Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - دوشیزگان

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

دوشیزگان by Alex Michaelides

380 reviews

nessazee's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

syinhui's review against another edition

2.25

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

I picked up this book for the dark academia vibes along with the expectation that it would be as good as The Silent Patient, but this one turned out to be a downer. I find the plot twist at the end awful. The red herrings weren’t used as effectively as they could have been, which left a lot of loose ends and plot holes that will never be resolved. The plot twist, for what it’s worth, was indeed… unexpected. I had three people in mind for the identity of the second POV; all would make better and more plausible killer. None made it, to my dismay. It’s disappointing how such a reveal seemed to have been pulled out of nowhere.

I don’t buy at all the part where Theo said Zoe is merely a proxy and controlled by

Sebastian

the whole time, somehow making her inculpable of her actions. This kind of unsettled me because as a psychiatrist, shouldn’t he know better? She may have been a victim but she’s also old enough to know right from wrong. Like wtf.

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 think I would’ve even preferred it if Fred and Fosca were actually the secret lovers. Fred, contrary to his clumsy and boyish demeanor (the picture of him with a dog though – one of those frustrating red herrings) as the real cold-blooded murderer and Fosca as an accomplice. Both seem to have had unhappy childhoods. Turning out to be monsters themselves, like their own fathers, killing young women as a means to channel their hate as well as their desire for the love of their mothers. Sounds like classic abused/neglected-child-turned-predatory behaviors. Cliché, but at least the motive is there. Using the story of Persephone, the cult of maidens, and Greek tragedies as a backdrop.. Fred eventually betraying Fosca after finding out he’s sleeping with the girls. Uses him as a scapegoat, frames him up to take the fall. Fosca’s demise (better at the hands of Marianna or Zoe) or arrest would be an opportunity to further explore the themes of grief, regret, loss and longing. Not to mention, a potential parallel to Tennyson and Hallam. Now that I think about it, this could be a good BL fanfiction idea.

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.

Me trying to make sense of Sebastian’s role as Hades?? and how ridiculous and unbelievable it is:
"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."

Content Warnings

lucifer_morningstar13's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I enjoyed this one! I will say though that it started out slow, and it took me about a day after starting to really get back into it. I got this from Book of the Month club though and since I own it and I enjoyed The Silent Patient, I went on to finish it. I'm glad I finished it though. I would say it's slow to medium-paced, and I tend to enjoy faster-paced books, but I enjoyed the story that unfolded and trying to guess who did what. I actually guessed it towards the beginning of the book but then changed my prediction to someone else, and ended up being wrong! It's always fun to correctly guess who did it in a psychological thriller/mystery/etc., but it's also a sign of a good writer when you fall for the red herrings and aren't able to guess.
The big reveal at the end was shocking and awful, poor Marianna...
I also enjoyed the fact that

there was reference made to The Silent Patient!!! That was really cool and now I want to go back and re-read The Silent Patient with the new knowledge of how all of that began!

Content Warnings

nziam's review against another edition

2.75

dark mysterious sad fast-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

Content Warnings

ekclar's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

gondorgirl's review against another edition

4.5

challenging mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

linneahcanread's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I found this gripping and exciting. I really liked Mariana's perspective as a therapist - a great layer to add to the plot.

Content Warnings

beeper's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book. The last 1/4 fell flat.

Content Warnings

lbg352's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

phoebebird's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I, quite literally, couldn’t put it down. The plot twist was satisfyingly shocking, but with every single character being suspicious (including characters that had absolutely nothing to do with the plot) there are very few chances to make educated predictions about the whodunnit of it all. Plus, all the women in this book are all easily manipulated idiots which doesn’t make for a totally enjoyable read. But despite all of this, it still kept me up late turning page after page.

Content Warnings

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