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josna's review
dark
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? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
mariacalvo's review
adventurous
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? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
djoseph's review
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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Stalking, and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Animal cruelty
thecriticalreader's review
dark
mysterious
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
0.25
I picked this out as my June Book of the Month because the premise sounded interesting. It was listed as a thriller.
Plot:
I had a hard time suspending my disbelief regarding the plot, even at the start. As the synopsis states, one of the professors at Cambridge has a “secret society of students known as the Maidens.” However, this secret society doesn’t seem that secret, and no one at the school seems concerned with this obviously inappropriate society. Michaelides is good at making the plot seem intriguing (everyone seems suspicious), but in general, it is completely nonsensical. The ending is especially absurd. So, the main character (Mariana)’s husband is secretly having sex with their adopted niece, and he wants to kill Mariana so he can get rich. So instead of coming up with a normal plot to kill her, he decides he is going to have the niece kill a bunch of college-age girls, frame a professor, and count on Mariana investigating and eventually getting killed???? This plan has so many variables and so many ways it would not work. What if the security cameras caught the niece killing? What if Mariana, like a normal human being, simply took Zoe out of school to get away from the murders? What if the police actually suspected the professor (as they should have) and arrested him before Mariana got too deep into the investigation? The more I think about it, the more it makes absolutely no sense.
Characters:
Michaelides is good at making characters seem suspicious and off, which made the thriller interesting for the first part of the book. However, all the characters are ultimately one-dimensional. The worst character is Mariana, the main character. She makes the absolute most terrible decisions. It’s like she wanted to die, and I was kind of disappointed she didn’t. Additionally, it was clear that Mariana was written by a man, which made her character seem ersatz. For example, she falls in love with a random young man who is creepily stalking her and harassing her. Now, this might have been fine if the book painted this as unhealthy or abnormal, but instead it’s portrayed as romantic. This is NOT romantic. This is creepy, and it only sends the message to men that they should harass and stalk women until they get what they want.
Setting:
The book mostly takes place at St. Christopher’s College, probably because it is a dark academia book. Michaelides manages to convey the beauty of the location well enough, although I never felt like I could picture it vividly.
Themes:
The Maidens is way too focused on outmoded Freudian psychological theories. There is a lot of talk about father/mother complexes, split evil/good personalities, etc. This sort of thing might fly in the 1950s, but in 2021 it really doesn’t make sense. At first I thought it would be a powerful mediation on death and grief, but that all ended when Mariana reveals that her dead beloved husband was actually ~evil~. And then the book pretty much just ends.
Writing Style:
Michaelides’s writing is fast-paced and engaging.
Conclusion:
The Maidens pulled me into the mystery, and I was hooked until the last fourth of the book when everything all fell apart. The main character is hard to root for because she makes terrible choices. For example, she agrees to meet a man she thinks is a serial killer ALONE in a NON-PUBLIC place and EATS HIS FOOD and gets mildly DRUNK. Clearly, she wants to die. . The plot is ridiculous and ruins the entire thriller.
Other Points:
· The cover is gorgeous
· The police in this book are absolutely useless. Any sensible person would suspect Edward Fosca, at least after the second murder. He has a secret, creepy cult of young women who follow him around, and two of them ended up dead. Sebastian’s plan relied heavily on the police not suspecting this, which seems like a huge oversight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Grief, Death, Murder, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content
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