Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

564 reviews

secre's review

adventurous dark 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

This is the second Michaelides novel I've read, and whilst I was a little more enamoured with it than The Silent Patient - where I was a very obvious minority in my lack of enthusiasm - it still failed to truly grab me. I found most of the characters fairly insipid, particularly Mariana, which is a pity as she is absolutely the main lynch pin character here, the murder mystery underwhelming and the twist annoying. I do need to stop reading books that rely on big twists. They almost always aggravate me.

The characters are absolutely the biggest flaw here. Whilst Michaelides depicts the setting of the Cambridge university well, virtually every character - including the dead ones - are flat and uninspiring. Mariana is a bit of a moron with questionable judgement at best even if it can be partially excused by her recent loss and grief, her niece gets barely any page time for most of the novel, Edward Fosca is a creep with few redeeming features, and the Maidens show zero emotion to their members being brutally murderers. It's... flat, lifeless and uninspiring.

That said, I did enjoy this more than The Silent Patient. It kept me more engaged and whilst the use of shock twists with no lead up annoys the hell out of me, I can absolutely say I didn't see it coming. Admittedly, I didn't think it was well developed either and that's from both the character perspective and from the consequences after perspective. I actively appreciated the depictions of grief and trauma in individual's lives, and how much it can cloud both judgement and make you act in weird ways. The use of a therapist as the main character is one that appeals to me, it's just a pity that Mariana doesn't really live up to this.

All in all, I think I'm coming to the conclusion that Michaelides works are not really for me, even though they sound like it from the blurbs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my free review copy of this title. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent

swansonjunkie's review

dark tense fast-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

3.5

literally why was the twist pedophilia

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicide attempt and Infertility

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

annies0627's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

lucia_bell's review

dark mysterious 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

It's a little schlocky and tacky, but it was the definition of a page-turner for me. I devoured it in 2 sittings, even though the psychological insinuations of the characters are a little distasteful

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

jensynaw's review

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse and Stalking

Minor: Pedophilia

studymeaghan's review

dark mysterious 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Abandonment, Mental illness, Murder, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, and Suicide

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

alex_bousquet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.25

This was a fairly well written book, better than the silent patient in my own opinion. Although I did not like Marianne and she was the main character, she seemed to be blind to what was happening right under her  nose until she was basically hit with it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Murder