Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

76 reviews

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

imogensbooks's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and liked the writing! I was flying through it each time I picked it up, but unfortunately the ending wasn’t very strong to me. 
But still enjoyable and very readable :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, and Pedophilia

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

threadsof_kate's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Violence

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

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

alexkudej's review

fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Murder, Pedophilia, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Violence, Child death, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Cursing

Minor: Animal death and Suicide attempt

nicolastrouse's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, and Alcohol

gummifrog's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I loved The Silent Patient, so I was excited to give this book a try. Although this one has a different approach to similar ideas, I felt it hit very hard at the climax and was equally exciting and twisty! 

The author is a master of misdirection, using literary analysis and psychological expertise to guide your thoughts in a specific direction. Although I guessed the killer about halfway in, the motive was so shocking that I yelled "WHAT?!" in my car, because it was SO much more fucked up than I had expected! But in thinking back, there were tons of clues. That's the best kind of mystery, truly. 

I felt the protagonist was particularly lovable in this one, if a bit unhinged and overly determined to be right when everyone is telling her she's blinded by her stubbornness. I really felt for her and I hope to see more of her in his work in the future. The little cameos from The Silent Patient were very welcomed in this book!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Police brutality, Animal death, Bullying, Alcohol, and Suicide attempt

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

4.5

Super enjoyed this one. I didn't expect the twist like at all, but I'm also garbage at trying to figure out mysteries. Mariana is a good unreliable narrator, and l liked seeing her growth by the end. The ending did feel a little rushed and not entirely tied up, but I liked the reveal of who the letter/journal writer was. I feel bad for all the girls in the book who are victims of death and manipulation. 
There are some heavy topics within so def check out content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Rape, and Toxic relationship