Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

69 reviews

mfrisk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I can’t fully decide yet how I feel about this one but I’m going to try to capture my experience. I really enjoyed the world building, the character building, and the fast pacing due to the shorter chapters. Where I struggle is with the conclusion and the final reveal. I’d have to reread to see if it really makes sense but I’m not sure I feel the reveal was built enough into earlier details of the book. Which I guess could be intentional but the reveal seems overly reliant on the idea that our main character essentially didn’t see what was right in front of her within her relationship. It just seems a bit too neatly wrapped up and convenient. The prologue also could have gone a bit further as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Death, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Self harm, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Suicide

stephaniezd's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Solid thriller/whodunnit. I felt lost at times due to not having any background in Greek mythology. The ending caught me by surprise, tho, so that was really a nice twist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence

have_a_doris_day's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Abandonment

mitskienjoyer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Sexual assault

lizzieinmt's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.0

This book reminded me of Secret History, it's setting and first half was really interesting. But I feel like I'm it's attempts to carry on as a thriller and provide a twist ending it really fell apart. There were characters who really didn't need to be in the book at all, that were given a lot of time. But the main characters weren't really challenged or put together for much of the book so by the end it felt really forced. I enjoyed it as escapist fiction but honestly wouldn't read again. Just read secret history if you want a dark academia murder mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Animal death

Moderate: Abandonment and Grief

Minor: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Cursing

jessiebertram's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Alcohol, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? No

3.75

A really great psychological thriller that uses mythology to heighten the suspense.
  
Group psychotherapist, Mariana, is pulled back into Cambridge University, where her neice Zoe is studying, and where, she herself and late husband met.
  
When one student dies, Mariana is quick to see connections that the police can't. To protect and help Zoe, she agrees to stay and ask questions, after all, asking never harmed anyone, right?
  
The dazzling Professor Fosca tops Mariana's list. His alibi's should rule him out after the second tragic student death, but both were in the Professor's secret study group and links him even more to the deaths.
  
Alex Michaelides draws you back into the world of psychotherapy, using Greek myths to disguise what's lurking in the shadows and culminates in a twist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Drug use, Grief, Abandonment, Animal death, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

allisonwonderlandreads's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Infertility, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

skyejay95's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Stalking, Abandonment, Grief, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, and Body horror

mariacalvo's review against another edition

adventurous 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence