A review by rachlawley
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed this. The pace was good, the story compelling, the writing well-done. But… I didn’t love it like I was hoping I would. 
There were some really unrealistic plot points

like Mariana getting involved in the police investigation

, and some unnecessary elements

(like, why include Fred as a character? I thought he was going to be a figment of her imagination, and that would’ve been the only purpose I could see him serving)

. The plot twist at the end honestly surprised me, which is always a plus. But, I kind of feel like it was just for shock value. Plus,

what kind of psychotherapist doesn’t realize their husband is a sociopath?

And I say that as a psychotherapist, myself. Unrealistic. Speaking of

the husband, I felt it was unnecessary to include his perspective at the beginning of each section. I get why they were included, but it felt kind of forced once I knew who wrote them

.
I did enjoy Michaelides’ writing style and the story itself was pretty original. I liked the setting - I’m apparently a huge fan of dark academia. I haven’t read a ton of Greek literature, and I didn’t think that would be a problem since I’ve read other books, like The Secret History, that relied on allusions to Greek literature and I could mostly hold my own. However, with this book, it felt like I needed a bit more of a background in the classics to really get everything I could out of the story.