alcohol, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
minimicropup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
-Writing suffered from "the" syndrome, but instead of "the living room" "the house" "the car", we get "The (name of Cambridge building)", "the courtyard", "the main arch".
-The atmosphere and plot are driven by nostalgia, but we are seeing the University solely through the MCs eyes as alumni, so there is a lot of updating the reader about why certain buildings or characters are meaningful after the fact.
Main POVs:
-A Greek-born, Cambridge University educated psychotherapist specializing in group therapy. They are grieving the accidental death of their spouse while on vacation. They had an emotionally neglectful childhood, experienced a series of tragic losses of loved ones, and the only family left is their niece (who is currently studying at Cambridge University).
-Introspective-style journal entry or letter of an unknown character describing their life.
Cred Rating 👎: Nonsensical to outlandish. This is not an absurdist/bizarre/speculative fiction, and it's not over-the-top/campy/satirical fiction. Yet somehow the writing manages to tip toe back and forth between those directions while aiming for realistic tragedy. It felt inconsistent and erratic, which kept pulling me out of the story and diluting the plot.
Growls and Howls 🐺 (many...but I didn't dislike this book)
-A lot of the memory lane tellings didn't seem relevant to the plot, just something the reader had to know to explain the camaraderie (or lack thereof) between the MC and various characters. I wish we had another POV. Maybe from one of the 'Maidens' or the niece.
-I don't know much about Greek tragedy but the way it was presented felt more like explaining a religion? There is explanation given but it disrupted the dialog (almost like the MC had to turn to us to explain things to readers like me mid-sentence). Academic discussions went on for awhile, leaving me feeling lost. That's 100% on me for being ignorant, but I got the feeling that even if you were knowledgeable on the topic it may still feel forced into the plot sometimes?
-Lack of depth for the MC and their quirks. Why don't they lock doors?! Why do they put themselves so obviously in danger? Why are they so overconfident and skeptical and other times so blindly trusting? Were they always this way? Did this start after their spouse died? Why?
-The whodunnit may range from reveal to twist for you, but that wouldn't ruin the book. The whydunnit does though. It's a well done 🤯 unpredictable twist ruined by 🤨 "wait, whut? that makes no sense" motivation.
Reading Journey 🫠: Friend wants to take you somewhere via their scenic nostalgic route, but their memories are long-winded and totally lost on you. A lot of polite smiling to hide the "are we done yet?" thoughts.
Possible match if you like:
-Mysteries in academic settings
-Metaphors, similes, and archetypes from Greek literature
-Hyperbolic characters
-Descriptive, "telling"/exposition type narratives
-Incompetent police, pathologists, security
-Whodunnits and amateur sleuthing
Content Heads-Up: Death of a spouse and fertility issues.
Format: Library Digital via Libby
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Infertility, and Stalking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content