Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

416 reviews

kaylamf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

annchi's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This book suffers from man-writing-women-badly syndrome. Like, what. Plot points are written like some gross fantasy. Like, I get it, it’s supposed to be dark and messed up things happen in real life, but this is downright bizarre and written from the male gaze even when the protagonist is a woman.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

la_karina1818's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, and Murder

a_libraryghost's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

Rating this book is hard. On one hand it was a really enjoyable read that I completed in one sitting and I briefly considered rating it 5 stars just based on that but on the other hand many of the criticisms I’m seeing in the reviews are valid. 

There are a lot of red herrings in this book as Alex Michaelides is obviously very keen for you to not guess the ending which I don’t mind too much as I really enjoy the mystery but I probably would have preferred a couple of red herrings that were explored more deeply than a whole bunch of shallow ones. 

There’s one character I did actually really like but I do not understand their purpose in the story. I kept waiting for them to be linked to something, part of me was sure they were going to be the killer especially after the letter is found but nope. Pretty sure you could remove them from the plot and nothing would change. 

The twist is good, probably one of my favourites that I’ve read recently. Part of it wasn’t surprising but the other part was and it connects very well with what people keep telling the MC. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

nehaanna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I’m not entirely sure what this book accomplishes. It has the twists and turns of any murder mystery but the character development of the female characters is reprehensible. They are written through such a paternalistic and chauvinist viewpoint that it is overpowering to the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Bullying, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Rape, Gore, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

ttnnllrr's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

I read somewhere that Michaelides meant for this book to be a beach read and for that, this book fulfilled its purpose very well. It was an easy, quick read that held my interest. That being said, I enjoyed The Silent Patient much more in terms of true mystery and thrill.

Maybe it’s just me but Mariana frustrated me to no end, she was really invested and truly hysterical about the whole thing (while it was annoying I understand the motivation for this, seeing as her husband had recently passed and somehow the entire situation was bringing back memories of her father) to the point where she used her job as a licensed therapist to interfere with an ongoing investigation and point fingers very publicly at a man with zero evidence to back it up. And in the end, she was not at all reprimanded for this…

Besides this, I found the subplot with Henry to be somewhat unnecessary, maybe it was written in to be another reason for Mariana to ultimately become unhinged towards the end, but it seemed like it had no place in the story, it was like I almost forgot about him until he was brought up again.

All in all, I enjoyed the twist ending, it was not at all what I was expecting (maybe I’m just not smart enough to see them, but I don’t believe the reader was given enough clues in order to be expecting that). I truly had myself convinced that it was Fred because he was just a bit too creepy for me. I guess he’s not a killer, just an uncomfortably forward guy…

I was absolutely shocked (and disgusted) when I realized it was Zoe and Sebastian. I hate that he groomed her and that she was manipulated so far into actually killing people… (also don’t love that Mariana refuses to acknowledge that, while Zoe murdered people and tried to kill her, she had been manipulated, taken advantage of, and abused for about five years by a father figure who was planning to kill multiple people in order to ‘be with her’) 
I didn’t think we knew enough about Sebastian’s upbringing to relate the parts of the letter to him, however I did think Zoe was annoying and unnecessarily rude and aloof about everything at the beginning when she was getting mad at Mariana for wanting to leave. It was also very suspicious hearing her complain that the male students are her school were ‘boys’, which I thought at the time meant she was seeing Fosca…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Stalking, Self harm, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship

thyme_paradox's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Grief, Abandonment, Bullying, and Drug use

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Infidelity, Addiction, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Rape, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

missgrangerr'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A little predictable however that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. I like the reference to Silent Patient and would hope he continues to give backstories like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

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

aine_murrayx's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

heartofhorrors's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Sexual content