Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Maidens

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The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

75 reviews

danajoy's review against another edition

dark tense

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This didn't wow me. It was alright and I was surprised by the twist but it didn't really capture me in the way I'd hoped.
I liked the Greek Mythology lens.

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em_5460's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

5.0

One of the best thrillers I've ever read. Twist was incredible and not predictable at all. I thought I had it solved so many times, but I was way off, which just goes to show how great the twists are.

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boldphoenix's review

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mysterious fast-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? No

2.5

I don't think Alex Michaelides is for me. I thought that The Silent Patient was underwhelming and predictable, but I gave The Maidens a chance. It was an enjoyable read because I was buddy reading it with my cousin, so it was nice having someone to talk to about hypotheses. I'll admit I did not figure out the twist, but the twist didn't feel right, either. There were some plot holes I would have liked addressed.

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rinku's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

The idea behind The Maidens had so much potential but it wasn’t realized to its fullest. Hence, I only liked the general plot and story, and many moments in the course of the story were a bit flat and too cliché for my taste.

The story follows Mariana; her husband has died and now her niece is the only left in her life. She visits her at her college after a friend of her niece has died where she tries to figure out who the murderer is. She becomes fixated on the Professor Fosca and the so-called maidens who he has gathered around him.

In general, I found the story engaging and I was also guessing who the murderer could be. I especially enjoyed the references to different psychological and literary ideas. But there were some things I didn’t like too much: The story had some clichés, like the incompetent police, there was in some parts too much telling, and some moments didn’t feel as emotional as they were supposed to.

The novel got so exciting when only a few chapters were left but the conclusion was just unsatisfying to me:

The plot twist that Sebastian was in love with Zoe and only married Mariana to be close to her was so disturbing, but I don’t know what to think about? Zoe being the killer was just … okay too, I guess, and I especially hated that Fred saved Mariana in the end

I generally liked the setting and the writing style, which was easy and fast to read, especially with the short chapters. The characters were mostly okay but often a bit cliché as well. Mariana was an interesting main character, and her emotions were portrayed well but it annoyed me how naïve she was when it came to certain characters. I was also annoyed by the fact that almost every guy was into her.

The Maidens was an average thriller that made me nevertheless interested in Michaelides other work because there were some references to The Silent Patient in this book.

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lexslittlelibrary's review

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challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I want to love this book so much! Up until the very last plot twist I was captivated by everything within the text. Given how convinced Mariana was that Fosca was a murderer I went into this going “okay so not him” but time and time again I was a bit unsure. I think there was one potentially really good red herring thrown in but he was too easy to dismiss. Same with the other attempts made at a suspect.

Henry could have been such a great suspect if he wasn’t clearly too far gone to write that kind of text /

It was too easy as a reader to look at the letters of confession and know who could not have written them. However the plot twist at the end did nothing feel entirely earned. It came out of left field without much to substantiate it and honestly made a lot of the emotion I invested in some of the characters feel a bit wasted?

Overall, the side characters who could have been compelling fell flat. We didn’t see enough of Fosca and the Maidens (in my opinion) and the Maidens we did see were hard to get a feel for.

The two introduced Maidens who died just felt like a toss up of ‘oh I know that name. Didn’t contribute to who was a suspect or give much emotion for the victims /

Overall, I want to love this book. And it’s fun enough — until the very end with the very last reveal. That’s where it lost me. Solid read but fell a hit short for me.

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mfrisk's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I can’t fully decide yet how I feel about this one but I’m going to try to capture my experience. I really enjoyed the world building, the character building, and the fast pacing due to the shorter chapters. Where I struggle is with the conclusion and the final reveal. I’d have to reread to see if it really makes sense but I’m not sure I feel the reveal was built enough into earlier details of the book. Which I guess could be intentional but the reveal seems overly reliant on the idea that our main character essentially didn’t see what was right in front of her within her relationship. It just seems a bit too neatly wrapped up and convenient. The prologue also could have gone a bit further as well.

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