Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Maidens

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

115 reviews

cfoley's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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r1vana's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

“That was the horror of it. We all secretly hope that tragedy will only ever happen to other people. But Mariana knew, sooner or later, it happens to you."

I was really excited to read about a “dark academia/ mystery murder” plot. But it is obvious with my rating that I am disappointed.

The first half of the book got me hyped up. Let’s say that at the end, I am a little disturbed.

I was really into it: the short chapters and the changes of POV between Marianna and the killer:

“After all, everyone's entitled to be the hero of their own story. So I must be permitted to be the hero of mine.

Even though I'm not.

I'm the villain.”

I was analyzing and overthinking everything about who can be the killer… anyone that Marianna meets are so sus…:

“i don't want to be two people. I want to be one person. I want to be whole. But I have no choice, it seems.

boy was I right about Sebastian. What I was not expecting is Zoe being the murderer. I am traumatized. Poor Marianna. I did sympathize her a lot. But sometimes I disliked whenever she was being reckless and careless.

There are a lot of Greek mythological stories that seems a lot. But I think the author wanted to confuse the reader in finding the killer. Unfortunately, the suspense seems to decrease as the story goes because the plot seems to go on a loophole.

When it comes to the actual murder mystery, it felt practically absent/non existent because Marianna made constant reckless actions like going on a date with a creepy younger guy. Or just confronting X person and “interviewing” them. She is extremely overbearing.

With everything going on, the story felt unrealistic. This woman has terrible boundaries; she can’t even say “no” sometimes. It did made me lose interest a few times, but since the chapters were short, I had to finish it.

The ending had me satisfied on reading this book bcz I would have put a two star. I was shook. Nevertheless, as the story goes on, I was on the edge the whole time.

All the men in Marianna’s life are major red flags and big ass creeps. It still makes me uncomfortable that Fred; Henry and Sebastian are all creeps and two of them are stalkers. Not that Edward Fosca was any better… with having relationships with his minor students…

Two passages that I had been in my mind throughout the whole book:

After we die, all that remains of us is a mystery; and our possessions, of course, to be picked over by strangers. ;

“I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it when I sorrow most;

‘Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all…”

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grummy_mania's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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liblady0308's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.25

I was kind of annoyed with this book most of the way through, thinking it was a tropey “random person figures it out before the police.” I also wasn’t enamored with the main character. But as the story progressed… and then the ending!!! I was shook. I didn’t realize how much of a psychological thriller it was. So it’s not a favorite but it was certainly an experience.

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feebles640's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

this was a fun mystery/triller. i’ve noticed with Alex Michaelides writing starts off incredibly slow for the first part of the novel and picks up in the last 50-100 pages. i loved the greek mythology in this but wished to see just a bit more. i wasn’t a fan of the reveal either which definitely knocks this down quite a few stars. i personally preferred The Silent Patient.

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let_therebebooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad 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

2.0

⭐️⭐️/5

“It’s important to keep looking ahead. You mustn’t forever look back, over your shoulder. Think about the future.”

Y’all this book was WEIRD, and not in the good way. In the creepy, inappropriate way.

This book was slow at first and then it picked up in the middle, which doesn’t surprise me because I felt the same exact way with his previous novel, The Silent Patient. I will say, however, that it was clever how he connected the two books in a very minor and subtle way. Gold star for creativity!

There were so many times I put this down and found 793 other things to do besides read it because I was bored. But I HAD to know how it ended and I was disappointed.

I honestly don’t think I liked a single character. At. All. They all sucked. Also, it annoyed me that all these men suddenly are flocking to our main character. I always felt like there were characters introduced who didn’t need to be, and were kind of pointless. I did like the Greek mythology theme though, the author did a great job with that and it wasn’t too overwhelming.

So many people RAVED about this book and loved it, so I was intrigued. Unfortunately, this being my second novel of his, I don’t think Alex Michaelides is the author for me.

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