Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

دوشیزگان by Alex Michaelides

380 reviews

dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wow! A great mystery that keeps pulling you in!

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I flew through this book. The pacing was excellent, and there were so many red herrings that I wasn't 100% sure of anything until the end. That being said, a lot of the characters were a bit flat for me and I would've liked to have seen them better developed. There were also several loose ends that I really would have liked to have seen tied up in some capacity. 

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I hated the twist. It would've been more believable if
Fosca had used Zoe to carry out the murders. That way, he wouldn't necessarily have been "innocent", but he also wouldn't have been the murderer, which obviosuly couldn't have been done, as it would've been too predictable. These are the issues that arise when you reveal the "killer" on the first page. It felt sloppy that Sebastian was the one revealed to have been writing the letters, because we weren't given any hints to the fact that he was evil at all. Is it believable that someone, specifically a THERAPIST, could be married to a person for over a DECADE, and not pick up on a single sign or clue that that person was actually a psychopath and had serious psychological isssues and childhood trauma??


I felt that a lot of loose ends were left unexplained, and it felt like the entire book was built up with a ton of information (some of it unnecessary) only for the ending to take a completely opposite and hasty direction.

Henry's presence in the story was completely unnecessary, and served no purpose. The author could literally remove the entire character from the book, and it would have no impact on the plot or our understanding of the other characters.

Also, I have to add that so much of the book was completely unrealistic, specifically with the main character.
Would any sane person ever, specifically a therapist who is used to and knows the inner-workings of troubled minds, WILLINGLY GO ALONE TO DINNER AT THE HOUSE OF THE PERSON THEY SUSPECTED WAS A SERIAL KILLER?!?? It'd be fine if the main character who did this was an unsuspecting, naive individual, but a therapist?!!! Who is extensively and professionally trained on the actions of psychopaths?? Also, the fact that Mariana dismissed Henry when he showed signs of self-harm and simply left without getting him help or calling 911 is wildly unrealistic for a character who is said to be a licensed therapist.


Some things I enjoyed about the book were the author's incorporation of and connections to greek mythology. I love when a book tricks me into learning something I didn't previously know, especially when it is done in an interesting way. I also thought the book was written well, for the most part, and had an intriguing vocabulary. The psychological aspects of it and how it analyzed characters from the mind of a therapist was very interesting, specifically in that it disected the human mind and how events in a person's childhood can alter their mind and impact them for the rest of their life. For that, and for the fact that I was interested enough to keep reading and finish the book, it gets 2 stars. When I began this review, I planned to give it 4 stars, but the more I analyzed and thought about it, the more stars I deducted.

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark 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: No

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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mysterious tense fast-paced

I was having a fine time with it, it was a quick and easy read. But the ending disappointed me. I was debating where it would fall between three and four stars as I was reading, but the last 50 pages really didn't do it any favors so this where we ended up. The twist was bad. 
Side note: One of the blurbs said "the twist blew my mind" which I can see why someone would feel that way but it's not for a good reason. Because it wasn't foreshadowed at all. It didn't give the book more depth. It was just shock value and it didn't make me feel like I should have known all along. There was no way to know. The hints were not there.

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was so entertaining! 
Honestly, it was just vibes like nothing was happening, but a lot was happening and I was interested the whole time if that makes sense. I really liked the character‘s and the little dash of a romance. I did not see that ending coming like at all I was actually shocked , I don’t know this was really entertaining and fun it’s not the best mystery. I feel like but I wasn’t trying too hard to guess and I didn’t guess. I think this is my first like dark academia book and I ate it up. I’m excited to read the silent patient now because I saw those little Easter eggs about it. When I was reading, I actually had to stop and like scream a little and because I was like there’s no way.

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