Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

160 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.

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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

ecstaticlistening's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Child abuse

kreyna's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual assault

joensign's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, Death, Gore, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Self harm

thebookpaiges's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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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

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.

 

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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

stephmcnutt28's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

If you’re looking for dark academia books, this checks lots of boxes. Cambridge setting. Greek mythology. Shady professors. It’s all there. Unfortunately, that’s what carried this book along. 

Characters: To be honest, the characters fell flat for me. Obviously the each had flaws, and there was an attempt to make those flaws a part of the story, but Mariana came off as whiny, petulant, and childish instead of tortured and in a healing process. Everything about her actions felt overly exaggerated. 
Plot: the plot was fine until the twist. It felt like nothing really lined up to make the twist seem plausible. It felt more like playing a game with a three year old and partway through the game they change the rules without explanation. The way some of the loose ends were tied up felt hasty and amateur. I just didn’t feel satisfied at the ending. 
I did think it was neat how the author tied into The Silent Patient.  
Overall, this book did not live up to the social media hype for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Grief, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, and Mental illness

sawyernarro's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Self harm, Rape, Child abuse, Animal death, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

pineapplebunnies's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Great, immersive writing. Fans of dark academia will love it. The mystery aspect is a bit underwhelming and the choices characters make are puzzling at times. Suspension of disbelief is definitely required a lot of the time. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

glammster's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Stalking, Grief, Infertility, Blood, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

Minor: Car accident