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dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of the best thrillers I've ever read. Twist was incredible and not predictable at all. I thought I had it solved so many times, but I was way off, which just goes to show how great the twists are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder
Moderate: Alcohol
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I *STILL* need to read The Silent Patient, but I was glad my local bookclub chose The Maidens so I could try something by Alex Michaelides.
I listened to this book on a quick Father’s Day trip to the lake to see my dad and I enjoyed the audio. The British narrator and occasional voice by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith was so well done, and maybe even made the story better for me.
I loved mythology in junior high but I haven’t really kept it up until recently. I love the refresher courses in fiction books; this one, Persephone (also featured in Every Summer After, which I was reading at the same time, and loved that connection).
Mariana Andros gets a call from her niece Zoe, that there has been a murder on her campus. Mariana is a group therapist who lost her husband years before, but she has never healed. She also has difficult connections to her own father. She goes back to Cambridge to “help” the investigation and zeros in on a teacher named Edward Fosca, who has a group of wealthy female students, called The Maidens (one of whom was the girl who was murdered).
I did think there were red herrings that were too much of a focus, and we never got to know other important people… but it was a great listen on my trip (and maybe it’s good I haven’t read The Silent Patient yet).
Quotes —
“Not for the first time, Mariana’s empathy prevailed over her common sense.” Ch 5
“The temple was dedicated to Demeter, goddess of the harvest, goddess of life, and to her daughter Persephone, goddess of death. The two goddesses were often worshiped together; two sides of the same coin, mother and daughter; life and death. In Greek, Persephone was known simply as Kore, meaning Maiden.” Ch 11
“Mariana knew the best approach was simply to be present and patient and let Zoey unburden herself in her own time.” ch 14
“My argument with so much of psychoanalysis, is the preconception that suffering is a mistake, or a sign of weakness, or a sign even of illness, when in fact, possibly the greatest truths we know have come out of people's suffering.” Arthur Miller, part 2
“A noble maiden must be sacrificed to the daughter of Demeter, to Persephone.” Track 29
“Being here, in this lovely restaurant, drinking champagne, it allowed them to pretend for a while, to escape the murder and the unpleasantness, and to exist happily in a little bubble of the present moment.” Track 30
“This is what those old Greek plays are about. What it means to be human. What it means to be alive…If you're not aware of the transcendent, if you're not awake to the glorious mystery of life and death that you're lucky enough to be part of—if that doesn't fill you with joy and strike you with awe … you might as well not be alive.” Track 32
“…the way she sat there reminded Mariana of a little perching bird watching everything but saying nothing.” Track 34
I listened to this book on a quick Father’s Day trip to the lake to see my dad and I enjoyed the audio. The British narrator and occasional voice by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith was so well done, and maybe even made the story better for me.
I loved mythology in junior high but I haven’t really kept it up until recently. I love the refresher courses in fiction books; this one, Persephone (also featured in Every Summer After, which I was reading at the same time, and loved that connection).
Mariana Andros gets a call from her niece Zoe, that there has been a murder on her campus. Mariana is a group therapist who lost her husband years before, but she has never healed. She also has difficult connections to her own father. She goes back to Cambridge to “help” the investigation and zeros in on a teacher named Edward Fosca, who has a group of wealthy female students, called The Maidens (one of whom was the girl who was murdered).
I did think there were red herrings that were too much of a focus, and we never got to know other important people… but it was a great listen on my trip (and maybe it’s good I haven’t read The Silent Patient yet).
Quotes —
“Not for the first time, Mariana’s empathy prevailed over her common sense.” Ch 5
“The temple was dedicated to Demeter, goddess of the harvest, goddess of life, and to her daughter Persephone, goddess of death. The two goddesses were often worshiped together; two sides of the same coin, mother and daughter; life and death. In Greek, Persephone was known simply as Kore, meaning Maiden.” Ch 11
“Mariana knew the best approach was simply to be present and patient and let Zoey unburden herself in her own time.” ch 14
“My argument with so much of psychoanalysis, is the preconception that suffering is a mistake, or a sign of weakness, or a sign even of illness, when in fact, possibly the greatest truths we know have come out of people's suffering.” Arthur Miller, part 2
“A noble maiden must be sacrificed to the daughter of Demeter, to Persephone.” Track 29
“Being here, in this lovely restaurant, drinking champagne, it allowed them to pretend for a while, to escape the murder and the unpleasantness, and to exist happily in a little bubble of the present moment.” Track 30
“This is what those old Greek plays are about. What it means to be human. What it means to be alive…If you're not aware of the transcendent, if you're not awake to the glorious mystery of life and death that you're lucky enough to be part of—if that doesn't fill you with joy and strike you with awe … you might as well not be alive.” Track 32
“…the way she sat there reminded Mariana of a little perching bird watching everything but saying nothing.” Track 34
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Drug use
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The idea behind The Maidens had so much potential but it wasn’t realized to its fullest. Hence, I only liked the general plot and story, and many moments in the course of the story were a bit flat and too cliché for my taste.
The story follows Mariana; her husband has died and now her niece is the only left in her life. She visits her at her college after a friend of her niece has died where she tries to figure out who the murderer is. She becomes fixated on the Professor Fosca and the so-called maidens who he has gathered around him.
In general, I found the story engaging and I was also guessing who the murderer could be. I especially enjoyed the references to different psychological and literary ideas. But there were some things I didn’t like too much: The story had some clichés, like the incompetent police, there was in some parts too much telling, and some moments didn’t feel as emotional as they were supposed to.
The novel got so exciting when only a few chapters were left but the conclusion was just unsatisfying to me: The plot twist that Sebastian was in love with Zoe and only married Mariana to be close to her was so disturbing, but I don’t know what to think about? Zoe being the killer was just … okay too, I guess, and I especially hated that Fred saved Mariana in the end .
I generally liked the setting and the writing style, which was easy and fast to read, especially with the short chapters. The characters were mostly okay but often a bit cliché as well. Mariana was an interesting main character, and her emotions were portrayed well but it annoyed me how naïve she was when it came to certain characters. I was also annoyed by the fact that almost every guy was into her.
The Maidens was an average thriller that made me nevertheless interested in Michaelides other work because there were some references to The Silent Patient in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Pedophilia, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Drug use
dark
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Stalking
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Car accident
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
WHAT WHAT WHAT?!?!?!
this was absolutely maddening.
the crossover with Theo from The Silent Patient had me screaming crying throwing up
this was absolutely maddening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Sexual content
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I thought I had this book figured out but of course I didn’t. I couldn’t believe the ending. I enjoyed the ending but just wish the story leading up to it was a bit more detailed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Death of parent
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault
Minor: Child abuse
dark
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment
Minor: Suicide attempt
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
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
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault