Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

635 reviews

lucia_bell's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

It's a little schlocky and tacky, but it was the definition of a page-turner for me. I devoured it in 2 sittings, even though the psychological insinuations of the characters are a little distasteful

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Murder

j_aw's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Stalking

Minor: Pedophilia

bookishmeaghan's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

kaylokay_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

positive points for the tense feelings I had during the last third of the book. I enjoyed the contemporary gothic vibes. However, I think the plot twist could’ve been tighter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

alex_bousquet's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.25

This was a fairly well written book, better than the silent patient in my own opinion. Although I did not like Marianne and she was the main character, she seemed to be blind to what was happening right under her  nose until she was basically hit with it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Murder

hannahleewhite's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

aheinicke27's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Having read The Silent Patient, I knew that this book was bound to have an interesting and dark twist at the end. Throughout the entire story, I contemplated who could be murdering The Maidens of Cambridge and whether I could really trust the narrator. It’s safe to say that despite my best efforts, I was totally surprised by the twist and definitely did not expect the story to take the turn that it did. Wow. Well done. 

This story is dark and distributing in a way that you can’t look away. As an English nerd, I loved all of the nod’s to classic Greek literature, which really added interesting layers to the story and foreshadowing. I also really liked the connections to The Silent Patient. Since it has been a while since I listened to that book, I didn’t notice them at first, but once I made the connection, it was so fun to return to that world. Overall, this is an excellent thriller and one I will definitely recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Pedophilia, and Murder

kellyisntcool's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Death

Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

boop123's review

challenging 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

3.25

Read this via audiobook, and I gotta say this is one of those books that makes you create many theories about what actually happened. Personally, I enjoyed figuring the ending out as I read along, but honestly, almost all of the characters here are annoying and/or stupid, especially Marianna (sorry to say). 

The ending was also unexpected but at the same time, did not give clues throughout the book at all??? So, although the third act of the book was intense and gripping, I was not expecting the ending to go that way at all, which was lowkey dissatisfying. Also, I rarely read books by male authors, but why are adult-minor/age gap relationships such a prevalent theme here???? Kind of a side eye, and like all of the male characters, they are major creeps and extremely annoying lmaooo 

Anyway, this was alright. I still read the whole thing, keeping me engaged until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Drug use

katieputnam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Murder