Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

58 reviews

aideen_'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child abuse

_bookishbrina's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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

3.5

book genre: murder, mystery, greek mythology
pace: fast
overall rating: 3.5/5
storyline: ★★★✩✩
characters: ★★★✩✩
character development: ★★✩✩✩
writing: ★★✩✩✩
diversity: ★✩✩✩✩
attention to detail: ★★★★✩
ending: ★★✩✩✩ (a bit rushed)
originality: ★★★✩✩
is there smut? no, however, there is mention of sex but no description. 

Will I be reading the next book? Unsure. After two books from this author, the first being the silent patient, I am becoming acutely aware of how he enjoys putting his female characters in positions where they think they become paranoid - when they are, in fact, not. It's like every man (literally more than one male character per book harasses the main women) becomes a threat to his female characters. It's not only annoying, but it should not be used as entertainment. I thought it created great context in the silent patient, and felt that it was totally unnecessary in the maidens. To me, it did not add to the general ambiance or lifted the storyline. As a woman, please stop. 

However, I did enjoy the story. The plot was a bit more predictable, albeit not completely. Loved the little wink at the silent patient by meeting Theo. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Murder

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

km_loves_books's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Violence, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Abandonment

marislawyer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

livvcw's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Stalking

chlomonte's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, and Pedophilia

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Violence

joramous's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

0.25

I picked this out as my June Book of the Month because the premise sounded interesting. It was listed as a thriller.

 

 

Plot:

I had a hard time suspending my disbelief regarding the plot, even at the start. As the synopsis states, one of the professors at Cambridge has a “secret society of students known as the Maidens.” However, this secret society doesn’t seem that secret, and no one at the school seems concerned with this obviously inappropriate society. Michaelides is good at making the plot seem intriguing (everyone seems suspicious), but in general, it is completely nonsensical.

The ending is especially absurd. So, the main character (Mariana)’s husband is secretly having sex with their adopted niece, and he wants to kill Mariana so he can get rich. So instead of coming up with a normal plot to kill her, he decides he is going to have the niece kill a bunch of college-age girls, frame a professor, and count on Mariana investigating and eventually getting killed???? This plan has so many variables and so many ways it would not work. What if the security cameras caught the niece killing? What if Mariana, like a normal human being, simply took Zoe out of school to get away from the murders? What if the police actually suspected the professor (as they should have) and arrested him before Mariana got too deep into the investigation? The more I think about it, the more it makes absolutely no sense.

 

Characters:

Michaelides is good at making characters seem suspicious and off, which made the thriller interesting for the first part of the book. However, all the characters are ultimately one-dimensional. The worst character is Mariana, the main character. She makes the absolute most terrible decisions. It’s like she wanted to die, and I was kind of disappointed she didn’t. Additionally, it was clear that Mariana was written by a man, which made her character seem ersatz. 

For example, she falls in love with a random young man who is creepily stalking her and harassing her. Now, this might have been fine if the book painted this as unhealthy or abnormal, but instead it’s portrayed as romantic. This is NOT romantic. This is creepy, and it only sends the message to men that they should harass and stalk women until they get what they want.

 

Setting:

The book mostly takes place at St. Christopher’s College, probably because it is a dark academia book. Michaelides manages to convey the beauty of the location well enough, although I never felt like I could picture it vividly.

 

Themes:

The Maidens is way too focused on outmoded Freudian psychological theories. There is a lot of talk about father/mother complexes, split evil/good personalities, etc. This sort of thing might fly in the 1950s, but in 2021 it really doesn’t make sense.

At first I thought it would be a powerful mediation on death and grief, but that all ended when Mariana reveals that her dead beloved husband was actually ~evil~. And then the book pretty much just ends.

 

Writing Style:

Michaelides’s writing is fast-paced and engaging.

 

Conclusion:

The Maidens pulled me into the mystery, and I was hooked until the last fourth of the book when everything all fell apart. The main character is hard to root for because she makes terrible choices.

For example, she agrees to meet a man she thinks is a serial killer ALONE in a NON-PUBLIC place and EATS HIS FOOD and gets mildly DRUNK. Clearly, she wants to die.

. The plot is ridiculous and ruins the entire thriller.

 

Other Points:

·      The cover is gorgeous

·     

The police in this book are absolutely useless. Any sensible person would suspect Edward Fosca, at least after the second murder. He has a secret, creepy cult of young women who follow him around, and two of them ended up dead. Sebastian’s plan relied heavily on the police not suspecting this, which seems like a huge oversight.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Grief, Death, Murder, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

laurenleigh's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.0

Eh I’m not surprised I didn’t love this. I didn’t like The Silent Patient either. But I had to give it a chance. Dark academia? Murder mystery? References to classic literature and Greek mythology? All things I absolutely love! But they still didn’t come together for me. I strongly believe good writing should “show, not tell.” My biggest block with Michaelides is just that. Like, I get it already, you studied psychology, cool. You can use that for good writing, but when you’re constantly breaking from the story to explain the psychological theory you’re assigning to this character…it’s tiresome. I want to see that theory played out in a character’s actions and motivations. I also didn’t really enjoy the plot all that much…sure, there was a twist at the end, but I felt like I saw 90% of that twist coming from a mile away. Lastly, I’m pretty tired of the “police won’t believe us, we have to find the killer ourselves!” trope. Okay just kidding I have one more gripe lol. I have a lot of feelings about Persephone, the Eleusinian Mysteries, and kykeon, and I thought their portrayals in this book were rather flat. To claim the ancient Greeks participating in these spiritual rituals were just “tripping” feels reductionist to me. I guess it was nice to have a mindless quick read after listening to hours and hours of deep Russian classic literature, but I’m very ready to move on to the next book!

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Self harm, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content