Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

81 reviews

lexslittlelibrary's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

mfrisk's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

trycerabel's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

arthur_ant18's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Suicide attempt

mykes's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

jessiebertram's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

carrooooolll's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

This book had a not so good ending, throwing everything together at once, but still a good book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? No

3.75

A really great psychological thriller that uses mythology to heighten the suspense.
  
Group psychotherapist, Mariana, is pulled back into Cambridge University, where her neice Zoe is studying, and where, she herself and late husband met.
  
When one student dies, Mariana is quick to see connections that the police can't. To protect and help Zoe, she agrees to stay and ask questions, after all, asking never harmed anyone, right?
  
The dazzling Professor Fosca tops Mariana's list. His alibi's should rule him out after the second tragic student death, but both were in the Professor's secret study group and links him even more to the deaths.
  
Alex Michaelides draws you back into the world of psychotherapy, using Greek myths to disguise what's lurking in the shadows and culminates in a twist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

abbs15norm's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

alomie's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.75

I really enjoyed this whodunnit. I did not see the ending coming and it kept things interesting. 
Some of the "origin stories" were a bit harrowing, and it's not easy going in that respect, however, as we are trying to understand the motives of a serial killer it makes sense contextually. These messed up childhoods absolutely might create a serial killer. 
Kept me guessing right to the end and was actually quite gripping. 
Found this to be a slow start but really picked up in the third act and personally I could have done with a bit more pace, potentially this is an audio-book issue rather than a book issue. I liked it overall but I don't think I would go back to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Warning Re the Dog

The dad kills the lovely dog, it's really horrid.