Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

66 reviews

allidone's review

fast-paced

4.0

I’m not entirely sure how, but I guessed the whole thing at one point, as kind of a “wouldn’t that be a wild twist”? I knew who the killer was from the 60% mark, but the rest of it? Wild.

I’m not sure if I liked it? If it was good? Right now I’m at a 4 but that might change.

As a therapist, it’s wild that she didn’t see any of what was going on.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Mental illness, Grief, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Torture, Stalking, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Infertility

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

Honestly, I wished I typed this review out as soon as I finished this book. Four days have passed and I honestly don't remember much about it. I remember the plot and everything just fine, what I'm trying to say is that this book is very forgettable. I was really excited after reading "The Silent Patient" two years ago (around this time, funny enough) and learning that this book is centered around greek mythology (which I love). I was initially pumped and sadly underwhelmed when I finished. The best way I could describe this book is just lacking. It lacked a lot. It lacked in the plot. It lacked in intricately incorporating the Greek mythology into the story. It lacked when it came to the side characters. It lacked with the plot twists

I knew it was Zoe, but there was a lot of unnecessary misdirection with the twist that had me questioning if I was right. Also, the subtle incest twist was so unnecessary. Felt cheap.

. I just felt like things weren't as intricately woven out as he was making it seem like they were. I found certain side characters to be extremely redundant. The society plot device, underutilized. And the plot twist to be incredibly lubricious and disappointing. Not gonna lie, a little part of me wanted to dnf this book, but I trudged along because it was short, and weirdly enough I thoroughly enjoyed his writing. It is very flowery (I think "purple prose" is what it's called) which I wasn't expecting when going into a thriller. I really enjoyed his writing here, however, due to the things I listed above as well as the fact that his storytelling (he's what I call a "slow burn" thriller author; meaning he relays his stories like a mystery with a big twist at the end rather than presenting various mini-plot twists throughout the story which is my preferred method of thriller storytelling) isn't my favorite way that I'd like to consume thrillers. It just didn't make for the most enjoyable reading experience. I don't think this is the worst thing ever by any means. I just think it was mid, mediocre. Nothing crazy. (something cool though was how this book was lowkey a prequel to "The Silent Patient"; we got to see Theo which was really cool)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

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

Minor: Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Gore, Body horror, Incest, and Infidelity

cinderpot's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Amazing book! Amazing twist!!! I read the silent patient about a year ago and really like it. This book follows a similar premise and over all ties in greatly. Some professional decisions from the main character is questionable… but what can you get with a fiction.

The added cameo from Theo was my favourite

Will be ready his next book with anticipation!!!! JUSTICE FOR FRED!!!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Violence, and Stalking

filipa_maia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I'm not a huge fan of 'The Silent Patient' and I found this book even less enjoyable. I definitely don't like Alex Michaelides' writing, I always feel like his books could be movie scripts. That is something that don't work for me.

Overall I liked the plot. The story is well built and the characters are interesting with complex and very dark backgrounds but the ending... my God... Why? I didn't like it one bit. It definitely subverted expectations but was completely unnecessary.

I enjoyed the "crossover" with 'The Silent Patient' though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Incest, and Car accident

soswiin'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

2.75

the more i think about this book the lower i rate it 

the good

- loved the setting and the way it was written almost worshipfully. i too idolize cambridge and all its uneven cobblestones and river-soaked undergrads 

- + 1 star because the best breakfast spot in the city was mentioned: the copper kettle 

the bad

- the way mythology was used. OKAY yes i picked this up because it was so “heavily versed in greek mythos”. it just felt very elementary. i wasn’t opposed to the vengeful almost teenage-bully nature of persephone but i didn’t love it. fosca’s lecture on the cult of eleusis was a great mythology-centric plot point but it was only truly relevant that one time. 

- for a book called “the maidens” the actual maidens really aren’t that prevalent. there’s not much of a cultish/abuse of academic authority vibe going on despite the fact that it’s a selling point of the book (it was for me) 

-the red herrings; spent the entire book trying to guess who the bad guy was because the wrong choices were so obvious. i did get fooled but it wasn’t satisfying or well done in the slightest. 

- maybe i’m just looking for things to complain about but a lot of the phrasing was just very cliche 

the ugly 

- the ending. rushed, confusing, and unnecessary. also really gross

- the characters. i’ve walked on floor tiles with more personality. there is not a single  person in the entire story that i was rooting for or who’s downfall i was praying for 

- where do i even begin with the pedophilic/incestuous subplot. what?? thrown out there without an ounce of comprehensible elaboration. made no sense to the story despite it basically causing the entire thing. just a nasty shock grabber

there were so many aspects of the book that would’ve been so interesting if they hadn’t been brushed over; henry’s role in the story, morris’s blackmail, the actual maidens themselves, the abuses of power. the author spends the entire book reiterating how terrible men are but never shows any woman successfully winning against the circumstances imposed on them. an amazing concept with poor execution

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Self harm

Moderate: Rape and Body horror

lmaokaro's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

4.5 stars.

I usually give many reviews as I am reading but this time I was so enthralled in the story, I had no thoughts to share, I just wanted to keep reading. 

