Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

113 reviews

daybreakreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I finished this book in a day and a half. It was impossible to put down. I haven’t read his other book — I find it interesting that most of the negative reviews simply say that this one isn’t as good as The Silent Patient (makes me wonder how great that one is if I loved this one so much) — but I’m happy I read this one first because there’s a subtle connection between the two.

I actually suspected the right person early on (ultimately for the wrong reason), but mostly dismissed it because of a very powerful red herring (even though I at one point suspected the red herring as being such). I would say the true ending would be very difficult if not impossible to guess the first time through; I almost want to re-read it again now that I know how it ends.

The audiobook was fascinating to listen to; they used a different voice actor for the alternate perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Murder, and Death

Minor: Infertility, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Torture, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

erin_robbins19'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? It's complicated

3.0

This book started so strongly; the mystery was intriguing, I enjoyed the MC, and I loved all of the Greek plays and mythology references. But then around the halfway mark it all started falling apart for me. The characters all started to feel very flat, and the twists had no buildup at all so it felt like they came out of nowhere. The ending felt really rushed, and the big reveal was definitely... a choice. In general, there was a lot left to be wrapped up, and what was wrapped up felt very unsatisfying. Had this book ended in the same way it started, I would easily give it a 4/5, but I just can't. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Toxic relationship

beeper's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

Really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book. The last 1/4 fell flat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

lbg352's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Death of parent, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Pedophilia

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Violence

kccool12255's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

That ending has me SHOOK. Literally what the heck. I LOVE these mysteries, they're so thought-provoking and well thought-out. I'm giving a 4.75 because I just feel like I should've paced my reading time better, it's not because of any faults with the actual book, although there were some things. 

There are MULTIPLE adult-minor relationships in this book that make me feel icky (Fred and Mariana I don't count because that's a 7-year age gap, but they're both adults), and there's just a lot of sex this time around that I feel like was unnecessary. The Maidens is basically just a big orgy with Edward Fosca, one of the other professors is sleeping with one of The Maidens too, and Zoe and Sebastian had a relationship going while he was married to Mariana, and it's just...a lot. I haven't even mentioned the fact that one, Zoe and Sebastian have a 16-YEAR AGE GAP, and two, HE IS HER UNCLE BY MARRIAGE. It's fornication, infidelity, adultery, incest, adult-minor relationship, it's all the things. They also DON'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE'S HER UNCLE. I just...feel SO bad for Mariana. 

BUT THEO FABER IS IN THIS BOOK. HE IS IN THIS BOOK.

AND THIS IS A PREQUEL, BUT THIS IS AFTER HE KILLED GABRIEL AND IS ABOUT TO MEET ALICIA AGAIN. AND WE KNOW HE'S A KILLER, AND MARIANA DOESN'T, AND THAT...IS CRAZY.

AND MARIANA TELLS HIM TO APPLY FOR THE JOB AT THE GROVE. AND SHE SEES ALICIA BERENSON, THE SILENT PATIENT HERSELF, IN THE END. AND ZOE AND MARIANA ARE NEVER MENTIONED IN THE SILENT PATIENT, SO SOMEONE DIES. Sorry that was in all-caps, but I didn't think these books were even in the same universe, and THEY ARE, AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH. 

In conclusion, wow. Just wow. Alex Michaelides writes some messed-up stuff. (also, are you okay, dude? I'm not even that concerned about all the murder and sex and stuff, but your characters have some MESSED-UP families. Did you have daddy and mommy issues? Because your MCs do. Just some food for thought.) A lot of messed-up things, but I love them. These books have FANTASTIC plot twists, and I want to do something like that in my own characters, especially with the MCs meeting each other. Just incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Incest, Grief, Infidelity, and Murder

Minor: Gore, Alcohol, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

whatiskatelynreading's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, and Drug abuse

literaryinluv's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

2.5

it was really okay. i appreciated the literary references and the allusions to greek mythology, but it just felt so forced sometimes? the way the author tried to force tennyson and the myths in SO MUCH. to, like the littlest detail. and mariana was so flat and sticking her head in a crime scene, which is not realistic at all. and fred??? 

0.2 seconds after meeting her: "marry me"

the red herrings were just so... forced. like,

oh fred has a picture with a dog, and the letter mentions "premonition," which he claims to have, it must be him!!! but like nobody thinks that, he's just some guy.

everything felt forced, and like the author was booping my nose and saying, "catch that? let me explain!"

despite all this, i enjoyed the pacing and the ending, as well as the

actual culprit

. i probably won't read it again, tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cursing, Physical abuse, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Incest, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, and Infertility

annagerman's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Highly disappointing, especially after this author's debut. Uneven pacing with a rushed conclusion, mostly bland writing, many underdeveloped characters. The twist came out of nowhere - it wasn't properly foreshadowed and makes no sense in retrospect. 
I got in on the premise of dark academia aesthetic and possible greek mythology inspired cults and group therapy. I recieved none of this. The "dark academia" aesthetic felt like an after thought - it wasn't really utilize or ingrained into the story, it was just thrown in there for the added drama. Same for the therapy aspect, it wasn't essential to the plot like in "the silent patient". 

Almost DNFed about a third in, but the short chapters and the simple writing actually made it quick enough to be tolerable.

<Spoiler> the only part I really enjoyed were Sebastian's letters, which were better wtitten, darker and more intriguing than the actual book  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Rape

thebookpaiges's review

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Murder, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Blood, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis