Scan barcode
A review by ttnnllrr
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
I read somewhere that Michaelides meant for this book to be a beach read and for that, this book fulfilled its purpose very well. It was an easy, quick read that held my interest. That being said, I enjoyed The Silent Patient much more in terms of true mystery and thrill.
Maybe it’s just me but Mariana frustrated me to no end, she was really invested and truly hysterical about the whole thing (while it was annoying I understand the motivation for this, seeing as her husband had recently passed and somehow the entire situation was bringing back memories of her father) to the point where she used her job as a licensed therapist to interfere with an ongoing investigation and point fingers very publicly at a man with zero evidence to back it up. And in the end, she was not at all reprimanded for this…
Besides this, I found the subplot with Henry to be somewhat unnecessary, maybe it was written in to be another reason for Mariana to ultimately become unhinged towards the end, but it seemed like it had no place in the story, it was like I almost forgot about him until he was brought up again.
All in all, I enjoyed the twist ending, it was not at all what I was expecting (maybe I’m just not smart enough to see them, but I don’t believe the reader was given enough clues in order to be expecting that). I truly had myself convinced that it was Fred because he was just a bit too creepy for me. I guess he’s not a killer, just an uncomfortably forward guy…
I was absolutely shocked (and disgusted) when I realized it was Zoe and Sebastian. I hate that he groomed her and that she was manipulated so far into actually killing people… (also don’t love that Mariana refuses to acknowledge that, while Zoe murdered people and tried to kill her, she had been manipulated, taken advantage of, and abused for about five years by a father figure who was planning to kill multiple people in order to ‘be with her’)
I didn’t think we knew enough about Sebastian’s upbringing to relate the parts of the letter to him, however I did think Zoe was annoying and unnecessarily rude and aloof about everything at the beginning when she was getting mad at Mariana for wanting to leave. It was also very suspicious hearing her complain that the male students are her school were ‘boys’, which I thought at the time meant she was seeing Fosca…
Maybe it’s just me but Mariana frustrated me to no end, she was really invested and truly hysterical about the whole thing (while it was annoying I understand the motivation for this, seeing as her husband had recently passed and somehow the entire situation was bringing back memories of her father) to the point where she used her job as a licensed therapist to interfere with an ongoing investigation and point fingers very publicly at a man with zero evidence to back it up. And in the end, she was not at all reprimanded for this…
Besides this, I found the subplot with Henry to be somewhat unnecessary, maybe it was written in to be another reason for Mariana to ultimately become unhinged towards the end, but it seemed like it had no place in the story, it was like I almost forgot about him until he was brought up again.
All in all, I enjoyed the twist ending, it was not at all what I was expecting (maybe I’m just not smart enough to see them, but I don’t believe the reader was given enough clues in order to be expecting that). I truly had myself convinced that it was Fred because he was just a bit too creepy for me. I guess he’s not a killer, just an uncomfortably forward guy…
I didn’t think we knew enough about Sebastian’s upbringing to relate the parts of the letter to him, however I did think Zoe was annoying and unnecessarily rude and aloof about everything at the beginning when she was getting mad at Mariana for wanting to leave. It was also very suspicious hearing her complain that the male students are her school were ‘boys’, which I thought at the time meant she was seeing Fosca…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Stalking, Self harm, and Violence
Minor: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship