Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

67 reviews

alomie's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

3.75

I really enjoyed this whodunnit. I did not see the ending coming and it kept things interesting. 
Some of the "origin stories" were a bit harrowing, and it's not easy going in that respect, however, as we are trying to understand the motives of a serial killer it makes sense contextually. These messed up childhoods absolutely might create a serial killer. 
Kept me guessing right to the end and was actually quite gripping. 
Found this to be a slow start but really picked up in the third act and personally I could have done with a bit more pace, potentially this is an audio-book issue rather than a book issue. I liked it overall but I don't think I would go back to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Warning Re the Dog

The dad kills the lovely dog, it's really horrid.

erinlaura's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Infidelity

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, and Car accident

madroche'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: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Suicide, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Blood, and Body horror

doric's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, and Murder

lalaspluto's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

anisyrah's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Death, Stalking, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

hollymich's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

I haven't fully gathered my thoughts about this book but...
I felt like the first half at least was quite slow. I was surprised to see people tend to mark this book as fast-paced. The setting descriptions were so detailed and really painted a vivid picture in my mind, which I enjoyed. Oh my goodness, did the twist towards the end ever give me a visceral reaction of disgust and shock!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Stalking

josna's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

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

ilana_pop's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

This had so much potential to be a really strong and poignant story. There were great elements that, with a different approach, could've made for such an interesting book, both a great thriller and a book with lots of  discussion points to reflect. But it was not. Boooy, was it not.
So many unnecessary characters, so much trauma and psychological damage for no reason, dangerous and harmed characters just for showelement (quite unethical imo).  And Jezus was the main character annoying. Sadly enough a very obvious female-character-written-by-a-male-author, and this has nothing to do with the fact she was annoying. Every man she meets makes her 'uncomfortable'. Just for the sake of making the reader think that he might be the murderer.

Mariana might have been certain about the murderer being Fosca, but did anyone honestly believe he did it? The fact that she was convinced it was a man, because only a man could be so full of hate and kill someone in such a cold-blooded way... Only for it to be a woman?

The plottwist at the end came literally out of nowhere, no indications throughout the entire book for the ending to make sense.
This could've been so good, but it really was not in my opinion. It was scary, I'll give it that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Body horror

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death