Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

43 reviews

lionfish_22's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal death

kaylokay_'s review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

positive points for the tense feelings I had during the last third of the book. I enjoyed the contemporary gothic vibes. However, I think the plot twist could’ve been tighter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Self harm, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

filipa_maia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I'm not a huge fan of 'The Silent Patient' and I found this book even less enjoyable. I definitely don't like Alex Michaelides' writing, I always feel like his books could be movie scripts. That is something that don't work for me.

Overall I liked the plot. The story is well built and the characters are interesting with complex and very dark backgrounds but the ending... my God... Why? I didn't like it one bit. It definitely subverted expectations but was completely unnecessary.

I enjoyed the "crossover" with 'The Silent Patient' though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Incest, and Car accident

friesenag's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Not a bad book but the ending was a little lack luster compared to the silent patient. But it was a good twist, I just think maybe the pacing was weird and only having like 10 pages left was not enough time 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

gwenswoons's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Incest, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Torture, and Gore

lmaokaro's review

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

4.5 stars.

I usually give many reviews as I am reading but this time I was so enthralled in the story, I had no thoughts to share, I just wanted to keep reading. 

This story was so addictive towards the end. Whilst I do have some issues with some of the choices in this book, I overall felt it was so good. Definitely would recommend it if you enjoy whodunits and psychological thrillers although it's more of a whodunit than psychological thriller. 

Minor note, going to be extremely vague here so as to not spoil anyone but I am still so disappointed that the ending and the revelations weren't explored more. Like with therapy and psychology being so central to the book how could no attention be given to the grander issues at play and the unfair consequences it dealt everyone who it seems didn't deserve it. That for me knocked a few points off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Stalking, Pedophilia, Incest, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Rape

Minor: Drug abuse

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

kshy's review

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

2.0

I hated the twist. It would've been more believable if

Fosca had used Zoe to carry out the murders. That way, he wouldn't necessarily have been "innocent", but he also wouldn't have been the murderer, which obviosuly couldn't have been done, as it would've been too predictable. These are the issues that arise when you reveal the "killer" on the first page. It felt sloppy that Sebastian was the one revealed to have been writing the letters, because we weren't given any hints to the fact that he was evil at all. Is it believable that someone, specifically a THERAPIST, could be married to a person for over a DECADE, and not pick up on a single sign or clue that that person was actually a psychopath and had serious psychological isssues and childhood trauma??

I felt that a lot of loose ends were left unexplained, and it felt like the entire book was built up with a ton of information (some of it unnecessary) only for the ending to take a completely opposite and hasty direction.

Henry's presence in the story was completely unnecessary, and served no purpose. The author could literally remove the entire character from the book, and it would have no impact on the plot or our understanding of the other characters.

Also, I have to add that so much of the book was completely unrealistic, specifically with the main character.

Would any sane person ever, specifically a therapist who is used to and knows the inner-workings of troubled minds, WILLINGLY GO ALONE TO DINNER AT THE HOUSE OF THE PERSON THEY SUSPECTED WAS A SERIAL KILLER?!?? It'd be fine if the main character who did this was an unsuspecting, naive individual, but a therapist?!!! Who is extensively and professionally trained on the actions of psychopaths?? Also, the fact that Mariana dismissed Henry when he showed signs of self-harm and simply left without getting him help or calling 911 is wildly unrealistic for a character who is said to be a licensed therapist.

Some things I enjoyed about the book were the author's incorporation of and connections to greek mythology. I love when a book tricks me into learning something I didn't previously know, especially when it is done in an interesting way. I also thought the book was written well, for the most part, and had an intriguing vocabulary. The psychological aspects of it and how it analyzed characters from the mind of a therapist was very interesting, specifically in that it disected the human mind and how events in a person's childhood can alter their mind and impact them for the rest of their life. For that, and for the fact that I was interested enough to keep reading and finish the book, it gets 2 stars. When I began this review, I planned to give it 4 stars, but the more I analyzed and thought about it, the more stars I deducted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Stalking, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Violence, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Infidelity, and Drug use

leah_patenotte7's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Death

Minor: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

marieeveparentroy's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Animal death, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, Body horror, Alcohol, Child abuse, Incest, Murder, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis