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A review by secre
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
adventurous
dark
slow-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
2.5
This is the second Michaelides novel I've read, and whilst I was a little more enamoured with it than The Silent Patient - where I was a very obvious minority in my lack of enthusiasm - it still failed to truly grab me. I found most of the characters fairly insipid, particularly Mariana, which is a pity as she is absolutely the main lynch pin character here, the murder mystery underwhelming and the twist annoying. I do need to stop reading books that rely on big twists. They almost always aggravate me.
The characters are absolutely the biggest flaw here. Whilst Michaelides depicts the setting of the Cambridge university well, virtually every character - including the dead ones - are flat and uninspiring. Mariana is a bit of a moron with questionable judgement at best even if it can be partially excused by her recent loss and grief, her niece gets barely any page time for most of the novel, Edward Fosca is a creep with few redeeming features, and the Maidens show zero emotion to their members being brutally murderers. It's... flat, lifeless and uninspiring.
That said, I did enjoy this more than The Silent Patient. It kept me more engaged and whilst the use of shock twists with no lead up annoys the hell out of me, I can absolutely say I didn't see it coming. Admittedly, I didn't think it was well developed either and that's from both the character perspective and from the consequences after perspective. I actively appreciated the depictions of grief and trauma in individual's lives, and how much it can cloud both judgement and make you act in weird ways. The use of a therapist as the main character is one that appeals to me, it's just a pity that Mariana doesn't really live up to this.
All in all, I think I'm coming to the conclusion that Michaelides works are not really for me, even though they sound like it from the blurbs.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my free review copy of this title.
The characters are absolutely the biggest flaw here. Whilst Michaelides depicts the setting of the Cambridge university well, virtually every character - including the dead ones - are flat and uninspiring. Mariana is a bit of a moron with questionable judgement at best even if it can be partially excused by her recent loss and grief, her niece gets barely any page time for most of the novel, Edward Fosca is a creep with few redeeming features, and the Maidens show zero emotion to their members being brutally murderers. It's... flat, lifeless and uninspiring.
That said, I did enjoy this more than The Silent Patient. It kept me more engaged and whilst the use of shock twists with no lead up annoys the hell out of me, I can absolutely say I didn't see it coming. Admittedly, I didn't think it was well developed either and that's from both the character perspective and from the consequences after perspective. I actively appreciated the depictions of grief and trauma in individual's lives, and how much it can cloud both judgement and make you act in weird ways. The use of a therapist as the main character is one that appeals to me, it's just a pity that Mariana doesn't really live up to this.
All in all, I think I'm coming to the conclusion that Michaelides works are not really for me, even though they sound like it from the blurbs.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my free review copy of this title.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent