Reviews with content warning for Incest - The Maidens

4.5 stars.

I usually give many reviews as I am reading but this time I was so enthralled in the story, I had no thoughts to share, I just wanted to keep reading.

This story was so addictive towards the end. Whilst I do have some issues with some of the choices in this book, I overall felt it was so good. Definitely would recommend it if you enjoy whodunits and psychological thrillers although it's more of a whodunit than psychological thriller.

Minor note, going to be extremely vague here so as to not spoil anyone but I am still so disappointed that the ending and the revelations weren't explored more. Like with therapy and psychology being so central to the book how could no attention be given to the grander issues at play and the unfair consequences it dealt everyone who it seems didn't deserve it. That for me knocked a few points off.

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kshy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

I hated the twist. It would've been more believable if

Fosca had used Zoe to carry out the murders. That way, he wouldn't necessarily have been "innocent", but he also wouldn't have been the murderer, which obviosuly couldn't have been done, as it would've been too predictable. These are the issues that arise when you reveal the "killer" on the first page. It felt sloppy that Sebastian was the one revealed to have been writing the letters, because we weren't given any hints to the fact that he was evil at all. Is it believable that someone, specifically a THERAPIST, could be married to a person for over a DECADE, and not pick up on a single sign or clue that that person was actually a psychopath and had serious psychological isssues and childhood trauma??

I felt that a lot of loose ends were left unexplained, and it felt like the entire book was built up with a ton of information (some of it unnecessary) only for the ending to take a completely opposite and hasty direction.

Henry's presence in the story was completely unnecessary, and served no purpose. The author could literally remove the entire character from the book, and it would have no impact on the plot or our understanding of the other characters.

Also, I have to add that so much of the book was completely unrealistic, specifically with the main character.

Would any sane person ever, specifically a therapist who is used to and knows the inner-workings of troubled minds, WILLINGLY GO ALONE TO DINNER AT THE HOUSE OF THE PERSON THEY SUSPECTED WAS A SERIAL KILLER?!?? It'd be fine if the main character who did this was an unsuspecting, naive individual, but a therapist?!!! Who is extensively and professionally trained on the actions of psychopaths?? Also, the fact that Mariana dismissed Henry when he showed signs of self-harm and simply left without getting him help or calling 911 is wildly unrealistic for a character who is said to be a licensed therapist.

Some things I enjoyed about the book were the author's incorporation of and connections to greek mythology. I love when a book tricks me into learning something I didn't previously know, especially when it is done in an interesting way. I also thought the book was written well, for the most part, and had an intriguing vocabulary. The psychological aspects of it and how it analyzed characters from the mind of a therapist was very interesting, specifically in that it disected the human mind and how events in a person's childhood can alter their mind and impact them for the rest of their life. For that, and for the fact that I was interested enough to keep reading and finish the book, it gets 2 stars. When I began this review, I planned to give it 4 stars, but the more I analyzed and thought about it, the more stars I deducted.

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adelinebal4's review

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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? Yes

3.0

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marieeveparentroy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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trippalli's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

2.5

A dark academia murder mystery... Revenge and vendettas, childhood abuse back stories..Very dark.

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miggyfool's review

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adventurous 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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kccool12255's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

That ending has me SHOOK. Literally what the heck. I LOVE these mysteries, they're so thought-provoking and well thought-out. I'm giving a 4.75 because I just feel like I should've paced my reading time better, it's not because of any faults with the actual book, although there were some things.

There are MULTIPLE adult-minor relationships in this book that make me feel icky (Fred and Mariana I don't count because that's a 7-year age gap, but they're both adults), and there's just a lot of sex this time around that I feel like was unnecessary. The Maidens is basically just a big orgy with Edward Fosca, one of the other professors is sleeping with one of The Maidens too, and Zoe and Sebastian had a relationship going while he was married to Mariana, and it's just...a lot. I haven't even mentioned the fact that one, Zoe and Sebastian have a 16-YEAR AGE GAP, and two, HE IS HER UNCLE BY MARRIAGE. It's fornication, infidelity, adultery, incest, adult-minor relationship, it's all the things. They also DON'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE'S HER UNCLE. I just...feel SO bad for Mariana.

BUT THEO FABER IS IN THIS BOOK. HE IS IN THIS BOOK.

AND THIS IS A PREQUEL, BUT THIS IS AFTER HE KILLED GABRIEL AND IS ABOUT TO MEET ALICIA AGAIN. AND WE KNOW HE'S A KILLER, AND MARIANA DOESN'T, AND THAT...IS CRAZY.

AND MARIANA TELLS HIM TO APPLY FOR THE JOB AT THE GROVE. AND SHE SEES ALICIA BERENSON, THE SILENT PATIENT HERSELF, IN THE END. AND ZOE AND MARIANA ARE NEVER MENTIONED IN THE SILENT PATIENT, SO SOMEONE DIES. Sorry that was in all-caps, but I didn't think these books were even in the same universe, and THEY ARE, AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

In conclusion, wow. Just wow. Alex Michaelides writes some messed-up stuff. (also, are you okay, dude? I'm not even that concerned about all the murder and sex and stuff, but your characters have some MESSED-UP families. Did you have daddy and mommy issues? Because your MCs do. Just some food for thought.) A lot of messed-up things, but I love them. These books have FANTASTIC plot twists, and I want to do something like that in my own characters, especially with the MCs meeting each other. Just incredible.

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alba_marie's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

"Death was no stranger to Mariana. It had been her constant companion, keeping close behind her, hovering just over her shoulder. She sometimes felt she had been cursed, as if by some malevolent goddess in a Greek myth to lose everyone she ever cared about."

Not as good as the Secret History, but as dark academia and thrillers go, this one was very addictive and juicy. The Maidens follows Mariana, a recently widowed group therapist from Greece who receives a desperate call from her niece Zoe, a student at Cambridge. There's been a terrible murder, and Zoe is terrified that the victim is her friend Tara, who's been "missing" since the day before.

Upon arrival, Mariana gets swept up into the lives of the charismatic Greek professor, Edward Fosca, and his weird group of favourite female students known only as "The Maidens." As the days go on, Fosca gets weirder, Mariana gets obsessed, and the murders pile up.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I HATED The Silent Patient . I mean, HATED. I think it might have been my worst book read of the year. I thought it was so poorly written, so amateur, so ugh. But I decided to try this one because the premise intrigued me and ever since The Secret History , I've been intrigued by dark academia. And I'm glad I did! I thought this one was SO much better than The Silent Patient. Better written, better characterised, better plotted, better setting. He actually described stuff this time! And made 3-D characters! Imagine that.

I also LOVED the Greek tragedy and literary elements. Michaelides included the just right mix of Greek tragedy, literary references and academia mixed with real world challenges and psychological drama to make the unbelievable somewhat believable. As thrillers go, this one felt like a step up from your usual cheap thrills and often, the academia side overtook the thriller side of the book, leaving the reader with the impression of reading something a bit more high brow than your usual thriller. This worked well for me!

If you like dark academia, thrillers and psychology, this book is perfect for you.

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