Reviews with content warning for Self harm - The Maidens

Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

136 reviews

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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james1star's review

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dark mysterious slow-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

2.5

2.5 ⭐️

This has an interesting synopsis and start but definitely fell flat (I’m writing this 2 months after finishing it and literally cannot remember like anything) and was kinda boring. We follow psychologist Mariana who gets a call from her niece saying her friend at Cambridge uni Zoe was found killed so she goes to visit her. Once arriving, she discovers the weird but adored professor Edward Fosca and his posse of female students called The Maidens. Mariana becomes convinced Edward is the culprit despite having an alibi and basically what ensures is the investigation into what might be lurking behind the university’s dark academic beauty.

A lot of the book is slow paced, there’s quite a few red herrings and on the whole not much really happens. It speeds up towards the end with a rather rushed conclusion which I found alright but yh, it was just a bit lacklustre and one I didn’t particularly like all that much. I couldn’t really relate to or like the characters all that much, they’re underdeveloped, lacked nuance nor any real complexity. Personally I wouldn’t recommend this but it’s quite a decisive book so you may enjoy it, for me it was rather meh but not terrible. I’m still intrigued to read Michaelides’s other book The Silent Patient which’ll hopefully have more substance to it.

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siennaflynn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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kim_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

The complexities of the characters are comparable to the real world. Every character has a a complex history that impacts the way they are portrayed in the story. Part of the story from the first book written by this author are referenced as a new article, as well as, reappearance of characters that are integrated into the plot. Second Amazing read from this author, cannot wait for his new book in January 2024, will be buying asap :)

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schausjk's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I flew through this book. The pacing was excellent, and there were so many red herrings that I wasn't 100% sure of anything until the end. That being said, a lot of the characters were a bit flat for me and I would've liked to have seen them better developed. There were also several loose ends that I really would have liked to have seen tied up in some capacity.

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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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mayaep's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

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cowardthedog18's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the first thriller book I’ve ever picked up that kept me reading and my first time using audio just to hear it during class. I’ve never felt so close and related to an older character than I to grief, love, long, and feeling of betrayal knowing nothing will never be enough nor the same ever again. Now I’ll go to my local library and hope to find The Silent Patient by Alex and hope to find more thrillers like this in the future.

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tacochelle's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

I'm 0 for 2 on thrillers featuring psychologists or therapists. Mariana was annoying, made dumb decisions, and spouts psych info like a textbook. She breaches so many ethical boundaries as a therapist, ones that she should know better. She came across as too clinical. The idea of a dark academia thriller using Greek tragedies to help tell their story is a great idea, but not used enough here. Again, Mariana was too distant from the action, and very focused on her own grief than the shit going on around her. The red herrings were obvious, because they're all the same type of guy that all stalk her. The twist was not great, not many clues towards that end, and it ends so suddenly after the reveal. I feel like if the story was told by one of the students, one of the Maidens even, it would be more interesting.

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joscelynhe's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.0

Fun, mysterious story that has a great twist that I actually wasn’t expecting. Loved how Michaelides interwove Greek myths into the story. If you’re into dark academia, this book does it perfectly. I’m not sure if it’ll be the type of book that I’ll remember vividly in a year or so, but it was definitely fun to read.

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