Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

48 reviews

allisonwonderlandreads's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Sometimes I just need a psychological thriller with an atmosphere that is tense and anticipatory with a side of dark academia. Aka this exact book. A serial killer with a fondness for Ancient Greek plays and a cult of personality surrounding a literature professor set the stage for the story.

Mariana is our protagonist, a group therapist that I found to be unreliable but empathetic as narrator, a winning combination in the genre. I personally appreciated her healthy dose of suspicion and was intrigued by the way she interacted with others through a therapist's lens, interpreting behaviors and motivations. Did I doubt every person she interacted with, including her? YES of course I did. So naturally, I was partially correct at the end while also being wildly not correct, which I enjoyed immensely. I appreciate the author for his sleight of hand and the way he manages what I notice as a reader to lead me astray.

The last 10% of the book was a wild ride. At first, I was irritated at where I thought the big reveal was headed and started to adjust my expectations for the finale and the book as a whole (thrillers more than any other genre hinge on the ending for me in terms of how I feel towards it). Luckily, I was being tricked ~again~ and a quick shift left me surprised and much more satisfied.

I was impressed by the range of the audiobook narrator with sinister interludes from the serial killer's perspective from a different voice actor. I liked the way this obscured his identity by separating the main performance from the way his writings were read, i.e. I wasn't able to match voices to guess who he is.

Finally, I loved the unexpected The Silent Patient tie-in, a brief easter egg that was clever and enjoyable while remaining subtle enough to not detract from the reading experience if you aren't familiar with the author's other book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

erinlaura's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Infidelity

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

krdavis02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

anisyrah'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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

bella63096's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

iamaemmafan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

hoshi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Stalking

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

toriat's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Sexual content

nyailrac's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

2.5

This book had sooo many loose ends. Is there a sequel coming? I had a great deal of difficulty believing how the story resolved, primarily because of the diary/letter that was presented as being from the killer.   It's not badly written, but this just didn't work for me and I was disappointed and unsatisfied.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, and Self harm

Minor: Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship

sweet_tea_and_stories's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting