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A review by justinkhchen
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
3.0
3 stars
Flashy with all the trendy bookish buzzwords du jour (#darkacademia #mythologyretelling, #twistending), but underneath its shiny coat The Maidens is a fairly average commercial thriller, while captivating, never achieves anything particularly memorable.
What it has in spades is atmosphere; Alex Michaelides took full advantage of the Cambridge setting, with its aged campus and dimly lit interior soaking the narrative in an appropriately morbid mood. The literary references throughout is another nice touch, though some readers might find its display of tragedy drama principles a bit too on the nose—no one in this story had a decent childhood, and everyone was psychologically scarred because of it.
While I enjoy the meandering pacing, letting the atmosphere settles in rather than rushing to propel forward, the lack of true plot excitement provokes me to zero-in on its flaws: the laughably absent-minded police force (the book completely skips over any routine forensic activities), the odd avoidance of technology (sending letters when an email/text would be equally sufficient), and the protagonist Mariana, a 'brilliant' therapist, can barely retort / defend her words under normal conversation, missing most of the clues, and constantly puts herself in shady situations (she loves going places solo with questionable individuals!). It's not unusual for stories to require a suspension of disbelief, in the case of The Maidens, there's simply not enough content to distract (at least for this reader) before one starting to poke holes at its logic.
*Below is a personal rant, not reflected in final score*
I find the The Silent Patient tie-in extremely forced and self-indulgent; not only does it deflate the already snail-like pacing, it also adds nothing to The Maidens. It would've been more successful as a bonus material for die-hard fans, but the execution at the moment feels like a promo for the author's other book, while I'm already in the middle of one.
*Rant ends*
The Maidens is a calculated bestseller in the making, built around some of the most talked-about topics in the zeitgeist, with an inoffensive execution—but it also doesn't dive deep into its inspirations and aspire to be more. It's no surprise its already being optioned and developed into a series—as it has some fundamental mass appeal; hopefully the screenwriters will patch up its many holes and lukewarm character developments with something actually worthy of its setting.
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**
Flashy with all the trendy bookish buzzwords du jour (#darkacademia #mythologyretelling, #twistending), but underneath its shiny coat The Maidens is a fairly average commercial thriller, while captivating, never achieves anything particularly memorable.
What it has in spades is atmosphere; Alex Michaelides took full advantage of the Cambridge setting, with its aged campus and dimly lit interior soaking the narrative in an appropriately morbid mood. The literary references throughout is another nice touch, though some readers might find its display of tragedy drama principles a bit too on the nose—no one in this story had a decent childhood, and everyone was psychologically scarred because of it.
While I enjoy the meandering pacing, letting the atmosphere settles in rather than rushing to propel forward, the lack of true plot excitement provokes me to zero-in on its flaws: the laughably absent-minded police force (the book completely skips over any routine forensic activities), the odd avoidance of technology (sending letters when an email/text would be equally sufficient), and the protagonist Mariana, a 'brilliant' therapist, can barely retort / defend her words under normal conversation, missing most of the clues, and constantly puts herself in shady situations (she loves going places solo with questionable individuals!). It's not unusual for stories to require a suspension of disbelief, in the case of The Maidens, there's simply not enough content to distract (at least for this reader) before one starting to poke holes at its logic.
*Below is a personal rant, not reflected in final score*
I find the The Silent Patient tie-in extremely forced and self-indulgent; not only does it deflate the already snail-like pacing, it also adds nothing to The Maidens. It would've been more successful as a bonus material for die-hard fans, but the execution at the moment feels like a promo for the author's other book, while I'm already in the middle of one.
*Rant ends*
The Maidens is a calculated bestseller in the making, built around some of the most talked-about topics in the zeitgeist, with an inoffensive execution—but it also doesn't dive deep into its inspirations and aspire to be more. It's no surprise its already being optioned and developed into a series—as it has some fundamental mass appeal; hopefully the screenwriters will patch up its many holes and lukewarm character developments with something actually worthy of its setting.
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**