This story was so addictive towards the end. Whilst I do have some issues with some of the choices in this book, I overall felt it was so good. Definitely would recommend it if you enjoy whodunits and psychological thrillers although it's more of a whodunit than psychological thriller. 

Minor note, going to be extremely vague here so as to not spoil anyone but I am still so disappointed that the ending and the revelations weren't explored more. Like with therapy and psychology being so central to the book how could no attention be given to the grander issues at play and the unfair consequences it dealt everyone who it seems didn't deserve it. That for me knocked a few points off.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Stalking, Pedophilia, Incest, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Rape

Minor: Drug abuse

arbramirez's review

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, and Animal cruelty

marieeveparentroy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Animal death, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, Body horror, Alcohol, Child abuse, Incest, Murder, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

blackferrum's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Actual rating: 3,8

Setelah berpikir ulang, kayaknya aku mau kasih buku ini rating 3,8. Indikatornya pakai perbandingan dengan buku sebelumnya. Twist di The Silent Patient memang sempat bikin greget, tapi muatan cheating-nya juga nggak kalah bikin greget. Lalu, apa di buku ini bersih dari unsur cheat? Nggak juga.

"Plot yang sempurna, dengan demikian harus memiliki isu tunggal, dan bukan (seperti kata sebagian orang) isu ganda; perubahan nasib sang pahlawan tidak boleh dari menderita menjadi bahagia, tetapi sebaliknya dari bahagia menjadi menderita; dan penyebabnya tidak boleh karena perbuatan jahat apa pun, tetapi karena kesalahan besar di pihaknya." --Aristoteles, Poetics

Kutipan di atas kurang lebih menjelaskan alur buku ini secara garis besar. Seperti yang sudah tertera pada blurb, Mariana terpaksa harus mengunjungi kembali Universitas Cambridge, meskipun harus menelan ingatan masa lalu dengan mantan suaminya, Sebastian. Zoe, keponakannya, mendadak menjadi gusar dan cemas karena salah satu teman dekatnya mendadak menjadi korban pembunuhan sadis.

Sejak awal, kukira fokus buku ini ada di Zoe, ternyata penulis memakai pov dari Mariana. Dimulai dengan kehidupannya sebagai seorang psikoterapis spesialis terapi kelompok, lalu mulai menyeret ke kehidupan pribadinya; mengenai Sebastian, Zoe, dan masa kecilnya. Jika dipikir lagi, Mariana punya masa kecil yang agak berbeda dengan karakter Theo Faber di buku The Silent Patient, tetapi motif yang hampir sama menggeluti bidang kesehatan mental.

Pelaku yang berada dalam jarak pandang Mariana memang nggak bisa dibantah. Meskipun punya alibi, si terduga pelaku ini pintar berkelit. Bahkan dengan lihai memakai kelemahan Mariana soal masa lalunya, Sebstian terutama, buat memutar balik topik. Semakin intens ketika korban kedua muncul dan salah satu rahasia terungkap. Hmm, semacam bonus kurasa karena pada akhirnya juga nggak berpengaruh pada posisi Mariana, hanya menjelaskan soal kecurigaan salah satu anggota Para Perawan yang gerak-geriknya bikin resah.

Pembaca diajak jalan santai lebih dulu sampai rasanya agak jenuh. Cara penulis menggambarkan detail dan deskripsi sesuatu nggak perlu diragukan lagi, sampai kadang aku mulai ragu apa semuanya akan menyokong alur dan moment of truth nantinya? Jawabannya ya dan tidak. Cara bercerita jalan santai di awal, lari di belakang seperti ini mungkin nggak asing lagi dengan genre thriller karena The Maidens juga memiliki pola serupa.

Aku suka baca psychological-thriller yang muatan cheating-nya rendah atau bahkan nggak ada. Di sini bukannya nggak ada, hanya disebut sepintas lalu, tapi nggak sampai bikin gerah karena terlalu banyak. Dari awal pikiranku fokus mencari siapa pelakunya, tapi karena semua orang mencurigakan, dugaan-dugaan itu berhenti sendiri dan memutuskan untuk menikmati alur cerita sampai akhir. Twist-nya bikin kaget plus kesal (dengan si pelaku).

Terjemahannya baru di bagian ketiga mengalir karena banyak dialog dan terfokus ke kasus. Ada beberapa bagian yang kadang harus dibaca dua kali baru dipahami, tapi bagiku ini mungkin karena bahasa aslinya sendiri sudah sulit (?). Serta beberapa typo yang agak mengganggu. Semoga di cetakan sebelumnya bisa diperbaiki.

Hmm, masih banyak yang belum terjelaskan, termasuk kematian Sebastian. Memang sudah disinggung sepintas lalu, tapi karena grief Mariana berhubungan dengan ending, kayaknya kebenaran perlu dikaji ulang. Duh, apa penulis bakal kasih sekuel buku ini? Karena aku berharap bisa mendapat penjelasan dari beberapa bagian yang belum tercerahkan.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Infidelity

miggyfool's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Torture, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness