Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

85 reviews

jen1804's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A good dark academia thriller with a decent mystery exploring Greek mythology and secret societies at Cambridge University. The plot does a good job of keeping you suspicious of multiple characters and keeps you guessing. Whilst the person responsible for the murders was definitely on my suspect list, I wasn’t able to unravel the full plot line and there was definitely a twist I wasn’t expecting. Unpredictability is always a good thing when it comes to mystery novels and this one kept me engaged, wanting to find out what happens next, with good suspenseful tension created at times.
Plus I’m a nerd for character crossovers so I was very pleased to see Theo make an appearance from Michaelides’ other novel The Silent Patient.
Satisfactory ending? Yes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Stalking, Death of parent, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Animal death

wandas's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Moderate: Grief, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal death

Minor: Drug use

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

londonbridget98's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

someone explain to mr michaelides what the difference between show and tell is please

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death and Drug use

itsheyfay's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Incest

Minor: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt

mheiling's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, Murder, Toxic relationship, Gore, Stalking, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Medical trauma, Infidelity, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Pedophilia, and Drug use

cosycourtney's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

2.0

Please consider trigger warnings before reading this book. I went into The Maidens with fairly low expectations and indeed find it quite stupid in the end. I really enjoyed the Silent Patient but that was a time before I think I read critically or with conscience. Not to discredit my previous enjoyment but I just can’t turn off that part of my brain anymore (unless it’s fantasy smut x). I’m always very weary of a male author writing about the brutal deaths of young women; even more so when an adult woman is painted as crazy and is casually harassed along the way. Without spoiling the book I’ll just say, only a man would write an ending as such. I don’t think any female with an experience of any similarity would approach such a topic as is explored here. I found the inclusion of weird men like Henry & Fred to be lazy and the fixation on the professor got a bit boring towards the end. The big reveal was only half shocking because and I would have liked a bit more show than tell. Overall, it was fine, if you enjoy a mindless thriller definitely give it a read. If you can’t stand the suffering of women for mindless entertainment, I’d say give it a miss. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, and Grief

taylorpg's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The Maidens is a book about loss and lack of control. Our main character is a group Psychotherapist currently recovering from the tragic death of her husband. She receives a call from her niece/adopted daughter in Cambridge saying a student has been killed. Mariana decides to visit and that’s where our story begins.

The book was giving “I listen to a crime podcast so I know what I’m an expert” except our main character is a psychologist so she thinks she knows how murderers think. Although it is communicated with her many time to stay out of it she takes it upon herself to get involved and solve the murders.

There’s a very interesting yet obvious dialogue around death and how fate pulls her strings and gives us no control over it.

Overall I thought it was good for a semi-quick read, the audio book is only 9 hours long so it’s on the shorter end. But I really didn’t think it got too interesting until the last 30 minutes. The twist was good but there wasn’t really any suspense throughout the rest of the book. The red herrings were unnecessary and didn’t blend into the story as well as they could have.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death

amelodyrose's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Self harm, Murder, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Minor: Emotional abuse and Drug use

florence143's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

.⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.
Le rebondissement à la fin du roman a été brillamment exécuté, et le style d'écriture s'adapte facilement à l'intrigue. Les personnages sont mémorables et leur histoire est intégrée au roman d'une manière qui progresse agréablement.  (Le personnage principal de "The Silent Patient" a également été incorporé dans l'histoire, ce que j'ai trouvé très agréable).

.⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.

The twist at the end of the novel was brilliantly executed, and the writing style flowed easily with the plot. The characters were memorable, and their backstories were woven into the novel in a way that progressed nicely.  (Also the main character from "The Silent Patient" was incorporated into the story, which I found to be a sweet touch.)
.⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Blood, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Drug use