Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

114 reviews

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

stephmcnutt28's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

If you’re looking for dark academia books, this checks lots of boxes. Cambridge setting. Greek mythology. Shady professors. It’s all there. Unfortunately, that’s what carried this book along. 

Characters: To be honest, the characters fell flat for me. Obviously the each had flaws, and there was an attempt to make those flaws a part of the story, but Mariana came off as whiny, petulant, and childish instead of tortured and in a healing process. Everything about her actions felt overly exaggerated. 
Plot: the plot was fine until the twist. It felt like nothing really lined up to make the twist seem plausible. It felt more like playing a game with a three year old and partway through the game they change the rules without explanation. The way some of the loose ends were tied up felt hasty and amateur. I just didn’t feel satisfied at the ending. 
I did think it was neat how the author tied into The Silent Patient.  
Overall, this book did not live up to the social media hype for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Grief, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, and Mental illness

vibingandy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

shonalikesreading's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

regent_ace's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Actual Rating: 2.5 stars


I enjoyed the atmosphere of it and I liked the main character a lot and sympathized with her.
I thought the red herring in the book got repetitive after a while and I really disliked the twist at the end. I felt the ending left a bad taste in my mouth (metaphorically)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking

glammster's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Stalking, Grief, Infertility, Blood, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

Minor: Car accident

takemetomilos's review

dark mysterious 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

1.75

Wasn’t as jazzed as in the silent patient. Was pretty sure about halfway through that

zoe had to be involved somehow/was the most promising suspect

which was disappointed. Couldn’t be sure till the end but yea.  the twist wasn’t as good as the silent patient although I was not expecting

Sebastian’s involvement- I gave up on that suspicion pretty early once they confirmed they found the body. I  guess I liked the inclusion of his passages though. I was very sure it was not him talking to us

 
Just didn’t wow me which I think these books rely on to be amazing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Murder

Minor: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Pedophilia

featheredhope's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Sexism, Blood, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Violence

wandas's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Moderate: Grief, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal death

Minor: Drug use

kelisabeth's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Stalking, Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Incest, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt