Reviews with content warning for Murder - As Musas

The Maidens follows a very human character — Mariana struggles deeply with many losses and subsequent grief, as well as a complicated relationship with her father. Michaelides’ ability to pull the reader into the paranoia of the protagonist is admirable, as is his knowledge of psychotherapy and Greek tragedy. However, I find his analysis of psychotherapy quite Freudian, specifically that many of the psychologist characters encourage Mariana to look at how her relationship with her father affects her life now. While this can be a helpful theory, people are more complicated, and I found myself wishing he went into the feelings of grief associated with loss rather than transference. The novel centres around a group therapist who — while each therapist practices differently — I found it odd that the group therapy scene later in the book centred more around Mariana and her own thoughts rather than the clients.

Michaelides also does a phenomenal job with red herrings, though I did suspect and correctly guess (half of) the ending. However, he managed to fool me and convince me it was someone else before the reveal. Again, Mariana’s paranoia bleeds into the reader as they try to figure out whodunnit. Perhaps that is the reason for all of the suspicious and seemingly unnecessary characters - to encourage the reader to fall into a similar sense of paranoia that Mariana experiences.

I do wish we were given a greater explanation or depth into the Maidens and this academia-based cult of young women; it did not feel as fleshed out as it could’ve been and served mostly as part of the red herring. I also would have loved a greater resolution with most of the characters in the end, as the end feels abrupt and unfinished after the reveal (ie the epilogue).

Overall, it was certainly a page turner.

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folded_between_pages_of_books's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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thissagreads's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

This was a burn that was too slow. In my opinion, I didn’t like the main character going back to her old school to find the killer herself because it felt like majority of the lead up, was just extra backstory that the reader didn’t need. Also she was HARDLY doing nah really detective work. The author’s other book “The Silent Patient” had a slow burn feel to it as well, but the ending had a better hook and “gotcha!” Rather than this book. I wouldn’t read this one again, too boring to have a typical, lack of creativity, ending.

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krista_timm's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

While I enjoyed the plot, the one thing that made this book only 4/5 is due to the MFC. I really wish this character had more confidence and didn't always rely on her husband for when things got rough.

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msnoir85's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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porshuhhhh's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Did NOT see that ending and almost feel insulted by it, honestly. I liked the ending but felt it was an easy way out and made me feel bad for the FMC.

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cryomango's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i didn’t expect to like this book - let alone love it - but the moment i picked it up i couldn’t put it down. Marianna’s relationship with Zoe and Sebastian was absolutely fascinating. And Fosca is a true villain although not in the ways we expect.

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p2rteltytar's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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