Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Fecioarele by Alex Michaelides

79 reviews

literaryinluv's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

it was really okay. i appreciated the literary references and the allusions to greek mythology, but it just felt so forced sometimes? the way the author tried to force tennyson and the myths in SO MUCH. to, like the littlest detail. and mariana was so flat and sticking her head in a crime scene, which is not realistic at all. and fred??? 

0.2 seconds after meeting her: "marry me"

the red herrings were just so... forced. like,

oh fred has a picture with a dog, and the letter mentions "premonition," which he claims to have, it must be him!!! but like nobody thinks that, he's just some guy.

everything felt forced, and like the author was booping my nose and saying, "catch that? let me explain!"

despite all this, i enjoyed the pacing and the ending, as well as the

actual culprit

. i probably won't read it again, tho.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cursing, Physical abuse, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Incest, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, and Infertility

thebookpaiges's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Murder, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Blood, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

maralaene's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I read the Silent Patient last year, and quite enjoyed it, so I picked this one up when I got in the mood for a thriller. While I think I may have liked the Silent Patient more than this, I did find The Maidens quite an enjoyable read. It was quick and easy - though a bit on the spookier side for sure! 

I will say though, I wasn’t ready for the Silent Patient crossover and it definitely felt like an “oh shit” moment when it clicked!! So that actually was kind of interesting.

If you want a quick, easy but intriguing thriller I would consider giving this a shot. It wasn’t my favorite book, but I did enjoy it. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Sexual content

joperceptions's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book wasn’t bad (I’m being kind, it was quite bad). I think stepping into it after the silent patient, meant I had my own idea of the way the author may have set it up and I was right in a sense. It follows a similar vibe in regards to a mystery with a plot 
twist. The writing style was easy enough to follow for me. The only comment on that is, I feel as though the character development for supporting characters (important ones too) was just not as strong as it should have been at points. I found myself confused on who certain people were once I hit the end of the book, but that could easily just be a me issue. I’m not going back to check but I feel like it had some minor plot holes, or at least things that weren’t wrapped up in a way that was at all satisfying, nor helpful to answering any questions that the plot twist may have evoked. I feel like the reveal was dropped and somewhere it was forgotten that we’d still want to hear the aftermath (beyond the few pages of whatever we got). And also understand more about wtf that plot
Line was even about and elaborating on it more?? But we got none of that. It’s not a VERY BAD book, it’s actually a really good concept and I like the authors writing style in a general consensus, i just think this book could have been articulated a bit better and it would have been a really good read. 
⚠️SPOILER AHEAD⚠️

I really just don’t think Zoe being the killer made any sense to me, the whole ending  sort of felt like it was decided last minute. I don’t feel like it had any build up, or things that happened prior to even create a sense of suspicion toward her at all, which sort of made the reveal, shocking yes, but a bit less interesting. TW: (pedophilia, grooming) Also the lack of conversation on the fact that Sebastian groomed a minor, was so incredibly concerning to me. Like i understand it was brought up mid “fight scene” or whatever that last bit was. But I still feel like that bomb was just dropped and not at all critiqued besides her being upset that zoe and Sebastian weren’t who she thought they were. Not the literal fact that Zoe was a minor, a literal CHILD when all of that shit happened. It was not approached in a way that was appropriate in my eyes.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Medical content, Body horror, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Incest, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

regent_ace's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Actual Rating: 2.5 stars


I enjoyed the atmosphere of it and I liked the main character a lot and sympathized with her.
I thought the red herring in the book got repetitive after a while and I really disliked the twist at the end. I felt the ending left a bad taste in my mouth (metaphorically)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking

pomegranite's review against another edition

fast-paced

• 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

4.0

I really liked this book, to the point where I want to buy a personal copy to keep on my book shelf. I would read this story again and again if I could, I just... really liked it. I found myself instantly sucked into the pages of this book, struggling to put it down when I knew I needed a break. I was so enthralled with the setting, mystery, and Mariana as a character that I was thinking about this book constantly when I wasn't actively reading it. I also adored the constant mentions of greek myth and tragedy, perhaps because its such a big part of my life and interests. Everytime something was mentioned I would light up and feel my attention being drawn in even more. Though of course it had its problems... I felt the layout of the book was very aggravating at times. The chapters being comedically short from time to time. I also did not like the inclusion of Henry and Fred I felt they didn't have a real place in the story and everytime they came up I would roll my eyes or ask why they were even there. I also felt the twist at the end could have been built up a bit more, as I guessed one of the characters involvement and the other felt very out of left field. But I digress, cause in my opinion those are small things that didn't keep me from liking the book or the story that was being told. Again, I would easily reread this story and I loved how on the edge of the seat it kept me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual assault

amberjackonski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Sexual content

taylorpg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Maidens is a book about loss and lack of control. Our main character is a group Psychotherapist currently recovering from the tragic death of her husband. She receives a call from her niece/adopted daughter in Cambridge saying a student has been killed. Mariana decides to visit and that’s where our story begins.

The book was giving “I listen to a crime podcast so I know what I’m an expert” except our main character is a psychologist so she thinks she knows how murderers think. Although it is communicated with her many time to stay out of it she takes it upon herself to get involved and solve the murders.

There’s a very interesting yet obvious dialogue around death and how fate pulls her strings and gives us no control over it.

Overall I thought it was good for a semi-quick read, the audio book is only 9 hours long so it’s on the shorter end. But I really didn’t think it got too interesting until the last 30 minutes. The twist was good but there wasn’t really any suspense throughout the rest of the book. The red herrings were unnecessary and didn’t blend into the story as well as they could have.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death

wronglibrarycard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Pedophilia, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

madisonfrank's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Mental illness, Murder, Medical content, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, and Pedophilia