Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - دوشیزگان

Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

دوشیزگان by Alex Michaelides

512 reviews

friesenag's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not a bad book but the ending was a little lack luster compared to the silent patient. But it was a good twist, I just think maybe the pacing was weird and only having like 10 pages left was not enough time

Content Warnings

rachel1106's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ending was a tad rushed and a little predictable. Buildup was good. Characters were ok. A little bland. Everyone in this book has daddy issues, my lord.

I did not like how Sebastian was a pedo? Why couldn't Zoe have just been delusional and unwell and therefore fantasize about him wanting her, instead of him actually loving his 15 year old niece? That's so weird, and you already had Fosca sleeping with his barely legal students. It wasn't needed. I don't know why Sebastian needed to be a nasty criminal in order for Mariana to finally start to move on from him. So that way she could not be as traumatized by learning that her niece is a maniacal serial killer who used Mariana's good will and want to protect her daughter-like figure from the danger that her own serial killer niece made up? It's a tad much.

Content Warnings

dev921's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

soswiin's review against another edition

2.75

dark mysterious tense 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

the more i think about this book the lower i rate it

the good

- loved the setting and the way it was written almost worshipfully. i too idolize cambridge and all its uneven cobblestones and river-soaked undergrads

- + 1 star because the best breakfast spot in the city was mentioned: the copper kettle

the bad

- the way mythology was used. OKAY yes i picked this up because it was so “heavily versed in greek mythos”. it just felt very elementary. i wasn’t opposed to the vengeful almost teenage-bully nature of persephone but i didn’t love it. fosca’s lecture on the cult of eleusis was a great mythology-centric plot point but it was only truly relevant that one time.

- for a book called “the maidens” the actual maidens really aren’t that prevalent. there’s not much of a cultish/abuse of academic authority vibe going on despite the fact that it’s a selling point of the book (it was for me)

-the red herrings; spent the entire book trying to guess who the bad guy was because the wrong choices were so obvious. i did get fooled but it wasn’t satisfying or well done in the slightest.

- maybe i’m just looking for things to complain about but a lot of the phrasing was just very cliche

the ugly

- the ending. rushed, confusing, and unnecessary. also really gross

- the characters. i’ve walked on floor tiles with more personality. there is not a single person in the entire story that i was rooting for or who’s downfall i was praying for

- where do i even begin with the pedophilic/incestuous subplot. what?? thrown out there without an ounce of comprehensible elaboration. made no sense to the story despite it basically causing the entire thing. just a nasty shock grabber

there were so many aspects of the book that would’ve been so interesting if they hadn’t been brushed over; henry’s role in the story, morris’s blackmail, the actual maidens themselves, the abuses of power. the author spends the entire book reiterating how terrible men are but never shows any woman successfully winning against the circumstances imposed on them. an amazing concept with poor execution

Content Warnings

grace33's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

Content Warnings

ericasbookshelves's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious 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

I liked the book, didn’t like the characters and hated the ending. Which all made for a semi strange reading experience. I’m unsure on if I’ll read another book by the author but I might

Content Warnings

epruta's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

Content Warnings

sonnyygrayy's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I picked up this book because I finished my other one on my flight and had a very long layover. I’m not sure I would’ve ever actually picked this one up if it hadn’t been for that, even though I’ve wanted to read it for a long time.

When I first got back into reading, I fell in love with the Silent Patient by Michaelides. His fast paced writing and short chapters kept me turning page after page. I figured out the twist right before it happened, which made me proud of myself, but it’s also a reflection of his writing. (This is how a plot twist should be done!)

As I’ve grown a lot as a reader within the last three years, my tastes have changed slightly. Michaelides will still be an author whom I look out for, but his writing isn’t as profound to me as it once was.

I liked the dark academia setting of this novel and how it was still accessible. I did feel like he was trying a little hard to be profound at times and this book just simply isn’t. It was a fun book that fulfilled what I was looking for: an easy page-turner read.

Content Warnings