Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

77 reviews

cinderpot's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Amazing book! Amazing twist!!! I read the silent patient about a year ago and really like it. This book follows a similar premise and over all ties in greatly. Some professional decisions from the main character is questionable… but what can you get with a fiction.

The added cameo from Theo was my favourite

Will be ready his next book with anticipation!!!! JUSTICE FOR FRED!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Violence, and Stalking

dblue236's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Trigger warnings: Violence, gore, brief mention of an inappropriate relationship between an adult and a minor. 

This book vaguely ties in with this author's The Silent Patient, but you do not have to have read that book in order to follow this one, or vice versa. It amounts to a brief mention of a couple of characters who are included in the other book that doesn't relate to the story, and both books can be read as standalones. Having said that, I definitely felt The Silent Patient was the stronger of the two. This one certainly wasn't anything like BAD, but the pace was so painfully slow I struggled to follow the plot for about the first half of the book. It did finally pick up toward the end and it turned out to be well worth sticking it out, but of the three books I've read by this author so far, this was definitely my least favorite. It's still worth reading, but maybe don't make it the starting point by which you judge the author's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Pedophilia

boop123's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Read this via audiobook, and I gotta say this is one of those books that makes you create many theories about what actually happened. Personally, I enjoyed figuring the ending out as I read along, but honestly, almost all of the characters here are annoying and/or stupid, especially Marianna (sorry to say). 

The ending was also unexpected but at the same time, did not give clues throughout the book at all??? So, although the third act of the book was intense and gripping, I was not expecting the ending to go that way at all, which was lowkey dissatisfying. Also, I rarely read books by male authors, but why are adult-minor/age gap relationships such a prevalent theme here???? Kind of a side eye, and like all of the male characters, they are major creeps and extremely annoying lmaooo 

Anyway, this was alright. I still read the whole thing, keeping me engaged until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual content, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Death, and Pedophilia

Minor: Drug use

thatlibrarychick's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Stalking, Sexual content, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

nehaanna's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I’m not entirely sure what this book accomplishes. It has the twists and turns of any murder mystery but the character development of the female characters is reprehensible. They are written through such a paternalistic and chauvinist viewpoint that it is overpowering to the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Bullying, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Rape, Gore, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

willow296's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Minor: Sexual content

siennaflynn's review

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Stalking

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Bullying, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Rape, and Self harm

klr0's review against another edition

mysterious 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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Sexual content

schausjk's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I flew through this book. The pacing was excellent, and there were so many red herrings that I wasn't 100% sure of anything until the end. That being said, a lot of the characters were a bit flat for me and I would've liked to have seen them better developed. There were also several loose ends that I really would have liked to have seen tied up in some capacity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Drug abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Self harm

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Death of parent, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Emotional abuse, Car accident, Torture, Suicide, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Classism, and Medical content

tacochelle's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.0

I'm 0 for 2 on thrillers featuring psychologists or therapists. Mariana was annoying, made dumb decisions, and spouts psych info like a textbook. She breaches so many ethical boundaries as a therapist, ones that she should know better. She came across as too clinical. The idea of a dark academia thriller using Greek tragedies to help tell their story is a great idea, but not used enough here. Again, Mariana was too distant from the action, and very focused on her own grief than the shit going on around her. The red herrings were obvious, because they're all the same type of guy that all stalk her. The twist was not great, not many clues towards that end, and it ends so suddenly after the reveal. I feel like if the story was told by one of the students, one of the Maidens even, it would be more interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Mental illness, and Stalking

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Minor: Drug use and Infidelity