Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

86 reviews

irene_g08's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

 I recommend searching for TRIGGER WARNINGS before reading this book. 

It's been a while since a book has been able to captivate me in the way The Maidens did. It felt like each new page added to the strange and chilling mystery our MC was trying to solve. I thought I knew what was happening, but when the plot twist was revealed, I could never have imagined it even in my craziest guesses. This story is creepy, twisted, and downright disturbing at times but I'm glad I read it. It opened my eyes to a world I was unfamiliar with. It was a bit too much for me resulting in half a star lost but I was genuinely impressed. Now, I need to go and read The Silent Patient.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Sexual content, and Pedophilia

Minor: Death of parent and Drug use

daybreakreads's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

I finished this book in a day and a half. It was impossible to put down. I haven’t read his other book — I find it interesting that most of the negative reviews simply say that this one isn’t as good as The Silent Patient (makes me wonder how great that one is if I loved this one so much) — but I’m happy I read this one first because there’s a subtle connection between the two.

I actually suspected the right person early on (ultimately for the wrong reason), but mostly dismissed it because of a very powerful red herring (even though I at one point suspected the red herring as being such). I would say the true ending would be very difficult if not impossible to guess the first time through; I almost want to re-read it again now that I know how it ends.

The audiobook was fascinating to listen to; they used a different voice actor for the alternate perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Murder, and Death

Minor: Infertility, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

gondorgirl's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

linneahbt's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I found this gripping and exciting. I really liked Mariana's perspective as a therapist - a great layer to add to the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Murder

Moderate: Drug use and Stalking

imogensbooks's review against another edition

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

itisnatal's review against another edition

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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Drug use

ashleyvaleria's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i read a few bad reviews before picking up this book and that usually affects my judgement but i for one very much enjoyed this book. very hard to put down and i couldn’t stop reading. i love the greek tragedy aspect of this authors writing which is what drew me to his other book The Silent Patient which i loved as well. i liked the little cameo with Theo, was a little shocked cause i didn’t know they were interconnected so it caught me off guard. ending is reminiscent to me of a Scream film. i guessed the killer but the backstory and motive was a complete shock to me.  i don’t care if the ending was abrupt and kind of out of nowhere cause my jaw was dropped and i was entertained and that’s all i need from a book at this point. only criticism is that many characters were introduced for no reason. the story could’ve done without their introduction and plot lines, kind of pointless to the story. but ending tied it all together for me and i loved it. his writing is great. would definitely read another one of his books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, and Violence

alexkudej's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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

spillingthepomegranates's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism