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dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Violence
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Sexual content
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
I think that the very short chapter lengths were used to hide the fact that there is basically no plot development for a good two-thirds of this book, but I was compelled to finish because of the interesting premise. As I’m reading other reviews, it seems this is a trend with Alex Michaelides: great idea, mild execution — especially in regards to psychology. He certainly writes well, and he painted Cambridge University in such a way that it became a character itself. Yet, the protagonist is frustrating, various characters could’ve been used differently, and the reveal/truth came out of nowhere. Although I suspected the villain from the beginning, it was reveal of their motivations for their actions that made me go “?!?!?” Furthermore, no one at this prestigious university questions that a male professor has a cult-like following of female students? So while it was an intriguing mystery based in Greek mythology, perhaps I should've read The Silent Patient before reading The Maidens. For my first Alex Michaelides book, I was a little disappointed, given all the hype.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A solid mystery - I really enjoyed the mythology and cult-ish aspects.
I think what made it a 3-star read for me was thatsince the narrator was so dead set that Fosca was the killer, it was then obviously not him. Zoe's reveal was honestly more horrifying than satisfying since she was groomed and abused and it was so sad. I wish there were some aspects that would have (even super subtlety) hinted at Sebastian's true self, but there was really nothing, so it felt out of left field.
However, the writing was great and I still did enjoy the book!
I think what made it a 3-star read for me was that
However, the writing was great and I still did enjoy the book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
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:
Complicated
It's good, not unlike the Silent Patient book that the author also wrote. There were some good moments, but I felt like the foreshadowing was leading toward a different path and we didn't get the payout that we wanted and that be ending didn't quite make sense with the evidence that was given. Overall, not bad though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Grief, Murder
Minor: Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Death of parent
mysterious
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
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Pedophilia
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Going through booktube and bookstagram, I always saw people mentioning The Silent Patient as one of the best thrillers they have ever read. So I ended up putting it and his other book, The Maiden, on my future reading list. Finally, I saw this book on sale at the bookstore and I ended up buying it.
Now let me be quite honest with you all, I enjoyed the book for literally a good 90% of it. Michaelides' decision to make the chapters short and use a simple writing style—not too simple cause that would make me lose interest—greatly helps with making this book addicting. Like, I knocked out 130 pages in one night, that's very incredible feat for my neurodivergent ass. I was hooked and trying to figure out the mystery myself.
But as you see, everything came crashing down in the end. One of the first critiques I'd say is that this is definetly not the book for people who need good characters. All of them were pretty one note for the most part. Mariana, the main character, felt 3 emotions of self-doubt, depression, and anger throughout the whole novel. With fellow book people always talking about how much they need character driven stories and pick that over plot, It made me curious to think how a book with the exact opposite of that would look. That's this book.
And for the grand reveal of what ruined everything about this book for me: the ending.Call me a snowflake all you want, but using grooming and rape of a child as a twist is high key very trashy to me. It turns out that Mariana's niece Zoey, who I clocked as being super suspicous, turned out to have been the killer. But you find out through some love letter that came from none other than Mariana's dead husband. This twist came out of fucking left field. Like there was no way for us to see this coming which makes it just cheap shock value. And the fact that both of them were planning on killing Mariana before he did, sick. Like it's all so gross and just ugg. Also that ending battle was pretty anticlimatic. Zoey nearly stabs Mariana, Mariana tussle for a second and knocks her off, Fred tries to help but gets stabbed, Mariana hits Zoey with a rock, boom it's all over. Like this is a time where this simple writing didn't work whatsoever.
It sucks to see another novel I liked so much fall apart in the end, I lowkey hate it more than i hate The Song of Achilles, which is really saying something. I may still try The Silent Patient but this novel may have made me want to never read this author again.
Final Score: 2/10
Now let me be quite honest with you all, I enjoyed the book for literally a good 90% of it. Michaelides' decision to make the chapters short and use a simple writing style—not too simple cause that would make me lose interest—greatly helps with making this book addicting. Like, I knocked out 130 pages in one night, that's very incredible feat for my neurodivergent ass. I was hooked and trying to figure out the mystery myself.
But as you see, everything came crashing down in the end. One of the first critiques I'd say is that this is definetly not the book for people who need good characters. All of them were pretty one note for the most part. Mariana, the main character, felt 3 emotions of self-doubt, depression, and anger throughout the whole novel. With fellow book people always talking about how much they need character driven stories and pick that over plot, It made me curious to think how a book with the exact opposite of that would look. That's this book.
And for the grand reveal of what ruined everything about this book for me: the ending.
It sucks to see another novel I liked so much fall apart in the end, I lowkey hate it more than i hate The Song of Achilles, which is really saying something. I may still try The Silent Patient but this novel may have made me want to never read this author again.
Final Score: 2/10
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia