Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

32 reviews

literaryinluv's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

2.5

it was really okay. i appreciated the literary references and the allusions to greek mythology, but it just felt so forced sometimes? the way the author tried to force tennyson and the myths in SO MUCH. to, like the littlest detail. and mariana was so flat and sticking her head in a crime scene, which is not realistic at all. and fred??? 

0.2 seconds after meeting her: "marry me"

the red herrings were just so... forced. like,

oh fred has a picture with a dog, and the letter mentions "premonition," which he claims to have, it must be him!!! but like nobody thinks that, he's just some guy.

everything felt forced, and like the author was booping my nose and saying, "catch that? let me explain!"

despite all this, i enjoyed the pacing and the ending, as well as the

actual culprit

. i probably won't read it again, tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cursing, Physical abuse, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Incest, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, and Infertility

glammster's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Stalking, Grief, Infertility, Blood, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

Minor: Car accident

jelliclecax's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

That twist!!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Infertility 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

madisonfrank's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Mental illness, Murder, Medical content, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, and Pedophilia

readingwithtrey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

3.0

I went back and forth between 2 and 3 stars. Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed The Silent Patient. It was, in my opinion, an excellent debut novel. I had such high hopes for this one but it was just not it.

The story is pretty fast paced which I like, and it started off so promising. Mariana wasn’t my favorite, but eventually I got used to her. The part that really bugged me is that the culprit was given away pretty early on and I was like “what the? That can’t be right.” It seemed so odd to make the culprit so obvious so early in the story. I kept reading to see how everything went down and not only was I right in my assumption, but the way the story ended was completely pulled out of thin air. The ending was insane in a bad way and super rushed. 

I will definitely be reading more of his books, but this one just really fell flat for me. I settled on 3 stars because it was a page turner, and I don’t regret reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Gore, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Infertility, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

ravenpuff's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Infertility, Pedophilia, Rape, and Toxic relationship

cammiem8's review

dark mysterious 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

1.0

You can tell this guy read The Secret History and tried to rip it off while fundamentally misunderstanding what makes that book interesting. One of the most bullshit, out of nowhere twists I’ve read, and the women are so poorly written I’d not be surprised to find out the author has never met one in real life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicide attempt and Infertility

_carly_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual harassment

erinhanso's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, Animal cruelty, Murder, Stalking, Animal death, Infertility, Mental illness, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Car accident