Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - The Maidens

Sometimes I just need a psychological thriller with an atmosphere that is tense and anticipatory with a side of dark academia. Aka this exact book. A serial killer with a fondness for Ancient Greek plays and a cult of personality surrounding a literature professor set the stage for the story.

Mariana is our protagonist, a group therapist that I found to be unreliable but empathetic as narrator, a winning combination in the genre. I personally appreciated her healthy dose of suspicion and was intrigued by the way she interacted with others through a therapist's lens, interpreting behaviors and motivations. Did I doubt every person she interacted with, including her? YES of course I did. So naturally, I was partially correct at the end while also being wildly not correct, which I enjoyed immensely. I appreciate the author for his sleight of hand and the way he manages what I notice as a reader to lead me astray.

The last 10% of the book was a wild ride. At first, I was irritated at where I thought the big reveal was headed and started to adjust my expectations for the finale and the book as a whole (thrillers more than any other genre hinge on the ending for me in terms of how I feel towards it). Luckily, I was being tricked ~again~ and a quick shift left me surprised and much more satisfied.

I was impressed by the range of the audiobook narrator with sinister interludes from the serial killer's perspective from a different voice actor. I liked the way this obscured his identity by separating the main performance from the way his writings were read, i.e. I wasn't able to match voices to guess who he is.

Finally, I loved the unexpected The Silent Patient tie-in, a brief easter egg that was clever and enjoyable while remaining subtle enough to not detract from the reading experience if you aren't familiar with the author's other book.

Content Warnings

kylajaynebooks's review against another edition

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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? Yes

2.0

since when is daddy issues and a pedophile husband a plot twist I have THOUGHTS

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squideey's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

It had me in the first half, but the ending was so unexpected that it didn't feel like it was a good way to close off the story.

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abbs15norm's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

alyson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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crosberg's review against another edition

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dark sad 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? No

2.0

Another disappointing thriller/mystery. The book is only 330 pages and there's only one core mystery with several murders and acts of violence so I don't know how the author managed to make it feel slow, but he did. Without spoilers or going too much into detail, the overwhelming feeling of this book is that the author really doesn't like women, and his male characters are showing exactly how. The main character was a female therapist, and she did have a few female colleagues/mentors to rely on, plus all of the victims were female. But somehow the only people who had any personality were all men and most of them treated the women in their lives callously at best, abusively at worst. Gaslighting and "there, there dear let the men handle it" patronizing is rampant with all but one of the male characters, who the main character seems to fall in love with after he's simply kind to her for about 30 seconds. I was so distracted by the absolutely flat, passive women and the terrible, violent men that I became utterly disinterested in the actual mystery. What's worse is that the author treats sexual assault, child abuse, and trauma with a casualness that made my skin crawl. Forget the actual murderer, I'd be uncomfortable interacting with the author.

Content Warnings

se6500's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

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

1.75

I felt that up until the last quarter of the book, it was just about Mariana's grief and not the thriller I was here for. I predicted the killer, but I was still surprised and that did make finishing the book worth it, even though I skimmed through a lot of it

Content Warnings

kristie_deaver's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

Nearly DNF’d it. The book is poorly written and takes ~100 pages to really begin. Characters were flat and the main character was unbelievable. Would not recommend.

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